11 Best Ways To Sell Notes Online (2024 Guide!)

If you’re a busy student with no time for a job–or you’re just looking for a way to make some extra money without much effort– I’ve got a good side hustle for you to try out.

A lot of students don't know this, but you can actually sell notes for money to make some quick and easy cash.

It doesn't matter if you're selling notes for a class you're currently in or a previous one either; there are tons of platforms that pay you for your lecture notes as long as they are detailed and legible.

Let's jump into the best note selling sites, how much you can make selling notes and study guides online, and answer some frequently asked questions you might have.

Looking for other easy ways to make money? Checkout:

Branded Surveys: One of the best ways to earn free cash and gift cards by answering short surveys!
Freecash: Another global survey website with gift card and cash prizes!

How To Sell Notes Online

There are plenty of websites that let you sell your notes for cash. However, it's worth mentioning that it's popular to sell college notes for money.

You can still sell high-school notes for cash, but this is mostly a side hustle for college students looking to earn some extra cash each month. So, now that you have your notes, let's look at some of the best sites for selling college notes online.

1. Stuvia

One of the more popular ways to sell college notes online is to use Stuvia.

Stuvia accepts just about anything you might write up for school, including textbook summaries, essays, papers, course notes and more.

You set your own rates when you publish your work, then Stuvia will market it to everyone on their site– they even notify the people in your area of study when you publish something!

Stuvia also has a review system, so you can build your reputation and bring in even more sales.

The average earnings you can get from a single document sale is $8.90. But, Stuvia says that note sellers make an average of $103 dollars a month on its platform.

Stuvia is a great place to start selling notes since it accepts a wide variety of notes, essays, and paper; you're not just stuck with selling notes or study guides as with other websites!

2. Nexus Notes

Nexus Notes is a subscription-based platform for note sharing.

As a note seller, you can upload anything from notes, summaries, templates, course guides and tons of other work that you have produced in your courses to earn some passive income on the side.

You also have two options for how you get paid for your notes:

Revenue Percentage. Earn a percentage of Nexus Notes' subscription revenue based on how many times students view your notes.
Free Access. Read other people's notes on the platform for free the more you upload.

This is a great system if you want to find study material for other courses you're taking and aren't just interested in making money online by selling notes.

However, Nexus Notes sellers earn less on average than other platforms since it reports the average user only makes a few hundred dollars per year.

But even so, a few extra hundred bucks a year is awesome if you're sick of having no money and struggling through college!

3. OneClass

Most websites that let you sell college notes for money pay you per view or per download, so your notes might make hundreds of dollars or nothing at all.

In contrast, OneClass pays you a flat rate for providing notes for specific classes, so it's nice you know exactly what you're getting paid for your notes.

I actually had some friends do this as a side hustle during my second year of college. And from what they told me, you can make decen money selling notes online without much effort work.

However, to sell notes to OneClass, you apply as a notetaker for a specific course.

If your application is successful, there's a brief trial period. Afterwards, you're responsible for uploading class notes and material to the site each week.

You get paid on a per class basis, with each course earning you $470. You also get a reference letter you can use when applying to jobs in the future, and the position itself can help spruce up your resume.

Earning $470 per class isn't actually a great hourly rate when you consider you're selling notes every week.

But if you're taking these notes anyway, uploading them to OneClass is basically a way to earn passive income as a student.

4. Docmerit

Docmerit is a fast and easy way to earn money from your notes.

You set your prices and you keep 85% of the sale, so this is more flexible than selling notes to platforms like OneClass.

Plus, you receive funds from your notes within 24 hours of making a sale, so you can make money fast with Docmerit.

Docmerit recommends uploading notes during exam periods since students are scrambling to find study notes and are willing to pay, so this tip is worth remembering for other note selling websites as well.

Docmerit also recommends promoting your notes by using platforms like Facebook and Twitter. You can do this, especially if you find study Facebook groups for your college where people share notes.

Extra Reading – The Best Freebies For College Students.

5. Oxbridge Notes

Oxbridge Notes is a UK-based website that lets you sell notes for money.

This platform pays you 50% of the sale price for notes, outlines, sample test questions, and test answers.

Oxbridge Notes states that its users make about $250 a year, which you can collect throughout the year at the beginning of every month. Overall, it's a nice way to earn money online for beginners while helping out your fellow classmates.

One important thing to consider is that you have to be pre-approved to become a seller on the platform and they don’t accept handwritten notes, which can be an additional challenge depending on your note taking style.

However, you can sell a variety of notes, and the ability to also sell test banks and even sample test questions is a perk of selling with Oxbridge Notes.

