Have you been searching the entire internet trying to find ideas of what to sell on Etsy? From personalized home decor to trendy fashion accessories, these ideas will help you find your niche and stand out in the crowded marketplace. So, let’s dive in and discover the perfect product that will captivate Etsy shoppers and turn your hobby into a thriving business!
Why Etsy is a great platform for selling handmade
If you’re creating handmade products, whether they’re digital or physical, Etsy is the best platform for getting a large amount of consistent traffic for the cheapest fees. With over 90 million buyers you can get a lot of customers from Etsy easily by optimizing your listings to get found in search. Even if you don’t know what to sell on Etsy yet, you can find something you’ll enjoy making and buyers will be searching for it.
Finding your niche
While there are a lot of third party tools and services out there that really emphasize picking the perfect high-demand, low-competition niche unfortunately that isn’t always the best route. In theory it sounds great, right? You find something that a ton of people are searching for that isn’t hard to rank for and you get results right away.
Unfortunately that’s not always how it works. It’s often hard to find these magical search terms that everyone always seems to be talking about. When you do find them, it’s often not a product you’re familiar with or an audience that you feel you can really provide value to. So then you dedicate your shop to these products, but don’t like what you’re making or who you’re making it for. That turns into a recipe for slow revenue growth and burnout.
Instead, I recommend pick a product that you love to make for someone you love to make it for. Remember those 90 million Etsy buyers I mentioned above? Yeah, there is someone searching for what you make. So make something you love that can be profitable for you and experiment with keywords on Etsy to get it found.
30 unique product ideas for selling on Etsy
Need help brainstorming? Here’s a list of products that buyers are searching for on Etsy. Remember this is a very general list. Use this to brainstorm ideas that you can niche down to more specific target markets. Then you’ll get found in less competitive searches being completed by those buyers.
- Jewelry: Charm necklaces, bracelets, and earrings are all searched for on Etsy. Birthstones make great birthday gifts and gifts for moms. And personalized jewelry that’s hand-stamped or laser engraved has millions of opportunities.
- Clay Earrings: Clay earrings are a great way to get started in jewelry market with a lot of opportunities for getting seen as well as standing out with your own color combinations and designs.
- Shirts: T-shirts are a saturated market on Etsy but that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed. If you want to make shirts by hand or use a Print on Demand supplier, find a niche of people that is underserved in the shirt market and plan to have a full product line in order to get found. (You can learn more about product lines here.)
- Clothing: Beyond t-shirts, Etsy buyers are searching for so many different types of clothing including workout outfits, loungewear, and clothing for special events for all ages and genders.
- Totes and Purses: This is another category that spans so many different event types. From everyday totes to special occasion bags, there are so many different types of people you can make purses for.
- Phone Cases: Either handmade or with a Print on Demand supplier, people are always searching for unique phone, tablet, and e-reader cases.
- Travel Accessories: Love to travel? Etsy buyers who love traveling are searching for travel blankets and accessories, luggage tags, travel cases and jewelry boxes, charger cases, passport covers, and activity kits for kids.
- Food and Drink: This category is quite robust on Etsy, but make sure to research local and state laws about selling food and drink products. Personally I’ve purchase drink mixes, infusion kits, and spice mixes.
- Personalized Home Decor: While some niches in this product category are super-saturated, there are still plenty of niches out there that can be incredibly profitable. Home decor could be pillows, signs, furniture, ceramics, or more. Look into trending colors and styles on social media and Pinterest for inspiration.
- Bathroom Decor: Towels, shower curtains, bathmats, and more can be personalized in so many different ways for your customers. Find a style you love and create products to fill a bathroom.
- Office Decor: Everyone wants to work from home and we want it to look nice and cozy too! What can you make that will create a beautiful and organized home office?
- Custom Drinkware: Tumblers, coffee cups, glasses, and more will always be a popular category on Etsy. You can also make drinkware for events.
- Candles: Candles can be a great product with buyers that return to you over and over again to purchase. For this product in particular, you’ll want to dial in your branding really well to stand out.
- Plants, Planters and Garden Accessories: Do you have a green thumb? Help Etsy buyers get one too!
- Eco-Friendly Products: This category will only grow and is often featured by Etsy. If you can make zero-waste products, paperless towels for the kitchen, reusable anything, or anything eco-friendly then you can find a buyer on Etsy.
- Illustrated Artwork: This works as a physical or a digital product. There are a lot of buyers heading to Etsy for one of a kind artwork for every room of their home.
- Stationary and Greeting Cards: These can physical or digital products for a huge variety of occasions and events.
- Planners: This is another product that can be either physical or digital on Etsy. And there are huge markets for both in a variety of niches.
- Skincare: Lotions, serums, and more. Self-care is big on Etsy, so if you can help people get it done it’s a great niche!
- Make Up: While make up may not be the first thing you think of when you think Etsy, buyers are searching for lip gloss, eye shadow, and even lashes.
- Bath Bombs and Shower Steamers: This is another niche where you have an opportunity to stand out by creating unique looking products with different themes.
- Pet Accessories: Collars and bandanas are huge in this category! But dog clothes and other accessories are searched for too! Don’t forget about the dog moms and dads too!
- Invitations: Invitations on Etsy can be for anything! Weddings are saturated but not impossible to succeed in. But don’t forget about birthdays and other less saturated events.
- Wedding Clothing and Accessories: From brides to grooms to the wedding party, you can create pre-wedding, ceremony, and reception clothing and accessories for everyone involved in the couple’s big day.
- Wedding Decor: From large to small, brides are shopping for all it on Etsy. Personalized signs,
- Wedding Favors: Being unique in this category will get you really far!
- Guest Books: Wedding guest books have gotten an upgrade from the plain, boring books that used to be your only option. Signs, puzzles, and more create special memories for the bride and groom.
- Other Party Supplies and Decor: Weddings aren’t the only party around. Birthday parties, retirement parties, anniversary parties and more are a cause for a celebration.
- Supplies: Did you know you can sell supplies on Etsy? Anything that can be considered a craft supply can be a great, untapped market on Etsy. Read more about what Etsy considers to be a craft supply here.
- Knowledge: Do you know how to do something that a lot of people don’t? You can sell that on Etsy. Package your knowledge into an online course, PDF plans or templates, or whatever you feel is best to help your buyers learn how to do something that comes easy to you.
- Photographer Accessories: Camera straps, camera bags, and digital templates are just the beginning of what photographers are searching for on Etsy.
- Teacher Supplies: Everyone in this category makes shirts and mugs, but teachers need a lot of stuff! Planners, stickers, organization tools, and more.
- Medical Professions: This is very similar to teachers. Your favorite nurse might not need another coffee tumbler, but may need a badge reel, lunch bag, headband, or pen.
- Kids Activities: Parents will do anything to keep those kiddos busy. Create downloadable and printable kids activity kits to help them!
Tips for successful Etsy selling
After you decide what to sell, you’re going to want to start getting traffic from Etsy. You’ll need full product lines, a simple keyword research process, and to learn how to format your listings in a way that tells Etsy you’re important for the keywords you choose. Learn more about how to do that in my free Etsy masterclass here.
