How to make money online (in 2020)
Ever wanted to make money online and work from anywhere in the world? Here's 10 ways you can start today.
On this page you’ll find all the best ways to make money in your spare time whilst at university based on our own experience. We’ll keep adding new ways to this page so go ahead and bookmark it. And please do share your own ideas in the comments!
Top ways to make money online and offline
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No-risk matched betting
Hands down the quickest way to make a lot of money (well, without breaking the law). Lots of students have genuinely made £100s from this technique. It’s completely legal, risk free, tax free, and anyone over 18 in the UK can do it (Not in UK? Skip to no. 2).
It works by taking advantage of free bets regularly offered by betting sites through ‘matching’ them at a betting exchange. Matched betting eliminates the risk (you are betting both for and against a certain outcome).
This leaves you being able to squeeze out the free bet, which can be as much as £100. Multiply this by how many betting sites there are and you can quite easily come away with a profit of a few hundred pounds.
Owen walks you through how to make your first £13 profit (using a real life example) in this gem of a guide to matched betting. If you know of any better way to make £40/hr sitting at home, please let us know!
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Online surveys
An increasingly popular way for students to make money is to fill out online surveys in their spare time. Research companies are always recruiting new members worldwide to answer surveys and test new products.
For a few minutes of form filling, you can make a couple of quid which is paid as cash or rewards. You can bag up to £3 ($5) for some surveys!
A few good ones to try are: Toluna, LifePoints, InboxPounds, Onepoll, Branded Surveys, i-Say, Opinion Outpost, YouGov, Pinecone, SurveyBods, Hiving, Panel Base, Prolific, Valued Opinions, Panel Opinion, The Opinion Panel, Survey Junkie.
Also sign up for Swagbucks which rewards you for surveys as well as simply surfing the web, watching videos and playing games.
Update: See our new full guide to the best paid online surveys!
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Paid for searching the web
Interested in earning cash for doing what you already do online? This has to be one of the easiest methods of making money online without really any effort or change in your behaviour.
This innovative idea by Qmee.com rewards you for searching in Google, Bing, Yahoo, Amazon and eBay. You just install a simple add-on to your browser and when you conduct a search there may be a few sponsored results alongside your normal search.
Each Qmee result has a cash reward attached – if you are interested in it simply click on it and collect your reward.
The best thing is there is no minimum to cashout – our first one was just 72p wired to our Paypal account. You also have the option to donate it to charity.
Sign up now for free and start earning from your own searches! Click here to start.
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Online market trading
Whilst this isn’t necessarily an easy way to make money, investing in stock markets can be lucrative if you learn to do it properly and safely. By the same token, you may suffer significant losses if you don’t take it seriously.
Today there is no need to fund the yachts of Wolf of Wall Street style stock brokers. You can do it all yourself with the help of online market trading platforms.
Having spent many hours researching this new opportunity, I’ve been experimenting with the two biggest platforms: Plus500 and eToro.com. Both offer free practice accounts.
Overall I prefer eToro with over 12 million users worldwide. It has been featured in a BBC 2 documentary “Traders: Millions by the Minute” and recently began sponsoring several Premier League football clubs.
One of the best things on eToro is the CopyTrader feature. This lets you literally see, follow and copy the investments of other top performing traders.
Follow George’s complete guide to trading on eToro to learn more. I think $200 is a good amount to get the most out of the learning curve by trying out a few different markets. If nothing else you’ll learn a great deal about various investments and industries.
Please be aware that all trading involves risk. 75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. This content is for educational purposes only and is not investment advice.
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Start your own website
Interested in generating passive income? You need a website. It’s THE way to make money while you sleep.
Starting a website with Bluehost takes less than 20 minutes, costs hardly anything and can be done by an 82 year-old. It only takes a bit of plugging on social media to get your first visitors, and there are plenty of ways to monetise your site.
Save the Student is just one example of a successful website, started at university by Owen Burek in his first year, which has since grown into a full-time and sizable enterprise.
Read Owen’s step-by-step guide on how to start a website in 20 minutes. It’s really one of the best assets you can have.
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Review websites & apps for cash
Well it seems like you’re pretty nifty with a web browser, so perhaps it’s time to turn pro and browse websites as a paid and fun job!
Introducing UserTesting.com – a new platform that pays everyday people to review all kinds of websites. Each review takes around 20 minutes and bags you $10 (£6.50) via Paypal.
Simply sign up here, complete a test review and look forward to receiving websites in your inbox.
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The ‘Disney Vault’ secret
Credit: Walt Disney Pictures Inc.To keep demand high across generations, Disney Studios carefully restrict the supply of some home release classics. They are locked away in the ‘vault’ for 8-10 years before being released for a short unspecified time.
Buy them in this window at normal retail price and you can turn a nice profit when they go off sale for another decade or so.
For example, in 2011 you could buy Beauty and the Beast on Blu-ray 3D for just £24.99. In just a couple of years it was on Amazon for a staggering £74.99!
Importantly, not all Disney releases are subject to the vault and only the true classics will maintain such demand.
Right now there are just 2 titles out of the vault which I would recommend snapping up. They are Bambi Diamond Edition Blu-ray and The Lion King Diamond Edition Blu-ray.
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‘Get Paid To’ sites
Similar to making money from online surveys, GPT sites reward you in cash and vouchers for completing various offers or activities online.
The most popular sites today are Toluna, Swagbucks and InboxPounds.
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Become a delivery rider or driver
Got a bicycle, motorbike or car? What about a Smartphone? That’s all you need to make some extra money by delivering food or people whenever you’ve got some spare time.
Sign up to delivery specialist companies like Deliveroo who are always on the hunt for new riders. They allow you total flexibility to work when you want, delivering food from restaurants to the customers’ door. You can make up to £16 an hour.
Double-up your opportunities by directly contacting local takeaways and bigger chains like Dominos to see if they have any delivery jobs going.
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Write and publish a Kindle eBook
If students are good at anything, it’s researching and writing. With the Amazon Kindle store, anyone can publish an eBook and make money.
And the Kindle app is now available on almost any device (laptops, iPads, smartphones and yes, Kindles) so your global market is huge!
List your book for £1.49 – £6.99 and you earn 70% of the sale. Considering Amazon is the ultimate selling machine (and remember people are looking to spend), that is a fantastic deal.
The key to success with eBooks is to create value, and write non-fiction. Simply bundling information you have researched and compiled on a common problem (eg. ‘secrets’ to finding a job) and then presenting it in an easy to digest format (an eBook) justifies someone spending a few quid on it.
Another big tip is to have a great cover designed (browse these) so it stands out, and once your book is live on the Kindle store it’s really important to get some reviews so it shows up higher in results. Encourage readers to leave an honest review at the end of your book.
The best thing about this lucrative idea is that once you’ve invested the time (say 20 hours), you’ll earn a passive income for years to come! For a step-by-step guide to publishing and earning with eBooks, see “How to write a nonfiction eBook in 21 days“.
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Affiliate marketing
If you’ve got a good presence on social media or perhaps you even have a blog or website, you can start bringing in money immediately by promoting all sorts of companies, products, services and offers online.Sign up as a publisher on the Awin network, check their offers blog or browse the merchant listings to find something you think your friends would be interested in, grab your affiliate link and share it. If someone buys (can be within up to 90 days) using your link you’ll make a nice commission.
To take it a step further, set up a website (read our guide) or a topical Facebook page and invite all your friends to join it and post your affiliate offers on there.
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Mobile phone recycling
You can earn good money and help the environment by recycling your old mobile phones and other unused devices. Maybe ask your parents if they have any lying around too.
Head to our page on making money from old phones for the best companies to use and how to ensure you get all the cash quoted to you online.
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Become a ‘Clickworker’
The Clickworker.com concept is based on ‘internet crowd-sourcing’ where businesses advertise specific, scalable tasks they need completing quickly. And for us, it’s an easy way to make fast cash from our couch.
There are a variety of tasks, but most commonly they involve mindless data entry, web research or form filling. You are rewarded and paid in cash (via Paypal) for the work you do, and you can choose for what and when you work. Give it a go. [If you’re US based, also try Amazon’s ‘Mechanical Turk‘].
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Claim tax back
Many students work part-time or during the summer months, and others will be on placements or paid internships. More often than not, if you are a student working during the year, you will be overpaying income tax.
Why? Simply because few students reach the personal tax-free income allowance each year but are put on an emergency basic tax-code by their employers meaning tax is being paid when it shouldn’t be.
To learn more and calculate how much tax back you might be due, see our guide on student tax refunds.
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Get cashback when shopping
I earned this much in 2 years
This is not only a way to make money but also to save money as a student. If you look at it in a different way then you are making money with every purchase you would have made anyway, whether it be 10% or 0.5% cashback.
There are a number of cashback sites out there which pay you the commission they otherwise would have earned.
We recommend signing up with Top Cashback, Quidco.com and Swagbucks which are free and offer the best selection of retailers and exclusives.
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Part-time job
A part-time job is the obvious first choice, opted for by most students looking to supplement their student loan. It provides a pretty steady flow of income and can enable you to gain valuable work experience.
But good jobs are not always easy to find!
Start with our student job search, then check local classifieds and your university careers service for vacancies.
It’s also worth signing up with CV Library, a free service which will match your CV with suitable part-time jobs and career opportunities.
Read our guide to finding a part-time job whilst studying for more tips.
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Gigs on Fiverr
Fiverr is now the world’s largest marketplace for people to make money selling small services (known as ‘gigs’).
What you offer could be absolutely anything, from writing and translating, social media posting, playing pranks and teaching to creating music, voiceovers and short video clips for people all around the world!
The default price is $5 (hence Fiverr..), but you can attach extra services to gigs for more money. Whilst it might not seem like much, it can quickly add up and there are plenty of examples of people making a really good living from the site. The key is to get a system in place which minimises the time spent on each gig.
But there is another way to profit even more from Fiverr for potentially far less work. How? By simply reselling gigs elsewhere. For example, find a decent logo designer then reply to jobs on Upwork or even local classifieds. A $5 spend can easily become $50+, and it’s repeatable!
If you’re not interested in selling at all there’s SO much good stuff you can get done for yourself. Have a browse and get inspired!
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Review music for money
If you love music, make it your business by reviewing unsigned bands and artists online for cash with Slicethepie.
It can take a while to build up your reputation but some users of the site have said that they earn £40 a month. This may not sound like much, but if it’s something you enjoy then it shouldn’t be hard work and is another thing for your CV. Money you earn will be in $US but anyone can sign up and review.
To get started, head over to Slicethepie now or read our quick guide for more info.
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Sell your notes
If you don’t mind sharing your notes with other students it’s a great way to generate a little extra cash. There are sites out there that you can upload your notes to, along with your price, and then when another student downloads them you get paid.
Most of these sites like Nexus Notes and Stuvia are free for you to list your notes but tend to take a cut of your profit in order to handle the marketing etc so that you don’t have to go out there and promote your notes yourself.
You will most likely have to upload PDFs but it’s worth it for the return and you can submit handwritten notes but you’re likely to make more money if they’re typed up.
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Sell second-hand course books
One great way to make money is to buy other students’ textbooks at the end of the year, and then sell them just after freshers’ week – when the new intake of students know that they need them!
You can either advertise on campus or list them online very easily on Amazon Marketplace (just bear in mind they take a commission on books sold).
Here are 28 other things you can sell right now!
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Competitions
Entering competitions of course comes with no guarantees, but there is a growing community of so-called ‘compers’ in the UK consistently making up to £50,000 a year through all sorts of competitions.
Types of competitions available to enter vary from simple registration forms and Facebook page liking to answering questions correctly over the phone to being a TV game show contestant. Imagine you made it onto Deal or No Deal instead of just watching it!
Start by entering our very own monthly student competition (Follow our Instagram page to see when our next one is)!
Then head to our active competitions page to enter other free competitions that we have found. Just note that some of these sites may send you spam so use an alias email address and opt-out of as many of the offers as possible.
For loads more tips on achieving success and making money from competitions, read our guide to entering competitions.
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Buy and sell domain names
A domain name is just a website address (eg. ‘savethestudent.org’ or ‘mysite.co.uk’) and there are lots of extensions (.com, .net, .co.uk etc).
They cost as little as $0.99 to register with GoDaddy.com yet premium domain names can fetch $1,000s if not millions when sold on. In 2007 VacationRentals.com went for a cool $35m!
Now you’re probably not going to come across anything like that, but you can still turn a quick profit with a bit of searching. The trick is to find available domain names which have some commercial value, snap them up and then list them for sale on a site like Sedo.com.