6. StudySoup

If you like the idea of selling college notes for entire courses to get paid, StudySoup is another website like OneClass you can make money with.

To sell notes to StudySoup, you have to apply to be an Elite Notetaker.

The application process involves providing some basic information like:

Your school's name
Your full name
Picking an email and password

From there, you complete a quick training session and are then responsible for uploading weekly notes and study guides if you're approved.

StudySoup states you earn about $5 for each upload but that you can earn up to $500 per course you cover, so the overall pay is similar to OneClass.

In this video from StudySoup, one student from Michigan State University explains how she earned almost $400 from uploading one study guide to the site:

Of course, this is a promotional video from StudySoup, so take all of this sort of information with a grain of salt.

Typed notes tend to do best, but you are allowed to upload written notes if that’s your preferred method.

According to StudySoup, their Elite Notetakers can bring in anywhere from $300 to $500 a month, which is a pretty solid income for a side hustle that requires little additional effort.

Extra Reading – How To Make $50 Per Day.

7. Studypool

Another very popular way to earn money by selling notes is to sell through Studypool.

Studypool states that you can earn $5,000 per month by selling your notes, exam prep material, homework, and textbook summaries.

Documents can earn up to $10 every time someone views it, and Studypool covers dozens of subjects, including:

Accounting
Algebra
Biology
Business
Computer Science
Digital Marketing
Economics
Excel
Science
Political Science

The depth of topics and high pay rate makes Studypool quite enticing for selling your college notes.

Plus, you can also apply to become a Studypool tutor if you want to teach subjects like English or math or just help students with specific homework questions for one-time payments.

Top selling notes have apparently earned thousands of dollars, and some sellers report making a few hundred dollars a month through regular note uploads, so it’s definitely a good place to go if you’re looking to turn this into a side hustle.

You still have to get approved to sell notes to Studypool, but this is definitely one of the best note selling platforms due to the number of students on it and variety of topics.

Extra Reading – 9 Online Tutoring Jobs For College Students.

8. GradeBuddy

Another way to sell study guides and notes and get paid on a per-course basis is to sell with GradeBuddy.

GradeBuddy lets you earn in two different ways:

Upload Individual Notes. Upload your notes freely to the database and make money whenever someone purchases that specific note. This is a great option if you want less commitment but still want to get paid for the notes you’re taking.
Cover An Entire Course. Sign up for a specific course and make up to $500 by uploading weekly notes and exam study guides. This is the highest paying option but requires more work– although its bound to keep your attendance up and help you stay on top of your work.

If you don't have perfect attendance, you're better off uploading individual notes.

However, if you cover a course or two, that's potentially $1,000 in extra cash for you by selling your notes to GradeBuddy!

9. Notesale

Notesale is another site that makes selling college notes fast and easy. To get started, just upload your notes and set your price, then Notesale will handle the rest.

You get to set your own prices, and Notesale basically asks for some info about the notes you're uploading and then saves them in a PDF format so others can download them.

Unfortunately, there's not much information on average earnings for Notesale, and you need to set competitive prices in order to make more sales– which means you may not be bringing home all that much at the end of the day.

However, if you're struggling to sell your notes for cash with other websites, you can quickly upload them to Notesale, set low prices, and see if you earn something.

10. Course Hero

Course Hero doesn't compensate students financially for uploading notes, but you can earn rewards for uploaded documents that can go towards gaining free access to study materials on their website.

In other words, you can upload study notes and exam guides to Course Hero to access other guides on the website.

So, if you're struggling to take lecture notes for all of your classes, you can use Course Hero to catch up by sharing the notes you already have with other students.

Now, if you’re looking to make money with Course Hero, you can try its tutoring program and earn you up to $500 a month.

However, this will take up more of your time when you could just upload your notes to a platform that will actually pay you for them.

Extra Reading – How To Make Money On Autopilot.

11. Sell Directly To Students

One final option for you to sell notes and earn money is to sell them directly to your fellow students.

You have to work out individual arrangements with classmates for this to work. But when I was in college, some people did this and sold notes, test prep material, and study guides to other people.

This can also be something you do after you finish a course if you sell to new students about to take that same course.

How Much Money Can You Make Selling Notes?

Can you actually make money selling notes?

You definitely can, and many of the best note selling websites have thousands or even millions of students who buy notes from other students.

However, it's important to remember that while selling your notes is an easy way to make some extra cash to help out with school, it’s probably not going to make you rich.

There's a lot of competition out there, and it also takes time to find a platform that will give you the best price for your work, as well as for you to get a grasp on what kind of formats students are looking for when buying notes.

