Have you often wondered what you can make money from home? Where is the best place to sell it and how can you sell your creativity with a home-based job selling on Etsy?
For some women, hitting the big 40 is no different from turning 39 or even 30. Confident in their future, their family, and their lifestyle. It’s likely they will have thrown out a few kids by then, built their beautiful home, and created a masterpiece in the garden, perhaps.
this to your best board
Congratulations if this is you.
All this is great, it brings satisfaction knowing the future is planned, the pension is sorted, and all the ducks are in a row. But what if you still feel a little bit envious of the lady in the suit at school pick-up?
What if you still miss the office gossip and those little funny adult moments which you can never quite feel watching Pepper Pig?
Read on if you would like ideas for what you can sell on Etsy and make money from home.
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more) Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
Table Of Contents
- So what can you sell on Etsy which will allow you to make money from home?
- Handmade items
- Vintage – 20yrs or older items
- Craft Supplies –
- If you want to make it at home it should fall into these categories
- completely from home
- Cheap to start
- Easy to begin with
- flexible
- Something I enjoyed doing
- A few things might hamper your efforts.
- Can you sell this outside of Etsy? – such as craft markets and local school fates?
- Other ideas for ways to make money from home
- List all the things you can make at home and another list of all the things you want to try and make.
- What do people ask you to make?
- What might you be good at?
- What sells well on Etsy?
- Here are a few more reasons why we love selling on Etsy.
- START SELLING DIGITAL PRINTS ON ETSY
- FREE EBOOK
So what can you sell on Etsy which will allow you to make money from home?
If you sell on Etsy – your items must fall into 1 of the following 3 categories.
Handmade items
Made and designed by you. Can include digital and printable items. Please see the Etsy Handmade policy. You can add production partners as well.
Vintage – 20yrs or older items
Craft Supplies –
including jewelry supplies, tools, ingredients, or materials.
For more information, please see the Etsy sellers handbook.
For me and I’m assuming you – Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this post. I felt there is still something not quite finished. I wanted to make a little extra money on the side.
If you want to make it at home it should fall into these categories
completely from home
ie – you don’t need an office or factory
Cheap to start
I think this is obvious since you really won’t know if it makes money yet
Easy to begin with
flexible
Something I enjoyed doing
I always loved patterns – so I began there. I also liked to paint in watercolor so I would naturally end up in prints. If you are interested in reading my journey, please go to my page Start Here
If you are interested in selling Digital items on Etsy, please see the Etsy help article – listing a digital item on Etsy.
I know I felt much better knowing I had made a contribution that month. So how can YOU make money from home by selling on Etsy and what can you sell?
Your first thoughts –
Is it really possible to make a full-time income on Etsy when you are more worried about the kid’s exam results and how to avoid going back to the supermarket this week?
Well, I’m here to tell you yes, it is possible.
A few things might hamper your efforts.
How much time do you have to devote to this?
How much money do you have to fund any start-up costs?
What items can you already use, begin with?
Do you already have lots of unfished projects in the house, and maybe you should get these finished first?
Do you know anyone who can help or is able to share the startup hassle?
Have you done this before and failed?
Can you make money on this? If you are planning to make solid gold earrings in the garage but sell them for less than a coffee at the old people’s home. I can tell you, it is not going to fly.
Are you just going to get bored and move on again?
Still interested in making money from home as an Etsy seller? Read on.
For example, in your bathroom, you have some very basic clay pots. You love them, but you didn’t make them. Are these something you could make at home?
Is there somewhere close by who can teach you to make them? How much would it cost to get set up?
First of all – list all the things you like to make inside the house. Walk around with a pen and paper in each room and look at the objects which inspire you or you have created yourself.
Does anyone local own a kiln you can use to make a few and see how you go without the significant investment? Is there a local pottery class you can take for a few weeks to see if you like it?
Can you sell this outside of Etsy? – such as craft markets and local school fates?
Remember you don’t want to shell out the price of a small family car. You are just testing the water here.
Other ideas for ways to make money from home
Do you walk into your bedroom and not be able to see your bed because before kids, you took up sewing, and the only thing you can do is cushioned? But you make them exceptionally well and made loads for other people for a while. Is this something you can try again?
List all the things you can make at home and another list of all the things you want to try and make.
