Wondering what to sell on Etsy in 2023, or the best things to sell on Etsy to make money? Well, I have plenty of good news for you.

Firstly, your timing is perfect. Online shopping is booming, boosted by the pandemic, and expected to continue to grow even more in the next 5 years.

You have probably heard a few success stories from the rising star marketplace – Etsy, and wondered if this would be a good fit for you? 

Lastly, I already have an Etsy store selling my digital products, making me passive income every week. So this review is coming straight from someone who is actually doing this.

So let’s get you to the best things to sell on Etsy to make money and everything you need to know to sell on Etsy.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission at no cost to you if you make a purchase. Please read the disclosure for more information.

What is Etsy?

Etsy is a global online marketplace that is a little different from some of the bigger more popular ones you may have heard of. Etsy platform focuses on unique and creative goods, often vintage items or handmade products by sellers. There are currently over 4.4m Etsy sellers on the platform!

It is currently ranked 10th globally in terms of the number of visits per month. But if you look regionally, Etsy is ranked 3rd in the UK and 4th in the US.

Etsy also differs by focusing on human connection, creating a community feel. It helps sellers turn their ideas into a business by providing a simple and low-cost platform. The platform allows sellers to connect with over 80m buyers, giving them a great chance to be successful.

Can you make good money from Etsy? 

The short answer is YES.

The harder answer is trying to put a number to that answer.

Many people (myself included), use Etsy as a side hustle for passive income. However, I also know plenty of others who earn over 6+ figures that is enough to quit their 9 to 5 job.

How much you can make selling on Etsy really will come down to what you are selling, the price point of the items, how well you are rated on Etsy, and how long you’ve been selling…the list goes on.

Why should you sell on Etsy?

Selling on Etsy isn’t for every business owner. But if you are looking to start and grow your unique, handmade, and personalized products (physical and digital) online, Etsy might be the right marketplace for you.    

Here is the list of reasons when I made my decision to sell on Etsy: 

• Instant access to millions of customers
• Targeted shoppers who are looking for niche, handmade, personalized products
• Free to start 
• Competitive fees
• Easy and fast payment
• Tool to help running the business effortlessly

What attracted me the most about selling on Etsy is that it gives me instant access to millions of buyers globally. 

In addition, to give you more assurance, arts, crafts, and gifts are the 3rd most popular things to buy online, mainly due to Etsy, but there are only really 2 other marketplaces in this category. Meaning customers looking for your creative products will be funneled straight to Etsy.

All this means is that I didn’t have to go find customers. They are customers already on the platform looking for niched, personalized products. All I need to do is just to make the products. 

The startup cost is FREE (if you use the 40 FREE Etsy listings). There’s no monthly or annual fee, which means you can close your shop at any point without penalties. 

Etsy allows you to receive payments easily, if you have set up your own website you know how this can be a little challenging. Linking with social media to promote your store is encouraged and free.

The Sell on Etsy app is FREE, and allows you to manage orders, edit listings, and respond to customers from anywhere. It also provides analytical data on your store so you really understand what works and how to grow your business.

There are plenty of resources online at help.etsy.com, including tips for developing your successful business.

All in all, Etsy makes it as easy as possible for new sellers to start and run the business online, so you can focus on creating best-selling products. 

…which leads me to the reason you clicked on the post in the first place – the list of best products to sell on Etsy. 

How to be successful selling on Etsy? 

There are 5 key elements that can impact how much money you can make on Etsy: 

• Doing competitive research
• Your products
• The product listing aesthetic 
• Getting your product on the first page 
• Customer service

Doing Competitive Research

As you start to think about your business and the products you are going to sell, you should start by doing research. 

During the research process, you are ultimately trying to answer 2 questions: 

• Is there a market for it? ie, Are people looking for this particular product? 
• Can I do better than my competition? 

If you have a particular product in mind, type in the keywords a customer would search in Etsy and see how many similar products come up. 

To get your creative juice going, use the list above on the best selling items on Etsy to make money? 

If there are only a few hundred products from the result, this is an indication that there’s probably not a large market for it. On the flip side, if there are over 10,000 results, you will likely have strong competition.  

For a product that is very broad, consider niching it down further. 

