6 Overhyped Side Hustles to Avoid in 2023

8 min readAug 29, 2022

Everyday I’m Hustling.

I don’t remember when was the first time I heard the word “hustle”, but I can easily tell you when was the last time I did: today.

I mean, it’s no surprise to anyone given how ever-present today’s “hustle culture” is. The reality is that it is almost impossible to escape hearing or seeing accounts of people bragging about their side hustles on social media and/or shaming other people for not having side hustles.

I’ve always been of a mindset that you should always do you. And I am not a stranger to side hustles.

I am a lawyer, I own two businesses, I contribute to two new YouTube channels (one of which is a podcast), I help local entrepreneurs with their legal business issues, and I like to write short articles whenever I can — you know, to keep the rust off my writing muscles.

This is by no means a flex — it only showcases how single I am and how I have too much time on my hands.

But I digress.

Back to side hustles. I don’t think you need me to explain what I side hustle is, but in case you do, a side hustle is something you do aside from the job you go to on a regular basis, to make some additional income. Some people turn their hobbies into side hustles, while some others pivot their chosen careers to a broader audience (often times called “moonlighting”) so they do the same thing they do for their employer, but in sort of a “freelancer” way.

Regardless of what your side hustle is, you will almost always inevitably have to trade some of your time (what I consider the single most valuable asset you have) in exchange for the side hustle. So you’ll want to make sure your side hustle is really worth it.

You may be thinking “what if I sell a product online?” Well, even if you are doing something that arguably requires less effort, like dropshipping, I still assume you are taking some time to set up a website, choose the products you want to sell, etc. If you don’t do all this prep work, then you will simply get lost in the vast ocean of people doing the exact same thing you are doing, but doing it better (because they invested the time).

The amount of time you invest increases exponentially if you are making the product you are selling. If you are providing a service, well, that’s no different from going to a job = time in exchange for $$$.

But enough of that — let’s get to the meat of this article. If you are someone who does not have a side hustle (either because you don’t have the time or because you don’t want to), no shame!

If you are thinking about getting a side hustle, I compiled a quick list of side hustles that are definitely not worth your time.

1. Setting up an online shop

This is a bit of a misdirect. I do believe online shops are great side hustles, if you have the right product/service and an efficient way to running things. As a matter of fact, one of my businesses is solely done through an online shop.

However, when I first tried my luck at a side hustle via an online shop, I crashed hard.

This was for a number of reasons — a learning curve, if you will — but the silent killer was the monthly fee that I paid to keep my website up. So, to set yourself for a better start than the one I had, I would recommend you place the horse in front of the cart. If you already have a product or service you want to offer and are really ready to take on sales, then get that website up and get going. But if you are not ready, you don’t want to get stuck with a monthly bill that will slowly dig a hole in your bank account while you are still trying to figure out what you want to do.

2. Becoming a secret shopper

When I was in high school, I worked in retail at the local mall (who didn’t?). Back then, “secret shoppers” were a thing of mystery and awe.

Our managers were scared of them and we were amused by the stories they told. Trying to spot a secret shopper became sort of a game. Some coworkers would even claim that it was a sweet gig because not only were you so “powerful” (I really don’t know what kind of power they meant…since secret shoppers often times are paid to act like Karens), but you also got paid for doing something so trivial as shopping.

In reality, however, there are 2 reasons why being a secret shopper is not as glamorous (or profitable) as it’s made to be.

First, the pay may seem attractive (~$30-$50) to shop, and (sometimes) you get to keep some of what you purchase with the company’s money. However, unless you are assigned to stores that are located near you, you will have to spend your own gas to get you to the store, which costs both time and money. By the time you are done with the experience, you’d be lucky if you break even, which is not really the point of a side hustle.

Second, you become the target of scammers out there. They’ll act as a big, reputable company, and even agree to send you some payment in advance. The company will send you a check in the mail and ask you to send a portion of it back via bank transfer “to confirm that your account is set up to receive your future payments via bank transfer” (because obviously you’ll be raking in so much $$$ that they will go out of business if they keep sending you checks!). The problem is, whatever money you end up sending back will be lost because (SURPRISE!) the check they sent you will always bounce. Trust me, your time is better invested somewhere else.

3. Writing product reviews

This one is a bit tricky, because there are real opportunities to get paid, but they are so few and far between that it is hard to find enough gigs to consider it a side hustle. You can make between $5 and $10 for 15–30 minutes of work, but a lot of these are one-offs, so it’s most likely not worth your time. If you have a way to have a steady stream of gigs, however, this may not be that bad of a side hustle to add to your repertoire.

4. Answering surveys

This is one I have fallen for a couple of times only to quit in frustration after a day or two.

At first glance, the promise of making a couple of dollars for a few minutes of your time is quite appealing. Even if you are not trying to get rich off of surveys, it is easy to fall for the appeal of making a few bucks whenever you are idly waiting in line at the grocery store or while sitting in the bathroom.

But let me warn you: BIG MISTAKE.

A lot of these websites are super shady and not at all user friendly. They also are incredibly frustrating. 90% of surveys will promise you $3-$5 for 5 minutes but what you have to do is answer between 5–10 questions to see if you qualify for the survey.

So, you are answering a survey to see if you can access the survey. (DUMB).

And, you are not getting paid for these questions (or the time you spend answering them). When you are done, most likely one of two things will happen: (1) you don’t qualify for the survey, so you’re SOL and wasted all this time for nothing; or (2) the button to “submit” the survey takes you to a shady “offer page” or it straight-up doesn’t work and you…wasted all this time for nothing.

This happens so often that even if you are one of the lucky few that gets to access some legit surveys, the value of the time you spent trying to find them already put you in the red.

AND, a lot of these companies sell your information to third parties so you wasted time, made no money, and are now part of various scammers’ lists. What a trifecta.

5. Joining a Multi-Level Marketing company.

(a.k.a. social marketing, at-home business, network marketing, etc.)

Trust me, just, don’t do it.

Don’t believe me?

Fine.

You can find out for yourself here, or here, or here, or here, (or you can save me time and google “should I join an MLM?” and read through some of those articles). You can also explore YouTube’s endless stream of anti-MLM content and hear some of the horror stories. If after all that you still want to join one, well, that’s on you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

6. ANY side hustle where you have to pay to start.

Now, I need to clarify a bit.

Almost any side hustle will involve some initial cost. Whether it is to acquire the tools you will use or the raw materials. Even a digital side hustle often times will require at least the $12 to get a domain + the web hosting costs, etc. These are all “startup costs.”

But, there is a difference between startup costs and paying to get “access” to a company or get training.

For a side hustle, you should not really need a lot of training because, well, it is a side hustle. But there are many companies out there that sell you on the promise of tons of easy money, only to have you pay ridiculously high “admin fees” or requiring you to purchase overpriced “starting kits.” Other than paying for reasonable startup costs, if you have to pay-to-play, not only will it not be worth your time, you most likely will walk out with your wallet feeling a bit lighter.

At least, now you know what not to try as a side hustle. When you do find a side hustle you want to try, well, the hardest part will still lie ahead. But that’s a topic for another article.

What do you think? Are there any other bad side hustles I should include here?

Let’s do this.

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