5 City Side Hustles that do NOT work

5 City Side Hustles that are more trouble than they are worth if you live in a city. I’ve tried them all!

One in two millennial’s have a side hustle. Most of us live in cities, so I will call these Millennial Hustles, “City Side Hustles“. Last week, I wrote about two City Side Hustles that worked well for me, with minimal effort. I saved up enough money for an engagement ring! Along the journey I tried them all. Well, maybe not all, but all the ones that I thought would require a minimal amount of energy. Most of them took way too much effort.

Below are 5 City Side Hustles that were more trouble than they were worth.

#1 Failed City Side Hustle : Taking surveys in your spare time. 

Back when I was researching side hustles, I thought surveys would be the jackpot. The spare time I had was in between tasks at work or before bed, so something I could do on my phone would be perfect… or so I thought. There are multiple websites or apps that offer on-the-go surveys for cash. The two I tried were “Surveys on the Go” and “Survey Junkie”. I spent a few weeks essentially exposing my personal preference data to marketing firms (very valuable to them, but I did not see the value in return). I only received a few cents per survey! You cash out your earning via PayPal, however, on many of these survey platforms you can only cash out in large $20-$50 increments. The ROI of this City Side Hustle is very weak, and somewhat risky because you’re asked to provide your political, financial, and consumer preferences.

#2 Failed City Side Hustle: Food delivery in The City via car:

In an earlier post I wrote about how I saved up for an engagement ring delivering food. If you live in a large expensive City you know that parking is always an issue. DoorDash and Uber Eats are popular food delivery services that most people complete in their vehicle. To pick up delivery orders, you’re going to have to double park and risk being towed or told off by angry drivers. Use Postmates or Caviar and deliver in The City on bike or foot. Very rewarding!

#3 Failed City Side Hustle: Product inventory apps.

Field Agent and GigWalk are apps that allow you to complete tasks locally for $3-$12 each task. That said, tasks locations required me to drive (too far to walk or bike) and were not along public transit. Parking was an issue. The tests required me to take photos and answer questions about product inventory at CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens. I received concerned and confused looks from store employees, which made me feel uncomfortable. With transit, parking, and task execution, I averaged around an hour for each task. The average payout was $7. I decided a $7/hour City Side Hustle was not worth the hassle.

# 4 Failed City Side Hustle: Coupon apps!

There are multiple cash back rewards apps that allow the user to earn cash back on everyday purchases. I used iBotta. Just like the surveys above, you can only cash out in $20 increments, which takes a lot of effort to accumulate. In addition, this is a platform for iBotta to gain valuable marketing data, but it gives back very little to the user. Only certain items have coupons, so as the user you typically change up your normal shopping list and end up purchasing items you do not not actually need.

# 5 Failed City Side Hustle: Buying and reselling new or used textbooks online for a profit.

Just don’t. This market is too saturated and digital these days. I lost money attempting to buy books on Ebay and trying to sell them for a profit on Bookscouter. There are ways to do it profitably (as described on the Penny Hoarder), but it takes too much time and attention to detail.

These City Side Hustles did not produce the ROI I wanted for the effort I was willing to put in. Read here about what worked for me.