Etsy has been in the market since 2005 and sells vintage, handmade, and digital products with a good following.
You might be thinking of selling digital downloads, convinced that it’s all passive income.
Let’s see if it is the best money-making option for you.
Alright, so Etsy doesn’t exactly fit into a nice category.
At the end of the day, selling online is a… unique way to think about making money.
It’s certainly possible to make money with off-the-wall businesses like this, but unless you’re interested in taking years out of your life to experiment with an unproven business model, I would look elsewhere.
My #1 personal recommendation if we’re talking about starting a fully-online business has got to be the Lead Generation & Ad Agency business models.
There are a handful of programs that teach you the ropes, but my #1 choice that combines both of those business models into one is the Digital Rental Method program
But, if you’re hard-pressed to jump head-first into an off-the-wall business model, let’s continue on to my full breakdown of Etsy.
What Is Etsy?
The items for sale on Etsy are all handcrafted. After Amazon and eBay, it’s among the largest online marketplaces.
Etsy is a marketplace where anyone may sell and promote their handmade or vintage goods.
Etsy has already built a large customer base who look for digital products on the platform. You can find and then sell digital downloads that are useful for you from the plethora of designs available.
Etsy values human connection by creating a creative atmosphere that makes unique, handmade, or vintage items available to its community, mostly small business owners.
One passive way to earn is by creating digital products to sell on Etsy if your client is not asking for customized designs.
Why Sell Etsy Digital Products?
The mantra “make once, sell forever” is the Holy Grail of the creative process. You may save time and effort by designing once and selling multiples of the same item in your Etsy store.
Etsy digital download works well for both buyers and sellers. It benefits customers and saves them time and money because hiring a designer can be time-consuming and expensive. With Etsy, you can find best-selling digital downloads and use the file in no time at a fraction of the price.
Relatively Low Overhead Cost
Once they have invested in software to create digital products, Etsy sellers’ costs are pretty minimal. The listing fee is only $0.2, and when they make a sale, they are charged 5%.
Time Saver
If you are making physical products, you have to repeat the process every time you have an order. You only have to make your digital products once and leave the platform to do the work for you.
Easy System
Etsy sellers selling digital products can say they are earning passive income if customers don’t ask them to customize the product for them. They sell their products even in their sleep.
It’s Fun To Do
For those who are artsy and techie, this is a fun way of expressing oneself and earning simultaneously.
Convenient To Buyers and Sellers
Just think there is no need to wait for the parcel to come or pay for shipping. The customers can have ready digital prints after purchase.
For Etsy sellers, the built-in traffic makes selling easy; they just attach their digital products without needing to drive their traffic.
What Etsy Digital Products Can You Sell?
Digital items, such as Zoom backgrounds for meetings and professionally created CV templates for those looking for an edge in the job market, have become more important in the wake of the pandemic and the rise of the freelance workforce.
Wedding/ Events
- Party Invitations
- Gift Tags
- Wedding Planners
- Wrapping Paper Patterns
- Printable Cake And Party Decorations
- Thank You Cards
- Printable Cards (Birthday, Invitations)
Personal Organization Calendars
- Meal Plan Templates
- Resume Templates
- Productivity Trackers
- Budget Planners
- Sleep Trackers
- Class Schedule Templates
- Printable Planners
- Digital Planners
- Self Improvement Printables
- Cafe/Restaurant Printable
Business
- Digital Stickers
- Product/ Cosmetic Labels
- Logos
- Customized Invoice Templates
- Clip Art
- Branding Kits
- Website Templates And Themes
- Purchase Order Templates
- Business Cards
- Excel Templates
Home Use
- Wallpapers
- Digital Art Prints
- Custom Portraits
- Printable Wall Art
- Pantry Organizer Templates
Learning Materials
- Learning Materials For Children
Social Media Templates
- Pinterest Templates
- Zoom Backgrounds
Hobby
- Sewing Patterns
- Ebooks And Guides
- Workbooks
- Lightroom Photo Presets
- Crochet/Knitting/Embroidery/ Patterns
- Recipe Cards
- Kids and Adult Coloring Pages
- Clip Arts
- Digital Papers
- Photography
Cellphone Presets
- Phone Wallpapers
- Ios Icon Pack
Is Selling Etsy Digital Products Profitable?
You may make a profit because of the cheap operating expenses. As the demand for digital goods grows, so does your opportunity to make a sale.
Selling goods at a physical business incurs far higher costs. Low initial investment and manageable Etsy fees leave more money in your pocket after deducting the product license cost.
It’s profitable, but you also must consider that you need volume to enjoy substantial profit on this platform.
Things To Consider When Picking Which Digital Downloads To Sell
There are a few things you should think about and prepare for before opening an Etsy shop where you will offer digital products.
Find Your Skills And Passion
Finding that sweet spot where your interests and abilities intersect with the market’s demands is the ultimate goal. That smile on your face says it all!
Do A Market Research
You should look for a product with great demand and little competition to succeed. Examining the market is one method for doing this.
You can start by looking at the top keywords when you type in the Etsy search bar. If you type “templates,” it will automatically list the digital files that most likely have demand or sell on Etsy.