Can you paint or draw? – If the answer is yes, (even if it’s not very good), you are halfway there. Is this a hobby you know you will be happy doing day in and day out for several weeks a year and several nights, probably?
I took up painting when I went on a dreadful holiday to Spain, and it rained, and my friend lent me some paints and paper. My drawing skills are not excellent, but I worked on this and made something new with it.
What do you do with the grandkids? Are you super efficient at making felt masks? – Yes, well there are a ton of people always looking for things to do with the kids. Can you make a pattern for these? Can you make masks in your sleep and sell them?
Do you like knitting? When I say like, I mean love. You have to love it to make a living out of it. Otherwise, you will stop and if it takes you 16 days to knit 4 rows because you had to undo it 18 times. I can tell you, it’s not going to work either.
What do people ask you to make?
Is there something that you get asked to make at Christmas or Easter? – Are you amazing at making cards to give to people? Do they respond to your work? Have you ever received a commission to do this task? Perhaps you are famous for your Christmas tree?
This year I made our Christmas Tree from driftwood. I did receive a lot of compliments around it – so can I make them for other people? Maybe smaller? Is this something you can do too?
Seasonal items do exceptionally well on Etsy. So if you can target that audience, you can plan ahead too.
What might you be good at?
Do you already make crafts at home?
Did you make a custom cookie cutter for your daughter and end up making 4 more for the neighbors?
Have you been left with lots of unwanted vintage items at home? – these sell well on Etsy, and you don’t have to make a thing yourself.
You see, when you get to think about it, sometimes the strangest things sell and can be sold on Etsy
What sells well on Etsy?
Strange stickers – like stickers indicating poo. Oh yeah – stickers sell like hotcakes on Etsy. The market is saturated with creative types purchasing creative materials, and as we now love our physical planners, stickers do exceptionally well.
Edible clay – as in Clay that you can eat
If you don’t want actually physically to make something, can you sell something digitally? – I sell digital prints on Etsy. Make and sell the files for other people to print at home or elsewhere.
I don’t send anything in the post, which means I am free to do other things and my shop runs on autopilot for a lot of the time.
This is probably the most passive way to make money from home. After the initial work is completed, you can sell the same item over and over again.
Is there something you are good at online? Do you run the family accounts on a spreadsheet with 18 pages on linking to debt repayment, shopping, and everything in between? Can you reproduce this for sale?
START SELLING DIGITAL PRINTS ON ETSY
FREE EBOOK
Download a FREE Ebook of everything you need to start selling digital prints today. I’ve included how I got started, the sizes required and what tools you need to become a successful seller.
I WANT IT
The best thing about this is you can see how things go, take things at a more leisurely pace, and start and finish when you want, if you want and because you want to.
There are many reasons why Etsy is an excellent place to start selling for anyone who wishes to make extra income from home.
If you haven’t yet opened your Etsy shop – here is a post to get started.
Read this post if you want to avoid the mistakes I did
Find out how to quickly improve your Etsy shop
If you love Pinterest and Etsy – find out why they are matched in heaven
Are you still stuck for ideas of what to sell on Etsy as a home-based seller? Check out all the Etsy categories if you need more to spark your ideas.
Still not convinced?
Here are a few more reasons why we love selling on Etsy.
- There is no commitment. Opening a shop is free; the listing fee is still twenty cents. Relatively cheap since a Shopify store is currently almost 100 times more expensive before you have sold anything.
- You can stop if you want to.
- It allows you to make money from home
- You can do it alone.
- You can keep it private.
- You can sit back and do it at your own pace.
- You can sell your knowledge.
- You can get people to do it for you.
- You can find great help everywhere.
- It’s cheap to start.
- It’s simple to manage.
- Anyone can do it.
- You can sell many things there.
- You can keep your costs low.
- You don’t have to monitor it all the time.
- You only need an email address.
- You don’t need to be connected all the time.
- You can start small.
- You can grow big.
- You can employ partners to help.
So – I’ve given you a few ideas on what you can sell on Etsy using your creativity and as a home-based seller. If you still have a question – please leave a comment below.
If you are ready to dive into Etsy – check out some of the helpful articles they have.
Thank you for visiting today.
If you have any questions – please leave a comment below.
