Person found a grocery list on the floor of a market and decided to frame it and sell it as quirky decor: ‘Has anyone else ended up making money from something so oddly specific?’

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Jul 29, 2026 1:00 PM EDT

Sometimes something that starts as a silly joke ends up being your future career.

A business idea can come from anywhere. And when I say 'anywhere', I don't mean that lightly. Some entrepreneurs were doing everyday chores when they encountered the thought that would be the start of their company. Noticing something as simple as how we cut vegetables --with a sharp knife, putting our fingers in a position where a cut isn't an uncommon outcome-- triggered someone's train of thought onto inventing a shredding machine. That business idea had to be developed further, but it started over something extremely simple that anyone could have noticed.

In the story below, this person didn't force himself to think for months to discover a great and original concept. This person was just walking by a grocery store when they found a list that was quite funny to them. The way this mysterious shopper had written the list was interesting enough to not only pick it up, but then to frame it as decor for the finder's kitchen. It's just a list, but to this user it wasn't. To the friends who saw the framed piece of paper, it was also more than just a list. They said they would even buy it. This person discovered that sometimes being quirky and thinking decor could be in anything ended up causing them to create a business that has actual revenue.

Business owners are always trying to find the perfect idea that would make them millionaires. This one may not be it, but it shows us that smart moves don't always have to be thought so much. Sometimes they are just found along the way, as if they were attracting us and not the other way around. We need to change perspectives, look for what we wouldn't normally see. Originality can be found anywhere, even in a market's cart. What's important is not what we found, but what we turn it into. That's when our creative side strikes with a smart move to turn the simple idea into a business concept. 
 

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  • About a year ago, I found a handwritten grocery list in a shopping cart. It wasn't just "milk, eggs, bread." It had things like: "Dog cake (don't forget this time)" • "Blue Gatorade ONLY" • "Call Mom after checkout" • "NO MORE CANDLES" For some reason, I kept it. I find them cute.
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  • A grocery store aisle full of vegetables of different colors.
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    A grocery store aisle full of vegetables of different colors. 

  • A few weeks later I found another one, then another. I started collecting the funny ones and framing them. Friends who visited my apartment loved them because they felt like tiny snapshots of complete strangers' lives. One friend jokingly said, "I'd actually buy one of these." So I listed a few framed lists online as conversation pieces. I made it clear that I removed any
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  • names, phone numbers, or personal information. I expected zero sales. The first one sold in two days. Now I spend maybe an hour a week checking abandoned carts or parking lots (only after the store has cleared them). I preserve the interesting lists, erase anything identifiable, and pair each one with a small card describing where it was found.
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  • People buy them as quirky kitchen decor or gifts because every list feels like the beginning of a story. I've sold around 40 of them this year. It's nowhere near enough to quit my job, but it's probably the weirdest $600-ish side hustle I've ever stumbled into. Has anyone else ended up making money from something so oddly specific that you never would have thought people would pay for it?
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  • A grocery list being written on paper with a pen.
    via Glenn Carstens-Peters

    A grocery list being written on paper with a pen. 

  • Goddess-theprestige Didn't expect so many people to ask. But yeah, mostly local craft markets. I add a little note about where I found each one, and people seem to like that every list feels like its own tiny story.
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  • Working-Papaya-4903 How and where do you sell them? Would love to see some Samples...
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  • scoutsatx I don't know if it's still in print, but there used to be this great magazine called Found that was exactly this
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  • Deep-Signal-888 I have saved my late mom grocery lists. This is so cute.
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  • writergirl304 I have my moms shopping list from 10 years ago in a little frame on the wall. Just a sweet reminder of her for me
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  • HotZookeepergame1269 There's actually a book of shopping lists! If I remember, the author dressed up in the persona of the person she thought wrote that list. It was hilarious and charming.
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  • Rita Tea Tree I used to collect shopping lists! You've reminded me, I will have a look for them. I like the ones that tell a little story Cheese Tonic water Gin Limes
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  • AdventurousValue 1297 i bought a zine recently that was a collection of someone's birthday cards! random notes from distant aunts and uncles whom i have no connection to. really sweet and endearing
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  • teamboomerang There is a TikToker who collects these. She has them in albums and has a huge collection.
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  • StrikeTheHeart You could take Polaroid photos of the stores you find the lists at and include it in the package!
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  • notso Difficult314 This is amazing. I have a note in my phone that has a shopping list. It reads: "Olive oil, Hot dogs, Shampoo, 3 and a half two by fours made from oak trees in sweeden and then shipped to new york" I have no idea what that is all about. Was I using voice to
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  • text and it picked up something in the background? Was my husband messing with me? I have no idea. But I keep it around. I wish it was hand written so I could frame it. Or give it to you and let you frame it.
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groceries farmers market small business list quirky money
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