As an example, if you are thinking about creating wall art printables, you might find over 1.3M results when you search “wall art printable” on Etsy, which is way too competitive. However, you can niche down to “wall art printable for boys’ bedroom”. All of sudden, the results are within the 23K range, which is a good size market but nearly not as competitive.   

Next, take a deep dive into the similar products from the top Etsy sellers. Figure out how you can make your product better than theirs, or how to differentiate yours. 

Doing competitive research is also important when it comes to setting the price point. Make sure you factor in the fees associated with selling on Etsy, your time, and shipping costs to ensure you can be profitable. 

Keep in mind, having the lowest price isn’t always the best strategy. Especially on Etsy when most customers are willing to pay more for uniqueness and personalisation. 

Remember, the time you spend researching is well worth it. Ultimately, your success will always be directly linked to what you are selling.

Your products

Most Etsy shoppers are looking for unique and personalised products. Choosing a niche with products that meet these 2 criteria will set you up for success. 

In addition, make sure the quality of your product is at a high standard. 

This will not only help with returning customers but also leads to positive reviews which will attract future buyers. 

The listing aesthetic

By listing aesthetics, I mean your listing images. 

These listing images are the “Storefront” for each of your products. How well they represent and market your product will directly impact whether the customer is going to smack that “buy” button or hit the “back” to browse your competitors. 

Make sure you take advantage of the 10 maximum listing images to show your product from all aspects. Having high resolution images, clearly showing the key features, including descriptions of how to use the product are a few good practices to fully showcase your product. 

Etsy also gives a video option to market your product, so take advantage of that too!

How well your listing images can convert to sales will also have a direct impact on your ranking on Etsy, which leads me to the next point. 

How do I get my product on the front page of Etsy? 

You could have the most creative, artistic, and bespoke product and a great set of listing images on Etsy, but if your listing shows up the 10th page in an Etsy search, no one is ever going to see it.  

Getting your listing to show up on the first page on Etsy, is the key to success. 

But how? 

It all comes down to Etsy SEO (aka Search Engine Optimization). It’s a set of algorithms that Etsy uses to rank your listing. Here are some smart tips on how you can improve your Etsy SEO for each product. 

• Use a long tail keywords in your product title
• Target each of your products with long tail keywords, and use it on your listing title. 
• Use similar but not the same keywords
• If you have a few similar products, rather than using the exact same long tail keywords on the title, use the different variations. This way your products are not competing with the same keywords. 
• Good listing aesthetic 
• Having good looking listing images directly impact how likely your customer will buy the product. A high sales conversion rate for a product helps the ranking on Etsy. 
• Interlink your products in listing description
• One trick not many sellers know about is to interlink your other similar products in the product description. At the bottom of the page “Explore related searches”, Etsy will show your products, rather than your competitors. 
• Create backlinks to your Etsy products
• Having links from outside of Etsy will also help with Etsy SEO. If you have your own blog, you can create a post and link to your product. Or you can also create posts from Facebook and instagram, and/or pins from Pinterest etc. 
• Offer US free shipping 
• When offering US free shipping , you get priority US search placement in the Etsy app. 
• If you are selling digital products, definitely don’t miss that opportunity. 
• But if you are selling an actual product, this is something you will need to consider. 

Check out the 3 helpful Etsy SEO tools you can use in the section below. 

Customer service 

The shoppers on Etsy often value products that are personalized, even if it means they are paying a higher price. Therefore, giving them a service that feels personal will enhance the buying experience and will ultimately lead to those 5-star ratings and great reviews.  

Often you will directly interact with the buyer. Always being responsive leads to good customer service. You can use the Sell on Etsy App, to get messages from customers, manage orders while on the go. 

Having great customer service is particularly crucial for new Etsy shop owners. While you are still improving your product and the flow, in case things don’t go as expected, delight your customers with over and beyond service to resolve the issue. This may be a loss financially in the short term, but a worthwhile investment in a returning customer in the long run. 

Check out my Etsy store here:

What does it cost to sell on Etsy? 

As I mentioned earlier, opening an Etsy store is completely FREE. Apart from a small listing fee, you only get charged when a sale is made. 

