Do you want to start a business on Etsy and make money online? If Yes, here are 50 best Etsy related small business ideas & opportunities. Etsy is an online marketplace created specifically for what is defined as unique items. Most of the items on the site include handmade or vintage items (at least 20-year old) and craft supplies.
Etsy has over 1.7 million active sellers and 28.6 million active buyers, so there is a large customer base out there if you can take hold of this opportunity. Etsy is a very lucrative platform to start a business if you have the right product. A lot of individuals earn a steady side income of £20-£30 a month, and others earn enough to quit their jobs and sell on Etsy full time.
Starting an Etsy shop or business can be a tiring process, but note that if you spend too long focusing on getting everything perfect, you might never end up launching your store and once you have something up on the site, you can always make improvements. Below are 50 business ideas you can start on Etsy.
Best Etsy Business ideas
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Craft supplies
Research has shown that craft supplies are among the fastest selling items on Etsy. Etsy is the home for internet arts and crafts, people think the best materials can be found on the site as well. Note that the profits are pretty good because people always need supplies and there is always a demand.
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Hair Accessories Designer
If you want to make a larger variety of products, you can create a line of hair accessories ranging from small pins to decorative headbands. You can sell them on Etsy, and it can garner quite a large league of female shoppers.
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Native arts
A lot of people in the united states create some of the most beautiful arts available, and these artworks are in high demand, especially in overseas markets such as Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. We believe that the demand for native art creates a great business opportunity for you, if you can market them especially on Etsy.
Note that this business allows you to work as a highly compensated broker by representing native artists locally and using your international contacts to set up distribution channels in foreign countries. The business can also work in reverse. You can set up distribution channels in North America representing artists from foreign countries.
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Handmade soaps
Reports have shown that handmade soaps made great waves on Etsy since last year. They are organic, healthier, and simpler alternatives to traditional soaps. Because they are made from natural ingredients, the net profit is great. They sell fast and easy, which means the profit and longevity are both high.
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Basket weaving
You can also start a business that manufactures and sells custom-made baskets on Etsy. You can make use of a wide variety of raw materials, starting from rattan to wire. People are always on the lookout for fancy and beautiful baskets to use in decorating their homes and offices.
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Themed toy boxes
We believe that producing themed toy boxes is a profitable Etsy related business idea, and best of all, the business can be kicked into high gear for less than a $1,000 initial investment. But don’t think that this business is as simple as it sounds.
Your key to successfully producing and selling the toy boxes is to always make sure that the designs are original, the materials used in the construction of the toy boxes are unique, and the finished product is colourful and depicts an elaborate children’s theme such as horses, cowboys or dinosaurs.
You can sell them comfortably on Etsy and make your money. As an additional source of revenue and as a marketing tool, also consider making wooden toys and including one wooden toy with each toy box as a surprise bonus gift.
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Bead Making Business
In recent years, bead making and selling has been a business most entrepreneurs or interested individuals are diving into. This is because of the creativity level, as well as the very fine products that can be produced.
Most people feel that this business is best suited for the ladies, but this business can be started and ran successfully by a man as long as he has the necessary skills needed to do it. This means that you have to be well equipped with the tricks and skills involved in the trade.
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Organic cosmetics
We believe that organic cosmetics are a rage right now because of the rise in knowledge that manufactured cosmetics have parabens and other harmful chemicals. Etsy has gone a long way in providing a place to sell healthier, organic cosmetics for people to use. A lot of sellers make money from this because the raw materials don’t cost much, leaving room for profit.
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T-shirt Designer
You can design t-shirts and sell them on Etsy. You just have to upload designs of your printed t-shirts and other products. Also you can get more creative and actually customize t-shirts with names or other items for specific customers.
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Bag Making
Bags are being produced everyday, and more and more women and men purchase them. Have it in mind that you do not have to be stereotyped in your bag production business because there are various types of bags that you can make. We believe that the target market for this business is very huge.
For instance; you may consider the production of ladies handbags, sling bags for men, travelling bags, executive bags, party bags, and what have you.
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Scented Candle Maker
Candles are also popular products for people to purchase on sites like Etsy. This is why we suggest you buy some basic supplies and make your own scents and designs right from home.
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Belt buckles
If you are looking for an Etsy Related Business, we suggest you consider starting a business that manufactures specialty belt buckles. Note that this business can be put into action on less than a $3,000 initial investment, and the long-term profit potential is sensational.
We have been able to note through extensive research that the key to success in this type of specialty manufacturing business is to make sure the buckle designs are original and to make use of various marketing methods to ensure maximum exposure for the business and products.
