Etsy is known for its unique, handmade goods, but can you make money selling digital downloads on Etsy as well? The quick answer is “yes, but“.
Keep reading to find out what you need to consider if you want to sell digital products on Etsy and actually make money.
Related reading: Educational digital product ideas – How to make digital items to sell on Etsy
What kind of digital products can you sell on Etsy?
There are so many types of digital products you can sell on Etsy. There’s everything from printable wall art and printable party games to budgeting spreadsheets for moms and lecture note templates for medical students.
My specialty is selling educational digital products on Etsy, which means products that help people learn skills or help them use their skills. They can also be products that help you organize information if you’re good at making spreadsheets or Notion templates, for example.
If there’s any skill that you’re good at, you can create products around it for people who also have that skill or who want to learn it. Sure, you could make an online course as well, but educational Etsy products are a simpler and more affordable option. They’re also easier to market if you’re just starting out.
Is selling digital products on Etsy profitable?
First, we need to talk about what “profitable” means. Something is profitable… if it’s making a profit. You’re making a profit if a thing is bringing in more money than it takes to make it.
Digital products are so much easier to make profitable than physical products because you only need to make them once. Of course, you might be paying for software to make these products, but fortunately there’s no limit to how many products you can make with your Photoshop or Canva subscription, so making back your investment is a lot easier when you can spread it out on multiple products.
Etsy does have fees that you need to take into consideration. Each time you publish or renew a listing, you have to pay $0.20, and you also pay a fee for each sale. You can even pay for Etsy ads and off-site ads. That’s why you need to make sure your products cost enough that you’re not losing money when you sell something.
I have a few $1 products in my shop but I don’t expect to make loads of profit from them. They’re just a way to get people in – they might add something else to their cart or they could come back to my shop after realising they really liked what they got from me.
Even if you’re selling something small, you don’t need to sell it at a loss. You can always bundle things up so that people will get more products at one convenient price but you can also entice them to buy more at once.
Yes, but do people actually buy digital products on Etsy?
They definitely do! How else would I be making sales every single day 🙂 I made a sale while writing this post, in fact.
Is selling digital downloads on Etsy worth it?
Whether doing something is “worth it” or not kind of depends on you! Yes, it does take time and effort – there’s no quick and easy money on Etsy no matter what marketing bros on Youtube are saying.
You need to consider what kind of alternatives you have. Would you rather do something else besides create digital products? Do you want to play by Etsy’s rules? Can you commit to marketing your shop? No one else can answer these questions for you.
For me, Etsy is absolutely worth it. Although I have an email list, I can still get in front of so many more people when I’m on Etsy because there are 500 million people shopping on Etsy every month. No, they’re not all looking for what I personally sell, but even just 1% of those shoppers is still 5 million potential buyers.
It’s true: the majority of Etsy sellers are making nothing but dimes. But do you know why? It’s not because Etsy sucks, it’s because those people are either selling poorly made products or they’re not putting any effort into their shops, or both. You absolutely have control over both of those things. You can choose to do a good job with your shop and make money.
So how do you actually make money from selling digital products on Etsy?
First of all, you need to think of what people are willing to pay for. When you have a specific skill, think of this: What kind of products would YOU want to buy?
Then, you need to make sure your products are great quality. I can promise you that nobody actually wants to buy that AI garbage and buyers are getting sick of seeing it already. I’m not going to be nice about this – if you’re planning to use AI to make your digital products, you can get the f*ck out of my website. Thanks!
You’re still reading? Good! So anyway, make sure your products are well-made and actually useful. See what else is selling in your niche and aspire to make your products even better and/or more specific.
When you’ve got your products, create listings that make it extremely easy to understand what your product is, what it’s used for, how it’s used and how to access it. People as a whole are kind of dumb so make everything more obvious than you think is necessary.
Then, start getting your products in front of people. Use good keywords so you can be found on Etsy search and bring in your own traffic either through your own website or though social media or Pinterest.
Keep improving your shop, provide good customer service and keep getting in front of more people. That’s how profitable Etsy shops are made.
Selling educational Etsy products is the best way to turn your existing skills into money
If you’re now interested in creating educational digital products to sell on Etsy, I’ve got exactly the thing you need to get started and to make your shop actually profitable.
My course Earning with Educational Etsy Products, or EEEP if you prefer making funny noises, helps you decide what you should sell in your Etsy shop, shows what kind of products you should make and how to make them and helps you actually sell your products to people so that you can start making money with what you already know.
The course is brand new so you can get it at the Early Bird price that is only available for the first 20 founding members. You can have a say in how we improve this course and you can get entire lessons solving your problems. Did I mention it’s only $49?
I’m an actual digital product seller on Etsy and I’m absolutely making money with my shop, so I’m not just another person making courses about making courses. I know what I’m talking about and I want to share what I know with you.
If you need more help with brainstorming and creating your products and setting up your shop, you can also opt for coaching from me – it’s only $50 extra. This offer will only be available for as long as I have time to work on new clients, so you want to grab it while you still can.