Selling gum at school

I need money but can't get a job (I'm only in the 8th grade) so i was thinking about selling gum at school. I know for a matter of fact it is against the rules but i don't really care. Selling stuff at school isn't alowed and gum isn't alowed either. I just wanted to know what you guys think i should sell the gum for. I chose to sell gum because every one loves gum. Hell when i have some gum on me people always almost ask me for some. So why not start a buisness.

P.S. I was planning on buying the gum in bulk.

why isn't gum allowed at your school?
I would sell it, also if it was only for the sole purpose of protesting such a ridiculous rule
(in my school gum during class is also prohobited by most teachers, but only during class and it depends on the teacher)

I used to do this exact thing 7-8th grade. I wasn't super zealous about it, but I sold whenever I saw the chance.

What I did was buy a 12-pack of Stride for 7-8 dollars and sell each individual pack for a dollar. This not only fueled my gum-chewing habit, it also gave me a few extra bucks. Though, if I were you, I would try selling at 1.50-2.00 dollars. You'd be surprised to see how much people are willing to pay for gum. At your age, a lot of the kids around you don't know the meaning of a dollar.

Target the 6th and 7th graders. Money means even less to them. I once sold a single piece of gum for a dollar. Justification: "It's my mom's money, I don't care."

lol, yeah that doesn't work at my school with a supermarket 50-100metres from the school...
not that much gum addicts here btw, we all drink energy drinks(cheap and delicious)

Cigarettes sell better. Steal them from your parents.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Marvo

Cigarettes sell better. Steal them from your parents.

---

Pot sells better. Steal it from hippies.

But seriously, selling gum is rather lucrative in a school environment. At recess or lunch (you still have recess in middle school?) you can often get a quarter a piece. The downside is that you have to do a lot of selling.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by djonkoman

why isn't gum allowed at your school?

---

You must be over 40, or never went to public school. Kids don't throw gum in the trash, and instead they stick it to nearly everything when they are done with it. The reason its banned is because having gum stuck to the bottom of your desks and stuff is nasty. Especially when you change classes rooms so other people have to sit in it and stuff.

When I was in middle and high school I use to sell porn. Made a killing on it. And when I was in elementary school I would cram paper towels up the change slot in vending machines. Then at the end of the day I would pull out the paper towel and earn about 8-10 bucks a day. Also there was apartment building with 5 vending machines I would clog up. I made bank.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by shinta66

When I was in middle and high school I use to sell porn. Made a killing on it. And when I was in elementary school I would cram paper towels up the change slot in vending machines. Then at the end of the day I would pull out the paper towel and earn about 8-10 bucks a day. Also there was apartment building with 5 vending machines I would clog up. I made bank.

---

Pure fricken genius.

@OP: Like mentioned before, the only real downside to selling gum (screw that it's against the rules, rules are there to teach discipline, and if you've disciplined yourself, you can step outside the boundaries now and then) is that you'll have to do a lot of selling to make however much money you're expecting to rake in. I was actually leaning toward the selling of cigarettes, if you're not afraid of serious risk - they're easy to hide and transport like gum, but getting caught with them is pretty serious. Gum will obviously sell better because it's not serious contraband, which will ensure that pretty much everyone will be a potential buyer. However, even though there will be fewer people willing to risk getting caught buying cigarettes from you, those who do will pay a good deal of money I imagine. (Y'know, when they need it they've gotta have it.)

But then again, you'll be hard-pressed for keeping supplied if you have to resort to stealing them from parents and such folk. I'd recommend looking into other markets as well; sell gum AND something else. Energy drinks, while popular, are generally very expensive and are harder to distribute without attracting attention. If those are allowed, you can keep a stock in the bottom of your locker, keeping them kinda hidden (some people are thieves or tattle-tales, y'know), and just let people know your prices and when you're available to make sales - you'll wanna make some sort of schedule for yourself so you don't get caught with a mob of people looking to buy from you at your locker, and have teachers investigate and tell you to stop your business.

But seriously, if you're looking to work an underground business at your school, consider working in multiple markets; gum is great for what it does for you as a businessman, but keep in mind it's not the only thing you've got to sell that fits the necessary criteria (popular for selling, preferably not going to pose a risk of getting in trouble if found in your possession, easy to transport/conceal, easy and cheap to obtain). Kids like candy, keep that in mind. :D

Good luck, report on your progress, O, Devious One!

