Student side-hustles are on the rise, with markets to sell handmade products being held in backyards, unused warehouses and on university campuses across the country.
Clothing stalls at Nifty Markets in Christchurch. Photo: Supplied / Rosie Carroll
Students are also taking to social media to attract online sales of jewellery, art, photography and clothing.
Fourth year creative writing student and part time proofreader Tui Lou Christie has been selling upcycled clothing under the moniker 'Okey Dokey' at markets in Wellington for the last year.
"I work part time, and I work on the business part time, and I study part time. Normally I'll have three days a week that I work, and then two days a week that I study, and then the rest of the time in my evenings, I'll basically just be sewing."
For Christie it's a passion project, and she said she was fortunate that her income from markets was surplus to living costs.
"Usually it'd just be rent and food and that sort of thing, so whenever I have a successful market it is quite nice to be able to take that money and go spend it on something fun."
She affords basic costs by living a 45 minute bus ride from campus, but said she's in a much more comfortable position than many of her peers with more expensive rent.
Rosie Carroll is also familiar with the drive to earn a bit extra - she started a second-hand clothing market in Christchurch called the Nifty Markets to make side hustles easier for young people.
Many of her stallholders are students, and Carroll has seen a number of them turn their love for op shopping into a consistent source of income.
"They start it off as a creative outlet, something fun, and then it does become that part time job, or second part time job," she said.
The market's popularity has surged - the most recent saw stallholders and customers fill a large warehouse.
But with increasing competition, stallholders have to be careful they sell enough to make it worth their time.
"They are having to be really on top of their game with making sure they will actually make a profit from a market. I do think it's something on their minds more maybe than it used to be."
Otago University Students Association events manager Jason Schroeder has also seen a rise in self-run businesses - he organises at least two student markets per semester, with interest rocketing over the last five years.
He's also seen a handful of ideas make it past university campuses and backyards.
"There are more students having self-run businesses.
"Palmah are a really good example who are selling organic t-shirts, and they really did start from selling directly to their friends and students."
Student startup Palmah sells clothing made of organically grown fibres and uses recycled material, the company says. Photo: Supplied
Palmah's witty designs have earned them a strong following in New Zealand and Australia, and co-founder Hamish Palmer says they're lucky to have taken off among the myriad of other enterprises.
"When we were first kicking things off we definitely didn't have anywhere near the expectations of where it would go, it was just something fun to maybe be able to make a little bit on the side," he said.
Palmer has since toured university campuses selling their products and wasn't surprised to have noticed an increase of self-run student businesses, with living costs becoming increasingly out of reach.
"It's definitely about just making that grind and getting a little bit more."
"Especially somewhere like Otago, where lots of people go there because it is a bit cheaper but it's just getting more and more expensive."
In Wellington, Tui Lou Christie says students' reputation for laziness is outdated, with most of her friends juggling multiple commitments to afford the cost of living, on top of their coursework.
