6 Side Gigs That Take a Lot of Time and Have Very Little Payoff
Written by
Madeline Duley
Edited by
Joe Evans
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With inflation increasing prices of everyday necessities and significantly denting your spending, it might be time to consider increasing your income by starting a side hustle.
If you’re already skilled in a hobby such as crocheting or embroidery, you may be looking to put your talents to work and open an Etsy shop to help fill in the gaps in your income. Or, you might not know where to start when it comes to starting a lucrative side hustle, and are seeking inspiration.
Whatever brings you to your side hustle journey, it is crucial to be aware of the side gigs that may come across as a surefire and simple way to make some extra change, but are likely to leave you exhausted with little money to show for your efforts.
Here’s a closer look at six side gigs that appear too good to be true — because they are.
Ridesharing or Delivery Services
If you are a social butterfly who loves driving–ridesharing may seem like a dream side hustle to take up in your free time. However, the rates often don’t compensate for car depreciation and maintenance.
“While it is possible to make $15 to 20 an hour, depending on when and where you drive, many drivers account for vehicle wear and tear, gas costs, insurance and time spent waiting for rides,” said Scott Lieberman, founder of Touchdown Money. “If you are going to pursue rideshare or delivery as a side hustle, make sure to go out during lucrative times (before or after big events, or during the lunchtime delivery rush).”
Mystery Shopping
Mystery shopping, the seemingly adventurous gig of being an undercover shopper hired by a business to evaluate the overall customer experience, is less of a treasure hunt than it sounds.
“While it seems like a fun gig, mystery shopping earnings can be low for the time spent driving, writing up reports and the shopping itself,” Lieberman said. “Look for shopping assignments close to your home or ones that offer high reimbursements.”
According to Talent.com, the average pay for a mystery shopper in the U.S. is $16 per hour.
Online Survey Jobs
If your social media feed is filled with advertisements featuring influencers promising quick and easy money they made by taking online surveys, think again. While it may seem effortless to make some extra cash, the reality is quite different.
“Completing online surveys for money or gift cards is a perfect example of a side hustle that takes a lot of time without yielding high payouts,” said Tom Blake, side hustler and founder of This Online World. “Even the top survey sites like Survey Junkie and Branded Surveys can only pay a few dollars per hour at most, and users generally make under a dollar for every survey they complete. When you factor in getting disqualified from surveys, the hourly rate can be even lower than a few dollars per hour.”
Unless you’re looking to make $4 per hour for your side gig work, stay away.
Gaming Reward Apps
A similar case can be made for gaming reward apps that require hours of play for little reward.
“These days, game apps that pay you money for playing games are growing in popularity,” Blake said. “Yet many of the top apps in this space, like Mistplay and Rewarded Play, take players hours to earn a $5 gift card.”
If you already spend hours gaming on your phone, you might as well take advantage of the little extra cash, but if not, you’re better off opting for a more lucrative venture.
Social Media
The influencer space is massively popular right now, with influencers having the capacity to make significant earnings through brand sponsorships. While most social media influencers look like they are living quite comfortably, the reality is that it takes years of time and unpaid effort before you’ll see any paychecks.
“Social media influencer?” said David Bakke, a money-saving expert at Dollar Sanity. “Social media marketing manager? Any of this stuff requires a ton of experience or a huge following and you don’t have either of those, you’ll spend years before these initiatives are anything profitable.”
According to a Vox report, influencers with less than 10,000 followers can earn between $30,000 to $6,000 per year, those with 10,000 to 50,000 followers can earn $40,000 to $100,000 per year and influencers with over 1 million followers can earn between $5,000 to $25,000 per sponsored post. The numbers are even higher for bigger influencers, such as the Kardashians or famous athletes who earn millions per year in Instagram ads.
Writing Product Reviews
If writing doesn’t feel like work to you, finding a writing-centered side hustle is a great venture. Copywriting, blogging and transcribing can be very lucrative side hustles. That said, you’ll want to stay away from writing product reviews.
“Check TikTok. They’ll tell you that reviewing products is simple and easy and lucrative,” said David Bakke. “Guess what? It isn’t. This strategy is too time-consuming, often you have to pay an upfront cost and the payout isn’t anywhere near worth it. Try another strategy.”
While product reviewers’ salaries vary by site, experience and length, Amazon pays reviewers around $10 per review, with most product reviewers generally earning between $5 to $100 per review, according to Medium.
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