Want to make money from home without staring at a computer screen all day? One easy and fun way to do that is to come up with things to make and sell from home.
This is a great way to add a little extra income (or even full-time income in some cases!) by doing something you enjoy with fairly little start-up capital.
Make and Sell Items From Home in 3 Easy Steps
Curious about how to even start? These three simple steps will show you exactly what to do to begin.
1. Choose an Item to Make
First, you’ll need to decide what to make. I have plenty of suggestions below, but you’ll want to narrow it down to begin.
I recommend taking a look at what is currently doing well. One great spot to do this is Etsy. Of course, you won’t want to copy ideas from other sellers, but it can help give you an idea of pricing and how things are selling.
There are some excellent alternatives to Etsy to check out as well.
You’ll also need to do some research to see what crafts can help you earn the most money. Check out this post about the most profitable crafts to get an idea of what will maximize your income. Consider your skills, time, budget, and material cost, too.
Lastly, consider what you enjoy doing—there’s no point in building a successful maker’s business if you don’t like what you make.
2. Start Creating
Once you know which products you’d like to make, it’s time to start creating. Ensure you have all the materials and tools you need on hand and set aside time to create your items.
To maximize your profits and chances of returning customers, you’ll want to create high-quality items, which may mean you need several rounds of practice before they are ready to be sold.
You should also keep a spreadsheet of your material costs and the time it takes you to create an item. This will help you price items, so you can actually make a profit.
3. Promote and Sell Your Products
Once you have stock ready, be prepared to spend a good amount of time promoting your items.
Depending on the product, you can set up a shop through platforms such as Etsy, Facebook Marketplace, eBay, an e-commerce store on your own website, or a combination of the above! Social media platforms and local craft fairs are also great ways to showcase your products and reach potential customers.
Want to learn more about setting your shop up for success? Here’s a helpful post with more information about how to sell products online successfully.
17 Things to Make and Sell From Home
Now, let’s get to the good stuff: here are my top recommendations for the most popular things to make and sell from home. Thankfully, there has never been a better time to have your own craft business!
With the rise of artisans and small business owners, handmade items have grown in popularity over the last decade. Depending on your cost of supplies, there is undoubtedly the potential to have a lucrative business selling handmade items.
“Handmade” can refer to a massive variety of items, including crochet or knitted goods, printables, polymer clay products, leather items, body scrubs or handmade soaps, and so much more. You’re truly only limited by your imagination and creativity.
Here are the most popular things you can make and sell from home to earn extra cash (or possibly even a full-time income).
1. T-Shirts
T-shirts have become a popular product to make and sell online, most likely because you can start with little to no upfront cost.
Sites like Spring, Spreadshop, Redbubble, and Printify allow you to start designing your own tees and making money right away.
Learn more about making money by designing t-shirts with a print-on-demand company!
Of course, you can also use a local screen printer to create your t-shirts and sell them on sites like Etsy, eBay, or Amazon, but the start-up costs (and hassles) are considerably higher. And most concerning, you may be stuck holding on to any remaining inventory that doesn’t sell.
The t-shirt business is one of the easiest to get into and make money from quickly because you don’t need to have strong design skills or even create the products yourself to earn a great profit.
Plus, it’s easy to expand into other items such as tote bags, sweatshirts, mugs, and more.
That said, you can also make your own t-shirts using certain types of vinyl, which you can cut out with a machine like a Cricut. The options truly are endless!
2. Clothing
Sewing is quickly becoming a lost art, so if you’re a talented seamstress or fashion designer and enjoy using a sewing machine, taking your wares online could be a lucrative prospect. Customers love handmade clothing and are willing to pay for it if the quality is high.
Children’s clothing and special occasion dresses, such as wedding dresses, are popular sewn items. But you can pretty much market anything you create in an online marketplace.
Of course, if sewing isn’t your favorite pastime, you can sell clothing you knit or crochet. People love buying handmade scarves as gifts and fashion items.
3. Videos and Courses
This is a great option for content creators and small business owners who create their own products and are willing to teach others how to do the same. Videos and courses are popular, and you can focus on just about any topic in which you have expertise.
The profit margin on these is usually quite high because you create them once and sell them again and again. Plus, you can develop new videos or courses that expand on your original ideas (or make them based on customer feedback and questions).
Sites like Uscreen, Teachable, and Thinkific are good places to consider checking out.
