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The Hottest New Side Hustle Is Stripping Copper Wire and Posting About It
Copper prices are at record highs, but for TikTok creators, the real money may be in teaching others how to strip wire—and selling them the tools to do it. This play on words is common in a specific corner of TikTok where users document the process of stripping copper wire in order to sell it for extra cash. Most of these creators don't appear to collaborate or use a common hashtag, and they haven’t coined a new term ending in -maxxing. But many of their videos have a similar, visually striking setup: A complex appliance is broken down into bits, or an industrial wire is split like ropes of licorice, and in the end, what’s left is a bundle of glistening amber.
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The Hottest New Side Hustle Is Stripping Copper Wire and Posting About It
Copper prices are at record highs, but for TikTok creators, the real money may be in teaching others how to strip wire—and selling them the tools to do it. This play on words is common in a specific corner of TikTok where users document the process of stripping copper wire in order to sell it for extra cash. Most of these creators don't appear to collaborate or use a common hashtag, and they haven’t coined a new term ending in -maxxing. But many of their videos have a similar, visually striking setup: A complex appliance is broken down into bits, or an industrial wire is split like ropes of licorice, and in the end, what’s left is a bundle of glistening amber.
The Hottest New Side Hustle Is Stripping Copper Wire and Posting About It
Global copper values reached an all-time peak in September, climbing to roughly $14,473 per metric ton, which has driven a surge in online videos documenting the process of stripping electrical wire. While the metal itself is valuable, the reality for most creators is that selling the scrap yields very little money compared to the income generated from the videos themselves. One popular creator who spent six months stripping wire to save for a home earned only $99 from the metal but made over $1,400 from a single viral video about the process. This shift means that ordinary viewers are now seeing wire strippers become top-selling items on TikTok Shop as people hope to replicate the side hustle. Experts warn that high metal prices often correlate with increased theft, yet many participants are legally sourcing scrap from appliances or machinery to earn extra income. The trend highlights a new digital economy where the real profit comes from the content rather than the raw materials being processed. As copper prices fluctuate, these online communities continue to grow, blending manual labor with social media monetization strategies.