In short
- Packing parcels for online shops fits the evenings after a day job: you pack after work and drop off on your morning commute. At 20 small parcels a week on the suggested €2.25 that nets about €175 a month for roughly 85 minutes of work a week.
- Weekends only is harder: most shops want an order out the door the next working day. It can work if a shop agrees to a Monday handover.
- You tick the days you take parcels on, and shops can filter senders by those days.
- In the UK the first £1,000 of side income a year is tax-free under the trading allowance; above it, profit is taxed at your usual rate because your job already uses the £12,570 Personal Allowance.
- AirPost is a peer-to-peer fulfilment network: online shops have their orders packed and dropped at a parcel point by verified people near their customers, who earn a fee per parcel from home. No warehouse, no minimum order volume.
If you already work full time, a side hustle has to fit into the hours that are left: a couple of evenings, maybe a Saturday morning. Anything with fixed shifts, client calls in office hours or a commute of its own does not fit.
This guide looks at which side hustles actually fit evenings and weekends, and goes into one in detail — packing parcels for online shops — including where it does not fit. The numbers come from the code the app runs on. The general set-up is on earn from home.
Which side hustles from home fit evenings and weekends?
The ones without office-hours contact. Here is how the common options compare for someone with a day job:
| Side hustle | Evenings only? | Weekends only? | Money to start | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online tutoring | Yes | Yes | None | Bookings at set times |
| Selling your own things online | Yes | Yes | None | Runs out |
| Freelance writing, design or coding | Yes | Yes | A laptop | Clients expect replies in office hours |
| Delivery or rideshare apps | Yes | Yes | A vehicle | Not from home; vehicle costs |
| Packing parcels for shops | Yes | Only with the shop’s agreement | None | Volume depends on shops near you |
Delivery apps pay for evenings and weekends but cost fuel, wear and insurance; the sums are in packing parcels vs delivery driving. Freelancing pays best per hour if you have a skill clients want, but clients rarely wait until 8 pm for an answer. Parcel packing asks for no skill and no contact with anyone in office hours.
How does parcel packing work after a day job?
An order arrives as a notification during the day. You take it or skip it from your phone, pack it in the evening and drop it off on the way to work the next morning. Here is what a week of 20 parcels can look like:
| Day | Evening | Next morning |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Pack 5 orders, print 5 labels (about 18 min) | Drop at a parcel shop or locker on your commute |
| Tuesday | Nothing — not one of your days | — |
| Wednesday | Pack 8 orders (about 28 min) | Drop off on the commute |
| Thursday | Pack 7 orders (about 25 min) | Drop off on the commute |
| Friday to Sunday | Off | — |
- Tick your days. You choose which days you take parcels on; shops looking for a sender can filter on those days.
- Set a daily maximum. When you are full, shops skip you for that day.
- Pick drop-off points on your commute. You only get orders for carriers you tick.
- Go inactive for busy weeks. One switch takes you off the lists until you are back.
Can you do it only at weekends?
Sometimes, but be honest with yourself and the shop. Most shops want an order out the door the next working day, because their customers compare delivery times. An order placed on Tuesday that waits until Saturday is a slow order.
- A shop that sells gifts, collectables or slow-moving goods and is happy with a weekly Saturday drop-off.
- A shop that already has a weekday sender and wants you as the second one for its weekend orders.
- Orders placed on Friday and Saturday, packed on Saturday and dropped off before Monday.
- A shop that promises next-day dispatch and gets most orders on weekdays.
- Agreeing to days you cannot actually do: your profile shows how quickly you usually take an order away.
The arrangement is between you and the shop. Say what you can do before the stock arrives; shops see your days before they choose you.
What do you need to start after work?
Less than most evening side hustles. You need to be 18 or over, have a shelf of dry space, an ordinary printer for the labels, a phone for the notifications and a bank account in your own name. Sign-up is your email address; you verify your identity once with a selfie before the first order. The shop sends its stock and packaging, and pays every label. The complete list, including what you do not need, is in what you need to pack parcels from home.
How much can you earn on evenings and weekends?
At the suggested fees, 10 to 30 small parcels a week nets €87 to €262 a month. You set your own fee per size; the app suggests €2.25 for a small and €3.00 for a medium parcel.
| Parcels a week | Time a week | Net a month at €2.25 | Net a month at €3.00 | Per hour (small) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 50 min | €87 | €116 | €26.19 |
| 20 | 85 min | €175 | €233 | €30.81 |
| 30 | 120 min | €262 | €349 | €32.74 |
Try your own numbers
What does it pay?
Slide to the number of parcels you can handle in a week.
| Parcels a week | Your rate per parcel | Estimated per month |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | €1.50 | €116 |
| 50 | €2.25 | €437 |
| 250 | €3.00 | €2,910 |
An estimate based on four weeks. Your orders decide the real amount.
If your drop-off is on the commute, the trip costs you almost nothing, which is why the hourly figure is high. A fee becomes payable 3 days after the carrier’s first scan; you withdraw from €10.00. More in how much you can earn packing parcels from home.
Do you pay tax on a side hustle next to a full-time job?
In the UK, the first £1,000 a year usually not. The trading allowance covers up to £1,000 of gross trading income a year, and it does not apply to income from your employer, so your salary does not use it up.
| Your parcel fees in a tax year | What happens |
|---|---|
| £1,000 or less (gross) | Usually tax-free; you usually do not need to tell HMRC |
| More than £1,000 | Register for Self Assessment by 5 October after the tax year ends |
| Profit on top of a basic-rate salary | Taxed at 20% if your total stays between £12,571 and £50,270 (England, Wales, Northern Ireland) |
Your job already uses the £12,570 Personal Allowance, so everything above the trading allowance is taxed from the first pound. How to choose between the allowance and your real costs is in the UK trading allowance explained; for Ireland, see how much you can earn tax-free in Ireland.
Check your employment contract
Some contracts ask you to tell your employer about other work, or rule out work for competitors. Packing for an online shop rarely conflicts, but read the clause before you start.
The work exists wherever shops can ship domestically from a sender’s home. The live list of sender countries comes from the rate card:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Canada
- Croatia
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
- United States
Frequently asked questions
What is a good side hustle to do in the evenings from home?
One without office-hours contact. Packing parcels for online shops is one: you pack in the evening and drop off on your commute, and 20 small parcels a week at the suggested €2.25 nets about €175 a month.
Can I pack parcels only at weekends?
Only with a shop that agrees. Most shops want next-working-day dispatch, so weekend-only suits slow-moving goods or a shop that already has a weekday sender.
Do drop-off points open in the evening?
Many parcel shops sit in supermarkets and corner shops with long opening hours, and lockers are an option with some carriers. You tick only the ones that fit your day.
Will my employer find out?
Not from us. Whether you must tell your employer depends on your contract; check it before you start.
How many parcels can I fit into two evenings?
At about 3.5 minutes per parcel, an hour covers about 17 parcels. Two evenings of an hour can cover 30 a week, if shops near you have the orders.
Do I pay anything to start?
No. The shop sends the packaging and pays every label. The only deduction is 3% when you withdraw.
Sources
See whether a shop is looking for an evening sender near you
Earn from home