16-Year-Old’s Amazon Side Hustle Used ChatGPT to Hit $150K

Last year, Ethan Alexander, then 16, had some free time to fill after he stopped playing lacrosse. Starting a side hustle seemed like a solid option. The Kansas City, Missouri-based teenager had seen people online who were verified resellers Amazon and Walmart—third parties that sell products on the platforms—and wanted to learn the business.

So the high school student invested $500 (an amount he receives each year from his great-grandfather’s will) to have a reseller teach him how to earn money reselling items online.

“I feel like everyone is always trying to find the perfect side hustle,” Alexander says. “What’s the best thing to do now? But I saw it and I went for it. I didn’t try to look for a perfect opportunity. I just took what was in front of me and made it my own.”

Walmart Laundry Detergent Launches Side Hustle: $10,000 in One Month

At first, Alexander used the software program SellerAmpwhich shows seller metrics like price point, in-stock quantity, and who owns the requested “buy box,” zeroing in on which products to sell. of “Buy Box” refers to the section on a product page that features the “add to cart” and “buy now” options. SellerAmp also provided information on processing costs and fees, along with pricing to set to see a certain profit percentage.

Alexander’s analysis led him to his first product: laundry detergent from Walmart. He officially launched his side hustle, primarily selling on Amazon, in May 2025.

“I was driving to every Walmart in the entire Kansas City metro area,” Alexander recalls. “Literally hours a day, just driving, 30, 40 minutes to each of the big Walmarts and buying whatever they had to try and send stock.”

Alexander packed and labeled the boxes, then took them to the post office to ship.

He hit $10,000 in sales in the first month, then $150,000 in total by March 2026.

“Rinse and repeat” sales with Amazon and ChatGPT

After the success of his first product, Alexander ran the side hustle with a “rinse and repeat” approach, focusing on different trending items.

After all, it integrated AI into its product selection process. He trained ChatGPT in Python coding to filter out the products he knew he couldn’t move based on various metrics, which saved a lot of time. Additionally, it used AI to track inventory and stay organized.

A few months after the growing side hustle, summer started, which meant Alexander had more time to devote to the business. He added more retailers to his rotation, including Menards, The aim and Home Depot.

In addition, Alexander created his summer schedule to maximize productivity: packing items by 5am or 6am, going to bed, then waking up to make deliveries to the post office and buy more products in stores, often going home around 11pm.

“Me Amazonyou have to keep the speed of delivery because that’s how you get more sales,” explains Alexander. “Amazon is known for being fast, so you have to be fast and efficient with your business.”

Continue metrics to earn “buy box”

As a reseller, setting a good price and maintaining the best metrics are key to winning the “buy box” over your competitors.

Many resellers originate from other sellers’ stores, so Alexander experimented with that helpful strategy too. “I would just pitch to anyone selling a profitable product,” he recalls. “I’d go through all their stores, then I’d go through all their products and see if there were any good ones. And I’d just keep doing that. My computer would crash from how many tabs I had open.”

There’s hardly a product Alexander hasn’t tried to sell, he says. But the business never relied on high-ticket items to make money; small dollar and high volume sales were always key.

$6,000 in sales and $2,000 in profit in a single day

Over time, Alexander moved away from getting help from retailers and wholesalers and bought in bulk from Home Depot, Lowe’s and a pallet shop. He would take those pallets and store them in his parents’ garage.

Sometimes third-party wholesalers even linked Alexander with products coming right off the boat. “Then a truck comes up our very small street in the suburbs, and it’s unloading this pallet,” he says. “Every day I’m out there, just throwing packages around and in my car. The neighbors probably think I’m crazy.”

On his biggest day, Alexander made about $6,000 in sales, with about $2,000 in profit, he notes.

The challenges of being a teenager with a reselling side hustle

As might be expected, many unique challenges arise for a teenager driving this type side hustle. “There are a lot of very small things that are easy to mess up that you don’t realize you don’t know how to do when you’re 16 and you’ve never done taxes before,” Alexander says.

Alexander has had to navigate credit card holds and packaging hiccups, like leaking spray bottles wiping ink off labels and requiring a total recount, and the complexities of balancing a business with being a full-time high school student. He has hired some virtual assistants to help him manage it all.

Alexander intends to invest some of his earnings from the rush collegewhere he plans to study a business-related subject or psychology, which he notes would also be an advantage in any future entrepreneurial pursuits.

“I don’t know how much more you can learn (about business) in a classroom than you can by actually doing it,” Alexander says. “Failure and learning from your failures and trying not to repeat them, and actually having the practical experience of a real business. So that’s something I’ve thought about and I’m interested to see if it’s true.”

What comes after a $150,000 sales milestone

After hitting the $150,000 sales milestone a few months ago, Alexander put his resale rush on hold to focus on school and other projects. Although the business was profitable and taught him a lot, he doesn’t necessarily see himself continuing it down the line, especially as a college student.

The side hustle is a bit too practical, requiring a significant amount of space and work, Alexander explains.

One of the biggest lessons Alexander learned from business? Don’t waste time waiting for the perfect opportunity to come your way.

“People think there’s a treasure map that’s just going to fall out of the sky and have X marking the spot on it,” Alexander says. “But people don’t create opportunities for themselves enough. There’s an opportunity in every second of life that you can either make something out of, or you can have a negative mindset and not pay attention to what you can benefit from.”

Last year, Ethan Alexander, then 16, had some free time to fill after he stopped playing lacrosse. Starting a side hustle seemed like a solid option. The Kansas City, Missouri-based teenager had seen people online who were verified resellers Amazon and Walmart—third parties that sell products on the platforms—and wanted to learn the business.

So the high school student invested $500 (an amount he receives each year from his great-grandfather’s will) to have a reseller teach him how to earn money reselling items online.

“I feel like everyone is always trying to find the perfect side hustle,” Alexander says. “What’s the best thing to do now? But I saw it and I went for it. I didn’t try to look for a perfect opportunity. I just took what was in front of me and made it my own.”