• Listing fee – $0.20 per listing (Get your first 40 listing for free)
• Transaction fee – 5% of the total sales price
• Processing fee – varies by country. 4% of sales price plus £0.20 (UK)
• Offsite ad – optional for new store

Listing Fee – you will need to pay a listing fee for each item you list in your store. Listings will be active for four months, or until they sell. Just a note, the billing is done in USD, so the actual listing is $0.20, so depending on currency exchange rates you may see a difference per item. For those in the UK this is around £0.15.

Transaction Fee – Etsy charges 5% of the total sales price (so including any packaging and shipping) when you make a sale.

Processing Fee – this varies by country, and is the charge for any sales that use Etsy payments. In the UK this is 4% plus £0.20 per item.

Offsite Advertising Fee – this is optional for most sellers. Etsy pays to advertise your items across the web through offsite advertisements and charges you 15% for this service. You are only charged when you make a sale. Just a note, if you sell over $10,000 of items in 365 days you automatically have to sign up for the offsite advertising.

What attracted me the most to Etsy as a brand new seller, is that the upfront cost to start selling is FREE (with the 40 free listing). 

I am only charged when a sale is made, whereas on other platforms I have to pay a monthly fee regardless of the sale. This takes the pressure off at the beginning to figure out what sells and what doesn’t. 

Etsy vs other online platforms? 

Etsy ranks 10th in terms of visits per month amongst the global online marketplaces. So does it make sense to use Etsy compared to its alternatives?

It will come down to the products you want to sell, the cost of selling, and the traffic exposure. 

With that in mind, let’s compare Etsy with some popular alternatives. 

Selling on Etsy vs. Amazon Handmade

While Etsy has been around since 2005, Handmade at Amazon is relatively new, launched by the world’s largest retailer in 2015. It was created for artisans for handmade products. 

To start selling in Amazon Handmade, you need to apply and get approved for it. The approval process can take weeks or months. 

There are no listing fees for Handmade at Amazon, however, there’s a 15% commission for each sale plus a minimum $1 referral fee. This is 3 times more than Etsy’s 5% fee.  

For over 40 non-handmade items on one account with Amazon Handmade, there will be an additional $39.99 monthly charge.  

In summary, Amazon Handmade costs more to sell than Etsy, that’s if you actually can get approved. 

Although Amazon Handmade may give you more exposure leveraging its parent’s platform,

I don’t worry that Etsy is not as big. They are targeting customers who are looking for creative, bespoke, and niche products.

Also with Etsy, you get paid 3 days after a sale is completed, whereas it takes up to 24 days to get paid with Amazon Handmade. 

Etsy vs. Shopify, which is better? 

Unlike Etsy and other marketplaces, Shopify is an eCommerce website builder where you can create your own website and sell products. 

You are not limited by the type of products you are selling and it’s extremely scalable. Shopify’s intuitive inventory system is one of the standout features. It tracks, syncs, and monitors the orders and stock level. 

There is also an upfront cost to set up your shop with Shopify. At $29/month for the basic play, you get an eCommerce website and blog, list unlimited products, 2 staff accounts, 24/7 support, and multichannel selling. 

Additional apps and plugins can quickly add up to the monthly fee. 

Putting aside the upfront cost, the biggest disadvantage Shopify has compared with Etsy, is the lack of instant exposure. You will have to build traffic and find ways to get in front of your targeted customers. 

This can be a tough task especially if you are brand new to creating products and selling online. 

From my own experience selling digital products, it took me a long time to find my audience without a marketplace before I found instant success on Etsy.  

While Etsy is the better choice for someone who is brand new in creating and selling, Shopify might be the next step to consider when it comes to scaling your business. 

Selling on Etsy vs. eBay

eBay needs no introduction when it comes to individuals selling products online, making it the 2nd largest marketplace in the US. 

While it provides a huge exposure, not all customers shopping on eBay are looking for quintessentially creative products. In fact, the top-selling category is electronic and accessories. 

Of course, selling on eBay also comes with a fee. It depends on if you are a casual seller or someone who owns an eBay store. A $19.95/month subscription fee (for the basic plan) is required for eBay store owners. 

The selling experience is very different between Etsy and eBay. 

To become an eBay top-rated seller, you need to be active for at least 90 days, having a minimum 100 transactions and $1000 in sales within the last 12 months. 

Etsy on the other hand, puts much more emphasis on customer reviews and their purchasing experience. There is also an extensive seller community to support each other. 

