Who says NFTs have killed physical art? If you’re an art collector, you know how to buy and sell artworks online. You’d know Etsy can be a great way to make passive or even primary income while working from home. But figuring out things guaranteed to sell on Etsy can be tricky if you’re a rookie.
From digital products to collectibles, Etsy can be a great platform to start your online business. It can also help you reach out to overseas customers if you have a boutique already.
Remember those old Pokémon cards and Hot Wheel cars you collected as a kid? Guess what! Etsy has a market for that too! Your old cassettes, Vinyl discs, or even an antique décor piece- on Etsy, you can sell them.
If you’re new to all this, don’t worry, you’re in the right place. This post gives you the best 10 things you can sell on Etsy.
What are popular things to sell on Etsy? If you’re starting your Etsy business, the first step to succeeding is ensuring that what you want to sell actually has an audience. You might have an impressive set of vintage coats to sell, but if there’s no demand, then you’ll struggle to make sales.
So if you have no idea where to start, these 10 products are ideal as they are not only easy to make (or get), but they are also profitable.
1. Handmade Jewelry
If you’re one of the lucky ones who can design and build Jewelry on your own, you can go ahead and make a shop on Etsy.
If you’re not, you can buy and resell it. Creating a shop to sell your products is only the first step. Getting people to talk about and accept it is the tricky part. Advertise your products on Pinterest and Instagram and drive them to your Etsy shop.
2. Stickers and Personalized Cards
If you’re a graphic designer who has experience working with Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, why not use it to design stickers and cards? Capitalize on the increase in global interest in personalized items and get into the niche market for these items.
Stickers are straightforward to sell because you can tie up with a print-on-demand service that helps print your designs and ship them to your customers. You can deal with everything from bumper stickers to wall stickers.
If you get creative with it, you can also design phone covers too. The trick to market entry is evaluating what’s hot and running. Once you know the design trends, you’ll know what can get attention.
3. Collectibles
Everything from Pokemon cards to Hot Wheel cars can be bought and sold to a select group. These people look for rarity and value. If you’re a proud owner of a shadowless Charizard or a Gold Pikachu, you can find a market for it on Etsy.
Alternatively, you can sell old vinyl discs, posters, and rare books. You can also find a market for your ancient coin and stamp collections. However, be careful not to under-prize these scarce and valuable products.
4. Photography
No, not everything needs to be converted into an NFT. Some can be printed and sold to photography enthusiasts around the world. Your best clicks can be easily printed and posted to your customer halfway globally.
5. Paintings
Are you finding it difficult to sell your avant-garde and postmodern artworks? Etsy has a market for you. The best thing about the platform is it allows you to expand beyond your national borders. Pack your canvas and ship it to any place in the world.
6. Custom Made T-Shirts
One of the best things about Etsy is that it allows you to team up with drop-shipping companies to design custom t-shirts for your customers.
With no need to maintain inventory, raw materials, or even a production establishment, selling custom-made T-shirts can be profitable. If you’re proficient in working with Adobe Illustrator or even basic platforms like Canva, you’d be able to make great designs.
The key here is to make designs to suit your customers. To understand what works, you’d have to do your fair share of research. You’ll also need to promote your creations on social media and other platforms. Marketing does most of the work for you. The quality of your designs does the rest.
7. Custom Mugs
Not everyone wants “the world’s best dad” written on their mugs. Many today want highly customized mugs with pictures, names, and personalized quotes. You can cash in on this trend by filling the demand. Making custom mugs is not as difficult as you think.
You don’t need inventory, and you don’t need a distribution network. What you need is some eye for design and digital skills to execute it. You can team up with a print-on-demand service and get your mugs delivered to your customer.
8. Digital Art
If it’s expensive to ship your products and your customers want to print them on their home printer, you can sell your work as digital art.
You can sell everything from party printables to resume templates. Selling digital art is low maintenance and also helps you keep yourself creative. It is an attractive side hustle as it does not require significant capital. All you need is an IPad or a computer to execute those designs your customer needs.
Apart from 2D printables, you can also design printable designs for 3D objects like gift boxes, mugs, and many more. You can also sell your photographs as digital art pieces. The best thing about digital products is that it saves you from trips to the courier office and the customer service effort.
9. Party Decors
Are you that person in your circle who gets excited whenever there’s a party, only to keep the decorations ready? Why not turn your passion into a business on Etsy? From curtain lights to table covers, you can sell them all. Custom-made wall hangings, balloons, party invitations, and everything in between.
To stand out from the crowd, you can send customized suggestions for using the items you send. While this might need you to have an inventory, Etsy has a massive market for these items.
10. Toys
Many parents love safe wooden toys over mass-produced ones for their children. You can create thoughtful educational toys and help out. While this requires prerequisite knowledge of designing toys followed by rigorous marketing on social media, you’re sure to find well-paying customers on Etsy.
You can also expand by selling customized puzzles and toys for every kid. Once you’ve built trust with your customer base, it’s easy to grow.
Alternatively, if you're looking for other ways to boost your income, you can simply check out our list of 10 ways to make money online while playing games.10 Tips on How to Sell Your Products on Etsy
- Market your products on social media platforms. Pinterest is the easiest way to do it. Post pictures of your products on the forum and attach a direct link to your Etsy shop. You can also use Instagram and Facebook for similar organic growth.
- Build blogs to drive traffic. These blogs should be SEO-friendly and informative. The trick is to balance marketing with educational content.
- Understand what you can sell and what you cannot. Remember, your skills and interests should match the market requirements of the time.
- Take professional-looking photographs of your products. Your customer cannot touch or feel your products. So, it is your photos that act as a window. High-quality photographs are essential for making a good first impression and encouraging customers to buy your product. Photos on your Etsy shop need to be aesthetically pleasing.
- Write detailed product descriptions. Just like the photos, the description of your products also matters, and make sure the include the keyword you want people to find you with. If you’re selling red leather suede shoes, make sure to include all these keywords in the description.
- Set competitive prices. You want to make sure your prices are in line with the competition, so do some research to find out what similar products are selling for on Etsy.
- Build relationships with your customers. Respond to all customer inquiries quickly and be as friendly and helpful as possible.
- Customer service is a must! Make sure to pack and ship orders promptly and go above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction.
- Create a loyalty program. Offer discounts and incentives to customers who shop with you regularly.
- Organization is key. Stay organized. Keep track of your inventory, orders, and finances to ensure your online shop runs smoothly.
Start Your Etsy Shop!
Etsy is a great platform to build your business. But remember that your business would depend on the health of the website. While we’re not saying they’d shut down tomorrow, it’s always better to be vigilant. Nevertheless, as we enter an era of platform economy, Etsy provides a beautiful way to make money from home.
FAQs on Best Thing to Sell on Etsy
Now that you know your options, your work is half done. It’s half done because the rest half depends on marketing. You need to win the attention game to stand out from the 4.3 million sellers. So can you make money on Etsy with so much competition? Yes, you can. Here are a few ideas to stand out.
You can showcase your works on Pinterest and Instagram, like Jewelry and paintings. They help drive traffic to your Etsy shop. Once you have a few customers, organic marketing becomes easy. You’ll soon have an expanding customer base from word of mouth and other ways.
Digital products are among the most profitable as they don’t incur printing costs and transportation fees. However, jewelry and craft products are also highly valued by customers.
When you list your product, you’ll be charged a listing fee of $0.05. This charge is only for any new listing you do. There is no additional fee for editing the listing. In addition, Etsy will also charge you 6.5% of the price of your product as transaction fees. You’ll have to pay more if you want to advertise your products on Etsy or outside.
