10 Detailed (and price-estimated) Ideas to Stock Your Etsy Shop With... Because You Want to Sell on Etsy, But You're Artistically-Challenged

Here are some very specific ideas and examples of items you can stock your Etsy shop with, if you're someone who WANTS to sell on Etsy- but you're also a bit "artistically challenged."...

You don't have to be an artist to have a successful Etsy shop, you don't even necessarily have to be creative.... Instead, what if you simply sold materials or supplies to those creating art on Etsy? Make this your opportunity to be just as successful as those Etsy artists, themselves! Create a demand for yourself and what you have to offer- and then, FILL IT!

Note* The natural availability of some of these resources will be subject to the area in which you live (but I am confident you can relate this concept to the resources you have at your own convenience, none the less)* 

1. Pinecones- 

Collect fallen pine cones and sell them by bags of ten. If they are pretty big and free of flaws, breaks and inconsistencies, there is no reason why you shouldn't expect them to bring in close to a dollar a piece. ($9.99 would be my go-to price for 10 big attractive pinecones 'for crafting')

2. Acorns- 

Collect fallen acorns and sell them in different multi-ounce measurements (a popular set of options is 9oz or 14oz of acorns) (if you don't know how to price them, a good reference might be in the neighborhood of $1.50 per OZ)

3. Wood slices- 

This one requires that you or someone in your life be able to safely use a saw of some type. My husband and I paired up on a coaster project a few years back, he was cutting me slices from skinny fallen tree limbs and I would sand them, paint, stain, seal and sell them... The entire process was very timely and strenuous, and we were less than amused when I did a search and learned that folks who were just selling blank, unfinished wood slices (for supply) were doing so with a lot less effort and selling them at a greater cost than that of my damn finished coaster sets!!! Madness, I tell you!!

(I can't give you an estimated price on this one, because it varies with every different type of tree/wood... what i CAN say, is that we printed our coaster images on slices we cut ourselves from skinny pine trees on our land- and when compared to blank slices of pine tree that were for sale on Etsy, unpainted/unfinished, the average cost people were paying for a set of FOUR slices was around $25-$30!!!)

4. Premade jewelry supplies- 

This is a really good possible option especially because your geographic location plays zero part in the availability and collection of the needed items. There are countless numbers of jewelry crafters who could easily do this themselves- however, they are doing that whole "work smarter, not harder" thing- so instead they opt to regularly purchase bulks of bracelet or necklace set-ups from sellers who provide ready-to-bead wire or cord which the lobster clasp or twist clasp is already secured  BUT, please research the best knotting and securing methods for the different types of cords/strings/wire you choose to use- different materials will call for different techniques for optimal hold- and if your product isn't very sturdily secure, you're gonna miss out on a good review and repeat business- which are two of the most crucial things you're always aiming to achieve in your sales*

(depending on what materials you go with, price will vary.... Just for point of reference, if you used sterling silver clasps with ready-to-bead waxed cord secured, you could probably sell sets of 10 for $5-$6.... same details except secured to silver beading wire instead, maybe $7-$8... Not saying factually, but potentially)

5. Silicone molds for epoxy and other crafts- 

Technically, you can use any DIY silicone mixture or tube to make these, however most of which are SOOO messy! I prefer to avoid the mess and instead use a 2-part DIY silicone mixture called "Silicone Plastique." The consistency of Silicone Plastique is more comparable to that of hand putty, and leaves virtually no mess behind! Order yours on Amazon, and start casting molds right away! Using the first couple pages of results you find on Amazon when searching "Silicone molds for epoxy resin," you can get a pretty good idea of the current, popular molds being ordered. Based on that information, as well as your own personal insight- choose some items you have at home to use as the subject for the molds you create. 

For "flatback" molds, you will simply lay out a selection of silicone in the bottom of a (clean and smooth-surfaced) pan or container that is just barely larger than your subject item.-allow the depth of the silicone to exceed the depth of the subject item by double- in one swift motion, press the object all the way into the silicone, leaving the back/"top" exposed but flush with the surrounding silicone. Press and work the silicone so that it hugs the subject item, while the silicone is still pliable. Be mindful that bubbles will appear and ruin your mold if you do not get the silicone snug enough to the subject item. Allow it to remain untouched and undisturbed for about half an hour, and then carefully remove your possession from the mold you've just created. Now that you've got the process down, all that's left to do is REPEAT and SELL!! Make as many mold as you can and get to listing them in your Etsy shop- silicone molds are always in high demand.

(estimated worth possibly around $10 per mold)

6. Polymer clay custom beads- 

Jewelry-makers are always buying beads, and you know what they just can't get enough of? I'll tell you... CUSTOM beads that are one-of-a-kind, which they can bead into their jewelry and then list in their product description: "Custom jewelry beaded with very rare, very unique, one-of-a-kind (OOAK) handmade beads! No duplicate of these beads exists in the entire world- therefore you and only you shall be the sole keptor of such a piece!!" Oh yeah, sounds appealing and super-duper special, right?!

And creating these custom beads is done through the most simple process EVER! A monkey could do it, so I've got pure faith that you can too! If you want uniform sizing, in that each bead is the exact same size as the other, you will want to use a small-unit scale, set to measure Grams, and measure each bead out accordingly. For reference: I like to use the measurement of a quarter of a gram per each bead, but this part is totally your preference and your call! 

There is also the option of a non-uniform sized bead set- which I also love! These are, obviously, in reference to the bead sets you see in which the beads all look alike, but their sizes slightly vary. It comes out to look quite artsy, in a wonky way. 

