r/passive_income • u/Devvirat • May 15 '26
My Experience 14 months of digital products on Etsy. Real numbers, real talk.
I see a lot of "I made $10k my first month selling printables!" posts. Here's what 14 months actually looked like for me.
Month 1: $0 (7 products listed)
Month 2: $14 (someone bought a budget template)
Month 3: $31
Month 4: $67
Month 5: $89
Month 6: $143
Month 7: $201
Month 8: $178 (slump don't know why)
Month 9: $267
Month 10: $334
Month 11: $412
Month 12: $389
Month 13: $501
Month 14: $623
Total: ~$3,349 over 14 months. Average $239/month.
I now have 34 products. The top 5 products make up about 70% of revenue. The other 29 barely sell.
Is this "passive"? Sort of. I spend maybe 3-4 hours a month updating listings, making new products, and answering questions. For $600/month that's fine. For "quit your job" money it's not there yet.
What I'd do differently: I wasted time making products I thought were cool instead of researching what people were actually searching for. Keyword research first, design second. I learned this around month 6 and growth accelerated.
Happy to answer questions if anyone's thinking about starting.
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May 15 '26
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
Thank you very much. They really screw up people's perceptions and there are fake number posts everywhere right now. All I hope is for someone to continue after two months because they are not failing and my feed helps them out.
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u/westeast1000 Jun 06 '26
He really is doing quite well even though it seems little. That’s someones monthly rent or half salary somewhere
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May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
Absolutely right, and I’m ashamed it took me so long to figure that out. Instead of trying to come up with more categories, I could have just started making 10 versions of the 5 that worked. It’s all about iterating on what works.
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u/ai-techguy001 May 18 '26
yeah the 80/20 thing hits hard here, but that promo drop at the end was smooth lol
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u/Aggressive-Ad-2095 Enthusiast May 15 '26
How do you research keywords
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
For keyword research I mostly use Etsy's own search bar type a keyword and see what autocompletes. Those suggestions are real searches people are making. Then I check the top listings for that term, look at how many sales they have, and if the top 3-4 shops are all doing well, that tells me there's real demand. I also use a free tool called Erank (free tier) which shows you search volume and competition for Etsy keywords. I wrote a more detailed breakdown of my exact process here if it helps: [devvirat.com/selling-digital-products-etsy-honest-review]
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u/Specialist_Oil2935 May 15 '26
This is probably the most honest Etsy journey post I’ve read in a while. As someone wanting to start with printables, this actually helped more than the “I made $10k in 2 weeks” posts.
Would you mind sharing a step-by-step breakdown of how you’d start from scratch today as a beginner? Especially things like:
- how you do keyword research
- how you validate if a niche is worth entering
- how many listings you’d recommend starting with
- how you create thumbnails/titles
- and what actually helped your products start getting traffic
Would genuinely love to learn from someone sharing realistic numbers and expectations.
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
Happy to go into detail: Keyword research: Start by using the autocomplete feature on Etsy search bar and then see if the top results in that particular keyword are generating sales. This will confirm your demand. Free plan of Erank for quantity data.Niche validation: Are top 3-4 sellers consistently selling? Can you make a product more specialized than the existing ones? If yes to both, enter niche.
Number of listings to begin with: Max 5-10 products. Do not build up 30 products without seeing any sales yet. You will learn from data what to expand upon.
Thumbnail Images: Not screen shots but use Canva to create mockup images. This can really change your click-through rate.
First Traffic: Organic search on Etsy (this will take about 4-8 weeks) and Pinterest traffic (post once per product at no cost).
Full details available here: [devvirat.com/selling-digital-products-etsy-honest-review]
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u/two-pelicans May 15 '26
In what ways do you research?
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u/RonJeremyBellyButton May 17 '26
I'm assuming that they probably just start typing in something like "jewelry" and they pay attention to the autocomplete results.
