Whenever I recommend to friends that they should start an Etsy shop, their first response is almost always the same, “What would I sell?” While I can’t tell you specifically what you should sell, here’s some ideas to get you thinking. Just to be clear, you don’t have to know how to sew, be crazy crafty, be an artist, or already have a product in mind. Be open to new ideas and trying new things. I am not a crafty person, but I have loved selling on Etsy. If you don’t have any ideas in mind for your Etsy shop yet, here are a few suggestions to get your wheels turning.
Weddings – the wedding section on Etsy is hugely popular. Is there something that worked at your wedding that you could share with others? Decorations? Party favors? Custom gift for the bride and groom?
Digital Items – are you computer savvy? Know how to use Photoshop or Illustrator? Even if not, there’s plenty of free tutorials to help you learn. Sell clipart, birthday party invitations, baby room decor, prints, and more!
Funny – are you pretty witty? Design custom mugs, canvases, greeting cards, etc. with your hilarious humor printed on whatever product you want. Remember you don’t have to make the mug yourself, another company can print your design for you.
Children’s Book – quiet books, personalized books, educational books, whatever knowledge you want to share. Make a book on it!
Jewelry – Love to bead? Sell your beautiful creations!
Cats – Are you a crazy cat lady? Make a shop that’s all things cats. Vintage cats, cat cards, cat fabric, and more!
Vintage Toys – Scour garage sales, surf the net, clean out your basem*nt, and sell those nostalgic toys that you know and love.
Etsy is a unique marketplace that only sells items that fit in these categories: handmade, vintage, or supplies. You’ll need to sell items that fit in one of these categories. Here’s a brief overview of what these categories entail.
Handmade
Handmade is considered the heart of Etsy. It’s what really makes them who they are. There are so many handmade items that you really can’t find anywhere else. Handmade can include anything from items you’ve sewn, jewelry you make, clipart you design, paintings, thank you cards, and millions of more ideas! However, handmade doesn’t strictly mean you sat in your garage crafting something. Etsy does update their guidelines and many things have changed in the past few years as to what qualifies as handmade. Your handmade items do not have to be made just by you. If you need to hire help, that’s just fine. If you have staff working from different locations, that’s fine too. List all your staff on your about page and let everyone know that this handmade item is a collaboration of many talents.
You can use also shipping and fulfillment services. This guideline was a huge relief for many shop owners! Here’s an example, let’s say you design t-shirts. You’re an awesome graphic designer, but have no desire to actually print the shirts at your house. You can use a manufacturer to produce the shirt for you and even have them ship the shirts directly to your customer from their manufacturing warehouse. I use this method in my Etsy store. I have shirts, mugs, prints, and a few other items with my photography and design, but other companies actually produce the product for me. They also ship the product directly to my customer when it’s finished and they ship it without using their logo, this is called drop shipping. They also don’t include a manufacturing receipt or anything that would make the customer know where it was manufactured. Drop shipping is an awesome way to sell products without having to deal with all the headaches that come with shipping (boxes, post office, packaging material, etc.). You do run some risk that the manufacturer sends one of your customers a bad product, but that wouldn’t be good for the manufacturer so they typically do their best to ensure they’re running a quality business too. If you’re interested in finding a manufacturer to work with to help create your product, check out Etsy’s manufacturing page here. You can search for local manufacturers or ones that offer drop shipping. Search for manufacturers in apparel, printing, jewelry, etc. and work together to bring your designs to life!
Vintage
Selling vintage items is another popular avenue for generating income on Etsy. Vintage is considered anything 20 years or older (that makes me feel old). Vintage categories include a wide array of items: sunglasses, scarves, toys, crochet patterns, art, movie posters, wigs, and more! Most successful vintage sellers find a niche and become knowledgeable in that particular area. If you don’t have a niche, don’t let that stop you. Your store can be full of an assortment of items that you discovered at garage sales, bought for cheap at a second-hand store, or found in grandma’s attic.
Supplies
The final Etsy approved category is supplies. These are tools, ingredients, or materials for use in the creation of a new handmade item. Here are a few examples that fit this category: boxes and tins, labels, packaging and mailing supplies, fabric, buttons, frames, etc.
Items that you aren’t allowed to sell through Etsy include reselling items you didn’t have a part in creating (unless vintage or supplies), drugs, mature content, dangerous items, etc. Read Ety’s full prohibited items list here for further details.
As you can see there are many options for what you can sell. I recommend taking a look around Etsy if you aren’t familiar with the site, brainstorm ideas, find something you’d enjoy selling and then go to step 2 and get your shop open for business!
