As SideGains is a site about blogging and side hustles, I thought I’d take on the mammoth task of documenting simple ways to make money online. This one is specifically for the best UK side hustle ideas (I’ll produce one for the US later).
If you live and work in the UK but are not convinced you need a side hustle, it might be worth understanding why all UK residents need a side hustle.
I’ll build on this post over time to add more side hustles. But for the moment, here is my list for UK residents who want to start earning some extra cash.
Best UK Decluttering Side Hustle Ideas
Kill two birds with one stone: clear out the stuff you don’t use anymore and make some side money in the process.
Sell Your Old Music CDs
So you’re never going to get rich clearing out your old CD closet! But this is a side hustle for anyone… and not just for people living in the UK.
If you’re like me, you seldom use CDs for listening to music nowadays. My kids have actually never used a CD, and only ever listen to music online.
For those with a large CD collection, understandably you might have a strong emotional attachment to them. To be honest though, sentimentality for CDs does not pay the bills.
List your CDs on sites like Mazuma Mobile, MusicMagpie, Preloved or GumTree. Cut your emotional ties, fully commit to online and streaming and earn yourself a few quid in the process.
Don’t procrastinate… your music CDs are not gaining in value.
Sell Your Used Video Games
If you’ve shifted your music CDs, why not get rid of unused video games?
Some games (especially recent-ish console games) can bag you a pretty penny.
I recently sold Minecraft for the XBox One for £7. It’s not earth-shattering, but if I’d sold it a year ago instead of leaving it gathering dust, it would have been worth more.
Use sites site as Music Magpie and GameXchange to see quotes for the video games you want to sell.
Sell Your Old Books
The same goes for books you’ve read once (maximum twice!), especially literature.
We can become emotionally attached to these too. However, aside from being a nice decoration in your living room and a public show of intellect, what good do they do you if you’re never going to read them again?
Cut your attachment, declutter and sell them on eBay, Preloved, GumTree or Amazon.
Sell Your Old Mobile
Old mobiles don’t have the same emotional pull as books and CDs, so why hang on to them? I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone tell me how much they love their old iPhone in the same way they talk about a favourite music CD.
I myself offloaded 2 old iPhone 5Cs 3 months ago and side hustled £50 for the pair.
Sell your old mobiles on Envirophone and Mazuma Mobile.
Sell Your Old Tablet Devices
As with your old mobile phones, you can flog old tablet devices at Mazuma Mobile and MusicMagpie. If you prefer a local flavour, advertise them on GumTree and Preloved.
There really is no point in keeping them if you don’t use them, and as with any unused tech items, they’re losing value every day. Sell them now to get the best price you can.
Sell the Clothes You Don’t Wear Any More
You might no longer love the platform heels you never used to take off… but someone might.
Old clothes can be sitting in a closet for years and never worn even once. As long as your old clothing is still in a decent state, sell it, clear out your wardrobe and make space for things you will wear.
Sell your old clothes on GumTree and Preloved.
Did you know you can also recycle old garments at certain UK stores and get gift vouchers in return? You can take a bag of clothing to any H&M store and they’ll give you a £5 voucher to spend.
A similar scheme is in place between Oxfam and M&S. Take your old garments (at least one item has to have an M&S label) and Oxfam will give you a £5 M&S voucher.
Don’t hoard… clear out your closet today, recycle and make a little on the side at the same time!
Have a Car Boot Sale
This is something my wife does regularly… probably 4 times a year! She loves the hustle and the buzz of negotiating a price and regularly does pretty well.
I would say on average my wife makes £200 per boot sale, selling the things we don’t shift elsewhere. So usually it’s things like clothing, toys and games our daughters no longer use and homeware items we want to replace.
Considering a pitch at a car boot sale normally costs around £10, she clears £190 (perhaps minus the price of a coffee while she’s there).
Car boot sales are a highly recommended way to sell stuff that you might find difficult to sell in other places. They’re also a great way to find other things that you might sell in other “channels”.
The Best UK Side Hustle Ideas Online
Start a Blog
Everyone’s doing it… how the hell do I stand a chance? If that’s what you’re thinking, so are others. This is one of the reasons to just go for it.
