Finding things to make and sell can be highly profitable and fun!
You don’t have to be a master entrepreneur to turn your favorite DIY crafts into a viable business opportunity. You just need to show a little creativity and then find people who want to buy your products.
It takes minimal upfront investment, and you don’t have to get a business license until you’ve made over $600 selling crafts.
What Can I Sell to Make Money?
Before you just start making things, you should probably ask yourself, “What can I make to sell?” The answer will be different for everyone based on your skills and capabilities.
Some of the thing you should consider include:
- Personal talents: I’m better at explaining concepts and spreadsheets than making arts and crafts. If I’m brainstorming ideas, I might make spreadsheets or courses. That’s why I work with UpFlip.
- Demand: Think about whether people are buying what you want to sell. If you can’t find buyers, you’ll end up with a lot of inventory.
- Marketplaces: Someone creating furniture might want to sell locally, while someone creating digital goods might sell online. Meanwhile, people making small DIY crafts can sell both online and in person without huge shipping costs.
Things to Make and Sell
If you’re randomly searching diy business ideas online, you’re sure to find all kinds of ideas, some of which are questionable at best. This blog makes it easier to find solid business ideas that have already been vetted.
We’ve interviewed hundreds of business owners across our YouTube and podcast. We reviewed those interviews and other blogs to find great ideas for you.
From food business ideas to craft ideas to digital products, there are plenty of products for you to make and sell. Read these DIY small business ideas to help stimulate your creative juices.
Food
You probably won’t be surprised that some of the best things to make and sell involve food. Most people eat and drink multiple things per day, ranging from coffee to fried chicken. Anything involving food is likely to be one of the great things to make and sell.
Check out our top-performing food interview below. Find out how Vincent Williams makes $3M selling chicken:
Furniture
There are a lot of craftspeople who like to make and sell furniture. When it comes to things to make and sell, woodworking and furniture are top craft ideas.
You’ll love learning how Cameron Anderson turned Blacktail Studio into a craft business that makes and sells $15K of furniture each month. Check out his story below:
Candles
Have you considered making candles? They’re amazing things to create at home. Whether your target market is online or at local craft fairs, you can easily start your own business selling candles.
Check out our interview with Jazmin Richards to find out how to earn a great living making and selling candles:
Personalized Gifts
Selling DIY products that are personalized can be an amazing business idea. Find out how Vlad Kuksenko, the owner of TagPup, started an Etsy shop selling personalized gifts for people’s dogs:
If you loved this video, make sure to check out our full course with Vlad at UpFlip Academy.
T-Shirts
If you enjoy designing clothing, you might want to make and sell T-shirts. People buy more than $13 billion T-shirts every year.
Find out how to start a screen printing business:
Online Courses
Selling online courses is another DIY idea you can start. You make and sell the content to help others learn more about the subjects you already love to talk about. It’s a profitable home business idea that can have profit margins up to 80%.
Find out how this course creator started an online piano course:
Wall Art
Whether you’re a painter, graphic designer, or photographer, you can make and sell printable wall art. Using print-on-demand services reduces the upfront costs of selling art prints. Alternatively, you could sell the files for digital printables.
Essential Oils
Essential oils are great things to make and sell online or at craft sales. You’ll have to learn how to extract oils from plants and make essential oil blends.
Gift Baskets
DIY craft ideas to sell might include gift baskets. People love to give gift baskets for holidays, but you could also create gift baskets for weddings, birthdays, and other celebrations.
Handmade Soap
Handmade soaps are popular things to make and sell from home. These handmade items can be one of a kind or made in bulk to earn extra cash. Just make sure you disclose what’s in each product to ensure your crafts business doesn’t impact a customer’s allergies.
Bath Bombs
Bath bombs are fun things to make and sell. Bath bombs include colorful fragrances and herbs that make a bath fun and relaxing. According to Future Market Insights, the global market for bath bombs is 41.6 billion and increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 7.2%.
