General
What Is Dropshipping & How Do You Get Started?
Understanding dropshipping and steps to launch your own online business
May 2, 2024
16 min read
Between economic uncertainty and the need for a flexible work opportunity, starting a side hustle is a well-conceived idea in the eyes of many. Those attracted to side hustles often include students, those working full-time who are strapped for cash, exhausted stay-at-home parents, people in between jobs, individuals with disabilities, teens or young adults saving for a big purchase, or generally anyone looking for a flexible way to make extra money in their spare time.
The great thing about side ventures is that they can range drastically in complexity, knowledge or skill required, and schedule flexibility. Not to mention, with the wide range of side hustles to pick from, there’s truly an option perfect for anyone, even those with little to no money, few skills, limited equipment, and minimal time on their hands.
If you’re wondering how you can start making money online as soon as possible, let our guide inspire you. Here, we’ll delve into some of the top side hustles to consider in 2026 – discussing what they involve, their advantages, and their potential drawbacks. We’ll also cover how to pick the right side hustle in alignment with your wants and needs.
There are many great ways to make money on the side. Read on to learn about the top side hustles to take on in 2026.
Are you looking to start an online business soon? Check out some of the top recommended dropshipping business ideas of 2026 below.
If you’re an Instagram or TikTok user, chances are, you’ve come across user-generated content (UGC) at one point or another. The intent of this form of content creation is to help promote the products or services of different brands (from restaurant food to beauty services or even products of an online store), in exchange for free products/services or monetary pay. UGC often comes in the form of unboxings, narrated video reviews, product demonstrations, before-and-after photos showing a product’s capabilities, creative TikToks with music overlay aesthetically showcasing products, mukbangs, visually-pleasing slideshows or carousel posts, or even blog posts with an honest opinion about a brand’s product(s) or service(s).
Getting into UGC might be right for you if you have a knack for social media and content creation, love supporting small businesses, are open to trying a variety of products or services, and are relatively articulate and persuasive (whether verbally or within a written format). Those who love to express their opinions may also find UGC to be up their alley. However, it comes at a cost: high competition, potential creative pressure, inconsistent income, and the need to spend hours pitching to find new clients. Those who aren’t very tech-fluent or don’t like reaching out to others first might find the idea of UGC to be intimidating and ultimately challenging.
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If you’re open to an investment opportunity, crypto training might be a side hustle worth considering. How it works is, you pick a trading platform, make a monetary deposit, buy crypto, and sell crypto when the price rises as a way of making a profit. While it sounds easy enough, traders must regularly analyze the market to predict movements and act accordingly to protect their investments. With the right strategy, traders have the potential to earn a high return within a short period of time.
While crypto trading requires you to make an initial investment, if you have a bit of money to spare and some background knowledge on cryptocurrency and investing, it might be something you could look into as a potential money-making opportunity. As a word of caution, though: crypto trading can be very risky with the potential to lose rather than make money. It can also be stressful seeing numbers constantly fluctuate, and with the possibility of coming across scams and sketchy exchanges plus frequent skepticism and distrust among many regarding this evolving technology, this isn’t an online side hustle recommended for newbies.
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Love the idea of marketing a product or service, but don’t want to sell your own products? Affiliate marketing is a side hustle option deserving thought. Instead of marketing their own products, affiliate marketers market the products or services of other brands (often in the form of blog posts, TikTok videos, Instagram posts, etc.), in exchange for a small commission every time they help that company make a sale. This opportunity offers a low startup cost, has the potential to help you make money passively, and is generally pretty flexible.
Affiliate marketing, however, isn’t for everyone. It’s a relatively competitive market and can be difficult to start. The most successful affiliate marketers are typically those with a high volume of monthly website visitors or those with a large, highly-engaged list of followers on their social media platforms, making this an opportunity difficult for those without such. Hence, affiliate marketing is something common among influencers and celebrities with established online presence. What’s more, commission rates can vary drastically depending on the brands you pair up with and how many followers or visitors you have (more followers/visitors = higher commissions and better brand partnership opportunities).