Of course there is huge competition in the blogging world but if you don’t jump in and have a go, then yes it won’t work out for you!
A blog can generate you a healthy side income in any niche, but you have to be committed and you must be prepared to dig yourself in for the long term.
It takes a long time to establish a blog and start to see regular traffic: think of at least a year.
Make long-form blog posts (over 1,500 word) regularly but be sure to stuff them with value.
Once you start getting traffic, you can make a decision about how to monetize it. Some options are affiliate programs, Google Adsense, selling ad space or eBooks.
Some of the best UK side hustles come in the shape of blogs… so if you never try, you’ll never know!
Find out more about how to start a blog.
Write for Blogs
If writing for your own blog doesn’t appeal, perhaps you could write for someone else? Of course you’d need to show that you’re a decent writer (having your own blog is one way to showcase your work).
You won’t necessarily make a fortune doing this, but if you’re a half decent wordsmith who enjoys writing, it could be just the ticket to put a few more pennies in your pocket.
I’ve seen journalist quality blog writers charging up to £200 for an in depth high quality blog post and others £16 for a 500 word piece with a 24 hour turnaround.
Check out sites like Fiverr and FlexJobs to see what’s available.
Start an Etsy Store
Do you have an arts or crafting hobby? You can turn your hobby into a side hustle by creating an Etsy store and selling to people who might be interested in what you make.
Etsy is the ideal place to sell your handmade items because it’s the place where people go to find independent sellers selling unique products.
Many hobbyists have turned their Etsy side hustle into a full-time business. Could you be another?
Sign up for an account and turn what you love doing into something that pays you at the same time.
Sell Your Skills on Fiverr
Are you a Web developer? Do you know about SEO link building? What about logo design skills? If you answered yes, becoming a Fiverr hustler might work out well for you.
You can turn what you do as a day job into a hustle with potential to top up your salary. Find listings for almost any type of work you can do remotely.
The signup process is straightforward and there are lots of tutorials online to land you that first Fiverr gig!
This is another practicable side hustle that people have used to springboard into self-employment.
Create & Sell an Online Course
Are you an expert in something? People want to learn what you know and are looking for affordable ways to do so.
Sites like Udemy (the world’s largest online learning platform) provide you with easy to use tools to create an eLearning course for marketing to more than 30 million registered students.
Current courses available cover a huge range of categories including business, the arts, health, fitness, language learning, music and technology.
Successful digital products like online courses can provide you with a passive side hustle income, but the quality and value must be high.
Sell Your Photos Online
Living in a digital world means we all have thousands of photos stored on our devices. Did you know these might be worth something?
Selling your photos online is a no-brainer since you’ve already got a huge back catalog taking up space on your storage media.
There are literally hundreds of sites where you can pick up a pretty penny if someone decides to use an image you’ve made available. The real beauty of this though is that your photos can sell to anyone time and time again. So if you’ve got a real cracker it could just keep on selling!
Selling your photos in this way is a way to generate passive income because once your photo is uploaded you don’t not do anything else but sit and wait for someone to like it enough they’re prepared to pay to use it.
Now this all sounds straightforward, but no-one is going to buy an underexposed, out of focus or poorly composed photo from you. In fact, many stock photography sites won’t accept images that don’t cut the mustard.
That said, if you have a large bank of high-quality photos, you have a potential goldmine waiting for you to start coining it.
To start selling your photos online, join a reputable stock photography reseller such as:
There are many more, but this can get you started. Don’t sit on a potential passive side hustle, start trawling through your hard drive today!
Summary for the Best UK Side Hustle Ideas
Many of the side hustles in this article all require one thing: your effort.
It is possible for anyone living in the UK to find a little side money by just putting themselves out there are having a go.
It’s not difficult to start a side hustle… you just have to pick something and give it a try. You may not become a millionaire but you may be able to supplement your earnings to pay for a holiday or get some work done on your home.
As with anything, side hustles can be as big or as small as you want them to be in terms of what you put in. However, if your want your hustle to be big, you have to be committed.
There’s a huge benefit in starting up something for yourself. Read through my article discussing why you need a side hustle if you live in the UK to find out why.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading… and good luck!
Paul
If you’d like to contribute to this list of the best UK side hustle ideas please drop me a comment below.
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