Side hustles that make you money

[verybighouseinthecountry]

Anyone have a side hustle that makes decent money? By decent I mean NMW or above, not £50 a month on Etsy selling crocheted hats.

That's not cheating. That's capitalism

Lived experience accessibility auditing.

Basically I use the fact that I'm a wheelchair user to go to various venues and events, audit their accessibility (and yes, I'm aware that accessibility is much more than physical access) and then write reports venues then publish on their websites/use to plan their events/use to plan building works e.t.c

You do need a pretty indepth knowledge of various legislation and regulations. Having the ability to also argue with places that stuff like writing the phrase 'wheelchair friendly' on their website, or my personal fave of someone thinking that a camping portapotty in a storage cupboard was a permanent solution to an accessible toilet does not make them accessible also helps.

Pay- pays very well. Not my main job though. Its very much sessional and seasonal. I also write into my contracts that if I need to get a train then a 1st class open return is part of the deal outwith what they are paying me.
Downsides are that people often think you will be happy to share your knowledge 'because you're disabled' either FOC or for a pittance. People try it on alllllllllll the time thinking they can contact you for a quick question when actually theyre after indepth knowledge.

A local Facebook group. Not sure how you'd find someone if they dont advertise on places like that though.

Thank you for replying.

i don't 'do' facebook, but maybe someone will advertise in Nextdoor.

thank you

Perhaps you could post on Nextdoor that you are looking for existing online sellers, eBay, vinted etc to sell your stuff for a percentage? Worth a try. Years back, I used to sell new CDs (remember those?!) for someone in the music biz who received them as freebies, but he had lots of people selling them for him and paid a generous 50%.

Have you tried airtasker @JanuaryJasmine ?
https://www.airtasker.com/uk/services/ebay-selling-assistance/london-central-london/
You can post a task and people will respond.

No I haven't. Thank you for the reminder about that option!

I have used it for all sorts of random things and usually get a reply.

I translate, in a field AI can't do. Average over a grand a month as a side hustle but have been at it a long time.

Out of interest, what field is that?

I started doing the Swagbucks surveys after reading this thread. I'm not hugely consistent but I've made nearly £25 so far! Quite happy with that as I just do the surveys while I'm watching TV or in the bathroom...!

https://www.swagbucks.com/profile/r_225549527?rp=1

That's my referral code if anyone else wants to try it. It gets you 300 Swagbucks to get started.

This is interesting; how many hours would you say you have had to work on average to get that income from it?

About 10 hours per week.

I have an Etsy store where I list all the stuff I’ve knitted and crocheted. I have in the past made significant sales but only from things with a ‘gimmick’ or niche. I used to make a lot of comic book inspired stuff, and could sell a Harley Quinn beanie hat for £25, purely because it was a Batman/Harley Quinn hat. No one will pay me £25 for a plain knitted beanie hat when they can buy one from Primark for £3, but if it connects to a specific interest, people will pay what a hand made item actually costs to make (materials + time/skill)

These days I mostly make stuff for family & friends, but I’m taking semiretirement soon so I might pick up my Etsy store again. These days you have to promote using TikTok & Instagram, which I don’t really have time for at the moment, but will once I’m working fewer hours.

I genuinely hate to be that person, but any makes that are “inspired” by characters breach copyright/trademark.

It’s none of my business what others do but just take care as I know plenty of folk who have had their Etsy accounts closed down and money withheld. (I’ve run a big online craft group for 12 years+).

Yes @SpidersAreShitheads I remember the Firefly/Jayne hat cease & desist stuff, and I know someone who got a C&D from Starbucks for an ‘inspired by’ logo. I’m fully aware of how careful you need to be. It’s one of the reasons I only make for friends & family now. The point I was trying to make is that if you craft (knit/sew/crochet) as a side hustle it needs to be something with a quirk or ‘gimmick’ and not something anyone can buy mass produced from shein or Primark. If I paid myself minimum wage for the time it took to make even a basic hat it would cost around £50 in labour alone.

I also do data annotation on same platform. Pay varies but it’s generally about $25 USD per hour for not very specialist stuff and if you’re any good at coding or domain knowledge it can go much higher.

I've tried a few things over the years alongside teaching.

I enjoy selling on Etsy, I didn't get anywhere with physical products but digital downloads (printables, planners, that kind of thing) were a different story. Low effort once the listings are set up and you get the occasional random sale with no extra work. Nothing life changing, but genuinely passive once it's running.

Tutoring is the obvious one given my background. I did some in person sessions a few years ago but found it exhausting after a full school day. I'm looking at going back to it online, platforms like Tutorful mean you don't have to find your own clients and you can just do a couple of sessions at weekends.

Matched betting is worth a mention too, I know it sounds dodgy but it's completely legal and tax free in the UK. You're exploiting free bet offers mathematically rather than actually gambling. I do it here and there, when I have the time and can be bothered.

Yes, tutoring is very, very lucrative if you have the skills but can fully imagine not long-term feasible with a full teaching load too. My daughter’s English tutor charged £55 per hour but he was bloody worth every penny!

Have also done matched betting - literally free money but not for anyone with dyscalculia or who is extremely bad with numbers or basic maths.

I’m guessing this is selling digital marketing stuff? And that most of your income from it is selling a course on how to set up a digital marketing business?

Just a reminder to people out there. If a side hustle post doesn’t just tell you what the job actually is, how money is made, or what you’re really selling, there’s usually a reason for that.

“DM me for info”, vague success stories, “I was sceptical too”… is part of a well known script.

A £30-£40 “set up fee” and monthly subscription to learn how to sell the same thing to other people is not financial freedom for most people. It’s a funnel.
Some people make money. Usually the ones who got in early or are very good at recruiting.

Please do proper research before handing over money because a lot of these schemes target people who are already struggling financially.

If you want to share the opportunity with other people, could you tell us what the product or service is that you get people to subscribe to? You don’t need to share any identifying links, it just seems odd that you’re being so vague if it’s a great opportunity?