You are worried about selling gum in your school while kids nowadays in schools I know sell tobacco, booze and drugs.

Interesting how times change.

My experience with capitalist endeavours in the primary school system is that the schools are usually pinko about it. I remember I ran a thriving pokemon card business once. I would purchase, sell, and resell cards. Mostly within the fifth grade, and no I didn't cheat them. Parents complained and I had to shut it down and return the money. Moral is this- if you sell the gum, spend all the money so that you can't be forced to pay compensation. But I doubt anyone would care about gum, honestly. The only reason I got in trouble, I think, is that the teacher who got angry was this fundamentalist 'oh noes pokemans is evolushun.' So I wouldn't worry about it.

gum isnt against the rules at my school :\

When I was in middle school, I bought a box of blow pops from costco for 7 dollars. There were 100 blow pops in the box, which works out to 7 cents per pop. They are 10 cents individually at the convenience store, so I sold them for a quarter each. It worked well. People might be able to get them cheaper, but not while they are stuck at school and everyone buys stuff like that on impulse. Just don't get caught. They'll probably make you give the money back and you'll end up losing money on it.

I bought a bag of lollipops once for something like $3 and sold them to students, making a profit of $8. :P

If I had kids, when they were too young to get a job I wouldn't give them an allowance but I would fund these kinds of projects.

in 5th grade i did something similar to this with my halloween candy. As i do not like candy very much i sold most of my halloween candy to other students. I never got in trouble and i made a good amount of money. Since i didnt spend any money getting the candy, my net gain was 100%

But what did you spend on the costume, the means of transportation, the baskets for collecting candy? :P

Whoa! Bears, you live in NZ?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Loaf

But what did you spend on the costume, the means of transportation, the baskets for collecting candy? :P

---

I walked the neighborhood, pulled out an old costume from my grandmas basement and i used a pillowcase for a bag

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spockman

Whoa! Bears, you live in NZ?

---

... what?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Loaf

... what?

---

I just didn't know you lived in New Zealand. No idea why it surprised me so much. I just, I dunno', form images of online people in my head and I always pictured you somewhere like Illinois.

@OP: Since school is almost out here in the states, I'm guessing you're moving onto highschool? If so, selling gum isn't going to work. High school students are much more mobile and more wise with their money. You need to sell them something they couldn't turn around and buy easily and cheaply for themselves. I wouldn't be opposed to selling cigarettes, as somebody else said, since kids will probably get them from somewhere else anyway. You might as well be the one to profit off it. If possible, don't do it inside school, and definitely abstain from trying the cigarettes yourself.

What I do nowadays is go to places like Good Will and buy stuff at the cheap, then turn around and sell it at a jacked up price. I don't know how it is elsewhere, but the Good Wills around here have weekly auctions. Generally, most of the things never get bid on and in turn get sold for much less than they're really worth.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spockman

I just didn't know you lived in New Zealand. No idea why it surprised me so much. I just, I dunno', form images of online people in my head and I always pictured you somewhere like Illinois.

---

I always pictured him in Ireland... But New Zealand is a nice country

On a side not, spockman, just noticed you're in Colorado. Same here! Wouldn't it be hilarious if we lived in the same town/knew each other and didn't realize it?

Well a lot of the stuff people are posting here is out right illegal. You don't want to get caught selling drugs and stuff, and you shouldn't steal from vending machines.

If you are going to sell cigarettes, you don't want to do it in the middle of school. Instead find the kids smoking before and after school and during lunch. There are normally a bunch hanging out some where.

If you get caught in a middle of a group of people smoking, they probably lump you in with the smokers. Which is a good thing, since they will probably just tell everyone to put them out and go on their way. Instead of having you arrested. Plus if everyone is smoking, you know someone is out.

In fact, you can even make a few quick bucks as an adult. People who smoke are always out.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by YYNYM

I always pictured him in Ireland... But New Zealand is a nice country

On a side not, spockman, just noticed you're in Colorado. Same here! Wouldn't it be hilarious if we lived in the same town/knew each other and didn't realize it?

---

Ha. Yeah, it would. Spend much time in GJ?

Ireland? Ha ha. :P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spockman

Ha. Yeah, it would. Spend much time in GJ?

---

No. Guess that rules it out.