The guides hub
Guides — one question, one verdict, the math shown
Every guide answers a single beginner question, leads with the verdict, and shows its numbers. When the question is really "what fits me" or "what does it pay", the guides hand you to the tools.
Etsy fees, explained on one $30 sale
Is it worth it?
Four slices, not one: a $30 Etsy sale loses $3.30 to fees before shipping or tax.…
The eBay fee is on the whole amount, not your price
Is it worth it?
13.6% of everything the buyer pays — item, shipping, and tax — plus a per-order fee.…
Poshmark's flat fee quietly punishes small sales
Is it worth it?
Under $15, Poshmark's flat $2.95 takes a bigger share than its famous 20%.…
Fiverr takes 20% of tips too
Is it worth it?
Every Fiverr dollar — gig price, extras, and tips — arrives as 80 cents.…
Upwork's fee is different on every contract now
Is it worth it?
Since May 2025 the fee runs 0–15% per contract — the number on YOUR contract is the only one that counts.…
Gumroad's fee is two fees wearing one coat
Is it worth it?
10% + $0.50, then 2.9% + $0.30 processing on top — cheap products feel it most.…
Rover costs money before it makes money
Is it worth it?
A one-time $49–$79 profile fee, then 20% of every booking, forever — including repeats.…
Wyzant's 25% buys students, not a wage cut
Is it worth it?
Students Wyzant finds cost 25% of your rate; students you bring cost 0%. Both numbers are strategy.…
Active hour is not hour: the DoorDash denominator
Is it worth it?
The national band — $11.26 per active hour, gross — excludes the waiting, and the waiting is yours.…
Your car sends you a bill in miles
Is it worth it?
The IRS prices a business mile at 72.5¢ (first half of 2026) and 76¢ (second half). Your car agrees.…
Dead time: the hours your hustle doesn't mention
Fit first
Screeners, waits, drives, and messages are hours. If they are not in your math, your hourly is fiction.…
The set-aside: what to move aside from every payment
Taxes
Self-employment tax alone takes about 14 cents of every profit dollar; your bracket adds its share on top.…
Quarterly estimates, without the panic
Taxes
Four dates, one rule of thumb: if you'll owe $1,000+ for the year, the IRS wants it in four installments.…
1099-NEC vs 1099-K — and why neither one decides your tax
Taxes
For 2026, NEC forms start at $2,000 and 1099-K is back to $20,000 + 200 sales — and you owe tax either way.…
Week one pays like learning (about $4 an hour)
Fit first
The community's honest band: week one often nets ≈$4/hr while you learn the platform. Plan for it or quit at it.…
Beer money vs rent money: the subs' own taxonomy
Fit first
Most low-barrier hustles reliably make $150–$400 a month. That is real money — and it is not a lease payment.…
The quit line: permission, with math
Fit first
The forums' floor is $15–$20 an hour. Under your floor after a fair trial, quitting is a decision, not a defeat.…
Check your handbook: the five clauses that govern your hustle
Fit first
Outside-work approval, non-compete scope, conflict rules, IP ownership, fatigue rules — find them before your employer does.…
Non-competes and moonlighting rules, in plain words
Fit first
A non-compete bans competing work; a moonlighting policy governs any second job. Different documents, different traps.…
A teacher's summer is a different hustle calendar
job-doors
The same teacher gets a different deck in June than in October — block hours unlock what scattered term hours can't.…
Rotating shifts need hustles that don't keep office hours
job-doors
Scattered minutes and asynchronous work fit a 12-hour rotation; anything with a fixed schedule doesn't.…
What Prolific actually pays, from the record
Is it worth it?
A published $8/hr floor, $12 recommended — and a year-long community log averaging about $15/hr.…
Why Prolific is in the checker and survey apps are on the shelf
Legit or trap
One publishes and enforces a floor. The others' business model is that you can't compute the rate.…
The monthly audit the forums do by hand, done properly
Fit first
Once a month: every dollar in, every cost out, every hour counted — one page, one honest number.…