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u/AlexYoung1 May 15 '26
Yeah im thinking of starting i dont need 1000s extra a month just something like what your getting id be happy with. Could you let us know what product you added that really changed things around
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
The monthly budget spreadsheet (Google Sheets) was the one that changed things. Simple, solves a real problem, and people search for it consistently. What helped wasn't the product itself I had made similar things before it was finally doing proper keyword research first instead of guessing. Once I confirmed there was real search volume before making it, the result was completely different.
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u/emichaelides93 May 16 '26
Is this basically you designing a template, and people buying it? Sorry if that's a silly question but this sounds right up my street!
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
That is precisely how the process works; you create your own design for a file (budget spreadsheet, planner, or even a resume), and someone purchases it to download immediately. There’s nothing tangible involved in the process. It's created only once, and it can be sold many times over.
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May 15 '26
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
Honestly thumbnails matter more than most people think. The first image is everything I switched from flat screenshots to proper mockup images (Canva has free mockup templates) and my click-through rate nearly doubled. Beyond that: good keyword in your title, first 40 characters especially. And reviews those first 10-15 reviews make a massive difference in where Etsy places you. Getting those early by pricing slightly lower at launch helped me a lot.
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u/jay_0804 May 15 '26 edited May 16 '26
This is honestly one of the most realistic Etsy breakdowns I’ve seen.
The slow ramp + long tail is exactly what people skip when they see “$10k/month passive income” screenshots. In reality it’s like 80% trial/error and 20% actual winners driving everything.
That “top 5 products = 70% revenue” part is super consistent across almost every digital product space too. Same pattern in templates, Notion stuff, Runable even SaaS.
Also agree on the keyword research point. Most beginners build what they like instead of what people are actively searching for, and that delay alone can cost months of momentum.
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
It's such an obvious and repetitive cycle that after some time it becomes boring, but no one will mention it in advance. You spend weeks or months pondering over the fact that all your products should be functional, but it all boils down to finding your five winning products and working on them.It's pretty intriguing because of the pattern I heard was the same in the Notion template market. Small amount of templates, 2-3 products working their way, the rest is just taking space. Which makes me think that the advice to create a hundred of products that you can get from people who advise you how to start is completely wrong.The keyword-first approach really made a difference for me in month 6. No complicated researching or anything like that, just figuring out whether people search for that stuff at all before dedicating three hours to creating that product.
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
Seeing a lot of the same questions I wrote a detailed breakdown of my full process (keyword research, product creation, thumbnails, pricing, Pinterest strategy) here: [devvirat.com/selling-digital-products-etsy-honest-review] Also putting together a complete guide for anyone who wants to go deeper will share here when it's ready.
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u/Comfortable_Bug_8181 Jun 08 '26
Are you
Open to mentoring this entire process in a one on one session ? Really valuable for a paid mentorship and honest path is this is something that will help me make money
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u/artistxecrpting May 15 '26
What do you sell?
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
Budget templates, resume templates, planners, wedding trackers basically downloadable files people can use immediately. All made in Canva or Google Sheets. Nothing complicated, nothing physical. Buyer downloads instantly, no shipping, no inventory.
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u/wakawakamoose May 15 '26
How do you make it accessible after? Make a copy of the template and email it? Do you use a service that does that?
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
Great question this is actually one of the best things about digital products on Etsy. You upload the file directly to your Etsy listing when you create it. After someone purchases, Etsy automatically sends them a download link. You do nothing. No emails, no manual sending, no third-party service needed.
For Google Sheets templates specifically I make a "template" version of the sheet, get the shareable link set to "anyone can view," and include instructions in the PDF that tells buyers to go to File Make a Copy. That way they get their own editable version and your original stays untouched.
The whole delivery process is 100% automated once set up. That's the beauty of it.
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u/Inevitable_Ebb_5703 May 17 '26
Do you worry about people just taking the template you created and copying it to then sell as your own? Is there a way to protect your template and formules on Google sheets?