Having sold items both on eBay and Etsy, I have a much more intimate and personal experience with Etsy as a seller. 

Selling on Etsy vs. Not On The High Street – Etsy alternatives UK

Etsy’s nearest competitor in the UK is ‘Not On the High Street’ (NOTHS).  

If you live in the UK, you are probably no stranger to NOTHS, often seeing adverts on TV. 

As much as I am all about supporting UK business, it costs a whopping £200+VAT to join and 25% commission. 

But does the higher cost to sell on Not On the High Street translate to more sales? 

It gets 4 million visits per month, compared to Etsy’s 36 million. That’s 9 times less. So you can work out the conclusion yourself… 

If you are a UK-based seller with physical products, it might be worth considering NOTHS as the site is targeting UK based customers. Personally, even though I am based in the UK, my digital products can be sold anywhere in the world. Etsy is a better choice as it gives me a much larger customer base. 

How to start an Etsy shop in 2023?

To open an Etsy shop with the standard account is FREE. You can use your current account if you already have one. Also, make sure you have a shop name ready beforehand. 

It takes about 5 minutes to get your shop preference, payment, and billing details set up. Paypal is one of the payment options, which is very handy.  

For a new shop owner, within the first 90 days, it takes 3 days for money from the sales to hit your bank account. After 90 days it’s in your account the next working day. 

Once you get the store account set up, then you need to fill your shop with some products before opening for business. 

How many items do I need to open an Etsy shop? 

The recommended practice is to fill up your store’s front page, which equates to 20 product listings. The idea is that you want to fill your new store up with products, rather than just having one or two. 

While I understand the logic behind it, I have a slightly different view… 

Buyers find products by searching keywords on Etsy, not your store name. Therefore, it’s more important to make each of your listings stand out, and Etsy SEO friendly (more on this later), than fill up your store with listings that don’t perform. 

In my personal experience, I opened my store with 3 well SEOed products to start with. I was able to get sales in the first 2 weeks. 

The takeaway here is, if having to make 20 listings before opening the store sounds daunting, 3-5 are fine to start. This depends a lot on the type of products you are selling. Make sure your product is well SEO’ed, so each of the listings comes up to the first page when someone searches for the targeted keywords. 

In addition to listing your product, you can also create a banner and a logo to make your shop look more presentable. 

I used Canva to make mine. This is the tool of choice, especially for someone who has ZERO graphic design background. 

Keep in mind though, these things are nice to have but don’t spend too much time getting it exactly right.

A perfect-looking store will not make your sales but your products will. So as a beginner, focus your time on your products, listing images, and SEO. You can always go back to modify it once you get your sales going. 

Can you sell on Etsy from anywhere in the world?

Etsy is primarily focused on the US, UK, and mainland European markets, and currently doesn’t rank that high in China, Japan or India in terms of visits per month. 

However, this doesn’t mean you need to be in one of those markets to sell. For example, while I am a UK-based seller, the majority of my customers are from the US. 

Be sure to check that you are eligible to sell on Etsy based on where you are from.  

How to open an etsy shop in the UK?

Many of you who are based in the UK (like myself) may be wondering how to open an Etsy store in the UK? Is there anything else to be considered? 

To open a shop with Etsy UK follows the same steps as above, however, setting up payment might be slightly different from country to country.

What are the payment options for an Etsy UK store? 

As an Etsy UK seller, you are eligible for Etsy Payments. This includes the options for customers to pay with credit/debit/bank cards, Etsy gift cards, Etsy credits, as well as Paypal, Apple Pay, and Android pay. 

You can find the list of the countries that are eligible for Etsy payments here. 

To receive payment, for sellers in the EU, Hongkong, Singapore, and Switzerland, you will need to verify your bank account. This process involves Etsy sending you a small deposit to your bank account to check for compliance, which takes 3-5 business days after enrolling in Etsy payments.  

Do Etsy sellers need to pay tax?

The simple answer is YES! Any profit you make from selling on Etsy is taxable.

However this also means every sales cost to you can be deducted from the profit before the tax is calculated. This includes things like all materials, goods, equipment, and marketing costs.

Legally, you have to declare ANY income you make but depending on how much you earn you may not have to pay tax if the amount you earn falls below certain thresholds.