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Shopaholics, detail-oriented individuals, those who don’t mind following a set of instructions, and anyone who likes to speak their mind through surveys or reports – especially when it comes to providing constructive criticism – might find mystery shopping to be an applicable side hustle option. Mystery shoppers, once approved through a verified mystery shopping platform, can choose to take on in-person, online, or even over-the-phone tasks. Each assignment requires a different set of instructions – but often involves something along the lines of observing the service at a store or restaurant, evaluating the cleanliness of the facility, scoping out product availability, and/or asking a particular question to a team member and logging their response. Sometimes a purchase (which is reimbursed) is required to complete the mandatory end-of-the-shop survey. The survey results are used to help the associated company improve and potentially reconsider management or particular team members, depending on the shopper’s findings.
With multiple mystery shopping platforms to pick from, both virtual and in-person assignments to consider, and the ability to sign up for tasks based on your current availability, mystery shopping tends to be a flexible and applicable option for a variety of side hustle seekers. On the downside, prospective mystery shoppers need to be careful not to fall for mystery shopping scams. It also tends to be difficult to find decent-paying shop tasks, especially with some tasks being more complex than others, and with assignment opportunities fluctuating regularly, income from this side hustle can be inconsistent – so don’t anticipate it bringing in a heavy check.
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Those who consider themselves creative, have a strong attention to detail, and have existing design and tech skills might be excited by the idea of selling digital products. Digital products can vary drastically, including ebooks, online courses, printable worksheets or posters, mobile apps or games, fonts, sound effects, branding kits, planners, or study materials. Given the wide variety of digital product options available, this side hustle can appeal to individuals of different skill and knowledge levels, schedule availabilities, and passions. Once content is created, side hustlers can upload them onto their own online store or third-party digital content-selling platforms for passive income potential.
Although selling digital products comes at little to no startup cost (depending on whether you already have the equipment/software you need), can be very flexible, and is easy to scale if you wish to do so, initially getting this side hustle off the ground can be time-consuming, as multiple forms of high-quality content typically need to be created. To succeed, those interested in this side venture should also already have established tech and design skills, be prepared to consistently market their products in this competitive market, and know how to protect themselves from potential content theft.
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Do you excel in a particular subject matter? Or maybe you have a history of teaching, are seeking a degree in education, or are looking for a relevant summer job opportunity as a current educator. Either way, online tutoring might be a worthwhile online money-making opportunity for you. With a low startup cost, the ability to offer your own rate via many third-party tutoring platforms (or on your own website), the potential for a steady stream of income, plus a growing demand for virtual tutoring, the opportunity to tutor online can be exciting for many. Not to mention, tutoring can be done on nearly any subject or topic: English, math, biology, psychology, foreign language, or even niche areas like business finance or playing the flute.
Compared to many other side hustles on this list, keep in mind that online tutoring isn’t a passive income opportunity. It requires you to regularly set aside time in alignment with students’ open availability, and if you want to make consistent money in a competitive market, you must treat it like a part-time or full-time job rather than a brief “every-now-and-then” side gig. Also know that online tutors may be required to have a degree or particular certification, extensive subject expertise (with many tutoring platforms requiring tutors to pass a rigorous test), and engage in continuous learning to stay on top of curriculum changes.
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If you’ve always wanted to sell physical products online, but never loved the idea of messing with cardboard boxes and shipping labels, dropshipping might just be the side hustle you’re looking for. This opportunity is easy to learn, doesn’t require a particular skillset or knowledge, and requires a low startup cost. Dropshippers set up an online store, pick a category or niche to sell, select products within that category/niche to sell from a trusted supplier, mark up the prices, market their products online, and when a customer sale comes in, they pay the wholesale price from the supplier and have the supplier ship directly to the customer. With no shipping done on your end, this offers passive income potential, ease of scalability, and the ability to work on your own schedule.
As the ecommerce market continues to grow, dropshipping is becoming a popular consideration on a global level. As long as you stay on top of price fluctuations and adjust your prices accordingly, market your products well, pick reliable suppliers, and select a niche that’s in demand but not overly saturated, your potential to be successful in dropshipping is tangible. Plus, with the availability of product selection and competitor research tools, prospective dropshippers have more of an opportunity to succeed than ever before.
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While not all side hustles require you to have a particular skill, thinking of your strengths can help you determine the right side hustle for you. Choosing a side hustle based on what you do best or already know how to do can make starting a part-time venture easier. You’re also more likely to have more satisfied customers when you pick a side hustle that best resonates with your current skills, abilities, and knowledge.
Are you a math genius? Is art your thing? Do you have a high-demand tech skill, like coding? While you can certainly learn new information and acquire new skills, relying on what you already know can benefit you in starting up a side venture quickly and smoothly, minus the tedious learning curve.