There's also some other factors that influence how much you can sell your notes for, including:

Age. The older your notes are, the harder they are to sell since textbook editions and information becomes outdated.
Add-Ons. Adding things like test banks, study guides, and practice questions to your notes can help you sell them for higher amounts.
Depth. Generally, you can sell school notes for more money if you cover an entire semester and have very in-depth notes.
Subject. Very complex subjects like math or programming are more specialized and can therefore fetch a higher price than subjects like English, although your market is smaller.
Timing. As mentioned, selling notes during midterms and exams increases urgency in students so you can make more sales.

Depending on the site you use and the quality of notes you're putting out there, it’s safe to say you could easily make a few hundred dollars a month as long as you're consistent.

The right platform will depend on what school you go to and what classes you take, but from there you should focus on selling your notes to the highest bidder– that’s when you’ll see the money roll in.

Extra Reading – The Best Paid Survey Sites For Teens.

Alternatives To Selling Notes For Money

There are plenty of ways to sell notes and earn money. However, students should know that this side hustle takes time to get started.

Additionally, if you don't have very high-quality notes or notes for a popular subject, it might be tough to find consistent buyers.

Thankfully, there are numerous alternatives to note selling websites students can use to make quick money like:

Using side gig apps like DoorDash and Instacart to make money delivering food and groceries
Making money with freelancing (writing, social media management, web design, etc.)
Trying online jobs that pay like being a customer service rep or virtual assistant
Online tutoring with companies like BookNook or in-person private tutoring
Starting a blog or YouTube channel or some sort of online business
Answering questions for money with different survey websites

Diving gigs like DoorDash or Instacart are a perfect example since they are way more stable and predictable than selling notes online for money.

And if you sell your skills as a freelancer, which is what I do with freelance writing, the income ceiling is much higher.

Just something to keep in mind! You can still sell notes online to earn money, but don't be afraid to explore other money-making ideas!

Extra Reading – The Best Ways To Make $1,500 Fast.

What Are The Best Notes Selling Websites?

The best websites to sell notes include StudySoup, Nexus Notes, and Stuvia. These platforms accept notes, essays, and study guides, and they're all very easy to use and can turn into an excellent passive income source for detailed note takers.

Just note that it can take a long time to make money with this side hustle. And not every subject or type of notes can make money if demand from students isn't high enough.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Selling Class Notes Illegal?

This is a common misconception (and something my college professors tried very hard to get us to believe). However, it’s 100% legal to sell your college notes for money, as long as everything is in your own words.

Anything produced by your professors or institutions is considered intellectual property, so selling that online would be considered a crime– but anything you produce yourself is fair game.

However, you should always research your college or university's policies to see if they mention selling notes.

According to different Reddit threads, here's what some college students said about how to make money selling notes:

tell-me-your-side says: “I believe that this gives the site full rights to your documents. Also, this can get you kicked out of many universities. Check your institution's policies first.”
altiuscitiusfortius says: “The slides the professor posts would get you kicked out for sure. Uploading just your handwriting of transcribing what the professor says? Probably will still get you kicked out.”

As you can see, these students are skeptical that you can sell your notes without getting caught, so do some due diligence and read what your school's policy is.

If you want another side hustle, you can always try flipping books on Amazon since college textbooks are a great, high-margin item to flip!

Is It illegal To Buy Notes Online?

Just like it's not illegal to sell notes, it’s not illegal to buy them either. If you pay for the notes they are yours to use, you’re just not allowed to sell them to anyone else.

How Do You Sell Study Guides Online?

Many websites accept (and even require) study guides.

These can look different depending on the subject or course, but usually, study guides summarize all the key terms and concepts that are going to be on the midterm or exam.

Study guides can also include practice questions and answers, which many students look for specifically to help them feel prepared stepping into the exam room.

The benefit to these is that it’s just a round up of all the notes you’ve already taken, plus putting it together is good study prep for you and you can charge a higher price for them.

Extra Reading – How To Do Homework For Money.

Final Thoughts

You work hard as a student, and it's often difficult to juggle your workload with a part-time college job.

But, if money is tight, why not make money selling notes you already have?

Good quality notes can be hard to get and it’s not a skill that comes easily to everyone. You’re benefiting yourself and possibly hundreds of other students by putting your school notes up for sale online.

Even if you just make an extra $200 a month, every little bit counts when you're a student, so give this online side hustle a try!

Hopefully, our list of the best websites to sell notes helps you sell college notes and make some easy cash on the side.

Looking for other money-making and saving ideas? Checkout:

11 Best Ways To Sell Notes Online (2024 Guide!)