What to Sell on Etsy: Top 10 Profitable Products + Tips on How to Sell Better

Discover the top selling items on Etsy.

Now that you’ve decided to open a shop on Etsy, the next big question remains: ‘What is the best thing to sell on Etsy?’. There are many ways we can answer this, but apart from that, it’s best to consider other factors. Before embarking on a business venture online, it’s important to know information such as which items are popular or trending on the website this year, how easily you can market these items, if selling on Etsy is still worth it for the type of product you want to sell, and more.

Keep reading below to get an idea of what to sell on Etsy, along with product suggestions and tips on selling and marketing your pieces on the website.

 

What to sell on Etsy

 

Etsy is known for hosting many unique items for sale. To give you an idea of what is allowed and prohibited on the platform, check out the list below.

 

What you can sell:

• Handmade items made by you such as jewelry, clothing, accessories, and more.
• Vintage items you’ve collected over the years or found elsewhere. Note that items need to be at least 20 years old to be considered vintage on the website.
• Craft supplies that buyers can use to create their own creative endeavors like beads for jewelry, fuzzy wires for scrapbooking, colorful cardstock for crafts, and more.

 

What you can’t sell:

• Alcohol, tobacco, and drugs
• Animal products (e.g. leather) and human remains
• Dangerous items that can be considered hazardous, toxic, or weapons
• Items that promote hate or violence
• R-18 or mature content

 

Consider these 20 quick-selling category items on Etsy

 

What do you need to sell on Etsy? The answer depends on your interests. If you can’t narrow them down, it would help to look at Etsy’s consistent top sellers.

For the most part, top-selling items on Etsy change year after year. But just to give you an idea, here are 20 of the most in-demand items that you might want to consider for your brand-new shop.

 

1. Handmade Jewelry
2. Stationery and planners
3. T-shirts
4. Wedding products
5. Handmade Clothing
6. Handmade Home Decor
7. Stickers
8. Art and collectibles
9. Accessories
10. Custom Toys and entertainment
11. Personalized Phone Cases
12. Handmade Candles
13. Organic Cosmetics and beauty products
14. Notebooks and Journals
15. Posters
16. Greeting cards
17. Mugs
18. Bags
19. Party decorations
20. Vintage Items

 

Under some categories, we’ve provided tools and resources from Creative Fabrica that you can use to create your own products for sale.

 

 

1. Handmade Jewelry

Handmade jewelry are some of Etsy’s top-sellers for fashionistas who want one-of-a-kind accessories. Add more creative flair to your products by packaging them in beautiful craft boxes, stamped with your unique branding.

 

2.Stationery and planners

 

One of Etsy’s top sellers is also one of the easiest products to offer. Check out Creative Fabrica’s Print-on-Demand assets for graphics and fonts to help you design and sell your own unique stationery line. Crafting planners and calendars? Use our modern sans serif fonts and icons to complete your design. If you’re keen to target the scrapbooking audience, you can offer printable patterned pages. You can even produce your own patterned page design or artwork with a little help from CF Spark Patterns and CF Spark Art.

 

3. T-shirts

T-shirts are a fun daily staple that people can’t get enough of. If you’re a designer or a T-shirt lover, consider creating your own unique designs to sell on Etsy. A convenient route is to partner up with a Print-on-Demand company to help fulfill your T-shirt orders for you.

To make sure your T-shirt can be sold via a POD company, design using fonts and graphics from Creative Fabrica’s POD library, which grants you a Full POD commercial license.

 

 

4. Wedding products

 

Creative Fabrica has fancy script fonts and sans serif fonts that will help you create eye-catching custom invites and stationery for your wedding customers. For couples that love a handcrafted wedding, you can offer personalized cake toppers, paper bouquets, party favor boxes, and other handmade centerpieces that you can create from our 3D SVG craft files. 

 

5. Handmade Clothing

 

Etsy fashionistas love handmade and vintage clothes. If you’re into vintage, add your spin to the well-loved style by offering repurposed clothes. You can also create your own unique clothing items to sell using Creative Fabrica’s crocheting and knitting patterns.

 

6. Handmade Home Decor

 

Home decor items such as pillows, wall art, centerpieces, and furnishings are popular on Etsy. You can create unique and stylish pieces that will appeal to customers looking to decorate their homes with handmade items. If you’re into needlework, Creative Fabrica offers quilt patterns and embroidery designs which you can use to craft your own line of custom linens.  

 

7. Stickers

 

Different kinds of stickers sell well on Etsy – bundled designs for scrapbooking, laptop decals, bumper stickers, writable stickers for jars and boxes, and more. Design your own sticker line – the more unique, the better – using the CF Spark Crystalline tool.

This AI text-to-image generator helps you design transparent PNGs with clear cut lines, allowing you to readily use your generated image as a cut sticker.

