Along with the New Year comes high financial goals, and making money is your top New Year’s resolutions. For many people, making this resolution a reality means finding the best online side hustles out there.
But launching an online side hustle can be a challenge if you don’t know what to sell. That’s why I decided to share this list to help you uncover what you can sell online regardless of which industry you choose.
In this list, you’ll find great ideas of what you can sell to start the best online side hustles—or, you may find a great idea to add to your existing side hustle.
Questions to Ask Yourself When Choosing a Side Hustle
Before we dive into exploring the top online side hustles, let’s first have a look at what you should ask yourself before deciding to side hustle.
Do the ideas align with my skills, education, and experience?
Try jotting down your transferable skills, knowledge, and experience that you enjoy and are good at and see whether any apply to any of the side hustles you’re considering.
Does the side hustle fit into my daily life?
It helps to choose something easy to reschedule and won’t interfere with or keep you from your regular job.
Will the ideas start earning me money now or later?
You should choose something that will help you reach your goals faster. Stop for a minute, and think about your plans. Some of your financial goals may be short term like buying a new car, or long-term, such as buying a new home. So if you need money right away, you wouldn’t want anything that takes months to receive payment.
How to Find What to Sell Online
After you know your audience, the easiest way to find what to sell online is to check Amazon and Google Trends.
The Best Sellers section on Amazon will show you the top-selling categories and items. The Google Trends tool shows you data on the popularity of your product idea based on search volume.
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Top 22 Online Side Hustles
These are the best online side hustles and the trending products and services you can sell to start them.
- Planners and Workbooks
- Gift Baskets
- Body Oil
- Natural Hair Care Products
- Sunglasses
- Tshirts
- Clothing
- Pet Products
- Used Books, eBooks, and Stationery Products
- Packaged Food
- Hair Extensions
- Crafts
- Virtual Services
- Tutoring Services
- Transcription Services
- Courses
- Proofreading Services
- Writing Services
- Photography
- Scoping Services
- Bookkeeping Services
- Canva Templates and Graphics
Best Online Side Hustles (Products Category)
1. Sell Planners and Workbooks
Looking for a popular product to sell in the stationery industry? According to Statista, sales of appointment books and paper planners amounted to approximately $342.7 million.
These days you can sell all sorts of paper planners or journals for almost any niche. Whether it’s for entrepreneurship, fitness, or party planning, consumers are looking for a planner product that helps them organize and help them meet their personal and professional goals. Before you launch your own planner, I’d suggest buying some different planners so you can compare size, binding, and layout.
2. Sell Gift Baskets
Gift baskets are the fourth most popular gift, outranked only by gift cards, electronics, and apparel. The core group of loyal buyers of gift baskets is individuals, independent professionals, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and institutions.
You can sell specific gift baskets that contain bath and body products, baby items, or other gifts. But the majority have food, the all-important component that entices every client.
- To get started selling gift baskets, educate yourself on the most popular selling occasions and events and the different types of custom themes some clients may request.
3. Sell Body Oil
If you’re looking for something to sell in the personal care industry, consider selling perfume body oils. Statistics show that in 2018 beauty and personal care products generated sales worth 89.4 billion dollars in the United States (Source). And it’s not predicted to slow down anytime soon.
The key to success of a body oil business is in the quality of the product. High-quality cosmetic grade body oils will last all day, and designer types will have the same scent as their expensive counterparts. I can not stress this enough. The quality of product is what brings repeat business.
- For a beginner’s guide into perfume notes and how to make your own perfume oils, check out How to Make Body Oil by Wikihow.
4. Sell Natural Hair Care Products
The natural hair care product market just keeps growing year over year, with a market size valued at USD 8.74 billion in 2019 and with a CAGR of 4.7% per year through 2027.
Research shows that 33% of consumers say they always care about the ingredients in the beauty products they buy.
So what does that mean? It means that consumers are looking online for hair care products that don’t contain harmful ingredients.
Since women take the time to look for high-quality hair care products online, you can create your own products that have organic ingredients or look for wholesale suppliers that carry natural hair products.
5. Sell Sunglasses
Sunglasses are another popular product you can sell this year to make money. People are always buying new sunglasses. As long as there are sunny days, there’s always going to be a demand for sunglasses.
According to Statista, revenues generated in the sunglasses segment in the United States are forecast to reach $3,310m in 2020. You can expect the market to continue to grow annually by 10.1%.
- Check out Wholesale2b to get access to tons of dropship sunglasses and eyewear.
6. Sell T-shirts
T-shirts have been selling well for a while now. They are one of the most popular apparel items out there that are worn by both men and women.