Additionally, consider utilizing recyclable materials such as metals and glass for the raw material to construct the belt buckles as not only is this a way to reduce materials’ costs, but more importantly, it can be used as a very powerful marketing tool.
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Mural painting
A lot of very good artists like Michael Gaudet have been known for painting huge murals, which are artworks in their own right. You too can make money by painting murals for homes and businesses. If you have the necessary skills and talents, you can paint them and sell on Etsy.
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Toiletries Maker
Etsy can provide a variety of opportunities for a savvy entrepreneur who is willing to leverage its various benefits. You can mix a few basic ingredients along with scents and other customizable materials to make handmade soaps, lotions and other hygiene products.
Everyone we meet in the streets has a footwear, thereby creating an unbelievable target audience. You may consider enrolling in a crafts school where all the rudiments of this trade will be taught. Once you are good to go, then you can begin to plug in and enjoy the goodies the industry has to offer. Etsy is a very good platform to market and sell your shoes.
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Caricatures
You can hire a caricature artist who is prepared to work on a piece-work basis and start to market caricature drawings on Etsy. Indeed you will be surprised at the interest you will receive right out of the blocks.
Ventures like restaurants will buy caricatures of their staff to adorn the front of menus, professionals will purchase a caricature of themselves to send to clients in the form of a thank-you card and retail businesses will purchase caricatures of valued regular customers to hang above the cash register.
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Abstract Painter
If you are more visually inclined, you can start your own at-home painting studio and sell your original creations on Etsy. Etsy can offer you a very large client base if you plan and market your products very well.
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Hat Making Business
Hat making business is a business that will still stand the test of time because of the need to always use hats. All over the world, more and more people are arming themselves with this skill. You have to start first by learning the process of hat making, then you can begin to look at setting up your shop and start selling on Etsy.
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Crocheted items
Crocheted items have in recent years made a lot of fashion statements and they are not hard to make; and even when you factor in the labour and material cost, the profit is pretty decent. They sell quickly and orders will generally come rolling in fast too.
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Mosaic tile creations
Not only can this business be started and run from the comfort of your home, but it is also very inexpensive to start. One unique thing about this business idea is that interesting home and office decoration products are always in high demand. Start a business that creates unique mosaic tile designs; everything from table tops to mosaic tile picture frames.
We believe that your only limitations will be your imagination. Mosaic tiles can be purchased ready to install or you can create your own simply by buying discontinued styles and colours as well as collecting broken tiles from local building and renovation companies.
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Carpentry
A lot of people would be surprised to see this business on this list, but it is a business you can do and sell on Etsy. Building a carpentry business means that you will be involved in making chairs, tables, shelves, and a whole lot more. You may even decide to get trained as a carpenter that works on building sites. You can advertise and sell your products on Etsy as it will bring you closer to your target market.
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Paper Goods Seller
A lot of individuals may not have heard of a paper goods business. Paper goods like invitations and notecards can also make for popular handmade products that people can purchase online especially on Etsy.
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Picture Frames
We can all attest to the fact that this business idea can be very lucrative because we all have photos in frames in our homes; be it wedding pictures, graduation pictures and other pictures of memorable events. This means that you can’t go wrong with making frames for people to hang their pictures.
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Scarf Maker
Not just women, even men are beginning to complement their dress styles with scarves, bandanas etc. You can start a business that makes assorted scarves to quench the growing fashion need of the world population. Scarves can also make for great handmade products to sell on Etsy.
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Christmas Ornaments
Building a venture that produces and sells Christmas ornaments can provide you with a lucrative part-time seasonal income just when you need it the most.
Have it in mind that Christmas ornaments such as tree decorations and door wreaths are very simple and inexpensive to make, and can be sold in various ways including to retailers on a wholesale basis or directly to consumers at a sales kiosk in a mall and even on Etsy. We believe that this endeavour is ideally operated from home and the overheads are virtually non-existent.
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Tie Dye
Tie dye is a popular method of decorating anything from t-shirts to fabric shoes. It does exist and more people are now into the trade. If you are a tie and dye lover, or in general an arts lover, then you may want to start this business. You can experiment with different colours and patterns, and then sell the products on Etsy.
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Colouring Books
Everything you need to run and market this business is quite similar to that of the story time book venture. However, an additional marketing technique that can be employed is to open an Etsy shop and sell them directly online. With specialized printing equipment, you can also produce children’s ‘u-colour-it posters,’ restaurant placemats, and even specialty greeting cards, all of which can also be sold lucratively on Etsy.