4. Handmade Candles
People love candles! If you want to start an online craft business, candles are a great product to begin making and selling. All you’ll need to get started is a little know-how plus a few simple supplies like wax, dye, candle wicks, scents, and mason jars.
Once you get the basics down, you can expand your skills into adding decorative elements to create beautiful and unique candles your customers can’t find anywhere else.
Since candles make great gifts for any time of the year, as well as being go-to holiday gifts, you could easily have a year-round business just by making beautiful candles.
If this sounds like the business for you, check out this step-by-step guide for starting a candle business.
5. E-books
If you’re a natural-born writer, e-books are a popular product to create and can earn you decent money.
Amazon is by far the most popular platform for selling e-books, but a few other sites, such as E-junkie and Smashwords, can take your work even further.
If this is something you’d like to learn more about, check out how to create an e-book in one month with seven simple steps.
6. Photographs
Whether you have your own website or sell on stock photo sites like Foap, photography can be a profitable business.
You can sell your photographs at art galleries, and many galleries also have websites for online sales. You can also sell custom portrait sessions for families, graduates, weddings, and more by scheduling online with social media or through your website.
Learn more about how to make money selling photos here, or if you want something a bit outside the norm, learn how you can make money selling feet pics!
7. Signs
Handmade signs have surged in popularity over the past few years. Just look at popular home decor and design accounts on Instagram, and you’ll see a ton of them.
Whether you paint or use stencils, you can create signs from various materials, although wood is currently all the rage. What’s more, signs are usually quick to make, so you can promptly fulfill orders (or stock inventory), especially if you have a cutting machine like a Cricut.
Tutorials for creating signs are everywhere, too. Check out Pinterest and YouTube if you’d like to learn how to make signs.
8. Restored Furniture
This can be a bit tricky as furniture is expensive to ship. But who says you have to ship it?
If you love refurbishing old, neglected furniture pieces, this can be the perfect side hustle for you! Upcycle furniture, sell pieces online by running ads on Craigslist or listing them in Facebook groups, and then meet locally for delivery.
This idea may not be the biggest money maker simply because of the time it takes on a single piece of furniture, but there’s something to be said for creating a labor of love.
9. Handmade Soap
I’ve always loved soap. Call me weird, but when I was a little girl, I had a jar of all the different soaps I collected. Some were in the shape of animals, and others were like small flowers. I always loved the smell.
Now, as an adult, I’ve seen some amazing homemade soaps created by talented makers. I’m talking everything from yummy scents to soap that looks so much like food you might be tempted to eat it!
Plus, there are homemade soaps so gorgeous that I’d rather use them as home decor than use them to wash my body.
Soap can be sold online either on your own website or on one of the many sites listed in this post. You can also easily sell your handmade soaps at craft fairs and farmer’s markets.
Check out this soap-making article to learn how to make soap.
10. Art
If you’re a talented artist, consider selling your artwork online. The possibilities are endless when it comes to art-related things you can make and sell! Just a few options include:
- Paintings
- Drawings
- Pottery
- Sculptures
- Digital art
- And more
If you need ideas about where to sell your art online, check out this post on how to sell art online to learn more!
11. Handmade Jewelry
Custom-made jewelry has developed a kind of cult-like following in recent years. When people like a brand, they tend to stay with it and make future purchases from it as well.
The handmade movement has been great for jewelry artists as customers are shopping at small businesses instead of big box stores.
Whether you enjoy making necklaces, bracelets, rings, or other items, jewelry is one of the best things to make and sell. And the market offers so much potential for you to use the materials you enjoy working with, from beading to stamping leather to silversmithing and more!
Plus, people also love to have products that are customized for them. These wind up becoming memorable pieces that they cherish and maybe even pass down to family members.
Check out this post on how this military wife made the leap to a jewelry designer and how this jewelry designer started her own business to see how you can do it, too.
12. Digital Printables
Are you the queen of organization? Do you love creating planners? Maybe the idea of designing activity packets for kids hardly feels like work at all. If so, this DIY project idea is one of the easiest things to make and sell online.
To sell digital printables, you only need an online shop (like Etsy or Shopify), a computer, and some simple design software to get started, such as Canva. Then, have fun using your imagination to create a wide range of products, from wedding or birthday invitations to birth announcements, planners, cards, and more.
This is a great option for those who don’t want to deal with shipping logistics or bulk storage. You don’t need to maintain inventory, and your customers can use sites like Corjl or Canva to personalize their items and print them at home.
