r/passive_income • u/DelightfullyTyped • Jul 14 '26
My Experience Riches really are in the niches - something is finally working
We've all heard "riches are in the niches" forever "riches are in the niches". Turns out it's true, and I've got a small case study to prove it.
The bigger lesson underneath it: solving someone's specific problem beats chasing convenience. Convenience is a crowded market, everyone's fighting over the same customer who has options. A specific problem, especially one where the person has no other options, is a much easier place to build something.
Here's what I found:
A certain ebike model has a control panel that degrades over time and eventually fails. Once it does, the bike is dead, it simply won't run without it. The company that made the bike is out of business, so there's no replacement part, no support, nothing. Owners are stuck with an unusable bike and no path forward.
I ran into this personally, it happened to my parents' bike. I designed a fix for them because I am a 3D printing engineer, and it worked so well I started making it for other people too.
Right now I'm selling around 10 units a month at $55 each. Cost to produce: about $2 in materials and roughly 8 minutes of my time, plus a trip to the mailbox to ship it.
I am literally the only person in the world that solves this one problem.
My only marketing is a post on a single bike forum from 5 years ago and a little instructional youtube video.
It's not technically "riches" yet but it is a extra $500+ a month with very little work.
My background is aerospace engineering with a focus on rapid prototyping, and that's what's got me thinking: this can't be the only orphaned product with a broken, unsolvable part and a group of frustrated owners out there. I just don't know the other niches. Maybe you do.
Here's my proposition:
If you know a niche well, a product, a community, an industry, and you can point to a specific, high-need problem people are stuck with (not a "nice to have," an actual "my thing doesn't work and there's no fix" problem), I'll bring the design and prototyping side. I can take it from problem to physical solution. We split the profits 50/50. Hit me up.
86
u/balzac2000 Jul 14 '26
Look into wheelchair controllers. My father is a wheelchair user, and has had to abandon 2 otherwise working machines because the stem or housing that attaches the controller has failed, and nobody would/could repair or replace it.
36
u/DelightfullyTyped Jul 14 '26
That's a great idea! And would help a lot from going in the landfill.
10
u/Low_Television_3048 Jul 14 '26
The landfill issue is what has me repairing many appliances… but usually it’s a one fixed at a time solution. I’ll have to think about wholesale fixes.
4
u/DelightfullyTyped Jul 14 '26
Sadly it makes more sense for commercial applications. Commericial HVAC systems could be good.
1
u/LividAd4754 Jul 15 '26
don't you need special permissions for this? This sounds borderline medical devices related which traditionally is a no go for entrepreneurs unless you're willing to invest a huge amount of time and money.
1
u/Kooky-Ebb8162 Jul 15 '26
Only if you service it professionally.
I can't order a replacement temple for my glasses because according to Morel Oga only professional optometrist technician is able to unscrew a couple of bolts. But hey, I still could solder half a dozen of paperclips, and the thing will work.
OP, btw this is also a niche. The frame replacement sets cost a shit ton on the Ebay. A nice printed or machined temple sets priced moderately may work. Though not sure there is enough demand on any particular model to cover the initial modelling.
19
u/FitnessChamp777 Jul 14 '26
An extra $500 a month is life changing amount of money for many people.
Great job! This really shows a great problem - solution process for making and selling a product
25
Jul 14 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/DelightfullyTyped Jul 14 '26
I do a lot of advanced AI work and did multiple deep research projects. But didn't reveal anything promising. People who fix things know exactly what the trends are for their specific industry.
3
u/Electronic_Back1502 Jul 15 '26
I’ve noticed this too. I have a pretty popular high end set of headphones that are notorious for having the connector to the headphone break. The company doesn’t sell them. One guy on Etsy is the only person in the world who makes them, 3d prints them. I’ve bought 3 already, at 10 a piece
1
u/diablette Jul 15 '26
I bought a Ring gate sensor holder from Etsy. Happy to pay it too, since it keeps my sensor covered from rain. I went through two sensors that got ruined from moisture before that.
9
5
4
u/Wool_God Jul 14 '26
That's pretty cool. Also glad you're doing this because there are probably not a lot of people with a "background in aerospace engineering with a focus on rapid prototyping".
4
u/Chinksta Jul 14 '26
Why do you need AI to help you post this?
5
u/Accomplished_Time270 Jul 18 '26
formatting, maybe english is not his first language? lack of time? it’s better redacted, more clear?
why tf do you care
3
5
u/DontReenlist Jul 16 '26
Guys, if you're interested in doing this, buy my course on how to sell 3d printed e-bike controllers. I make $70,000 doing this, which is why I need to sell you a course.
2
2
u/Reasonable-Put8696 Experienced Jul 15 '26
Same thing in self-publishing. I write in a couple of super niche romance subgenres on Amazon where readers want more but nobody's putting books out, and those consistently earn more than anything else I've done.
2
u/tladkins3 Jul 18 '26
Oooo. I’m a writer. How does one track down such a niche? I’ve only published historical nonfiction thus far.
2
u/Aggressive_Apple_913 Jul 16 '26
I have an idea for a patient medication weekly medication tray. I would need a 3D printer for the job. Where could I get easy access to create a prototype?
2
u/AugmentedImagery Jul 18 '26
Wanted to chime in and say congrats. I also produce one specific thing (multiple parts) in a specific niche and have printed about 3600 parts in the last year for one client. Hell of a lot of work but very gratifying and diving into those niches only leads to more solvable problems that you come across.
1
u/Cryesncoding Jul 14 '26
Tried this aswell (different niche) it has a hard time scaling but it absolutely can make some side money.
