Thinking of selling printables or digital products on Etsy? Looking for a marketplace to sell your products? Etsy is a popular marketplace and many product creators use it to sell unique items.
If you’re looking for ways to make an extra income selling physical or digital products, Etsy could be the perfect solution for you.
In this post, we’ll discuss ways to make printables and digital products to sell on Etsy, brainstorm ideas of digital products, and see how you can create a listing to start selling.
Before we start, let’s talk about Etsy and how it works.
What Is Etsy And How Does It Work?
Etsy is an online marketplace that connects sellers and buyers. It used to be the best platform to buy unique products such as vintage and handmade goods. Now, Etsy has become one of the best online marketplaces to buy digital products, illustrations, and more.
This means you no longer need to create a physical product, to sell on Etsy. Many digital creators are creating printables or digital products, which they then sell on platforms like Etsy.
Etsy charges $0.20 per listing and a transaction fee of 5% on each sold item. Etsy is a great option if you don’t already have an audience because they will advertise and promote products as part of their marketing strategies.
How To Make Printables To Sell On Etsy
If you’re design-savvy, you’re probably already using design software such as Photoshop or Illustrator. If not, you still have options like Canva Pro.
It’s relatively easy to create printables and digital products nowadays. That said, if you need help creating printables and are not very good at designing, consider buying templates that you can use for commercial uses.
Alternatively, you can learn how to make printables using Canva here.
I’ll sum it up for you below.
- Pick the right document size. If you’re making a printable it should be an A4 document (which you can easily create in one click in Canva).
- Create your design from scratch or use the ones offered by Canva.
- Download your design as a PDF. You could also convert your PDF into a fillable PDF with PDFescape. You can learn more about this process here.
- Create a mockup for your products by exporting your design as a PNG or by using the smart mockup templates offered by Canva.
Here’s an example of a mockup for one of my products. It was created in Canva Pro.
Printable And Digital Product Ideas To Sell On Etsy
A quick search and browsing session on Etsy will show you how many printables are currently being sold.
If you’re looking for ideas, here are some printables and digital product ideas that you could create and sell on Etsy.
- Checklists
- Thank you cards
- Templates
- Canva templates
- Gift tags
- Planners
- Journals
- Quotes
- Calendars
- Books
- Shopping lists
- Wedding planners
- Budget trackers
- and more!
Head to Etsy and search for printables within your niche to find ideas that would work well in your niche.
How to Create a Listing on Etsy
First, you’ll need to create an account on Etsy. Then, you can go to Shop Manager and click on Listings. In the top right corner, click on Add a new listing.
Start by adding photos, so now is the time to add your mockups. Ideally, you should have a few different mockups. If you have a fillable printable, you can create an example of your printable in action. You can look at what other people in your niche are doing to get ideas of ways to present your products.
Etsy now offers video listing too, so you could create a video mockup design in Canva Pro to stand out.
Then, you can start filling in the listing details. Start with a title that includes the keywords you’re targeting with your product. Here you should write the keywords used by potential buyers when searching for products on Etsy.
Enter information about the listing and category, and choose the digital option if your product is a printable or digital product. Finally, enter the description of your product, upload the digital file and add the price.
Note that most digital products sell from $2-$5, but you could also offer bundles for $10 or more. I’d recommend you look at similar products to get an idea of the correct pricing.
When the listing is ready, click on Preview, and if you’re happy on Publish.
How To Market A Listing On Etsy
If you already have a website or social media channels, you could market your Etsy products there for free. Alternatively, Pinterest can be a great source of traffic for Etsy products.
If you’re looking for quick sales, you can start running Etsy ads for $1 per day, which is quite interesting. As a result, Etsy will bring traffic to your product.
Alternatives To Etsy To Sell Printables And Digital Products
If you already have an audience, you could sell your digital products yourself without having to pay for Etsy listings or transaction fees.
Note that most providers are not free, so you’ll need to decide what makes the most sense for you.
I personally sell my digital products on 3 platforms other than Etsy.
- I use Convertkit for my blogging book
- I use Teachable and Thinkific to sell my online courses
Now, you must be wondering why I’m using this many platforms. It’s simple – I like to test platforms for you guys. When I use a new platform, I’m able to review it and find out how good they are.
So, here are my thoughts on platforms to sell digital products.
- Convertkit is great if you want to sell products for free (with their free plans). Note that there is a transaction fee and minimum pricing boundaries. If you want to sell digital products that are less than $5, this platform won’t work.
- Teachable is a great platform for online courses, but I also use it to deliver digital products, because it’s super user-friendly. But there’s a monthly fee, so you need to make sure you’re making enough sales that it’s worth it.
- Thinkific is another great platform for online courses. You can also use it with the free plan, but you won’t be able to customize your course fully.
Final Thoughts On Selling Digital Products On Etsy
Finally, I decided to sell digital products because I was looking for new ways to increase my income. I strongly believe that diversification is the way to go when it comes to making money online.
That said, I created a product suite, and if you want to take a look, go to our shop. Selling digital products is a fun way to be creative while helping your audience.
Etsy can make the whole process much easier if you don’t already have an audience, so don’t miss out on its potential.
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