Students' Side Hustles: 7 Picks, and How Each One Works

7. Sell clothes you no longer wear

Seven side hustles for students, starting with clothes you no longer wear. Number seven: sell clothes you no longer wear. Once a purchase is confirmed, you have seven calendar days to ship, or the sale is canceled. On Grailed, you create an account, then use the Sell button at the top right of the website.

In the app, the same button sits in the bottom bar of the screen. From your Sell page, you add payment details before you can publish your first listing. That step goes through a payment processor, and which one depends on your eligibility. Next, you create a listing, with Grailed's selling guide covering photos, sizing and pricing.

Then you publish it, and the listing goes on sale once any review is done. Items that qualify for digital authentication are reviewed by Grailed's authenticators before they go on sale. Pieces that do not qualify follow the regular listing steps, without that extra review. When you accept a binding offer, the sale is final and the buyer is charged.

You have twenty-four hours to either accept a binding offer or counter it. Sellers pay a commission of 6% on sales under $120, with a minimum of $1 and ninety-nine cents. Sales of $120 and above pay 9%, and buyers pay no Grailed fee. By our count, a forty-dollar jacket leaves $37 and sixty cents after the 6% fee, before processing fees.

The fee itself comes to $2 and forty cents on that sale. Barring disputes or payout holds, Grailed releases the money within three calendar days of when the item shows as delivered. Payout times and offer rules can differ where you live. If guides like this help you, subscribe: every step in this video comes from each platform's own help page, linked below.

6. Enter design contests and compete to create the winning design

Number six: enter design contests and compete to create the winning design. A standard contest runs over seven days, and the client picks one winning design. On 99designs, you sign up as a designer on the register page. A design contest is a competition between designers to create the winning design for a client's design brief.

The contest has four stages over seven days. Qualified designers from around the world see the contest in the marketplace and submit designs that meet the brief. Entries are submitted at a one-to-one aspect ratio, so each design is square. Adding a description of your entry helps the client better appreciate your design.

The client gives feedback on the designs through several rounds of review. Finally, the client picks a winner. The winning designer receives the prize money, and the client gets the design files and full copyright. Higher designer levels unlock Gold and Platinum contests, where 15% of the total prize is split between all finalists.

In one-to-one projects, where a designer works directly with a client, the platform fee starts at 15% for Entry Level. Mid Level designers pay 10%, and Top Level designers pay 5%. By our count, a two-hundred-dollar project leaves $170 after the 15% Entry Level fee, before any other fees. On that project, the fee is $30.

Entry Level designers have a monthly cap on contests, to allow time to learn the platform and build their skills. Payout options can differ where you live.

5. Share your view in paid research interviews

Number five: share your view in paid research interviews. Payment comes after the researcher confirms you took part, not on the day itself. On Respondent, you build a profile where the role type can be full-time, freelance or student. You also add all the languages you can interview in, since researchers consider languages when choosing who to invite.

Researchers choose who to invite based on details such as role, industry, region and availability. So the details in your profile shape which studies reach you. Project types include remote interviews, which are scheduled video or phone sessions usually fifteen to ninety minutes long. Others include remote focus groups led by a moderator, and diary studies with short entries.

When you're invited to a paid study, you get a text message and an email. For moderated studies, the email has a link to the researcher's project calendar to book a time. You're paid after the researcher confirms you attended or completed the study. The payment comes as a gift card, and you choose which one from an email.

Payment typically arrives seven to ten business days after the researcher's confirmation. That clock starts at the confirmation, not at the date of the study session itself. By our count, a study confirmed on a Monday usually pays out between Wednesday of the following week and the Monday after that. That is seven business days to that Wednesday, and ten business days to that Monday.

Incentives are paid minus a fulfillment fee of 5%, with a minimum of $1. Gift card choices can differ where you live.

4. Compete in coding challenges and matches with other members around the world

Number four: compete in coding challenges and matches with other members around the world. Customers only pay for solutions that meet or exceed their expectations. On Topcoder, a challenge is customer work launched to a global talent network. The customer's price for a challenge includes Topcoder's fee and the option to pick up to three winners.

You join through Talent Sign Up on topcoder.com, where you add your details and agree to the terms. Then you confirm your email and set a password, and you're a member. Algorithm competitions are Single Round Matches, which last around an hour and a half. Usually there are three matches a month, with dates on Topcoder's event calendar.

Each match has three problems of increasing difficulty, and you work through them in the coding phase. After a five-minute break comes a fifteen-minute challenge phase, where competitors test each other's solutions. You can practice on past problems in the Arena. Registration for a match typically opens four hours before it starts.