According to Grandview Research, in 2020, the t-shirt market is sitting at $3.7 billion. This number is projected to surpass $6.9 billion in 2027.
The market is pretty saturated, though. That’s why you’ll have to create t-shirt designs that make your brand stand out from the competition.
- Head over to Spreadshirt if you’re looking to start a t-shirt business of your own.
7. Sell Clothing
When searching for the best online side hustles, selling clothing is always a popular business idea. The fashion industry continuously has positive growth.
After the government-mandated lockdowns due to COVID-19, many clothing and department stores saw a decline in sales. But the bright spot was the rise in online sales.
According to statistics and facts, the apparel market sits at around $368 billion today, brick and mortar stores at about $268 billion, and e-commerce at $100 million. It expects to see steady growth in the e-commerce market for retail goods.
When it comes to selling clothing, you can curate clothing products from different wholesale suppliers to create your own online boutique. You can dropship clothing from suppliers like Wholesale2b or source secondhand clothing.
8. Sell Pet Products
Selling pet products is another popular business idea when you’re on the hunt for the best online side hustles. That’s no surprise, though, because people spend a lot on their pets.
There are all kinds of pet products out there that you can sell online.
According to CompareCamp, services in the pet industry includes food, grooming, and veterinary care. And there are product lines dedicated to the health and wellness of pets, such as shampoo, grooming tools, and vitamins.
Regardless if you want to design your own pet products, create pet accessories like harnesses and leashes, or even dive into pet food and treats — Think about what pets use and need or what products would make pet parents’ lives easier.
- To get started selling pet food, reference the FDA’s website for information on marketing a pet food product.
9. Sell Used Books, eBooks, and Stationery Products
Today the global stationery product market is valued at $192.2 billion and is expected to continue growing by a CAGR of 1.8% until 2027. At the same time, the stationery product market in the US is at $52 billion.
Based on Grand View Research, Inc. data, the rise in the number of educational institutions and the steady increase of the young population interest in higher education across the globe indicates an increase in demand for these products.
If you want to start making money selling books, ebooks, or stationery products, here’s what you can do:
- Go to thrift stores, garage sales, flea markets and craigslist to find books that you can sell on Amazon or eBay.
- Create your own ebooks and build a blog to sell them on or sell them using Payhip.
- Find a wholesale or dropship supplier to get access to paper products related to these industries.
10. Sell Packaged Food
The global food and grocery retail market is valued at $11.7 billion as of 2019, and it’s expected to continue growing by a CAGR of 5% until 2027.
The demand for ready-to-eat and effortless consumption has fueled the growth of the packaged food in the food and grocery retail industry.
What does this mean? It means that there is enough room for more retailers. You can make your own food to sell, or you can always sell other products such as condiments, snacks, candy, canned and pickled products, seeds, nuts, coffee, and tea.
11. Sell Hair Extensions
If you want to sell a high-profit margin product, look into selling hair extensions. Consumers are spending more and more money on one of the most precious beauty assets they have —Their hair.
These days consumers who like experimenting with their look or have problems growing their hair are opting more for hair extensions.
According to research by Statista, the increase in demand is driving the hair extensions market, valued at $7.72 billion in 2020, to reach an estimated 10 billion by 2023, growing by a CAGR of 9%
If you’re interested in hair wigs and weave, hair extensions could be a viable product to sell online.
- Check out this StarterStory on how Private Label Extensions started a $650k/month hair extensions business.
12. Sell Crafts
There’s a massive market for handmade crafts, so if turning your crafting love into a work from home part-time business interests you, think about the demand for similar items as yours and see if your items fit into an existing product category where there’s not too much competition. Alternatively, look at the crafts that already exist and find ways to differentiate your materials, artistry, and unique designs.
- Check out Leisure Arts to find craft supplies and step-by-step guides.
Best Online Side Hustles (Services Category)
13. Sell Virtual Services
Now is the time to start your own side hustle selling virtual services. When there are just not enough hours in the day for small business owners, solopreneurs, busy professionals, and bloggers to get everything done, they all outsource tasks to a virtual assistant.
And your startup costs are very minimal. Really, all you need is to get a logo and set up a WordPress blog for your side hustle business (which you can totally DIY), and that’s it. Now you’re ready to promote your VA services to potential clients.
15. Sell Tutoring Services
One of the most fun (and super easy) side hustle ideas I know of can be found over at Magic Ears, where you can get paid to tutor English. You can earn up to $26 an hour. And you can earn extra cash when you refer friends to sign up to teach— how’s that for easy?
