8 Side Hustles To Avoid In 2024

8 Side Hustles To Avoid In 2024

Getting extra cash coming in every month asides from your 9-5 job is like icing on the cake and is highly motivating.

A few employees have been able to build a sustainable business while working their full-time job.

But, there are some side hustles that are just a waste of time, these ideas will drain you and your resources.

In your quest to add on some extra income streams, know the ones to steer clear of, those side ideas are not worth your precious time.

There are lots of these ideas that appear as “services” on the internet that claim to pay in exchange for services you render, some of them are too good to be true.

I’ll highlight some of these services and recommend you avoid them.

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Key Highlights

🎯 Most of these gigs often promise to offer you ridiculous returns for doing almost nothing.

🎯 They often request that you sign a cheque to get started with the promise of deploying your money to high-end investments.

🎯 Before starting a job, they often request upfront payments for training, equipment, or other materials.

🎯 These side businesses often care less about your skills and experience in jobs where they are needed.

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8 Side Hustles To Avoid

1. Mystery Shopping

Although the idea of mystery shopping sounds cool, it turns out to be unworthy when carefully analyzed.

In most cases, mystery shops pay between $10-$30 each time you shop at a given store to inspect cleanliness or customer service.

Now, $10-$30 may seem like a decent amount for a task as simple as just checking out a store.

However, there is a lot that comes into play in reality.

In most cases, to access a store, a mystery shopper spends some money on transportation.

Coupled with income taxes and the time required to draft down a comprehensive report, one would realize how much time and effort is involved in this job.

Moreover, there are so many mystery shopping agencies online that are scams.

Thus, it is not worth wasting your time pursuing this as a side hustle in 2024.

2. Multi-Level Marketing

Often shortened as MLM, Multi-level Marketing is another side hustle that should be avoided like a plague.

Operating like pyramid schemes, this system works like a referral program where you earn money for bringing in new members who buy products from the MLM provider.

Undoubtedly, most MLM companies out there promise heaven and earth. However, this is not true.

Moreover, research from the Federal Trade Commission reveals that only 1% of the total people involved in MLM have made a profit. That should tell you that 99% record losses at the end.

3. Crappy Online Surveys

We all know that online surveys are one of the most popular and most accessible side hustles out there.

To be sincere, many people have cashed out from some of these online survey sites.

However, there is much more to consider when looking at the complete picture.

While the idea of companies paying you for marketing research is a good one, the earning potential is nothing to write home about.

To also add, there are many survey sites out there that are scams.

Thus, it is advisable to avoid this side hustle like a plague in 2024.

Moreover, the earning potential is not worth the risk.

4. Medical Billing

Just in case you do not already know, Medical billing jobs are already trending in some parts of the world.

This job is entirely remote and is done on a contractual basis.

However, there is a high rate of scammers that have flooded the online medical billing sector.

Most of them charge for software and training packages for new workers without even owning a genuine medical billing service.

With the high rate of people who fall for this, medical billing is ranked as one of the side hustles to avoid like a plague in 2024.

5. Pay-To-Read

Today, there are several websites and apps like InboxDollars and Swagbucks that pay you to read posts or emails.

Now, it is natural to question the credibility of these platforms.

Why do companies pay you to read emails?

Well. From research, these jobs are actually worth paying for, as these companies actually use email readers as a source of traffic for adverts and referrals.

However, the downside attached to this job is the amount of money involved.

Prior to signing up for most pay-to-read websites, users are often promised way more than they actually get.

With only a few cents per task as pay, a user can hardly record any profit from pay-to-read websites.

Thus, this side gig can be tagged as a ‘rat race’, as users only get exploited in the long run.

6. Envelope Stuffing

Envelope Stuffing seems like one of the easiest side hustles, as all that is needed from a worker is to stuff envelopes.

However, there is no need to be excited already, as this side hustle is a total scam.

While there may be so many ads claiming to pay people for these jobs online, not even one of them does.

Instead, some workers are instructed to send little tokens for orientation and training and refer others to the job to earn.

From research, this job has proven to be one that all job seekers should avoid.

7. Cryptocurrency Schemes

With the current buzz of the cryptocurrency world, you might be tempted to think you are the only one missing out on the full profits.

Investing in cryptocurrency can be very lucrative.

However, cryptocurrency investment can be complex and vast.

Moreover, so many investors have attested to being scammed by promising cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes.

8. Click To Earn Jobs

With hundreds of click-to-earn ads on the internet, one might be deceived to think it is a lucrative job.

Moreover, the straightforward nature of this job makes it seem like a perfect side hustle.

However, from our tests and research, click-to-earn jobs turn out to be time and effort-wasting.

While the overall concept may seem like a dream come true, users earn only a few cents for clicking on ads.

With the earning structure of most of these click-to-earn websites, one can hardly make even $10 in a month.

Thus, this job is ranked as one of the side hustles to avoid.

Final Thoughts

Having gone through this article, you can confirm that there are indeed some side hustles out there that are not worth your time.

Most people have recorded more losses than profit from these jobs due to their minor earning potential and fraudulent nature.

Thus, people looking for side hustles are advised to avoid the jobs featured in this article, as they mostly do not have much to offer.

So far, that is all for this article, and we do wish you good luck as you strive to utilize the earning potential of the natural side jobs out there.