So you want to sell on Etsy and create your own handmade, crafty business? Amazing news! Let me show you how to find popular things to sell on Etsy first. Doing market research to find out what is already selling will ensure that your Etsy business thrives and succeeds. The best things to sell on etsy in 2022 and beyond are in this post.
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Why you should be selling on Etsy
According to Marketplace Pulse, there have been 56.4 million items sold in the last 30 days on Etsy. Don't you want a piece of that pie? Etsy is by far the largest and most recognizable platform for selling handmade goods.
In 2022, the world is your oyster! I'm writing this two days before Christmas in 2021. It's almost New Years, and we're all planning to make big steps for the upcoming months, right? In 2022, Etsy sales are expected to continue to go up and up, while the amount of new sellers rises with it.
Should I research before selling on Etsy?
If you are just looking to start an Etsy shop or wondering how to make your current shop stand out in 2022, it's time to do some research. Some fun and easy Etsy Market research will make you a well-informed seller, and make you more successful on the platform.
What are the best and most popular things to sell on Etsy this year?
Let's research together to find out what the best things to sell on Etsy are right now! If you're reading this in the future (you time traveler, you!) then you can replicate these research steps to get a more accurate current picture of the Etsy landscape.
This post contains affiliate links to products that I want you to see. If you click on one of these links and make a purchase, I may be compensated. Thank you! Full policy Here.
Start your Etsy Research at the Source
You may find articles and instructions online for using software to find trends on Etsy. We'll discuss that, but I find that using Etsy to start my research is the best way to find the best selling items. Go to this link, (it will open in a new tab if you'd like to follow along) or type “best selling items” into the Etsy search bar to get started.
As a bonus, this method of finding popular things to sell on Etsy is totally free.
You can see that I'm now in an Etsy search page and I can add filters or use the options at the top of the page to look at slightly different searches.
Some challenges to this method
Important! To see the best and most accurate information here, you should be searching in an incognito window, or at least be logged out of your Etsy account. The platform does use algorithms to show you things that you will specifically enjoy. I am not showing you my incognito window, because the popular items on Etsy today are pretty NSFW. There is certainly a market on Etsy for things shaped like body parts and decorations for other body parts… I'll just leave it there. Proceed with caution if you're sensitive to that.
While I won't be sharing the correct images, the information I'm sharing in this post will be related to what I'm finding while searching incognito. Hopefully that makes sense, leave a comment if you have any questions.
The other thing is, that sellers can add the words “best seller” to their listing to get things to show up on this page. Again, not ideal. Look for the yellow bestseller badge to determine what is actually a best selling item.
Current Bestselling Items on Etsy
I've looked at this page a few times over the past month and every time, the top selling item is a NSFW Image! Ok, it's nipple crystals – stickers that are body art. That's cool, but not something that I'm intersted in selling. No worries, there's plenty of other things. On today's bestsellers list, the following items caught my eye:
- Sterling Silver Boho Earrings
- All Natural Body Scrub
- Pillows made with fabric that looks like vintage libary book cards!
- Stamped Spoons (there are multiple shops selling these)
- Snarky T-shirts for women
Is this the most scientifc way to research what's popular on Etsy? Maybe not, but I'm definitely inspired now. Next I'll show you how to do some more specific, simple Etsy research.
Use The Etsy Searchbar to Find What's Trending
Just like google or amazon, the search bar on Etsy will attempt to guess what you are trying to search for, using what it already knows about what users are looking for. I'm going to search for valentines (again, use an incognito window):
You can see here that there are search recommendations. Likely any one of these things could be a good thing to sell on Etsy in the next two months.
If I click on Valentine's Day Decor, I'll get a list of items in that category, sorted by relevance, with high sales items, popular items, and Etsy Pick items first. There are some very cute crafts here!
I like the information I get from this method much better than the first one, because I can narrow it down to what I'm actually interested in making, or what I'm already selling in my shop.
Use Erank to Find What's Trending
If you aren't already looking at Erank on a regular basis, you should definitely start. It's free to have an account, and there are upgrades that you can add for better insights. I don't have the upgrade right now, but i can see some interesting things regardless.
With the free account I can see the top 5 tranding Etsy searches for the last month or last week. Because Christmas is in two days, these are not super helpful right now. Obviously the top trending searches are all about “gifts”.
But, you can further look at trends inside of categories on Erank. Here I'm looking at Bath and Beauty. The most popular search terms for last month are:
See, getting more specific gives me more information! I can see that people are definitely still looking for masks and lanyards for them. They are also looking for bath and beauty products for their dogs. I can then take this information and go back to Etsy to look at specific products.
Read the Tips That Etsy Puts Out
Etsy wants us as sellers to be successful. The Seller Handbook is updated quarterly with seasonal tips that you should definitely read. Here's the link in case you missed it in your email.
Quick disclaimer: Bingecrafter does not guarantee that if you make these things that you'll make money. You need to put in the work and do your own research to be sure that you can be profitable with any type of business.
Popular Things to Sell on Etsy in 2022
After doing a bit of searching while writing this post for you, I'll share with you what I think are popular trends you could consider selling on Etsy in 2022. Just remember that this is an ever-changing marketplace. This list could be completely different by March!
- Minimalist Everything. The concept of ‘Lagom', (the Sweedish word for “moderate”) is trending, and people are looking to streamline their spaces, their closets, and declutter their mind. Remember Hygge? That's still around too. We really like the way the Sweedish decribe things, right?
To play into this overall theme, you can look into reselling selling vintage, high quality items, or making sustainable clothing and textiles, and decor pieces with small footprints and clean lines.
- Mid Century Modern and Y2K Nostalgia – I am personally in love with both of these themes, and I can't be the only one. Great things to sell on Etsy next year could be Office supplies that remind me of my elementary school days. That would be super cool. 90's punk jewelry (studded chokers!) and statement jewelry will trend too.
- Bath and Body – I think there will always be a market for bath and body products that are really well done. Consider adding botanicals, hemp, or other buzzy ingredients.
- Personalized Items -These have been huge over the last few years, and will continue to be for a while I think. Personalized t-shirts, tumblers, mugs, books… anything you can personalize.
- New Home Decor – Don't get mad, but I think we might be seeing the tail end of the modern farmhouse movement. Mid century modern, 70s chic, natural textures (cottagecore), clean marble, and denmark pastels are going to be more popular in 2022.
In the end, some research on recent and current trends will help you to set up or update your Etsy shop with products that customers need and want, which will allow you to make more sales and make more money! Finding things to sell on Etsy isn't very hard and doesn't require you to spend money.
I will always say that you should be sure that whatever you decide to sell on Etsy is something that you enjoy creating too. It's really no fun to start a craft business if you're making things that don't give you some joy.