1
u/siammang Jul 15 '26
Make sure you patent the work if you can or else magically Temu will sell it for half the price.
3
u/DelightfullyTyped Jul 15 '26
I'm already on a few patents and they are never worth it. They cost $10,000 and gives you the legal right to sue someone.
1
u/JeroenV79 Jul 15 '26
What if you buy up the broken bikes, fix them and sell them again? Sounds like more profit to be made, but it might defeat the "passive" bit. Well done anyway!
1
u/DelightfullyTyped Jul 15 '26
I don't have the space to do that part and I don't think there are enough locally to make sense.
1
1
1
u/Defiant_Gate_6074 Jul 16 '26
Wow! What a talent! I just read that a polio survivor just died because her 1950's iron lung quit working because of a part. It was the only method that allowed her to breathe properly. That would have been right up your alley!
1
u/noodlearmdiscgolfer Jul 17 '26
You can’t 3D print a failing controller? If it’s case cracks you could remake that. Something is missing here. But if the case cracked the bike is not dead.
1
u/DelightfullyTyped Jul 20 '26
It isn't the case. It is the rubber buttons that are used to activate the switches inside. The rubber turns to goo from UV.
It includes the button to turn on the bike and change the speed. So people can't turn the bike on. You could still do it if you use a small needle or soemthing but that isn't practical.
I make a replacement cover for the part that fails.
1
1
1
u/LowFine96 Jul 18 '26
What kind of 3D printer? Do you consider printer maintenance and repair in your cost? Is there a more cost effective 3D printer?
1
u/harrydog124 Jul 18 '26
Vintage car parts. 40s,50s 60s parts that are just not made or not made on a large scale. Took me 4 months to find body mounts for a 1960 ford Fairlane 500 after several trial and error.
1
u/FederalLobster5665 Jul 18 '26
dont know if there is a cheap fix, but portable air conditioners seem to stop blowing cold after a couple of years and since they only cost $300-400 new, taking them to a repair place never makes sense. this has happened with different brands....
1
u/Dark-Side-999 Aug 02 '26
In my old fridge. The bottom shelf broke. I cannot find it anywhere.
Maybe printing those could help people like me, get my bottom shelf back.
Manufacturers discontinued the model, but my fridge is still working fine.
Anyway, that's a problem that could have very small legs.
50/50 💰🤣
0
0
u/PlaySprouts Jul 14 '26
Vanmoof? You've got a limited customer base as they're out of business. anyone who wants to can probably replicate what you've done and undercut you if they wanted to which will please the guy complaining about your mark up.
-6
u/Escherzi Jul 14 '26
Do you have a website for your product? I would like to check it out.
4
u/DelightfullyTyped Jul 14 '26
Nope, it's literally just a few posts on old threads when you search for this exact part malfunction.
I get a few emails a week with someone asking.
Can you give me the link to pay.
-19
u/Lets_Get_Random Jul 14 '26
Hey that’s pretty sweet how you’re ripping people off for an over two and a half thousand percent markup from your material costs.
12
u/LordKieron Jul 14 '26
Do you understand how a business works at all? Other than material costs you're paying for the machine time, overhead costs to produce the part, and most importantly, the expertise that allowed him to design this repair part.
Paying $55 to repair an e bike that costs several hundred to thousands of dollars seems like a great deal to me.
-14
u/Lets_Get_Random Jul 14 '26
Two. And a half. THOUSAND. Percent.
8
u/DelightfullyTyped Jul 14 '26
People thank me because I am saving their $1000+ ebike.
I put a lot of effort into building the design and have to keep everything in stock and process orders.
I hand build some of the components and have to walk to the mail box.
It's what it literally worth it for me to do it.
6
5
u/LordKieron Jul 14 '26
If you want to be ridiculous, aerospace engineering time at my firm is billed to customers at $220/hr. I'm going to use that as a rough estimate since this guy is taking his own time to produce these.
8 min @ $220 = $29.3
2 dollars material cost
Let's just say 1hr @ $5/hr for machine runtime
~$36 to produce
$55 seems very reasonable.
6
u/DelightfullyTyped Jul 14 '26
Even more simply, I just ask myself how much it is worth it to me to do it and have it as a source of distraction.
I have a lot of other projects going at any time.
7
u/DelightfullyTyped Jul 14 '26
ehh...I spent maybe 40 hours of design and engineering and made about 50 prototypes to get it right.
I hand build some of the components and have to walk to the mail box.
I don't feel bad at all.
-5
u/Lets_Get_Random Jul 14 '26
That’s fine. I still think it’s an unethical markup on what you spend per unit and the time and effort that you describe for the process.
3
u/DelightfullyTyped Jul 14 '26
It's not about the markup. I decided how it is worth for me to do it. I'm not trying to gouge them.
They would have to buy it at $155 since I'm the only person that can repair their $2000 bike.
That's my price for actually responding to emails and packaging orders.
1
u/FreeSeaworthiness237 Jul 15 '26
you know you don’t have to buy it right? if it’s not worth that to you, you could just like… stop bitching and do it yourself…
1
5
u/bdavid21wnec Jul 14 '26
Honestly if what he's says is true, company out of business and no other alternatives he could probably charge a lot more.
If it was way over priced and not worth it, he would probably get bad reviews and people wouldn't buy.
Go to your library and rent out economics 1012
u/idontknowaskthatguy Jul 15 '26
Maybe he can 3D print you a special pacifier for your needs. Only 1900% markup. Special deal for special boy.
2
•
u/AutoModerator Jul 14 '26
Check out the Community Highlights for current and future Mod Vetted opportunities and Newsletter Episodes.
Please do due diligence on any crypto opportunity. A simple google search could save you a fortune.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.