Social media makes earning extra income look effortless. Scroll social media for a few minutes and you’ll see side hustles pitched as quick money or “passive” income. The truth is, many of them take more time, money, and energy than they’re worth. Here are nine popular options you may want to think twice about before diving in.
Dropshipping Stores
Dropshipping gets sold as a no-inventory, passive income stream, but the reality is much tougher. Competition is fierce, profit margins are razor-thin, and managing customer service for third-party products can become a full-time headache that barely pays off.
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Selling Print-on-Demand Merchandise
Custom T-shirts, mugs, and stickers sound like an easy win, but standing out in an oversaturated market is difficult. Between platform fees, design costs, and marketing, most sellers struggle to make consistent profits without serious up-front effort.
Stock Trading “Side Hustles”
Day trading and options flipping are often pitched as quick paths to extra cash. But unless you have extensive knowledge (and a high risk tolerance), these side hustles are more likely to drain your savings than build wealth.
Social Media Influencing
Growing a personal brand and landing sponsorships is far harder than it looks. Even with decent follower counts, brands often offer free products instead of actual payments. Monetizing a social presence requires years of content creation and algorithm luck.
Renting Out Personal Items
From camera gear to power tools, peer-to-peer rental apps promise easy money. But managing meetups, handling wear and tear, and dealing with no-shows can make this hustle more hassle than it’s worth—especially for small-ticket items.
Gig Economy Side Jobs With Low Pay Rates
Driving for rideshare apps or delivering groceries gets sold as flexible side income. But when you factor in gas, maintenance, and taxes, many drivers find their actual hourly earnings fall below minimum wage, especially in oversaturated areas.
Niche Subscription Boxes
Curating subscription boxes for niche markets seems like a creative business, but acquiring customers is expensive. Between product sourcing, shipping logistics, and subscriber churn, profits are often slim without a large upfront investment in marketing.
Selling Stock Photography
While selling stock photos sounds passive, it’s a crowded space. Earning decent money requires thousands of high-quality, in-demand images. For most casual photographers, the time investment rarely results in meaningful income.
Creating Digital Printables Without a Niche
Selling planners, worksheets, or wall art as printables on Etsy can be profitable—but only with a targeted audience and strategic marketing. Many sellers jump in without a clear niche, only to find their designs lost in a sea of competitors making pennies.
The article 9 Popular Side Hustles People Rarely Profit From first appeared on Cents + Purpose.