If you want to know more about designing and selling printables online, check out this free workshop from Julie Berninger and Cody Berman. You’ll get printable ideas, tips for starting on Etsy, and tips for making sales online!
13. Homemade Dog Treats
The world of DIY crafts isn’t limited to sewing, ceramics, or jewelry. Believe it or not, even a (relatively) small niche market, like pet treats, can make an excellent side income.
People increasingly want to feed their pets natural ingredients, but they don’t want to take the time to learn how to make them from scratch. Give the people what they want, I always say!
Eventually, you can even expand into other pet supplies like collars and leashes or toys.
If this sounds like a fun business idea, check out this free workshop from Kristin Larsen. You’ll learn about popular dog treats, where to sell them, how much to charge, what you need to get started, and more!
14. Bath Bombs and Other DIY Body Products
Anyone who has shopped for these items (online or in-store) will verify just how pricey they can be. However, that’s terrific news for aspiring entrepreneurs for several reasons.
- First, bath bombs are easy to make. Creating them takes relatively little time and little to no expertise.
- Second, the cost of goods to create bath bombs is low, and you can sell them for much more, making a good profit. You only need silicone molds and a few simple supplies to start.
- Finally, they’re in demand, and creating multiple designs is easy.
Create a happy customer, and they’ll buy bath bombs from you again and again (as well as other products you sell).
It’s also easy to expand this niche into other DIY body products such as bath salts, sugar scrubs, lip balms, and more.
15. Sweets
Do you love decorating cookies for Christmas, graduation, or other holidays and special events? Like the homemade dog treats niche, the hand-decorated cookies niche is in high demand on Etsy and offers the potential to make a significant profit.
Note: Check out the laws for selling baked goods in your area before you get started, as they can vary.
16. DIY Kits
A fairly new and popular niche caters to people who want the thrill of making something on their own, without all the fuss. DIY kits are one of the best ways to do this.
There are many different ways to do this, but one of my favorites is pre-cut wooden items (such as ornaments, gingerbread houses, various shapes, wooden trays, etc) paired with paint and paintbrushes.
You can market this idea to children or adults, depending on the subject matter. For example, a cute animal would likely appeal to kids, while a wooden tray could be the perfect activity for a ladies’ night in.
You can also sell kits for anything that you make as well. For example, you can sell candle-making supplies bundled together alongside finished candles or paint-by-number kits in your painting booth.
17. Gift Baskets
Another fun thing to make and sell from home is gift baskets! You can curate a gift basket for any audience or season, which gives you plenty of opportunities to earn income.
Fill your basket with purchased or handmade items (or a combination). The ones I’ve seen sell best are all themed—think something along the lines of a spa gift basket, snack basket, or get well soon.
Whether you cater to business owners or moms wanting a cute gift for teachers, there truly is a gift basket for anyone, making this a fun and potentially lucrative business.
FAQs
Now that you know some of the most popular items to make, let’s talk about some other practicals.
Where should I sell my items?
There are so many online marketplaces out there that make it easy to sell crafts and handmade goods.
The top platform for selling handmade items is no doubt Etsy (read more about how one mom is making money from her Etsy shop), but there are many others, such as BigCommerce, Shopify, and Storenvy, to name a few.
Want to take a break from selling handmade items online? Try the farmer’s markets, craft fairs, or holiday shows.
How do I know which items I should sell?
Deciding the right things to make and sell online depends on your goals and situation. Let me explain.
If you’re a one-person show, you’ll want to choose something you know you can handle creating alone within a certain time frame (if you’re shipping items to customers).
But, on the other hand, if you have a small business or people who work for you, you might be able to up the ante a bit and scale your business a little bigger.
Start small, then scale up as you find what works for you!
Who is this a good career for?
This type of work is ideal for many people because the initial investment is typically minimal, and you can make your items when time allows.
From stay-at-home moms who want to craft during nap time to budding young entrepreneurs to retirees looking to supplement their income, the only limit to what you can earn is your creativity and drive.
Things to Make and Sell Wrap-Up
Would you like to start a home-based business, but you’re not sure where to start? This post will walk you through the steps of starting an e-commerce business from home. It also contains a free business plan template, so be sure to check it out.
I hope this list of 17 things to make and sell from home has given you some inspiration for craft ideas you can create to start a business, make some extra money, or both!
We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and if you found this post helpful, please consider sharing it on social media.
Originally published on January 28, 2019. Content updated February 2024.