Anyway, all you do to turn your polymer clay into beads you can sell in your Etsy shop, is combine some colors by rolling and twisting a couple hues together until the bulk of clay you're working with takes on a marbled look; then, is you are aiming for same/uniform size, you can proceed to pluck small chunks off of the bulk, measuring to perfection- and then rolling chunks of all the exact same measurement into little balls. If you're going with non-uniform/ different sized beads, you can roll your bulk of clay out into a long line or "snake," and then use a razor or knife to make little cutlets down the length of the "snake," maybe one every eighth of an inch along or so.  

Allow the table or surface beneath you to assist you in maintaining your bead shapes, by rolling, tapping or patting the individual beads against it. Once you've got all the shapes right, just use a sewing needle to pierce each one, individually through the center, leaving a perfect hole amid each shape. Then, toss them in the oven. Tip: After I bake mine, I like to hit both sides of every bead with some clear gloss spray to give the beads a shiny finish. This is of course, isn't a necessary step and is subject to your personal preferences. 

Either way, by this point you're ready to list your beads for sale!For reference: I usually sell bigger custom beads in sets of 15 for $8.99. Again, I'm not advising you to base your pricing off of this figure, and I share my personal specs only to provide examples of reasonable prices at which like-minded items successfully resulted in sales. 

7. Custom shirts and pillow cases -

This is a really good one and as long as you have access to a printer, it's super easy! Which, by the way, even if you don't think you have access to a printer- you actually DO! In fact, we all have access to a printer: at our local Metropolitan Library! It costs only ten cents per page to print at the library. You will just need to ask the librarian to print your pages on the paper you will provide to her- which will be "Iron-on transfer paper for DARK materials" (even if you plan to iron your images onto light or white material, do still always opt for transfer paper suited for dark materials- because it is of greater quality than the ladder)Advertise your product as "Custom printed shirts or pillowcases- any image of your choosing, printed onto shirt or pillowcase of your choice" and in the description be sure to remind the buyer to email you the fie for the image they want printed and also ask them to specify what color, type and size of shirt or pillowcase they want the image printed onto. After you or your librarian print your image on your transfer paper, simply iron it onto the appropriating garment and, voila! Money, money moneyyy!!

(For reference, it's not unrealistic to project $20 per custom printed garment of this nature- and potentially could be sold at an even higher price)

8. Sell photos

Are you an attractive human? Do you know any attractive humans? Plan a tasteful "implied nude" photoshoot. Sell the images your photoshoot yields on Etsy as wall art/ posters. By the way, "implied nude" means the photo suggests nudity without actually exposing or revealing the view of graphic body parts. So perhaps the image captures a side-angled view of an unclothed girl, sitting with her legs crossed and her hair draped over the front of her shoulders, covering her nipples; the viewer can visually tell she is nude, without having to get an eye-full of an orphus or some nips.

(When I sell posters like this, I have had most success listing at $9.99, because people like being within the single digit numbers. "10" starts double digits, and even though you and I know that $9.99 is actually just a penny away from $10.00, you can seriously count on folks getting hung up on that single vs.double digit thing)

9. Make a sexy calendar

Very same concept as number 8, but instead of an individual image, capture and select twelve images, have it printed/print it using a calendar template- and there you go, a sexy calendar to sell on your Etsy page!

(I'd probably go $9.99 on this one too- so long as a profit can still be made within these numbers)*

10. Mystery box!

Mystery boxes have become wildly popular in the past couple years.. As it turns out, a good majority of our population loves the element of surprise. Personally, I don't get it, beyond a dollar.... I mean I will buy a "$1 mystery grab bag" at the flea market, just to see what's inside- but my curiosity is suddenly extinguished if the price is even a cent more than a buck. I just don't care, it's not worth it to me- I am simply not meant to know the contents of a mystery bag that costs more than one dollar- plain and simple..... 

Meanwhile, it's become every bit of "common" for people to drop $50 or even $100 and sometimes even more than that... on a "themed mystery box"......

I was trying to drum up my thoughts on the topic, but I'm pulling a blank.... My brain simply, "does not compute."

Unless, of course, I'm the one selling that themed mystery box!! Because in this case, I've got thoughts on the topic for days!!! Hella computes!!! 

All silliness aside, YES, I mean it, people pay fat cash for themed mystery boxes!! What is a themed mystery box? Well, for instance, in April of last year I sold several mystery boxes of a specific theme. The contents I chose were: a weed grinder, some blunt sticks/ blunt wraps, flavored rolling papers, a wax/dab spoon and prod, a cannabis-themed coloring book that I drew and produced, some crayons, some candy (munchies), some wax/shatter keepers/ silicone pucks, and then a few artistic canna-essentials that I created: I made some fancy roach clips, some clay mini-bongs and some clay one-hitters..... 

I sold these "Marijuana-themed super dank mystery box" sets in my etsy shop for $40 each. They were a HIT!! (No pun intended)! I only put 4 boxes together to sell, but I sold out! Wanna know why? Because the theme catered to a specific group of individuals who love and trust that theme enough to know they were gonna love the contents of my mystery boxes.... All $40 worth. 

So this very same concept can be applied to any theme... "Nascar-themed mystery box," .... "Scooby-doo themed mystery box,".... "Chocolate-themed mystery box,".... 'What-the-hell-ever themed mystery box'- individuals who are a fan of the theme you describe your mystery box to be relevant to- they trust the contents automatically. It's a hell of a concept. So let's bank on it!!

So, now you have no excuse, buddy!! Time to get started selling on Etsy! Good luck, I hope this list helped ;)

(If you're looking to get your hustle on, to either supplement OR completely replace your 9-5- please do yourself a favor and check out my other articles. I also have a top 10 list of apps that allow me to generate a very comf0rtable income remotely//I make a full-blown living as the provider for my family off of the apps revealed in the mentioned article!)