Weird online businesses can absolutely make millions, and these 10 are all real: $17 million renting backyard chickens, $39 million reselling luggage airlines lost, and a full brand built on paper pressed from elephant dung.
After coaching thousands of students through my course and running my own store for 18 years, I have watched every one of these weird businesses hit on the same three traits: a shareable visual (a potato with a message, a hat with a beard), an obsessed niche audience (hermit-crab owners, thru-hikers), or a strong emotional trigger (a plush replica of a passed pet). Every business below hits at least one, most hit two.
The lesson is freeing: you do not need a genius idea to build a real business. You can sell almost anything online if you start. Here are 10 weird businesses and why each one works.
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Table of Contents
Key takeaways
- Weird sells because it is visible and shareable. A potato with a message or a beard hat is free advertising every time someone posts it.
- Niche passion beats market size. Small, obsessed audiences (hermit crab owners, thru-hikers) buy repeatedly and evangelize.
- Emotion drives premium prices. A custom plush of a passed pet sells for hundreds because of the feeling, not the materials.
- The biggest ones are huge: Rent The Chicken ($17M) and Unclaimed Baggage ($39M).
- You just need the guts to launch something weird, not a billion-dollar idea.
All 10 weird businesses at a glance
| Rank | Business | What it sells |
|---|---|---|
| #10 | Snout & Shell | Gourmet hermit crab food |
| #9 | Ship Your Enemies Glitter | Anonymous glitter bombs |
| #8 | Potato Parcel | Messages written on potatoes |
| #7 | PooPooPaper | Paper made from elephant dung |
| #6 | Kula Cloth | Reusable antimicrobial pee cloth |
| #5 | Chairigami | Cardboard furniture |
| #4 | BeardHead | Knit hats with attached beards |
| #3 | Cuddle Clones | Custom plush replicas of pets |
| #2 | Rent The Chicken | Renting backyard hens and coops |
| #1 | Unclaimed Baggage | Reselling unclaimed lost luggage |
Snout & Shell: gourmet hermit crab food
Snout & Shell cooks specialty blends for hermit crabs: dried insects, seaweed, and tiny treats packaged like luxury cuisine. The market is small, and it does not need to be big.
Owners buy once and keep coming back, and when your margins are 70-80% mixing dried bugs and seaweed, every repeat order stacks profit on profit. A side project turned into a cult following where owners trade recipes and post feeding videos.
Ship Your Enemies Glitter: anonymous glitter bombs
Ship Your Enemies Glitter mails an innocent-looking envelope that coats your carpet, clothes, and hair in glitter when opened. The founder put it up as a joke, and within 24 hours it went so viral he could not keep up, then sold it for $85,000 almost immediately. Under new ownership it grew into a six-figure prank empire, because people will pay to annoy an ex, a boss, or a friend.
Potato Parcel: messages on potatoes
Potato Parcel mails a raw potato with a message Sharpied on the skin. It sounds like a prank and it became a seven-figure business with a Shark Tank deal, shipping tens of thousands of spuds. It works because it is so dumb it is brilliant: people pay $10 to $20 for a potato that says “Happy Birthday,” the margins are insane, and every potato is free advertising when the recipient posts it.
PooPooPaper: paper made from elephant dung
PooPooPaper takes elephant dung, cleans and processes it, and presses it into journals, greeting cards, and office supplies. It is 100% real.
Tourists buy it, eco-friendly shoppers love it, and customers buy it because of the poop, not in spite of it. The shock factor is the selling point.
Kula Cloth: reusable pee cloth for backpackers
Kula Cloth sells a reusable antimicrobial cloth for when you pee outdoors, aimed at backpackers, climbers, and thru-hikers. It is sanitary, eco-friendly, and stylish, with patterned designs, artist collabs, and glow-in-the-dark versions. It pulls in millions a year because it solves a real problem for a passionate niche, and those customers proudly post selfies holding it.
Chairigami: cardboard furniture
Chairigami builds desks, couches, and full trade-show booths out of corrugated cardboard, and people buy them. The pieces are sturdy, lightweight, recyclable, and cheaper to produce than traditional furniture. It pulls in over $2.2 million a year from students, startups, and eco-conscious buyers who love furniture they can fold up and recycle.
BeardHead: knit hats with attached beards
BeardHead sells knit hats with giant bushy beards stitched on, from Viking braids to full Santa beards. It started as a novelty gift, went viral, picked up retail distribution, and has sold millions. The genius is how visual it is: every customer becomes walking marketing, since one selfie makes friends ask where they got it.
Cuddle Clones: custom plush replicas of your pet
Cuddle Clones makes a handcrafted stuffed animal that looks exactly like your pet, from photos you send in, with the same markings and ears. Some buy them as gifts, and others order one after a pet passes away.
That emotional pull has turned into tens of millions in sales, with customers happily spending hundreds on a single plush. Weird works here because it taps into something deeply personal.
Rent The Chicken: backyard hen and coop rentals ($17 million/year)
Rent The Chicken delivers a pair of hens, a portable coop, feed, and instructions for a few hundred dollars, and six months later you give the birds back or keep them, a chicken-rental idea now doing $17 million a year. Backyard chickens are trendy, and not everyone wants to build a coop and commit for life.
Families try it as a test run, schools use it to teach kids, and the company profits every time a chicken ships out.
Unclaimed Baggage: reselling lost airline luggage ($39 million/year)
Unclaimed Baggage buys the luggage airlines never recover, opens every bag, and resells everything inside, from clothes to jewelry to electronics, at about $39 million a year. Airlines lose thousands of suitcases a year, and a small percentage are never claimed.
The company became a multi-million-dollar retail empire, complete with a massive physical store where people line up to hunt for treasures. It is part thrift store, part treasure hunt, and proof that one person’s loss is another’s business.
Frequently asked questions
Can you really make money selling weird products online?
Yes. Businesses selling gourmet hermit crab food, potatoes with messages, beard hats, and paper made from elephant dung all make real money, some in the millions. Weird products often go viral and serve passionate niches that buy repeatedly.
What is the most profitable weird business on this list?
Unclaimed Baggage, which resells luggage airlines never recover, makes about $39 million a year. Rent The Chicken, which rents out backyard hens and coops, makes around $17 million.
Why do weird products sell so well?
Three reasons: they are highly visible and shareable, so customers advertise them for free; they serve passionate niches that evangelize; and many tap into strong emotions, like a custom plush of a beloved pet, which justifies premium prices.
What weird businesses have made millions?
Examples include Rent The Chicken (~$17M), Unclaimed Baggage (~$39M), Chairigami cardboard furniture (~$2.2M), Potato Parcel (seven figures), and Cuddle Clones (tens of millions), plus Ship Your Enemies Glitter, PooPooPaper, Kula Cloth, BeardHead, and Snout & Shell.
Do you need a unique idea to start an online business?
No. These businesses prove you do not need a genius idea, just the willingness to start something and serve a niche well. You can sell almost anything online and turn it into a real business.
