💰 Results: €30–€50/month on average
⏱ Time invested: Around 1 hour per month
🔥 Worth it? Yes
I’ve been testing a very simple side hustle for almost a year now:
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renting out tools and equipment.
And honestly, this one surprised me a little.
Not because it makes huge money. It doesn’t. Nobody is buying a beach house from renting out a carpet cleaner in a small town.
But compared to the amount of effort involved, it’s actually one of the better small side hustles I’ve tried.
There is no content schedule.
No ads.
No posting in Facebook groups every day.
No chasing customers like a salesman with too much coffee.
I just list the items on a local tool rental platform, and when someone needs something, they book it.
That’s mostly it.
How It Works
The process is almost boring, which is part of why I like it.
Someone finds the item on the app.
They book it.
They pay through the platform.
They come to me.
I hand over the item.
Then later they return it.
Very complicated business empire, obviously.
But that’s the good thing about it. There is not much ongoing work. Once the listings are created, the platform does most of the heavy lifting.
I don’t run extra ads. I don’t promote the items anywhere else. I don’t message people asking if they need a carpet cleaner this weekend.
The listings just sit there.
Sometimes someone books. Sometimes nobody does.
Small-town life.
What I Rent Out
At the moment, I have these items listed:
- Kärcher Puzzi 8/1 carpet cleaner
- Instax Wide 400 instant camera
- Sony MHC-V11 Bluetooth speaker
- DJI Mavic Mini Fly More drone
These are not huge construction machines or industrial tools.
They are mostly consumer items that people may need occasionally, but not often enough to justify buying them.
That is why this kind of rental makes sense to me.
Most people do not need a carpet cleaner every week. They might need it once or twice a year.
Same with a party speaker.
Same with an instant camera.
Same with a drone.
Useful sometimes. Expensive or unnecessary to own all the time.
That is the sweet spot.
My Monthly Earnings
Because I live in a fairly small town, demand is limited.
That is probably the biggest factor.
In a bigger city, I think this could make more money. More people, more events, more apartments, more pets, more messy carpets. Just more chances for someone to need something.
My best month so far was around:
€150
My worst month was:
€0
Most months, the realistic average is somewhere around:
€30–€50 per month
That is not impressive if you only look at the number.
But the number alone does not tell the full story.
The real question is: how much work does it take?
And in this case, not much.
The items are already listed. When someone rents, I arrange pickup, hand it over, and later take it back.
That’s basically the job.
So for the effort involved, I think the return is pretty decent.
Why I Like This Side Hustle
The biggest reason I like it is that it feels very low-maintenance.
Compared to other side hustles I’ve tested, this one does not require much mental energy.
I do not have to create content.
I do not have to manage ads.
I do not have to deliver the items.
I do not have to constantly talk to customers.
I do not have to learn some complicated platform strategy.
The platform handles the payment, and the customer comes to me.
That alone makes it much easier than many other side hustles where you constantly need to market yourself or provide a service.
Another thing I like is that the items still belong to me.
I can use them myself when I need them. And when I’m not using them, they can make a little money.
That feels efficient.
Not exciting, maybe. But efficient.
And I like efficient.
The Downsides
Of course, it’s not perfect.
The first downside is demand.
Small-town demand is limited. There are only so many people nearby who need a carpet cleaner, speaker, camera, or drone in a given month.
Some months are quiet.
Very quiet.
The second downside is wear and damage.
These items are not digital files. They can break, get scratched, come back dirty, or just slowly wear out from use.
That is especially important with electronics like the drone or speaker.
A carpet cleaner is probably more straightforward. It is meant to be used. But a drone? That one makes me more cautious, because drones and inexperienced users are not always a beautiful combination.
There is also the trust factor.
You are giving your item to another person. So the platform rules, deposits, customer reliability, and damage protection matter a lot.
So far, everything has been fine for me.
But I would not pretend this is completely risk-free.
It isn’t.
Is It Worth It?
For me, yes.
I would not call this a life-changing side hustle.
It is not making hundreds every month consistently, at least not in my town and with my current item list.
But as a small low-effort income stream, I think it’s one of the better ones I’ve tested.
The work-to-income ratio is the main reason.
Even if I make only €30–€50 per month, that is still decent considering how little time I spend on it.
And in better months, like the month where I made around €150, it feels especially worth it.
Not because €150 changes everything.
But because it came from items I already owned, listed once, and barely had to manage.
That is the part that makes it interesting.
What I Would Improve
If I wanted to grow this side hustle, I would probably need to add more items.
Not random items, though.
The best rental items should probably have a few things in common:
- people need them occasionally
- they are expensive enough that buying feels unnecessary
- they are easy to hand over
- they are not too fragile
- they solve a clear problem
A carpet cleaner fits that very well.
A party speaker can work too.
A drone is more questionable because of the risk.
In the future, I may test more items and see what gets booked most often.
For now, I’m keeping it simple.
My Rating: Keep
In my side hustle testing, I rate this one as:
KEEP
It is not a huge money-maker yet.
It will not replace a job.
It probably will not make sense for everyone, especially if there is no rental platform or demand in your area.
But for me, it has already proven that it can bring in some income with very little effort.
That is enough to keep testing it.
Simple. Low-maintenance. Already earning.
Not bad.
Not financial advice. This is just my personal side hustle experiment and real experience with renting out tools in a small town.