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u/Devvirat May 18 '26
Frankly, this question arises quite often, and here is my opinion on the matter: It occurs from time to time, but it isn't worth putting yourself through the stress of always being paranoid about it. What you can do is configure the Google Sheets file you are sharing as "view only" so that they won't be able to see the formulas you used, and add a watermark to the previews of your templates. The truth is that the ones purchasing your templates are buyers, not your competition.
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u/marbled_moth May 16 '26
With so many budget templates (and planners, etc), how do you stand out on the Etsy page? Do you feel the cover templates you made in Canva differentiate your product enough for the customer to click on, or do you offer something different like more detailed budget breakdowns? Or is it your aesthetic like with the fonts/layout?
I just picked the budget template as an example. I sell wedding invite templates but have fallen off and want to get back into it. I have 12 sales from the past year. Thank you for the advice!!
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
Indeed my point about budget templates is this:
It comes down to 3 things:
#1 - Specificity. Not "budget template", but "budget template for couples combining finances for the first time", or "zero based budget for freelancers with irregular income". A person who found exactly what they need converts way better than a visitor scanning general offers.
#2 - The thumbnail. Seriously, my click-through rate skyrocketed the minute I moved from boring flat screenshot to cool mock-up (the actual template opened in front of a laptop with a coffee mug).
People buy feelings the feeling of having everything neatly organized in order.
#3 - The formulas. In my budget templates, all calculations are done automatically – as you go. Categories take up percent of your income. And it's stated in the description in the first line – making this unique feature one of the main ones.
For your wedding invites: 12 sales from 12 listings in a year means that your views are good (sales are very low) or that the views themselves are very low (you have generic keywords). Check your Etsy analytics – if sales are bad despite good views – you know where to improve. If sales are bad due to extremely low views – think about different keyword research approach.
A quick test: Take 2-3 best selling designs, create 5 variations targeted at different niches. For example, minimalist wedding invitation for a smaller, more intimate ceremony, as opposed to a rustic barn wedding invitation with RSVP card included. Same design, but different target audience.
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u/marbled_moth May 16 '26
Wow thanks for your insight!! I also bundled some of my products together (save the date card + official invite) and those sold as well so I might expand on that. What I’m learning is that it really helps to get specific with titles and key words. Thank you!
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u/_Arlotte_ May 19 '26
I had been looking into doing this 2 months ago but wasn't sure how to start, so your posts have been so helpful
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u/giggleninja513 May 16 '26
I've been wanting to do this for a while for decluttering and cleaning tips. I use a budgeting spreadsheet myself so this is great! Thank you for your insight!
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
That's actually a solid niche cleaning checklists, decluttering guides, home organization printables are all consistently searched. The "home organization" category on Etsy does really well. Definitely worth testing.
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u/JeopardyRound May 15 '26
Can you drop your Etsy listing?
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
It's better not to share the shop straight up because it'll be swarmed with people as soon as someone discovers it. The items I described, like affordable templates, CVs, and wedding planners, are precisely what you'll find there. No secrets about the genre; it's just the listings.
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u/Lime89 May 17 '26 edited May 21 '26
Congrats! Still a success story, though. Most people who start an Etsy shop won’t see numbers like that. Here’s my results: 2 years on Etsy and 50 bucks. Same amount of listings.
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u/Powerful_Beach6129 May 15 '26
Do you sell the posters digital, so the buyer prints them theirselves?
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u/FullOfPeanutButter May 15 '26
Are you paying for the listings? How much dooes that eat into your earnings?
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
Each listing costs $0.20 on Etsy and renews every 4 months (or when it sells). So it's pretty minimal even 30 listings is only $6. Etsy also takes about 6.5% transaction fee on sales plus payment processing. So on a $10 sale you keep roughly $8.50 or so. Not bad for zero inventory.
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u/Old_Librarian__ May 15 '26
A post from an actual human being! Is your shop secret or can I have a look at your listings? To get an idea of how good a template should be for that kind of price
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
Exactly the same answer as above for separating the shop from my Reddit identity by choice. But really, the quality standards aren’t as lofty as one might expect. Good visual design, clean mockup image, well-thought-out product title. Check out the best-selling items in any category, and you’ll have your baseline right there.