If you have a full-time job then it definitely has to be declared because your Etsy income will be added to your other income to determine tax liability.

It’s best to check with HMRC, IRS, or equivalent in your country, and you’ll need to register your Etsy business with them.

Do I have to register with HMRC if I sell on Etsy UK? 

HMRC recommends everyone who starts working for themselves register for a self-assessment, regardless of how much they get paid. 

When your income (not profit) exceeds £1000, you will need to pay income tax. 

You can find out more on how to register with HMRC here.

How much tax do you need to pay in the UK as an Etsy seller? 

You will need to pay tax on any income you earn less than £1,000 from selling on Etsy. So make sure you consider how this will impact you. 

If this is your only income, you can earn up to £12,570 before you have to pay income tax.

However, if you already have a job and this is a side hustle, this will be additional income. So pay attention to if this additional income might tip you over the £50,270 threshold and leave you paying 40% for anything you earn over the threshold instead of 20%.

You can also look at ways to reduce your income tax – legitimately.

• Deduct your selling, manufacturing, marketing and training expenses from your income.
• Maximise pension contributions as these come from your gross pay before tax is taken, this benefit will vary depending if you are self employed or employed.
• Claim tax relief on any charitable donations.
• Manage you and your partners tax allowance by transferring 10% of the income if one of you is in a lower tax bracket.

Etsy SEO Tools

What is eRank? (free and paid)

eRank is an Etsy SEO keyword tool to help you find long-tail keywords, trends and do competitor research. 

This is the one I use for my Etsy shop. There are several features that I found eRank very helpful: 

• Finding long tail keywords, popular tags, and price range for the similar product
• Providing data on your competitors listings
• Monitoring your listings with suggested improvements
• Showing the latest trends on things people search for on Etsy

eRank offers 3 tiers of plans, from Free, Basic, and Pro. You can stop it any time. 

The only watch out is that eRank only analyzes the searches within the US. So if you are trying to target shoppers outside of the US, this might not be the tool for you. 

Is eRank worth it? 

I think it is. The fee was reasonable compared to similar tools and the data validates my idea and gives me a competitive edge. 

To maximise the value, many people pay for the pro-version for a month and do bulk-research for the next 6 months before they cancel it. 

Marmalead (paid)

Marmalead is another Etsy SEO tool that you can subscribe to, offering machine learning (algorithm – but I like the wording) to take the guesswork out of being found on Etsy. Their tools help you brainstorm, analyse and apply keywords. This is fundamental to SEO.

They currently have over 110,000 people paying for this service, but you shouldn’t be too concerned with that number as it equates to 0.25% of sellers on Etsy.

Marmalead states that over 50% of their users earn 7 times the revenue than non-users – but I can’t validate that or know how the other 50% are performing.

The key features are:

• Seasonality – looking at data for the last 12 months based on keywords
• Real Visits – how many people it expect you will get in 30 days
• Long Tail – behind the scene studies to help position your listings (this is the machine learning bit)
• Search Volume – how many searches are expected from a keyword
• Side by side comparison – to help select the best keyword options
• Price points – helps you see if your product will be viewed as bargain, average or premium.

This is definitely a premium service at $19/month, or a reduced fee of $15.43/month if you pay for a full year.

Is Marmalead worth it? 

For the $19/month, this was over my budget, especially at the beginning. 

Maybe this is worth it for sellers with high value and high profit items. But for me, the profit that I will be making at the start wasn’t enough to justify the price of this tool. Pus, I was very happy with what I’m getting from eRank, which is only half of the price. 

Sales Samuri Extension (paid)

Like Marmalead, Sales Samuri is an Etsy keyword search tool that gives you real time Etsy search and competition data to support your product item launch. Helping you achieve that all important SEO ranking.

It works as a Chrome browser plug-in and is a proprietary algorithm, which unfortunately means you will need to pay for this. It’s described as being in beta phase, which basically means the plug-in works but is still being developed so expect more features to be added.

The cost is $9.99 a month or $99 a year, so half the cost of Marmalead.

Here are some examples of the data you can generate.

• the exact search volume and competition
• what exact competition is selling the product
• what price and
• how long it takes them to ship the product
• what sells the most on Etsy

Is Sales Samuri worth it? 

