With the cost of living continuing to affect many Brits, more and more people are selling their old clothes and furniture online through platforms like Vinted, eBay and Etsy. However, HMRC recently announced that sites will have to share details about how much sellers make to ensure they pay the correct amount of tax.
To see which areas will be hit the hardest by the crackdown, we analysed Google search data.
Top 5 Platforms for Sellers
Here are the most popular platforms to make money on in the UK, according to Google:
1. eBay - 4.8 million searches
2. Etsy - 2.8 million searches
3. Airbnb - 1.6 million searches
4. Vinted - 1.1 million searches
5. Gumtree - 718,000 searches
Top 5 Side Hustle Hotspots
To determine the popularity of starting a side hustle in each city, we analysed a range of search terms on Google, such as "how to sell on Vinted", "how to sell on Etsy", "how to sell on Depop" and, "how to be an Airbnb host". All results were normalised per 100,000 residents.
Here are the areas that will likely be the most affected by the new rules.
1. Peterborough takes the top spot, with approximately 490 searches made per 100,000 residents
2. Bournemouth is close behind, with an average of 489 monthly searches
3. In the third spot is Warrington, with 484 searches per 100,000 resident
4. Oxford is in the fourth spot, with approximately 467 searches per 100,000 residents
5. Rounding off the top 5 is Walsall, with 465 searches
Methodology
Avid Panda analysed search data using Google's Keyword Planner to see the number of times residents in each of the UK's 50 most populated cities (excluding London boroughs) make searches for terms, such as "how to sell on Vinted", "how to sell on Etsy", "how to sell on Depop" and, "how to be an Airbnb host". Results were normalised per 100,000 residents. The cities were then ranked based on the normalised data. The city with the most searches per 100,000 residents was crowned the top side hustle hotspot in the UK.
To access the full dataset, please get in touch with lance@avidpanda.com.