A former high school art teacher makes thousands of extra dollars a month by customizing Labubus

"Ellis Stephens, a husband, father, and self-proclaimed hustler, wakes up well before dawn most days. He makes his way into his garage, turns on the lights, pulls up a chair, and begins creating one-of-a-kind Labubus. "If I come in here at four in the morning and I just grind it out, I can do seven to eight to nine a day," he told Business Insider's Bethany Johnson in a recent interview in San Jose, California. Stephens buys Labubus, the trendy plush monsters designed by Kasing Lung, in bulk from resellers on the street, customizes them with tattoos, piercings, gemstones, and more, and then upsells them for a major profit."

"While the price of the Labubus he buys varies, he was paying $45 per toy at the time of filming in July. He sells standard-sized, customized Labubus for $217 each, but customers can also submit orders for a two-pack or larger-sized Labubus that cost more. For many years, his day job was as a high school art teacher. He was recently promoted to assistant principal. However, the pay as a teacher wasn't enough to fund the type of art projects he wanted to do with his students, like 3D printing and using CNC routing to cut and engrave wood and plastic. So, he started side hustling to make some extra cash."

"He completes about 80 Labubu-related orders a month, which amounts to thousands of extra dollars in revenue. "It's crazy how it's changed my life," he said."

Ellis Stephens wakes before dawn to customize mass-purchased Labubus plush toys in his garage, adding tattoos, piercings, gemstones, and other details. He buys the toys in bulk from street resellers and resells standard customized Labubus for about $217 each, sometimes offering two-packs or larger sizes. He previously worked as a high school art teacher and was promoted to assistant principal, but teaching pay did not cover advanced student projects like 3D printing and CNC routing. Stephens has operated multiple side hustles and now completes roughly 80 Labubu-related orders monthly, producing thousands of dollars in supplemental income. Celebrity popularity and Pop Mart sales growth have boosted demand.

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