You may find “social media templates” or “website templates” on the list, giving you an idea of what digital products sell on Etsy.
You may also look at products that sell well on eBay and Amazon.
Consider If You Want To Sell Seasonal Or Evergreen Items
Products like digital wall art and gift tags are examples of evergreen products that will always be in demand. However, items like Christmas cards are only in need during the holiday season.
Consider the need you can fill in the market, and after your Etsy store is established, you may gradually offer seasonal items.
Stand Out From The Crowd
Although Etsy now has hundreds of merchants, selling digital products is a difficult task. You must stand out from the crowd to guarantee that your items sell.
Are There Alternatives To Etsy?
Yes, there are plenty of other business models to choose from if you want to pursue making money online. Here are just a few:
Is Etsy A Scam?
Time for the $1,000,000 question: is Etsy actually a scam?
I wouldn’t technically call it a scam, though others might.
It’s technically possible to make money with Etsy, so in that sense, it isn’t a scam.
No one is riding off into the sunset with your money, leaving you empty-handed… technically speaking.
But the second, more important question is: is Etsy actually worth the investment?
My honest answer is that for most people out there, probably not.
There are countless other business models that are proven & easily scalable, so why risk it for… not an incredibly huge payoff?
I’d rather have a program with thousands of successful students & plenty of room for others to join.
If you’ve followed my blog for long, you know I recommend a few different programs depending on your skills & goals.
My current top choice is using the Digital Rental Method, because you have a proven, systematic path to 6-figures, and you can do it from anywhere you want.
I’ve got friends in there that are posting deals from the middle of the woods in a camper-van with their pet pig… which is kinda cool.
What Is My #1 Recommendation To Make Money Online In 2022?
Alright, time for me to get real with my lovely readers for a moment:
I’ve personally tried all of the major online business models:
- I’ve sold fidget spinners through Amazon FBA
- I’ve drop-shipped a toilet bowl putting green on Shopify
- I’ve sold women’s health supplements via Clickbank affiliate marketing
And I made money with all of them, so trust me when I say: there is no “perfect” business model.
THAT BEING SAID: I would at least recommend you implement something that is tried and true, because I’ve seen TOO MANY people (including friends and family) get burned by stuff like Etsy.
They come out of left field with some random idea, make it seem attractive, and then make themselves a quick buck by luring in unsuspecting people.
I’m not saying Etsy itself is a piece of trash, I’m just saying you need to be very, very careful.
This is a big reason why I only recommend proven, tried and true business models, like Lead Generation & Ad Agencies.
Read Our In Depth Breakdown Of The Top 5 OppOther Courses For 2024
There are a bunch of programs out there that teach you those skills, but my top choice is the Digital Rental Method program.
Why? It has proven leaders with their own 7-figure businesses implementing exactly what they teach you.
I’ve also got over a dozen personal friends in there, so I feel comfortable telling you it works.
Whether you’re a complete newbie, or you’ve been around the block before but have never had that “big win” to propel you forward, their program works.
Here’s why:
1)Time: If you’ve got a spare hour or two each day, you can do this. If you want to drop everything and go all in, you can do this. More time obviously means faster results, but even putting in a few hours per day is enough to see real success.
And because of that flexibility, you don’t need to trade your time for money. Once the income starts, it’s recurring (for the most part).
That means you can take a month off, travel the country, pursue a passion project, chill on the beach, or charter a boat across the world.
But you can only do that once you’ve created an income stream that doesn’t require YOU to be there all day, every day.
2)Big Margins: With most businesses, you’re often going to have really slim margins. That means you need to hit a serious scale to make serious money.
using the Digital Rental Method, your profit margin is nearly 100%. Watch here to learn how.
Just a reminder: these Digital Rental Properties are worth (at a minimum) $500/mo in semi-passive income. And each time you create another one, your income increases, and the effort put into creating the next property decreases.
Best-case scenario, you have properties bringing in over $3,000+/mo on “auto-pilot.”
3)It’s Effectively Copy-Paste: Here’s my favorite part: once you have your first Digital Rental Property up, you can literally copy-paste another version of it and find another willing “renter” in a few days. DOUBLING your income doesn’t get much easier than that…
If you wanted to double your income by selling online, you would need to exert time and effort. And I can guarantee you that’s a lot harder than a few clicks & a phone call.
4)You’re Helping REAL People: My biggest gripe with selling online is that you’re basically only helping yourself.
But With the Digital Rental Method, you’re helping solve REAL problems that people are ASKING for help with:
Small local businesses around the world need one thing: customers. Without them, their business would fall apart. If you can provide those customers, they’re going to be really happy – and they’re going to pay you for it.
You’re helping a struggling mother or father put food on the table for their families, put their kids through college, or simply live life a little bit more comfortably.
Having this type of impact on the world is what will help you sleep soundly at night.
So, the rest is up to you. You could keep looking at other off-the-wall business models like selling online and maybe hit it big one day.
You could keep researching and researching for the next few months (or few years), never making a concrete decision.
OR, you can look deep inside, think about those dreams, hopes, & desires, and make the decision to ACTUALLY make it happen, just like it has for thousands of other students before you.
Making a fortune while actually helping real people that need it.
If this sounds like you, click here to see how it all works.