15. Sell Transcription Services
If you’ve been on the search for the best online side hustles for any amount of time, I’m sure transcription services appeared in your search results. Suppose you don’t know what a transcriptionist is. In that case, basically, a transcriptionist is the person who listens to audio and videos then types everything that’s being said into a document known as a transcript.
Ready to jump right in and sell transcription services as a side hustle? Congratulations! I highly recommend taking one (or both) free mini-courses over at Transcribe Anywhere.
One is a general transcription course, and the other is a legal transcription course. Taking one or both courses will give you a much better understanding of putting your typing skills to work and what it takes to become a successful transcriptionist.
16. Sell Courses
There’s no shortage of people earning passive income selling courses online. While some of them might be pros nows, they haven’t always been. Everybody starts at the beginning, so don’t feel like you need to be an expert to sell your own courses. So long as you have knowledge to share on a topic, whether it’s about knitting, writing, or baking, you can package it into a course!
Create your own course now with Teachable!
17. Sell Proofreading Services
Proofreading is a growing side hustle. When proofreading, your job is to go over documents with a fine-tooth comb to make sure there are no typos and grammatical errors.
As a new proofreader, you can easily position yourself as an expert and sell your proofreading services to clients by targeting a specific niche — entrepreneurs, publishers, content creators.
Now that you know what it takes to be a proofreader and brushed up on your skills, you’re probably ready to start proofreading as a side hustle.
My post How to Start Proofreading as a Side Hustle can help steer you in the right direction.
18. Sell Writing Services
You already know if writing is a passion of yours. If you agonize over word choices and can’t even let an email go until it’s worded just right, you’re a language lover and a passionate writer.
Now you can turn your wordsmith ways into a side hustle.
Remember, you just can’t call yourself a freelance writer and expect to make money. You have to prove you can write.
The best way to do that is to complete training that prepares you to market yourself as a professional freelance writer for hire. You can hone your skills this way AND command a fair wage for your work.
I highly recommend the Write Your Way to Your First $1k course by Elna Cain. You’ll learn freelance writing for online businesses, what services to offer, and all the ways to get clients.
You can enroll in Write Your Way to Your First $1k here!
19. Sell Photography
Do you have an eye for photography? Already have the necessary equipment to start? Then an online side hustle selling photography could be the perfect business idea for you.
You can sell stock photos or a library of high-resolution images, including event photography, lifestyle photography, food photography, product photography, social media photography, and corporate photography.
If you have little photography experience, that’s okay too; you can always take an affordable online course like the ones offered at Digital Photography School.
20. Sell Scoping Services
Do you have excellent punctuation, word use, and vocabulary skills? If so, then selling scoping services online might be the right side hustle for you.
If you already have experience as a scopist, you can easily transition to work from home.
But, you may find yourself with little to no scoping experience. In that case, you can always take a short online training. I recommend Internet Scoping School. Not only will you develop scoping skills you can sell, but you will also learn how to pitch those skills successfully.
21. Sell Bookkeeping Services
Did you know that you can start selling bookkeeping services for next-to-nothing in startup costs? And that’s why, if you’re in the market for a new side hustle, I highly recommend a bookkeeping business from home. You can even complete online training that teaches you how to become a virtual bookkeeper. To learn more, I create a blog post on how to start a bookkeeping side hustle from home (with no experience).
22. Sell Canva Templates and Graphics
To sell Canva templates (or any graphics), you need to have a decent handle on visual appeal. Canva makes the process of creating graphics very simple. But it cannot magically make your work pretty or high-converting. That’s on you to figure it out.
So, before you go set up shop, the best way to get your visual design and branding skills up is with the online course Lights Canva Action over at Your Chic Geek.
If you enjoyed this post, click here to leave a review for me on Wealthtender!
Time to get selling
There, you have my roundup of what you can sell to make money so you can start one of the best online side hustles. If you’re facing financial roadblocks getting your side hustle off the ground, grab a copy of my business financing book on Amazon. Then take my super fun quiz What Type of Side Hustler Are You to discover your one of a kind side hustler personality.
Finding the Best Online Side Hustles FAQs
What products to sell online?
1. Planners and workbooks
2. Gift baskets
3. Body oil
4. Natural hair care products
5. Sunglasses
6. T-shirts
7. Clothing
8. Pet products
9. Used books, eBooks, stationery products
10. Packaged food
11. Hair extensions
12. Crafts
What services to sell online?
1. VA services
2. Tutoring
3. Transcription
4. Courses
5. Proofreading
6. Writing
7. Photography
8. Scoping
9. Bookkeeping
10. Canva templates and graphics