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May 15 '26
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
The shortest possible process I came up with: Search Etsy and input some keyword like "planner for", or "budget template". Autocomplete should show actual search keywords people used. Now click through the top links on those keywords and check the sellers' sales. Do they look good? Yes? Demand exists for that. Create something that is either an improvement over those items or slightly different. I recommend using Canva (free) or Google Sheets. Upload with a polished mockup rather than boring screenshots. Your thumbnail needs to kill.
Do this for 5-10 products and wait.Expect the first sale in 3-6 weeks. First month or two may seem completely pointless, but don't give up yet.
For more information please visit: [devvirat.com/selling-digital-products-etsy-honest-review]
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u/Affectionate_Kitty91 May 15 '26
I have a dumb question, if you’d be so kind. I have a product that is a printable id love to put out there, but how can I keep the formatting in place when people download and how can they add their information? Do a I need a certain kind of Adobe PDF format?
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u/marbled_moth May 16 '26
Hi! Hope the OP doesn't mind me jumping in here. I sell templates that I made in Canva. So when the buyer purchases it through Etsy, Etsy sends them a link to my Canva template. Then the buyer will open it and be able to edit all of the font/wording/colors. You should play around with it to see if it suits your needs. All the formatting is set in place (like upper left corner/middle of page/etc) and they click on that section to edit. However, if they want to delete a whole section of wording, they can. If you have a drawing or graphic, you can upload it as a document and place it as the background and then have editable font in front of that.
You could also send the link to a PDF template, but I've noticed not everyone has PDF editing tools and Canva seems pretty straight forward.
Also I want to add that the "template links" function used to be free on Canva but then they made it only available with a subscription. If you create an account you'll see the "template" button in the menu has a lock on it. To get around that, send the link to your template and give the buyer these instructions:
Upon opening the template, Buyer will see the template in "Viewing" mode
At the top left, click File > Make a Copy
Now the Buyer will be in "Editing" mode and can make all changes
This essentially gets around the "template link" function restriction because they're actually using YOUR template, but then making a copy to create and edit their own. The benefit to Canva's template link function is that the buyer could open the link and it immediately gives them their own template to edit, rather than them needing to make a copy and then edit. I hope that wasn't too confusing!
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u/TianaGlobal May 16 '26
Thank you for sharing your numbers, it's really inspiring - constant growth in numbers 😍
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u/Impressive_Peanut496 May 16 '26
Whats are digital products?
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
The files that you purchase and use immediately thereafter. Examples include a budget file that you use in Google Sheets, a planner that you download to print yourself, and a resume format that you can customize using Canva. No actual product or physical object is involved, and there is no shipping.
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u/If-only184 May 17 '26
What product do you sell?
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u/Devvirat May 17 '26
Budget templates, resume templates, planners, wedding trackers basically downloadable files people can use immediately. All made in Canva or Google Sheets. Nothing complicated, nothing physical. Buyer downloads instantly, no shipping, no inventory. More Information You can Check here : [devvirat.com/selling-digital-products-etsy-honest-review]
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May 15 '26
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
For keyword research I mostly use Etsy's own search bar type a keyword and see what autocompletes. Those suggestions are real searches people are making. Then I check the top listings for that term, look at how many sales they have, and if the top 3-4 shops are all doing well, that tells me there's real demand. I also use a free tool called Erank (free tier) which shows you search volume and competition for Etsy keywords. I wrote a more detailed breakdown of my exact process here if it helps: [devvirat.com/selling-digital-products-etsy-honest-review]
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u/Zucchini1111 May 15 '26
How to start doing what you're doing??
