Home Best Side Hustle Ideas Unique Side Hustles
August 3, 2023
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Kari is a writer for SideHustles.com. She previously managed a website in the privacy and digital compliance industry and earned money on the side by working as a pet sitter for 7 years.
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Delivering PackagesInteresting (and even strange) side hustles are everywhere. For instance, you may have heard that you can donate plasma, test mattresses, collect items to recycle, and do other odd jobs to earn extra cash. However, finding uncommon side hustles that are actually practical and profitable is another story.
To help you sort through the riff-raff and find easy work that pays well, here’s our list of the top 15 out-of-the-box side hustles.
Average rates: $10–$18 per hour for dog walking (other activities vary)
Lace up your tennis shoes and hit the road to get your steps in while earning cash. There are a few ways you can make money while walking:
If you already make an effort to slot exercise into your daily life, you can use one of these services to make money with something you’d be doing anyway.
Average rates: $20–$30 per month (but highly variable)
Important: This doesn’t work as a standalone side hustle if you’re trying to earn a substantial second income. Unfortunately, it just isn’t lucrative enough.
However, using a receipt scanner app is a great way to make a little money back every time you spend. With these apps, you look through a list of offers (e.g., “10% back for shopping at Target”), go and make your purchase, then take a picture of the receipt and upload it to the app.
Some of the apps work on points systems, in which you get a certain amount of points per receipt which you can convert into cash. Others give straight cash back, meaning what you see is what you get.
Average rates: $17–$26 per hour
Here’s a unique way to make money doing almost nothing: share your thoughts on products, websites, or apps. This is one of the lowest-effort side hustles, as it requires absolutely no skills or experience, can be done from home, and takes barely any time or energy.
Companies and web developers are constantly launching new products and looking to improve what’s on offer. To better understand the market, they want real user feedback. Whatever your age, gender, and background are, you represent a segment of the population and thus are eligible for product tester jobs.
If you’re testing products, you’ll be sent samples to try. If you’re testing websites and apps, just download and use the platform. Then, share your thoughts on the experience. It’s as easy as that.
Average rates: $19–$24 per hour
Yard maintenance work isn’t reserved for professional landscapers and gardeners. There are plenty of lawn care side hustles available to non-professionals.
If you like being outdoors and getting your hands a little dirty, you can take up a side job mowing lawns, pulling weeds, cleaning gutters, or raking leaves.
You can take advantage of one of the apps listed below, post your services on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, or even just ask neighbors if they need some help with their grass.
Average rates: $13–$25 per hour
Lend a hand helping someone move to make some serious side cash. As you probably know if you’ve ever had to move on your own, the task can be overwhelming. If you have the physical abilities, you can help pack up and lug boxes from point A to point B.
You can make even more money with this side hustle if you have a truck you can drive on the job.
Average rates: $15–$25 per hour
If you’ve looked into side hustles, there’s no way you’ve escaped the suggestion to work on a delivery driver app. While delivering food and groceries are great side hustles, they require you to go to a store or restaurant and pick up individual orders.
If you prefer something more low-key, you can avoid social interaction and spare yourself from having to run to unfamiliar stores and restaurants by delivering packages instead. With a package delivery app, you usually just set the time slots you’re available to work, pick up the packages, then drop them off.
Average rates: $15–$23 per hour
Are you obsessed with planning your next vacation? Do you love learning about hot destinations and accommodations around the world? You can live vicariously through others and get plenty of inspiration by being a freelance virtual travel agent.
With this unique side hustle, you’ll help individuals or companies book transportation, lodging, activities and more for their upcoming trips. It’s a particularly great side hustle for stay-at-home moms and pet parents (or anyone else who loves traveling but has obligations keeping them at home right now).
Average rates: 93.5% of the sale price (on Etsy)
The market for handmade goods is booming and there’s a nearly limitless array of products you can create and sell. This is a genuinely unique side hustle because you can tailor what you make to your particular talents and interests. You can craft jewelry, woodwork, metalwork, knitwear, soaps and bath products, candles, and so, so much more.
Put your own funky twist on this side hustle by cornering the market on something wacky like whimsical wedding cake toppers or custom fish tank decorations.
Average rates: $3–$15 per printable
If you don’t consider yourself much of a crafter but still like the idea of selling your own creations, make and sell custom printables. These are downloadable, customizable documents. Think of meal plans, schedules, reading journals, etc.
To make your printables, you’ll need to use design software like Canva, Adobe Photoshop, or Templett. Aesthetically pleasing printables sell the best, so you’ll need a little creative spirit for this job, but you don’t need an art degree to make fun, useful, and unique printables.
Average rates: $100 per month
The secondhand apparel market is expected to grow 127% by 2026—three times faster than the regular clothing market.
Get in on the craze by finding and flipping used clothing. Scout local thrift stores, flea markets, Craigslist and Facebook offers, and garage sales to find hidden gems among the clothing piles.
Clean up your haul and post it online to turn a profit with this fun and interesting side hustle.
Average rates: $15–$30 per hour
If you don’t already work in education, you might have assumed teaching and tutoring side hustles are off the table. Fortunately, that’s not the case.
Teaching English online is a profitable and beginner-friendly side hustle. It’s also very in demand, and you’ll get to meet people from other countries and learn about different cultures.
Unlike traditional teaching roles, you don’t need accreditation or licensure to teach English online. Requirements vary by the service you choose to use, with most requiring native-level speaking ability and a TEFL or TESOL certificate (although some platforms don’t require any certification).
Average rates: $11–$22 per hour
If you’re looking for a unique side hustle for introverts, give data entry a shot. It may not be the most romantic gig, but it’s (usually) easy work, pays well, and doesn’t require experience. Plus, it’s a side hustle you can do from home and on your own time, so it’s a comfortable gig.
As a data entry freelancer, you’ll move data from one format to another. This usually means entering information into a spreadsheet or database.
Average rates: $20–$25 per day
Owning a car is a major expense. Luckily, renting out your car can help you mitigate that cost and even turn a profit.
Chances are you aren’t using your car at all hours of the day. If you can afford to part with it for select blocks of time, you can make good money lending it to a commuter, traveler, or commercial driver.
Just download one of the apps below, list your vehicle, select the times you want to make it available, then coordinate with someone to let them pick up your car and take it out on the town. All of these services have built-in tracking, so you’ll know where your car is when it’s not in your driveway, and many provide built-in insurance as well.
Average rates: N/A (depends on what you’re renting)
Who doesn’t have too much stuff on their hands? If you only need some of your things for short periods of time (e.g., only on the weekends, when you go out camping, or even just once a year), or you have stuff you don’t use at all but haven’t been able to bring yourself to throw away, you can make easy pocket change by renting it out.
There’s a rental market for pretty much anything, including:
Average rates: N/A
Of course, you can also make money by renting out your home and yard. Doing that doesn’t necessarily mean taking on roommates; there are many ways to make money with your spare space that don’t involve you letting strangers move in with you (or owning a rental property).
For example, you can:
