Buy-now, pay-later deals are ubiquitous this holiday season as retailers grapple with a spending season that’s clouded by record-setting consumer debt levels. But experts note that piling new loans on top of existing debt is an exceptionally expensive way to finance holiday purchases. A much smarter approach is to use side gigs to pay for holiday spending.
Indeed, if you act now to take advantage of the many side gigs that ramp up during holiday season, you can bank the money you need for gifts before you need to buy them.
Here are 10 side gig platforms that can help.
Amazon Flex
The world’s largest online retailer enlists thousands of part-time delivery drivers to shuttle packages to customers. Amazon Flex drivers sign up for delivery “blocks,” which can pay anywhere from $54 to $120, depending on the amount of time the company estimates it will take to deliver the packages in that block. Average pay works out to about $20 an hour, but can range from $18 to $25 — and more during times of extremely high demand.
Taskrabbit
Freelancers at Taskrabbit offer a wide array of services, from furniture assembly to cleaning and organizing. Freelancers decide what services they want to provide and they set their own prices. When a customer needs that service, Taskrabbit presents the profiles of all the potential workers and the customer selects the person they want.
Thus, it’s important when you sign up here to polish your profile and include “before and after” photographs of your finished work. And if you’re looking for holiday-oriented work, such as hanging Christmas lights or wrapping packages, make sure you update your profile to include those key words.
Airtasker
At Airtasker customers say what services they need and what they’re willing to pay. Freelancers then decide whether or not to bid on those jobs. The trick here is to sign up on the platform and then scroll job listings regularly — at least once daily. If you see something you like, you message the job poster with an explanation about why you’re the best person to take the job.
Qwick
A site called Qwick offers staffing services for special events, such as holiday parties, enlisting a plethora of bartenders, servers, cooks, cleaners and concession attendants. Freelancers who sign up here are expected to have appropriate experience given that there’s no time for training in the middle of an event. So only apply if you’ve worked in a hospitality position for at least a year.
Etsy
If you have artistic talent and want to make goods for sale, Etsy is a great place to market your wares. At this time of year, the site is a massive online emporium of holiday gifts and decorations. Whether you want to make candles, embossed bread boards, holiday-themed clothing or gifts, this site lets you list your wares and determine what to charge for them.
Rover
Families traveling over the holidays often need pet sitters, and there’s no better place to find them than Rover. This site lets freelance pet sitters publish profiles with a description of what types of pets you prefer to watch, as well as photographs of your pets and the pets you’ve cared for. You also set your own rates, paying a 20-25% fee to the platform for helping to market your service and collect from your customers.
Wonolo and BlueCrew
Stocking shelves isn’t glamorous work, but it can help pay the bills. And, for people with full-time jobs, the benefit here is these gigs are often done at night and the wee hours of the morning. So, if cash is more important than rest, they’ve got you. Both Wonolo and BlueCrew offer warehouse work, paying between minimum wage and $30 hourly. But Wonolo doesn’t operate in some states with strict independent contractor laws, such as California.
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