A West Jesmond student has been giving old cassette players a new lease of life by repairing and reselling them as an unusual side hustle.

Aidan Butler began repairing portable audio players after fixing his own boombox and discovering he understood more about the inner workings of cassette players than he had realised.

While his motivation for starting was “mainly for the cash”, Butler told JesmondLocal that repairing and reselling the players – and sharing his work online – was also “fun and rewarding”. On his Instagram account, @aidans_walkman_repair_shop, Butler has shared photographs and videos of his repairs to different models, as well as the finished results.

The profile picture for Aidan Butler’s Instagram account, @aidans_walkman_repair_shop

One customer wrote in a review: “Excellent, works perfectly. Very happy with the product.”

While similar players were being advertised for up to £100, Butler sold one of his repaired models on eBay for less than £50. Many of the repairs did not require expensive replacement parts. Some of the simplest fixes involved replacing belts, which Butler said could be bought cheaply in multipacks online, making it “a no-brainer, really”.

An Instagram post detailing the attempted repairs to this TCM-11. “Opened it up to find a melted band which has been replaced but can’t seem to get any power.”

Other repairs proved more complicated, involving electrical faults or small and delicate components. One of Butler’s most difficult repairs followed an accident while he was cleaning rust from a player. He knocked a clip and disconnected a wire, eventually having to seek outside help to repair the damage.

The experience made him realise that some repairs could take more time, effort and money than they were worth.

Butler eventually stopped the side hustle after finding he was breaking more players than he could successfully repair and losing money as a result. But the experience has not put him off completely and he has since considered starting up the repair business again.