 

 

8. Art and collectibles

 

Art lovers flock to Etsy for its collection of fantastic art pieces from all over the world, from minimalist abstract paintings, travel photos, sculpture and glass art, and even customized portraits. You can make your printable wall art stand out using illustrations and other resources from Creative Fabrica.

 

9. Accessories

 

One-of-a-kind hats, bags, scarves, and more – stylish customers go to Etsy to find pieces that you won’t find anywhere else. Use sewing patterns from Creative Fabrica to get started then add your signature touch to the finished products.

 

10. Custom Toys and entertainment

 

Discerning parents go to Etsy to search for fun items for their kids that are not on typical toy stores. For this category, you can sell your custom miniatures, unique costumes for kids, and one-of-a-kind dolls and toys.

 

11. Personalized Phone Cases

 

With smartphones as everyone’s ultimate daily must-have, it comes as no surprise that many people would want to have theirs personalized. A phone case is the easiest way to do that. Etsy sellers cater to different phone case needs, but the most popular are those buyers can personalize with their initials, pet photos, and other varied artworks.

 

12. Handmade Candles

 

Bubble candles, soy candles, wedding candles, and candle sets in unique shapes – there are so many variations to scented candles available on Etsy. What typically stands out are those that can be customized. Offer this option and create cool candle labels with unique fonts from Creative Fabrica.

 

13. Organic Cosmetics and beauty products

 

Make-up-loving Etsy buyers are always on the lookout for organic cosmetics that are paraben-free, plant-based, and eco-conscious. One way to stand out among the stiff competition is to package your cosmetics in an equally sustainable way.

 

14. Notebooks and Journals

 

Digital downloads of all kinds are available on Etsy – from aesthetic printables, bullet journal pages, fitness trackers, to business plans, social media reports, and digital note papers. Whichever type of printable you feel qualified to design, make your products more appealing by using attractive sans serif fonts and simple icons from Creative Fabrica.

 

15. Posters

 

Posters of all kinds sell well on Etsy both as physical wall prints and as printables. Some of the more recent popular designs include minimalist city maps, personalized pet portraits, and album covers. Ride on these trends or make your own variations on them to stand out.

 

16. Greeting cards

 

Greeting cards for holidays both real and for fun never get old. What’s great about selling greeting cards on Etsy is that you can offer physical cards which you can print with your choice of cardstock or as printables. To stand out, why not offer pop-up greeting cards? Creative Fabrica has a few pop-up card instructions in the 3D SVG library.

 

17. Mugs

 

Like t-shirts, mugs are everyday staples that anyone can appreciate. They make great giveaways as well, so if you want to offer mugs in your shop, a fun idea would be to offer customized mug designs for giveaways. Design your mugs with fun display fonts and other resources from Creative Fabrica.

If you want to offer patterned designs, create eye-catching ones by generating patterns on the CF Spark Patterns tool.

 

18. Bags

 

Tote bags, repurposed handbags, crocheted purses – these are just some bag ideas you can sell on Etsy. A good rule of thumb to remember on Etsy when selling virtually anything is to keep your designs unique, and if you can, offer customization.

You can use CF Spark Pattern to craft your own seamless pattern and partner with POD companies to provide your customers with one-of-a-kind handmade bags!

 

19. Party Decorations

 

If you love planning and designing for parties, then selling party decors on Etsy should be a no-brainer for you. Different types of party decors do well on Etsy. You can either sell themed printables (pop-culture-inspired ones are popular on the site), cute buntings, or centerpieces. Creative Fabrica has many 3D SVG files that you can assemble to sell that would make attractive party decors for buyers who love the DIY look.

 

20. Vintage Items

 

Etsy is known as a top marketplace for quality vintage items. Under this category, you can sell not just clothes, but also home accessories, ephemera, jewelry, and more. Note that for your item to be considered authentic vintage on Etsy, it has to be at least 20 years old.

 

 

Search for the most profitable items to sell on Etsy

 

Asking yourself what is the best thing to sell on Etsy? Here are two different ways you can find out:

 

Option 1

Head on over to Etsy’s website and check out the items under their ‘Popular gifts right now’ or ‘Shop our popular gift categories’.

 

Option 2

Go straight to https://www.etsy.com/featured/ to see the Editor’s Picks. This page features daily updates and new resources on the website, including unique finds, trending collaborations with notable personalities and brands, and many seasonal features. 