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Mystery shopping
Today becoming a mystery shopper is easier than you think and you can get rewarded handsomely.There are dozens of agencies that pay you to visit all sorts of shops and restaurants to feedback on how they are performing. We’ve reviewed the best agencies in our guide how to become a mystery shopper.
Tasking apps are another form of mystery shopping, where you earn rewards for completing small local tasks. It can be a lot of fun too!
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Be an Extra
Do you fancy yourself as a budding young actor or just that person that walks past in the background shot of an episode of Eastenders? It could be you if you apply to be an extra in TV or film.
The pay isn’t bad either: £60-80 a day on average, and you hardly have to do anything!
There are lots of casting agencies that place willing extras. They make their money by taking a cut from your earnings, so always ask what that is before you take on work.
Head over to our how to become an extra guide for 5 of the better agencies, plus lots more advice on getting your first gig.
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Sell all your old CDs, games and movies
If you are looking to make a very quick buck, then selling your old bits and bobs that are cluttering up your room is a good idea.
The best thing about it is that you can rip all the songs and films onto your laptop or external hard drive before selling them. This means that you are only really selling the plastic and artwork!
You can earn anything from 10p to £20 per item, and the earnings can really add up if you have a large collection. Whilst you’re at it, see if your parents have any ‘clutter’ they’d be happy to see the back of.
You can also sell almost anything for free on Amazon Marketplace or Preloved and sites like MusicMagpie will pay you instantly for sending in unwanted items.
For more tips and places to sell check out our guide on selling DVDs, CDs and games.
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Sell on your education!
Becoming a tutor to other students is easier than ever. Until recently your market was limited to local face-to-face sessions, but thanks to online tutoring sites you can go global!Udemy allows anyone to create an online course (on literally anything!) and get paid forever after as users take it up.
For one-to-one tutoring, list yourself on Superprof and UK Tutors.
You can expect to earn upwards of £10 an hour, and you don’t have to be highly qualified to tutor younger GCSE or even A Level students. Get started with our guide to making money as a private tutor.
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Sell your photos
If you think you’ve got a good shot and a little creativity, try uploading your photographs for free to stock websites. A good starting point is Adobe Stock or Getty Images.
Make more money selling photo subjects that have fewer search results but you feel would have some demand. It might be a good idea to test them out in print first yourself (get free photo prints here).
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Rent out your car parking space
Some student accommodation comes with a drive or garage. If you aren’t using your parking space and you live in a busy area then you might be in luck. There are plenty of people that may work in the city centre and are fed up of paying through the roof for daily parking.Advertise your space on Gumtree, Parklet or Just Park.
Or, check out our full guide to renting out your parking space.
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Babysitting
It’s a classic money-maker, and for good reason. You get paid (well) to watch TV and not very much else – hopefully!
If you are wondering what to charge have a look at local ads, but you can expect to be paid over £9ph even if you aren’t trained in childcare.
Aside from advertising yourself, it’s free to create a profile on Care Babysitting. It really can be easy money (unless you get stuck with the child from hell!).
Our guide to babysitting walks you through the main considerations. For instance, in the UK you will need a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check to look after small children, even though some parents may not ask for one.
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Dog walking & sitting
If babies ain’t your thing, then maybe canines are… dog sitting is big business. Students especially are likely to have free time during the day when others are out at work and worried about their pets at home.
You could bag around £8 an hour per dog, and it’s also a great way to keep fit.
Join Care Pet Care who are best for dog sitting and also Tailster who specialise in dog walkers.
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Become your own bank
‘Peer-to-peer’ lending is the future of banking. It cuts out the middle-man, passing on higher interest rates to you and cheaper loans to borrowers. And it’s all managed online from the comfort of your sofa.
Founded in 2010, RateSetter was the first to reimburse lenders on late payments or defaults through its ‘Provision Fund’. Effectively it is designed to be like a normal savings account. To date RateSetter say no investors have ever lost money, and they are fully FCA regulated.
Right now you can expect to achieve up to 4% fixed return, depending on how long you choose to lend for. If you can, go for the ISA account to earn interest tax-free.
Update: for a limited time also get this £20 bonus when you deposit just £10.
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Work as a charity collector
Ok, so this job takes a certain kind of person, as you’ll have to take a lot of rejection and be persistent.
