UvA student sells summaries as a side job: “Converted to hourly wages, it is quite lucrative”
Many a student uses them during their study: online summaries. For some, selling them is even a side job. Like for Lotte Peerdeman (25), master’s student in clinical psychology at the UvA, who earns several hundred euros a month with her summaries.
They started studying just a little too late, or didn’t read some of the required articles, and so just before the exam they quickly bought a summary on Stuvia. Many students will likely recognise this scenario. In the space of fourteen years, the platform has grown into a frequently consulted source of study materials. In 2024, students in the Netherlands earned 1.27 million euros from the sale of homemade summaries. A “top seller” at the UvA is Lotte Peerdeman, but is it really such a lucrative business?
Let’s start with the most important question: how much do you earn from selling your summaries?
“On average, I earn about 150 euros a month, but in February I had a particularly good month and earned well over 200 euros. That probably has to do with the fact that I now offer my summaries in a more convenient way. I am in a number of WhatsApp groups for the different years and specialisations of my study programme. Previously, I only shared the link to my full Stuvia page in those groups, but since the beginning of this year, I have been working with links that open a specific summary directly. This means that people no longer have to search my page for the right files, which I think helps.”
Do you think of it as a part-time job?
“Yes, it’s a nice extra income to supplement my studies. I always made summaries for my own use, and at a certain point some friends joked that I should sell them. That actually seemed like a good idea. I found it a fun challenge to make my summaries as comprehensive as possible, while still keeping them concise.”
How much time do you spend on this?
“Since I no longer make my summaries just for myself, but also sell them, I do put in a little more effort. Sometimes a subject is quite clear to me, but I still include some extra explanation, or some graphs and additional literature. Without that additional information, I don't find the subjects clear enough. You should really be able to get by with just my summary.”
“In the end, I think that on top of my regular study load, I spend about one to two hours a week on summarising. So in about eight hours a month, I earn an average of 150 euros.”
So you earn a lot better than the minimum wage?
“Yes, if you convert it to an hourly wage, it is quite lucrative. Of course, I can’t live off it. I also work as a cleaner on the side.”
How much of your income goes to Stuvia?
“I once calculated that. I believe I receive about 55 percent of the sales, the rest goes to Stuvia. So you give up quite a high percentage, but I do like the fact that it goes through a platform like this. I also know people who sell their summaries via WhatsApp, but I like the fact that I don’t have to constantly think about the sales myself. I upload my work and then I don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
Do you get many positive responses?
“Yes, I often get good reviews. There are also a number of names that I see coming back every time, so these are people who use my summaries over and over again. They are like fans, haha. That’s really nice to see.”
“I also really enjoy doing it. It’s nice to be able to help people and I often ask friends if they think my summaries are sufficient to pass the exam. I do my best to make it a nice package.”