 

 

 

6 things you can do to make money on Etsy

 

As a seller, you’re most likely asking yourself ‘what can I sell on Etsy to make money? There are no shortcuts to making money from your online shop, but there are a few things you can do to help increase your chances of running a successful Etsy shop:

 

1. Know what you can and can’t sell – It’s better to be safe than sorry!
2. Create a distinct and memorable branding – Come up with a logo that fits your brand and use it prominently on all your materials. Choose a set of icons and fonts to create a signature look that customers will remember.
3. Upload high-quality photos and videos per listing – Consumers want to get a good picture of what they’ll receive, so make sure to take great photos and videos on how to use your product. 
4. Optimize your Etsy shop for search engines – Use high-value keywords related to your category. You’re not only describing your products for human customers but for search engines as well. 
5. Promote your Etsy shop on your social media – Collaborate with content creators to tap their community. Don’t hesitate marketing your shop even on your personal accounts! Try different Etsy social media tactics to see what resonates with your followers.
6. Give discounts, promo codes, coupons, and holiday sales – Who doesn’t love a good promo? A good tip is to time your sales and special promotions on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and similar holidays.

 

For more useful tips and detailed information on this topic, read our article, A Beginner’s Guide to Making Money on Etsy.

 

How to start selling on Etsy with Creative Fabrica

 

Creative Fabrica can be a great help especially if you’re just starting out as an Etsy seller. In fact, we have an in-depth guide to help you figure out how to start a shop on Etsy. You will find such articles in a comprehensive Ultimate Guide to Etsy we’re developing to help Etsy sellers create more success on the platform.

Get a Creative Fabrica all access plan so you can access all our premium graphics, crafts, and fonts. Consider it a worthy investment so you can make your products stand out on Etsy. Whatever digital asset you may need, you can easily find it on Creative Fabrica whenever or wherever you are.

 

Is selling on Etsy still worth it in 2023?

 

Ever since its launch back in 2005, Etsy has become a powerhouse marketplace for all things crafts, vintage, and handmade.

Now it remains to be a household name among crafters and small business owners. While it has become quite competitive, it’s still worth a try for many aspiring entrepreneurs.

Apart from being user-friendly and highly centralized, it’s also great for beginners as it’s incredibly reputable which means that scam transactions rarely happen.

Need more information to decide whether Etsy is the right platform for you? Read our article on ‘Is selling on Etsy still worth it in 2023?’

 

Frequently asked questions about selling on Etsy

 

If you still need more help in figuring out what to sell on Etsy, read our answers to some of the most commonly asked questions below.

 

What is in high demand on Etsy in 2023?

 

Based on trending forecasts made by blogs for 2023, Etsy’s most in-demand products for the year will include zero-waste products like recycled tote bags and clothing, handmade or custom jewelry.

Craft supplies, printables (such as print-on-demand designs and posters), digital art, and stationery items (including notebooks, journals, cards, and stickers) are expected to continue to be top-selling products.

 

What were 2022’s most profitable items on Etsy?

 

Here are the top-selling products on the website for 2022 that may help you narrow down your options on what pieces to sell: 

• Crafts and supplies – fun scissors, design templates and patterns, and colorful paper
• Handmade items – accessories such as hats, custom shirts, bags, and socks
• Wedding essentials & jewelry – bracelets, necklaces, his and hers cake toppers, and cards
• Home decor – coasters, paintings, wall tapestries, and more

Keeping up with the trends is important, but so is anticipating them.

Educate yourself by reading the Marketplace Insights in Etsy’s Seller Handbook. It includes seasonal forecasts that sellers can refer to when brainstorming products for the coming year.

 

What sells easiest on Etsy?

 

The most profitable things to sell on Etsy change from time to time as different products have seasonal demand and competition. However, items like jewelry, home decor, and clothing are consistent top sellers on Etsy for many years.

Make sure to do proper research on your target market and your store concept’s potential success rate before deciding on what to sell on Etsy.

Etsy is an online marketplace for unique items such as handmade crafts, vintage clothing and accessories, or antique home decorations so you can sell anything handcrafted or vintage on the website.

You can also consider selling materials and tools related to crafting these best-selling products. Some examples are yarn, fabric, crafting wood, patterns, templates, and more.

 

It’s not just what you sell but how you sell them

 

Starting out on Etsy, you’ll be able to explore selling different products that may or may not be immediately profitable.

Whether you decide to sell handmade or vintage, it’s important to consider that there’s no such thing as overnight success when it comes to business.

Be patient with yourself and put in the effort – optimize your listings to rank on search engines, promote and engage consistently on social media, and sell only your best offerings.

Keep your passion alive while doing so! It can be difficult to maintain that fire if the first months of your shop aren’t as lucrative as you wish, but remember that hard work and determination will pay off someday.

Don’t just work hard – work smart. The best thing about the digital age is that you have many tools at your disposal.

Use CF Spark Writer text generators to help you craft your Store Bio, Product Listing Titles, and Product Listing Descriptions within seconds.

If you want to come up with one-of-a-kind visuals for your product line, generate stunning images with CF Spark Art.

While you’re at it, arm yourself with helpful resources and never stop learning. Check out our Ultimate Guide on Etsy where we’ll provide you with easy-to-follow guides, tips, and inspiration to turn your online shop into a success.