The coding phase of each match lasts seventy-five minutes. Within that time, you work on the three problems, which grow harder one after another. By our count, a seventy-five-minute coding phase, a five-minute break and a fifteen-minute challenge phase add up to ninety-five minutes. That fits the page's description of a match lasting about an hour and a half.

Registration closes five minutes before a match starts, and even one minute late is too late to register. Payment rules can differ where you live. That's past the halfway mark: selling clothes, design contests, research interviews and coding challenges so far. The last three cover local tasks, paid product studies and tutoring, with the best last.

3. Help people nearby with the tasks they need done

Number three: help people nearby with the tasks they need done. Every hourly task has a minimum charge, so even a short job counts as a full hour. On Taskrabbit, you download the Tasker app, which is different from the Taskrabbit app clients use to book tasks. The registration itself happens in the app only.

In the app, you create an account, then set your skills and the location where you work. You also verify your info and add at least one available time slot. Last in the app, you draw your Work Area Map to show where you can take tasks. Taskrabbit then verifies your profile, which should take at most two working days.

Next, an email sends you to verify your identity, where you take a photo of your ID and a selfie. Taskers are independent contractors who choose their categories and, in most of them, set their own hourly rates. Clients pay a Taskrabbit service fee on top of the Tasker's rate. Taskers receive 100% of all reimbursements.

The minimum charge on every hourly task is one hour. Taskers can also choose a two-hour minimum for their hourly tasks. By our count, a task with a two-hour minimum that ends after ninety minutes is still charged as two hours. So the ninety minutes of work are billed up to the full two-hour minimum.

Registration happens in the Tasker app, and Taskrabbit verifies each profile and identity. Requirements and fees can differ where you live.

2. Give feedback on products in paid studies

Number two: give feedback on products in paid studies. A booked session can only be moved without a penalty when you give a full day's notice. On User Interviews, you create a participant account and fill in your profile information. Then you verify your phone number and start applying to studies that interest you.

User Interviews uses your profile information to match you with relevant studies. Every selection is made by the researcher, and each study needs your application first. Phone verification needs a mobile phone number, since landline and internet-based numbers are not supported. Your country also has to be on the supported list for the text code to reach you.

Your incentive is paid either by User Interviews or by the researcher directly. In both cases, you're paid the full incentive after the researcher confirms the study was completed. That payment can take up to ten business days from your session date. For a live session, the date of your session is the starting point for counting that wait.

Cancelling or rescheduling a study needs at least twenty-four hours' notice to avoid a penalty. Participants are also expected to be on time for every session they book. By our count, a session at three p.m. on a Thursday can be moved without a penalty until three p.m.

on Wednesday. That puts the cutoff exactly twenty-four hours before the session starts. You need a mobile number in a supported country, and you show up on time for each study you book. Whether sign-up works for you depends on where you live.

1. Tutor the subjects you know best and set your own price

Number one: tutor the subjects you know best and set your own price. The trial lesson with each new student goes fully to Preply as commission. On Preply, you register on the desktop site through Become a tutor, with an email and a password. Signing up is free, with no fee to host your profile.

The application has eight sections, including your photo, your introduction video and your tutoring rate. Applicants must be at least eighteen years old to join. The team reviews your application within five business days after you send it. You set your own price, so your tutoring rate is up to you.

After that trial, the commission is a share of the hourly rate, between eighteen and 33%. It starts at 33% and drops to twenty-eight after twenty hours of teaching. Most lessons in the Preply Classroom are confirmed automatically about fifteen minutes after the scheduled end time. Then your rate minus the commission reaches your balance, and you withdraw it from the wallet icon.

The commission for new tutors after the trial lesson is 33%. Preply's example: a new tutor at $10 an hour receives $6 seventy per lesson, except trials. By our count, a twenty-dollar lesson leaves $13 and forty cents for a new tutor after the 33% commission. That is the twenty-dollar price minus $6 and sixty cents, which is 33% of twenty.

An application can be turned down, for example when the subject is currently in low demand among learners. Applications and withdrawal methods can differ where you live. So, seven side hustles: clothes on Grailed, design contests on 99designs, interviews on Respondent and coding on Topcoder. Then local tasks on Taskrabbit, paid studies on User Interviews and tutoring on Preply.

Rules and availability differ where you live. So open the platform's own help page first, and see what it asks for in your area. Which one fits your class schedule? Tell us the number in the comments.

Results vary, and this is information only, not financial advice. This is Wealth Filings. Next, more side hustles and how each one works, linked on screen.