Etsy sellers of the UK we hear you! Selling on Etsy should be as easy as making a product and shipping it, but the questions are:
We’re going to show you what Etsy products are performing well and how you can quickly start selling these products yourself. Consider this as a quick setup guide to Etsy.
If you’re looking at the nuts and bolts of how to become an Etsy seller then check out our step-by-step Etsy blog post here.
Here are the top trending categories on Etsy that most people can hop on.
Selling Etsy craft kits involves bringing together and packaging the materials that people can use to do their own arts and crafts at home.
Etsy craft kit materials can include:
You can source the materials in bulk at a low cost per item, package them into a craft kit and sell them on with a decent margin. It can be good to focus your Etsy craft kit on specific areas such as making a ceramic tile or pot, or origami with clear instructions for people to follow at home.
One of the most popular categories on Etsy is up-cycled furniture which ranks at number 2 as part of the home wares category.
Admittedly this is easy if you want to shift a couple of old bits of furniture before a house move but a bit more of a task if you want to do this as a regular gig.
It’s also a craft in itself to make changes to that wardrobe that’s been taking up space for too long. It could be a matter of re-varnishing it (relatively easy) or you could replace the doors with completely different ones from another period (bit harder) and create something completely new.
There are also good margins to be made on up-cycled furniture on Etsy. You can source materials at car boot sales and improve the piece’s value by using affordable raw materials.
Check out our Top 50 Side Hustles of 2022
In the fight against fast fashion never has there been a greater desire for good quality, unique clothing on Etsy. Focus on natural materials such as linen or felt, and look at how you can turn old clothing you don’t use into something of value for others. You might just need to hone in your sewing skills a little.
If you’re looking to ship vintage clothes then remember that they need to be at least 20 years old for Etsy to officially class them as such. The benefit of vintage clothing is that you aren’t expected to make alterations, so you could upload them to your shop straightaway.
Etsy did change its terms last year regarding counterfeit goods to include some up-cycled clothing that makes use of a logo, so be conscious that an item sold on the fact that it has a Nike tick could be removed. Generally though you should be free to use your creativity and sell your highly personalised goods.
There’s about 2 years of weddings to catch up on at the minute. This means that one of the top categories being searched for on Etsy is wedding products, and what more straightforward a product is there than creating wedding invites and envelopes.
You can source materials such as:
The materials for wedding invites can be sourced at fairly low cost in bulk and with high end customisable invites selling at around £30 per pack of ten there are some reasonable margins once you get going. It just requires you to then add in the personal message and details of each invite as a service.
Pet portraits on Etsy can be a great regular gig, who doesn’t want their pooch or parrot immortalised? Portraits can take many forms as well, whether as paintings or photography, or just printing a photo they’d previously taken onto a canvas. These do require some technological know-how and equipment. For a professional level canvas printer these start at about £250.
Some affordable camera equipment we recommend are:
And as a painter or artist you might want to invest in:
Check out our Podcasts to Help You Side Hustle
It’s worth selling on Etsy because it acts as one of the quickest ways to put your products online and get them shipped.
Check out our How to become an Amazon Seller
If you want to know the full ins and outs of tax when you’re selling on Etsy: Check out our complete tax guide to selling on Etsy
In most cases you do have to declare your income if you are earning through Etsy:
We love chatting with you about ideas for your Etsy shop but we also love doing the things you hate, which is managing your finances and bookkeeping, so you can focus on the meaningful part of running your business.
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