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Clay Sculptor
Sculpting is another popular method of making handmade products. You can buy clay and other materials that don’t require a kiln or any other specialized equipment, so you can make your finished creations right from home, then sell them online.
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Hand painted greeting cards
Reports have shown that there is a huge market demand for hand-painted greeting cards and postcards. If you have the ability to produce the finished product yourself, that’s great. If not, there are many artists who will be glad to assist you, for a fee. Have it in mind that greeting and postcards can be wholesale to retailers or sold directly on Etsy.
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Custom buttons
We strongly suggest you consider starting a business that focuses in producing and selling customized, one-of-a-kind buttons for clothing. It’s very important to note that these buttons can be produced from just about every type of raw material including wood, metal, seashells and glass.
The key to success in button manufacturing is twofold. First, the buttons must be unique in design and appearance. Second, you need to be a good marketer.
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Potpourri Sales
A business that makes and wholesales potpourri products is an excellent home based business venture to set in motion. Potpourri can be made from dried flowers, pine cones and bark mulch with fragrant essential oils added. If you can package them, then you can sell them comfortably on Etsy.
One important aspect of the business not to overlook is packaging. It’s very important to state that packaging for the potpourri should be unique to your business, as a method to separate your product from the competition.
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Beaded bracelets
This business can range from healing bracelets to charm bracelets and other types that we associate with good luck and health, and they are things that have a bit of a buzz on Etsy. Reports have shown that these products are constantly on top bestseller lists.
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Fibre Artist
Getting the perfect business idea for you will surely take extensive research and consideration. Note that you can use yarn, wool and other fibres to make woven wall art that you can sell as a finished product.
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Glass Blower
If you have the right equipment and knowledge, you can start a business as a glass blower that makes glass beads, vases, or a number of other glass items.
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Designer pillows
A lot of people with sewing skills don’t know they can turn their sewing machine into a part-time profit centre by creating custom designed pillows. The pillows can be completed on a made-to-order basis, or you can develop standard designs and themes and sell the pillows on a wholesale basis. Make your pillows attractive and you will sure get customers on Etsy.
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Quilter
Etsy can offer you a lot of business opportunities if you know how and where to get them. If you’re interested in creating larger handmade products, you can make your own quilts with fabric, fibre and a sewing machine. Quilting has been around for generations and it continues to thrive.
Like many things today, everything old is once again new and popular, and starting a business that sells custom-made, one-of-a-kind quilts could be your opportunity to reap big financial benefits.
We strongly suggest you research the different aspects of quilting, or a visit to your library should give you enough information to get started. Making and selling quilts could be as easy if you know how best to reach your customers on Etsy.
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Junkyard sculptures
If you live near the seas or oceans, then you could be walking past thousands of dollars in potential profits and not even realize it. As a savvy entrepreneur, you can build a unique business that designs and sells seashell jewellery.
Search and collect various sizes, shapes and colours of seashells right from the beach, and create beautiful seashell jewellery. Once completed, the jewellery can be sold on Etsy. But note that a seashell jewellery producing business is not only easy to start, it is equally easy to run.
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Wine rack production
We can confidently say that this business is easy to start and only needs basic woodworking skills and woodworking equipment.
In addition to constructing the wine racks from wood, you could also build the racks from a metal, or even better, all recycled material such as scrap metal and used building material that can usually be acquired for free with a little bit of detective work.
But immediately you have designed and constructed a few wine racks, they can be sold fast on Etsy. Note that the key to success in wine rack manufacturing is to have a unique product that consumers are compelled to buy for themselves or as a gift for others.
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Dried flowers
One unique thing about starting a business that grows and sells dried flowers is the fact that it can easily be started right from your home, using your own garden as the initial source for the flowers. Once the business is ready to be expanded, there are a couple of options. You can decide to lease a vacant land to increase flower production, and the second option is to purchase flowers.
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Silk screened mouse pads
Note that buying silk-screening equipment and a few hundred blank mouse pads is all that is needed to start a profitable business that produces mouse pads emblazoned with printed images, logos, and slogans. This business is very easy and interesting because it can be started from home and does not need a great deal of special skills or investment capital to build.
The silk-screened mouse pads can feature generic images and slogans and can be sold on Etsy. Blank mouse pads can be purchased in bulk for about $1 each, and the cost to silk-screen an image will also be less than $1. Providing you can sell 1,000 mouse pads each week at a wholesale price of $3, the business could potentially generate profits in excess of $1,000 per week, prior to overhead and taxes.