Although the monthly cost was reasonable, the “beta” testing phase put me off a bit when I was choosing it.  

I think this browser extension has it’s potential, especially if the data is not limited to the US region. 

With a 3 day free trial, it may be worth it to test it out before committing to a monthly or an annual subscription. 

Google trends (Free)

Last but not least for Etsy SEO tool is Google trends, which is free.

In this video, Cody from Gold City Ventures E-Printables course gave a detailed tutorial on how to use Google Trends.

What is Etsy Plus?

Etsy plus is an additional subscription to consider as it comes with a monthly fee of £7.50. It’s described as an extra set of tools to jump-start growth and express your brand.

If your initial sales cover your costs and you are making a profit, this could be for you.

So here is what you get for your hard-earned £7.50. 

• Customisable options to make your store stand out, which includes new banner templates and listing options to make your products pop.
• E-mail shoppers when your items are in stock, so you don’t miss sales.
• It also helps to track your most popular listings so you can plan and manage your inventory. This one is only useful if you are selling physical goods. 
• Provides you with a 50% discount on your personalised Etsy store web address ($15/mo) which Etsy say will help customers find your store easier and adds a more professional touch to your business cards. (Where is the source?) https://www.etsy.com/uk/sell?ref=ftr
• Finally you get a bonus advertising budget £3.70 and 15 listing credits to advertise your items with Etsy each month. My advice is to think about how many listings you are likely to make a month. To get the value you need to be consistently listing 15+ items, this is higher than I need, I am currently around 4-5 a month.

Many people feel the listing credits and advertising budget makes it a good value for money. But if you won’t use all the features it might not be worth the extra money. For that reason, I haven’t pulled the trigger on Etsy plus. You can always sign up after opening your store. 

How to drive traffic to your Etsy shop [2023]?

There are many ways you can drive traffic to your Etsy store: 

• Get found on Etsy search engine by optimizing keywords on your listings
• Have your own website/blog to send traffic to your Etsy store
• Create pins of your Etsy products on Pinterest (Learn how to create Pinterest pins here)
• Post on other social media like Facebook, Instagram etc. 
• Use Etsy Ads 
• Email list
• Other off-site marketing

Final thoughts on the 30+ best things to sell on Etsy 2023: 

Starting your own Etsy store is exciting. I hope you find this list of best selling items on Etsy helpful in deciding your niche and products. 

But that’s only the starting point. 

I want to wrap up this post with a few watch-outs that I have learned along the way as I set up my store and started selling on Etsy. 

Fees – make sure you understand the fees associated with selling your products on Etsy as this is really important to help you determine a price point that will bring in revenue, but more importantly, profitable revenue.

Market Size – the biggest market for Etsy is in the US, which brings with it the biggest opportunity. Therefore if you are based outside of the US, consider how your products will be positioned. A great example is price. A product listed for £10 shows as $13.38 due to the exchange rate, which may not be the right price point for the market.

SEO – optimizing long-tail keywords for your listing is key to showing up on top in the Etsy search engine. In terms of prioritizing your investment and effort as a new Etsy shop owner, this is well worth it.  

Shipping cost – not a problem for digital product sellers like me. But again another example of something to think about depending on where you live. A UK seller will have higher cost of shipping and a longer delivery time to ship to the US. This could put you at a disadvantage, even though Etsy sellers are more accepting of this for bespoke products. As you develop your store and products it is important to understand what markets are really open for you.

Shop appearance – your online shop appearance will never be as customizable as your own site. This is the same for everyone, so worth accepting and not being overly concerned about this at the beginning. Etsy plus provides more options, so you can always upgrade to that if this is really important to you.

Rules – Etsy works hard to make sure the marketplace is safe and secure, therefore they have rules for sellers. Please read the T&C’s for this, but it really should not be a problem as long as you are not too dodgy (legit).

Scalability – Etsy is a great place to start and grow your business. As it grows you may need your own website in the future or both in order to maximize your revenue and manage your selling costs. 

I hope this post gives you an overview of how to become a seller on Etsy and the list of 30 best things to sell on Etsy sparked some ideas. 

If you are interested in selling digital printables like me, this epic course will teach you everything you need to know and fast-track your success. 

30 Best Things to Sell on Etsy to Make Money 2023 [Pin for later…]