Subscription Boxes
You might consider creating curated subscription boxes. Your subscription box business can include your own DIY crafts, or you could just find great products and add them to the box.
Digital Products
When you sell online, there are a lot of ways to make extra money with digital products. Potential ideas include cheat sheets, spreadsheets, online courses, or DIY tutorials.
These are good things to make and sell because you only have to make them once. Then you can sell them as many times as you want.
Handmade Jewelry
Pieces of jewelry might be easy things to make and sell from home. Whether you’re making costume jewelry or resin jewelry, there are plenty of creative ways to find stuff to make.
Stock Photography
If you love photography, you can list your photos on stock photography websites. You just need a camera, a computer, and editing software to create photos you can make and sell online.
Sell Prints
Like stock photography, you can make and sell prints of your photography or art. These are easy things to make and sell for profit because you already have the final images. Uploading them to print-on-demand sites reduces your need for inventory.
Beauty Products
Beauty products probably shouldn’t be on your list of easy things to make and sell for money. That is, unless you happen to be a chemist or a witch.
For anyone else, these items might be a bit of a challenge because of government regulations.
Paper Crafts
Paper crafts are easy crafts to make and sell. You just need some paper, an idea, and instructions. Then you can sell them as DIY kits. These could also count as things for kids to make and sell.
Polymer Clay
Some DIY artists use polymer clay to make jewelry, figurines, and other craft items. You can either sell them as handmade crafts or create cute DIY products for people to make on their own at home or in school.
Pet Toys
You could start a DIY craft business where you create fun pet toys. For instance, I bet people would love to have stuffed animals of their favorite pet after they pass. I’ve also never seen a small dog that could actually make a squeaky toy squeak.
Craft Supplies
When you’ve created something cool that people like, but you don’t want to make or manufacture the completed item, you can sell the components as craft supplies.
Tote Bags
People use tote bags every day for everything from carrying groceries to going to the beach. You can make personalized tote bags, print-on-demand tote bags, or handmade tote bags.
Where to Sell Your Crafts
Once you’ve decided what to make and sell for extra money, you’ll need to research how to sell crafts. There are numerous ways to sell crafts, and your options will differ based on location.
Many people sell their items both online and in person. We’ll discuss some of the best methods for each.
Sell Online
Starting an online business is one of the most popular ways to create your own handmade items. You’ll have the ability to set your own working hours and sell to people around the world.
There are a few extra considerations for things to sell online. Shipping requires more upfront cash and logistics management.
Some items and products will require special treatment or packaging in transit. Others, like furniture, may be cumbersome and expensive to ship. Think about this as you consider crafts to make and sell online.
Next, we’ll discuss some of the best online outlets for your craft business.
Online Marketplaces
There’s an online marketplace for everything. Many vendors decide to sell on the big online marketplaces like Etsy, eBay, and Amazon. However, there are also smaller platforms that might not be as competitive.
Did you know that companies like David’s Bridal and Michael’s also have an online marketplace where you can sell to their niche markets?
Your Own Online Store
While an online marketplace allows you to sell your craft idea in front of a much larger audience, they normally add fees and other expenses that eat into your profit margins.
Another option is to start your own online store, charge the same or less, and collect customer data. As your online store develops its own reputation, your profit margins will increase and you’ll be able to grow. Just make sure to collect and use any data as responsibly as possible.
Etsy Shop
Starting a shop on Etsy is ideal for handmade and personalized items, but there’s a lot of competition. Etsy also takes a percentage based on the price of the product and the shipping costs.
Facebook Marketplace
Whether you start your own craft business or sell one-off items, you probably shouldn’t ignore Facebook when you have things to sell to make money. Not only will this help you reach a larger audience, but you can also connect with buyers in your local area.
In-Person Selling
Unlike an online store, selling handmade products in person allows you to skip the shipping process. This may reduce costs and make it cheaper for people to buy your items.
They can also try on t-shirts, feel textures, and inspect items in real life before purchase. This means you’ll likely save money on returns compared to an eCommerce store.