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Furniture Upcycler
If you have the relevant experience and skills needed to run this business, then you won’t just be making money but helping the world reduce waste. You can build a lucrative business that sells furniture that you made out of older, repurposed items.
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Handmade painted pots
If you are a focused entrepreneur who is willing to leverage on the large demand for garden-related products, then starting a business that creates and sells one-of-a-kind, hand-painted clay gardening pots is the business for you. A lot of people are already searching for unique and interesting ways to display their flowers and shrubs, so why not create extraordinary planting pots for these consumers and start making money.
You can start by getting clay planting pots from a local wholesale company and paint and decorate the pots with unique, interesting and colourful themes and designs. Once completed, the flowerpots can be sold on Etsy for revenue and profits.
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Rubber Stamp Maker
This business is a very interesting endeavour if you do it right and leverage what you like doing. So if you love using your hands, then you can start a business that carves stamps out of rubber and sell them to scrap bookers or other creative minded customers.
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Hand painted storage boxes
We believe that the options aligned with this business idea is unbelievably endless–using materials such as wood, metal and cardboard, you can create designer storage boxes to suit every decor.
But note that you will need to have some artistic talent, but with that said, art and craft classes are available in almost every community. We also suggest you build storage boxes out of recycled materials, and use organic paints to decorate the storage boxes.
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Custom jewellery
One unique advantage of Etsy is its feature of custom orders. A lot of Etsy sellers make a lot of money from customized jewellery pieces. They come in a variety of types like customized pendants, watches, rings, earrings, and bracelets. These get sold pretty quickly and there is always a demand.
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Wind chimes
Building a business that produces wind chimes can be a great way to turn spare time into extra income. Wind chimes can be sold on Etsy for revenue and profit. While there may not seem to be a lot of potential for profit in this type of production business, but it is a business that can generate substantial income on part time basis.
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Iron sculptures
If you have the necessary skills needed to start this business, then it is time to start profiting from your talents by starting a business that produces iron art sculptures.
The raw materials needed for the sculptures can be purchased from metal recycling facilities for low or no cost. Once completed, the sculptures can be marketed directly to art-loving consumers and art collectors who patronize Etsy on daily basis.
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Doll Clothing Designer
If you want to make clothing but work with smaller pieces of fabric and other materials, then you can make clothing to fit popular dolls and then sell those pieces on Etsy. Even adults in this age have dolls and they hope to make them look nice and fanciful. You have a very large customer base if you can pull it through.
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Knitting
Facts have shown that this business can be done by simply creating beautiful and unique hand-knitted products, from sweaters to a clothing line for stuffed animals. The opportunities are endless; all you need is a creative spirit, knitting needles, some yarn and you’re in business. Knitted clothing are sold everyday on Etsy and you can join that growing market if you have the required skills.
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Vintage goods
You can start an Etsy ship that sells vintage good to Etsy customers. These goods can range from vintage jewellery, milk bottle caps, dainty lace trim, and old rings. While there are Etsy sellers who sell their own stuff, some source them from flea markets and garage sales. The profit is decent because Etsy is filled with vintage lovers, so they sell fairly quickly.
In conclusion, you must have noted that Etsy is a huge marketplace that you can leverage even as a side business. It provides you with many business opportunities which you can pick up and run very well and lucratively.
Why Start a Business on Etsy?
Facts have shown that the advantage that Etsy has over other selling sites like eBay is that customers are always focused on the quality and uniqueness of each individual listing rather than price or location. While an eBay or Amazon customer might type in a search term and list everything from lowest to highest price, an Etsy buyer wouldn’t expect their search to result in a page full of identical products.
We believe that it makes things so easier to be noticed. Have it in mind that if you want to start selling on Etsy, you have to create a shop, and you are encouraged to also add a logo, a banner, a description with social media links that will help a visitor find out a bit more about you.
We were able to note that the best Etsy businesses use all of these features to establish their own memorable brand that people will search out by name.
Etsy has helped a lot of willing entrepreneurs earn more even as a side business. It has options that allow you to sell personalized items more easily, and as custom orders might take you a bit longer to create, you can charge more for them.
Also note that there is also the chance to establish coupon codes to encourage customer loyalty, or reward your fans on social media.
You can also close your shop if you need a break, which can be a really useful feature to reassure loyal customers when they come back and see an empty shop.
Also because Etsy entrepreneurs are from different countries of the world, it also provides you with international opportunities for your business. Because each item is specially made, people are less concerned with having quick shipping.
This means there are even more potential customers out there for you. When planning to start this business you have to take the necessary steps that are used when starting a normal business, and also decide the product you want to sell on Etsy.