The idea of starting an online business with little effort and low costs has been heavily promoted online for years. Videos and posts promising “easy money” flooded the internet, convincing people that all they needed was a laptop and Wi-Fi to quit their jobs. But the truth is, many of the so-called “easy” online businesses that once worked no longer give the same results. Some don’t work at all anymore—especially for beginners.
In this blog, we’ll break down a few popular online business ideas that used to be profitable but are now either too crowded, too unreliable, or simply not worth the time for most people. You’ll see what changed and why it’s important to avoid chasing ideas just because they look simple on the surface.
Reselling T-Shirts with Print-on-Demand
A few years ago, setting up a t-shirt store through platforms like Teespring, Redbubble, or Printful was a go-to option for beginners. You didn’t need to buy any stock. You could design a shirt using free tools and let the print-on-demand company handle the printing, shipping, and customer service.
At first, it worked. People made money by selling funny quotes, trends, or niche slogans. But then, as usual, the internet got crowded. Everyone started designing the same ideas. Searches for "funny gym shirt" or "dog mom tee" bring up thousands of similar listings now.
Worse, platforms like Redbubble became filled with low-effort designs, and quality dropped. Buyers stopped trusting random stores with no reviews. And because sellers only earn a small cut from each sale, you need volume to make real income—which is now much harder to achieve without advertising.
Some people still make money in this space, but it's usually those who already built a brand or who invest in unique artwork, strong marketing, and original concepts. For most beginners, this business model no longer works the way it used to.
Niche Instagram Theme Pages
Starting an Instagram page around a theme—like travel, fitness, or luxury cars—was once a fast way to grow an audience. People reposted viral content, added popular hashtags, and could build a large following in just a few months. After that, they’d make money through shoutouts, affiliate links, or selling digital products.
But things changed quickly. Instagram’s algorithm became stricter about reposted content. Engagement dropped, reach became unpredictable, and accounts using reposted videos or quotes often got shadowbanned or limited.
Also, too many pages used the same strategies, quotes, or images, so nothing felt unique anymore. And even pages with 50k followers couldn’t always turn their audience into buyers, especially if the content wasn’t original or trustworthy.
Now, Instagram rewards creators who post personal, authentic, and high-effort content. Anonymous theme pages that rely on reposts usually hit a growth wall. If your face isn't on the account, and you're not building real interaction, it's hard to make money with it anymore.
Buying Cheap Products from Alibaba and Selling on Your Own Store
For a while, people made money by buying low-cost products from suppliers on Alibaba, setting up a basic online store with Shopify, and running ads on Facebook or Instagram to drive traffic. The plan was simple: buy for $3, sell for $20.
It worked best around 2017–2019, when Facebook ad costs were lower and fewer people were doing it. But now, this method has hit multiple problems. First, ads are much more expensive. You could easily spend $300 and not make a single sale if your product or website isn’t perfect.
Second, customers became more aware. They started seeing the same gadgets or beauty tools advertised everywhere and realized they were being resold at marked-up prices. Trust fell, and conversion rates dropped. Plus, shipping delays, poor packaging, and product quality issues hurt many new stores.
Even if someone manages to make some sales, refunds and chargebacks often eat into the profits. The effort needed to succeed with this model is now closer to running a real business—with branding, logistics, and high ad budgets—so calling it “easy” just isn’t true anymore.
Starting a Blog Just to Make Money from Ads
Starting a blog used to be a low-cost way to make passive income. You’d pick a topic, write a few helpful articles, sign up for an ad network like Google AdSense, and slowly start earning as your traffic grew.
But now, starting a blog with the goal of making money only through ads is extremely difficult for beginners. The competition is intense. Large websites dominate search results for almost every topic. They have SEO experts, writers, and years of authority behind them.
For new blogs, it can take 6 to 12 months just to rank a few pages—and that’s with great content. Also, ad revenue is low unless you have thousands of daily visitors. Earning even $5 a day can take months or years to reach.
That doesn’t mean blogging is dead. It still works if you enjoy writing, have a niche you care about, and can build an audience. But starting a blog just to slap ads on it and make money? That’s not an easy plan anymore.
Selling eBooks with No Audience
Many online creators recommended writing short eBooks and selling them on platforms like Gumroad or Amazon Kindle. The pitch was simple: write a guide on something you know, publish it, and earn passive income.
The problem? Everyone tried it. The marketplace became flooded with low-quality eBooks, often made in a rush or copied from online articles. And without an existing audience or marketing plan, most of these eBooks sold fewer than ten copies.
Even well-written eBooks are hard to sell without trust. People don’t buy just because a title sounds interesting—they buy because they know the author, follow their content, or heard about the book from someone they trust.
Unless you already have an email list, a social following, or a website with traffic, launching an eBook today is more of a gamble than a business plan. It’s not a guaranteed income stream, and it definitely isn’t “easy.”
What to Learn from These Failing Business Models
There’s a reason why these ideas were called “easy” in the first place: they didn’t require much skill or money to start. But that also meant they attracted too many people doing the same thing. And when that happens, the quality drops, trust fades, and only a few people end up making real money.
If you're serious about starting an online business in today’s world, here are a few things to remember:
- Don’t rely on shortcuts. Most easy paths are already overused. Focus on building something that takes time but has long-term potential.
- Audiences are smarter now. They’ve seen every trick in the book. You need to be real, helpful, and different to stand out.
- You’re building a business, not a hack. Any model that works today still takes effort, learning, and consistency.
- The first goal isn’t to make money—it’s to be useful. Solve a problem, help a group of people, or make something better than what already exists. That’s the real way to get noticed.
Not all online business ideas are dead. But the ones that were too easy to begin with usually don’t last. Look deeper, think longer-term, and be ready to do the work others aren’t willing to.