But if you are bubbly, personable and reckon you could sell ice to an Eskimo then this could actually be a great student money making idea. You get paid commission on new sign ups (typically around £20).
Have a look at Wesser as well as charity websites like Oxfam.
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Rent out your house for filming
Directors for TV and film are always on the hunt for houses to film in. For instance, a scene for Coronation Street was recently filmed in the student house one of the Save the Student editors used to live in!
Not only can you make good money but it’s crazy seeing your own place on TV. Start out by looking at this site.
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Rent out your body
If you are comfortable taking off your kit then why not try life modelling. Sit there in the buff while budding artists capture your every curve (or pokey bits) in frightening detail! Try RAM, a website especially designed for these kind of jobs.You could also get involved in clinical drug trials, but be sure you fully appreciate any risks attached.
Warning: Do not do anything you are not comfortable with, no matter how desperate you are for money!
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Freelance work
Perhaps you enjoy writing, managing Facebook pages or doing a little bit of graphic design in your spare time. There are so many freelance jobs out there that require simple skills or just time that someone else might not have.
And the best thing about freelancing is that you can work for clients in the UK and around the world with just an internet connection from home, to your own hours whilst developing valuable skills.
A great place to start is with the leading freelance site Upwork.com. Or try using our student job search to find freelance jobs closer to home.
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Sell clothes on eBay
Everyone’s best friend when it comes to getting rid of junk is eBay. Online auctions are a sure-fire way to turn that sleeveless jacket (which came in and out of fashion in a week) into hard cash.Some eBay sellers look at trends and try to predict what will be big ahead of the market. If you are good and don’t mind taking a risk then you can buy early in bulk and sell on when the craze hits.
For lots more tips on selling on eBay read this guide.
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Sell your stories and videos
If you have an interesting story then you could try selling it to the papers. It could be anything from sleeping with a professional footballer to getting caught in a clothes horse!
One of the Save the Student team was unfortunate enough to have a pigeon fly through and smash their window at university and sold the story to The Sun for a tidy £50.
You could also film your mates at all times and send it into You’ve Been Framed to net yourself £250 and a few seconds of fame.
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YouTube videos
According to recent stats we now watch more videos on YouTube than searches on Google. And with the recently introduced YouTube Partner Program you can now profit from making and uploading videos. You will receive a percentage of the advertising revenue collected per 1,000 views.
Depending on how successful you are (virality, subscriber base and topic) you can make a lot of money, and there are plenty of stories every week of more and more YouTubers making it their career.
For more tips read our guide to making money from YouTube.
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Network marketing
Also known as Multi-Level Marketing (MLM), this is a business model that allows you to generate ongoing income in two ways: by making a commission selling products and by recruiting other members who go on to sell. The latter allows you to make money from the sales made by those you have recruited.Importantly, this is not a pyramid scheme (they are illegal) because there is an end goal which involves a customer buying a product or service of value.
It’s also not a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. You will have to work I’m afraid! However with the growth of social media, network marketing is becoming easier and lots of people are now making a decent living from it.
This is a serious way of making good money on your own terms and it’s well worth reading up on it. I recommend getting “The Business of the 21st Century” by Robert Kiyosaki.
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Source property for wealthy investors
We all know how much money there is in property, but on the surface (with house prices as high as they are) you might be thinking this market is off-limits.Truth is, lots of people make a great deal of cash simply sourcing suitable properties for wealthy investors who simply have no time.
The trick is to find properties below market value (BMV) by avoiding estate agents and instead flyering your area with your contact details offering to buy houses. Then approach investors with a no-brainer offer to pass on the details of cut-price property in exchange for a % of the sale value.
Most cities will have monthly networking events for landlords and property investors. Track these down, sign up, put on your best suit and go along with lots of business cards. Or you could start on LinkedIn or even Twitter to build some initial contacts.
As you might imagine, this isn’t necessarily a quick way to make money but once you’ve got a few investors in your phone book it can prove to be very lucrative in the long run. If you’re interested, I recommend reading this book.
Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies
Update. We’re increasingly being asked about how to make money from Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies). This isn’t surprising given the ever-growing hype and stories of kids making millions.
Please don’t rush into buying Bitcoin to make money. It’s really important to know what you’re getting involved with. Read our new how to buy Bitcoin tutorial which explains everything you need to know.
There are many other creative ways to make money as a student, such as our 50 business ideas.