Some side hustles require more of your time than others. Some may demand daily or multi-week availability. Meanwhile, other side hustles might require just a few hours of your time a month and offer a greater level of flexibility regarding when work must be completed – which can be convenient for those studying, working full-time, or parenting.
With certain side hustles, like online tutoring, the time you may need to spend on it would be primarily determined by how many clients you currently have and when appointments are booked, which can ebb and flow. But ultimately, the more time you have to put into a side hustle, the more potential there is for you to succeed and/or scale.
Not all side hustles require you to have money to start. However, sometimes you have to spend money to make money. Some may require specific equipment or supplies, access to paid software or apps, a certain certification, or a domain name and website hosting. This strongly depends on the side venture you end up going with. In your state or locality, you may also be required to register your side hustle as a business and pay the licensing fee(s) associated with such.
The good news is, many startups require little money to start – unlike businesses in some industries that often require thousands of dollars upfront. There may also be some “startup costs” you can avoid or even scale back on to make launching your side hustle more affordable. Consider all options at hand: no-cost side hustles, financing, crowdfunding, starting out small to keep the startup costs low, teaming up with someone else to start a venture, and so on.
Even if you have the time, skill, and money to begin the side hustle of your dreams, the demand for the associated product or service, as well as market saturation, will also play a big role in how successful your venture might become. A very niche product or service might have little competition on the market. However, the demand might not be very high. It’s also possible that the product or service your side hustle can provide is in high demand, but if the saturation is relatively low, you might experience immense pressure trying to keep up with the market need. Either scenario can be suboptimal.
Ideally, consider offering a product or service with evergreen or rising demand with lower-end market saturation. Keep in mind that market saturation doesn’t have to be non-existent. If anything, some competition can benefit you, but if you have too much competition – particularly at the time you launch your side hustle – you may find it harder to start out, which can necessitate more marketing effort on your end and potentially result in a higher risk of failure.
Every side hustle has its advantages and drawbacks. Make yourself aware of the potential disadvantages of the particular side hustle you’re interested in – like heavy competition, chargebacks or demands for refunds, shipping issues, income uncertainty, or time constraints. Also consider the strengths of the side hustle(s) you’re interested in, weighing them with the cons, before determining if it’s something you still want to consider.
Not only determine the potential drawbacks that could happen, but also decide how you will respond to such. For instance, maybe you will establish a strong refund policy or have a plan in place regarding how you will make things right for unhappy customers. Being aware and planning ahead of time can save you from surprises and frustrations later down the line.
Potentially profitable side hustles include affiliate marketing, UGC, selling digital products, mystery shopping, crypto trading, online tutoring, and dropshipping.
No, not all side hustles require money to start. While some may require small startup costs, others require nothing. Dropshipping is an example of a side hustle that requires little to no money upfront to start.
A side hustle has the potential to bring in hundreds to thousands of dollars a month. The amount you can make from a side hustle will ultimately depend on the side hustle you choose, your strategy, how established you are, and your level of consistency.
Yes, a side hustle can become your full-time business if you strategize well, stay consistent, and make the time for it.
Considering the rising cost of living, starting a side hustle is a smart option in 2026 to make more money. What’s more, with technology and AI being bigger than ever before, 2026 makes starting a side hustle even easier. A side hustle can also help you gain new skills, which is always indispensable.
Out of all the side hustles we listed, dropshipping ends up being the top contender due to it offering the lowest entry requirements. With a minimal upfront investment, the ability to flexibly run your hustle from your phone or computer, the capacity to make money passively, plus the potential to scale quickly without frequent schedule conflicts, dropshipping ends up being a feasible money-making opportunity for many, including students and those with full-time jobs. Unlike many other side hustles and small businesses, dropshipping doesn’t require inventory storage and management, special skills like coding or subject matter expertise, or a full-time commitment.
As a growing market with rising potential, while also being easy to learn, dropshipping is something just about anyone can get into. If you’re interested in giving this side hustle a try, Tradelle is your go-to tool for making it happen. From video-based lessons teaching you the ins and outs of dropshipping to various product research tools to assist you in selecting high-profit potential items with favorable market saturation to sell, this platform makes launching an online store a breeze.
Create a Tradelle account today for an all-in-one solution to help you embark on your dropshipping journey.
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