Meanwhile, market demand will be lower when selling products in person. You’ll be limited to the people in your location. That’s why most physical stores also have their own website for selling online.
Let’s discuss some of the ways to sell your handmade items and products in person.
Sell Products From Home
If it’s just a side hustle, you can create easy crafts and have people pick up the products when they’re ready. This works if you’re just making a little extra cash without running an entire business from home.
Most homeowners associations frown upon running a high-traffic business out of your home. The scale of your business operations will also affect whether zoning laws come into play.
Garage Sales
If you have a bunch of stuff to sell, you might want to host a garage sale. You’ll probably want to take pictures of your most in-demand items.
Next, share information about your sale. Post online and put signs around the neighborhood to let people know when to stop by.
Local Craft Fairs
Many people make homemade crafts at home, then go to craft fairs with good things to sell. Just search craft fairs near me tol find lots of craft fair ideas for you to pursue.
Craft Business Storefront
You might rent a space and create your own craft store where you sell your crafts and provide in-person tutorials. You can also sell stuff online from that location and create YouTube videos to market your business.
Remember to collect sales tax and include the cost of the space in your pricing.
Local Stores
Ask around at local stores to see if any businesses are willing to stock your crafts. Many stores feature artists and craftspeople from within the community. Even if you only have space to display a few items, it still spreads the word about your crafts.
How to Sell Things Online and Make Money
Once you’ve thought of cool things to make and sell online, you’ll need to:
- Decide where to sell online.
- Take pictures of your items.
- Sign up for the online marketplaces or create your own website.
- Establish how you’ll accept payments.
- List your products.
- Set prices and shipping.
- Market your online store.
- Accept payments.
- Ship the products or provide the digital printables or downloads.
How to Sell Things on Amazon and Make Money
There are so many ways to sell on Amazon. Here’s a brief overview of the different ways to sell:
- Amazon affiliate sales: You can recommend products in your content and earn a commission on sales. This method is especially effective if you already have a large online following. Learn more about how to become an Amazon Associate.
- Fulfillment by Amazon: You’ll have the option to send your products to an Amazon shipping center once you list your items for sale. They’ll handle shipping, which saves you time and energy.
- Self-fulfillment: You can sell your own products or crafts on Amazon and process the shipping yourself.
- Amazon Merch: Amazon offers print-on-demand services for clothes, phone cases, throw pillows, and other items through Amazon Merch.
- Kindle Direct Publishing: Publishing and selling books through Amazon could be another income stream. For example, you could compile your digital printables into a book.
How to Sell Things on eBay and Make Money
Selling on eBay is complicated. They have different policies for different types of products. They also offer auctions, fixed price, and combination sales. I recommend viewing our walkthrough about selling on eBay to learn more.
How to Sell Things on Etsy and Make Money
In our blog about how to start an Etsy shop, we discuss each stage of the process in greater detail:
- Opening your shop
- Setting fair prices
- Choosing payment methods
- Calculating shipping costs
- Promoting your shop
- Fulfilling orders
- Staying compliant with Etsy policies
- Reinvesting in your business
Things to Buy and Sell to Make Money
If you’re considering reselling, this is how much the average household spends on the most popular items each year:
- Clothes: $1,434.26
- Cleaning supplies: $836.51
- Personal care products: $646.35
- Furniture: $534.17
- Shoes: $313.94
- Home decor items: $165.79
- Toys, games, and bikes: $156.74
- Water bottles: $71.63
Learn more in our blog about things to resell.
Conclusion
We’ve discussed all types of things to make at home and sell. Potential products include food, wall art, gift baskets, and bath bombs. You can even create your own online tutorials.
Ultimately, it’s about more than just looking for profitable things to make to sell. Starting a craft business will also depend on what you enjoy doing, your location, and your skill set. In addition to suggesting things to make and sell, we also discussed how to sell things in person and online.
Will you sell digital products, crafts, or food? Let us know in the comments below.
