This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Truth is stranger than fiction. And some people really are selling love spells or magic charms online. This is a whole category of items you can purchase on Etsy and some other platforms. I've been making this show for a while. So I know that some side hustles sound too strange to be real, but of course the internet never disappoints.
So today let's talk about these love spells. We got a question from Naomi. She stumbled across a fascinating article about sellers making big money offering love spells, hex removals, curses, and other digital magic services. Some of these listings were raking in a lot of money before Etsy and some other platforms cracked down. So we're gonna talk about this of course.
Naomi wants to know, is there a real business opportunity here or is this a quirky online fad that vanishes when platforms tighten the rules? Or when everyone wakes up and joins reality, I guess that could be another situation. But hey, people will pay for all kinds of stuff. Let's talk about love spells. Love spells, that's today's topic.
Stay tuned. [Music]
Hi team, I'm Naomi calling from Southeast Portland. And I recently read this wild article about people selling spells like literal love spells or hex removals on Etsy. Some of these listings were apparently making big money until Etsy delisted them, probably because they violated the platform's policies. It got me curious, is there actually a market for digital spell work or magic services online?
Could someone start a side hustle doing this on Etsy or TikTok? Or is it just some of those strange internet fads that gets shut down as soon as it gains traction? I'd love to hear your take. [Music]
I pulled up this article, it comes from Fast Company. It does describe how spell sellers on Etsy racked up thousands of dollars in sales, often boosted by what else, TikTok virality.
Of course, this is a TikTok thing. People pay for everything from love spells, to luck charms, to curse removals. But here's the important part, when I followed all the links, Etsy has largely banned these listings, citing platform guidelines against intangible or unverifiable services. Funny how that works, right? It's not verifiable.
Many of the top examples in that article were delisted or shut down after going viral. I couldn't even find the accounts, not just the listings. And so platforms like Etsy or even Fiverr, they generally avoid hosting anything resembling metaphysical or spiritual manipulation, just because it's kind of hard to police for fraud, right? Even if you don't think the whole industry is fraudulent, it's like, how would you verify it, right? So even if there's customer demand, the platforms you want to use to sell these kinds of things are wary.
I do think if you want to educate people in this space, or maybe do something for entertainment's sake, probably your own site and your own audience, perhaps TikTok again, maybe YouTube, or another social heavy platform that attracts curious customers could be interesting. And then just have that clear understanding that most mainstream marketplaces are not gonna host those services. Is there money there? Sure, people will pay for everything. Is it reliable, scalable?
Definitely not. Might there be something better you can do? I think so, just my opinion, of course. Let me know how it goes. If you end up being a mega love spell seller, I mean, I'm open-minded, let me know.
Listeners, if you have a question or comment, sidehustleschool.com/questions, new episodes there. Complete Archive is there as well. 3153 episodes available for downloader streaming for free, along with new episodes dropping every day, wherever you get your podcasts. My name's Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School.
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- From The Onward Project.