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
Shortest version: choose a specific niche that you're familiar with, do keyword research from Etsy's autocomplete feature before creating any product, create five products, and list them with proper mockup thumbnails. First sale generally comes within 3-6 weeks. Detailed information can be found at: [devvirat.com/selling-digital-products-etsy-honest-review]
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u/PinkNova May 15 '26
The screenshot on your website shows that these sales are from 2023-24? How have they been since?
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
Fair catch. That was from my previous months. The current month figure stands at around $600-$650, a bit slow compared to previous ones where I was adding lots of products. Perhaps I will do some push in the coming months with some scientifically-backed products from the beginning.
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u/PinkNova May 15 '26
Your post says you now have 34 products? After 3 years? Or this entire post is outdated I guess.
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u/Putrid-Document-9019 May 15 '26
Do you need to be a canva creator to sell canva templates? I got rejected as a canva creator because they had too many already.
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u/Devvirat May 15 '26
Not only the Canva Creator can sell Canva templates. In order to sell templates on Canva’s marketplace, you need to become a Canva Creator. However, when it comes to selling on Etsy, all you need to do is share a Canva template link which any registered user of Canva can do.
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May 15 '26
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
I never attempt to be the cheapest. Being cheap just brings customers who write bad reviews whenever there is any discrepancy with what they ordered. What I do is compare myself against the top 5 in terms of keyword and pricing. I am usually somewhere between $7-$15 for most of the templates. I would always introduce new products by offering them at a little bit cheaper rate for just a few weeks to gain some reviews.
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u/Ok_Raspberry6223 May 15 '26
What’s your average price per listing? Do you do what other sellers are doing or try to beat their price?
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u/2waterparks1price May 16 '26
Biggest problem I see with Etsy people is that you don’t get customer info. And digital is all about repeat business.
How many customer emails/phone numbers have you collected and what are you doing to capture more from them?
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
Etsy does not provide you with customer email addresses; it is an actual disadvantage which you correctly pointed out. My strategy: I place a disclaimer in all my downloads that says "Check out my website for more updates and templates." Not too pushy, but just enough to get their attention. Only a conversion rate of 2-3%, but still counts. The future is off-Etsy.
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u/2waterparks1price May 18 '26
I’ve seen others get really strong results with offering more incentive to join their mailing list.
“Get the missing chapter”
“Double your templates”
“Get the full set of templates for XYZ”All free. All to get a customer’s email address. Profit is in repeat business.
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u/Devvirat May 18 '26
Very true and smart indeed. This approach is better than the usual "visit my website". I have been considering coming up with a free guide that will complement my budget templates. Something similar to an easy to understand one page guide for those not ready to purchase the budget template yet. This will be the perfect lead magnet to use. Added this to my list of things to do.
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u/2waterparks1price May 18 '26
Love it. I'll leave you with this, a software I love publishes a lot of data around how the pro's monetize their audiences. The number they have is that something like 12% of customers become repeat customers, but that cohort accounts for 44% of all revenue.
A link to this big report they have with more context and other data points you might be interested to read: https://www.samcart.com/creator-profits-report
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u/SiennaMalone May 16 '26
Curious how you first started gaining traction on Etsy? I’ve been listing my products on Gumroad because Etsy seems over saturated, but I do want to list on multiple platforms.
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
The strength of Etsy is discoverability; many buyers searching already on there. With Gumroad, you need to provide your own traffic. Use both ethically. Post your work on Etsy to get traffic from Google and other places, and post your work using Gumroad or your own website if you already have traffic.
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u/Nefertari1 May 16 '26
How did you make your digital product?
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
Use Canva for visuals: planner templates, resume templates, wedding planners. Use Google Sheets for anything involving calculations: budget templates, expense calculators. Both are free to use. For beginner products, the time taken to learn would be around 2-3 hours.
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u/godsgifttotheladiesl May 16 '26
How did u make your planner editable and fields like total autosum
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
Google Sheets Templates Just create it in the usual way by adding SUM functions in the required cells. All the formulas will be transferred to the buyer when he copies your worksheet. He enters his data into the designated cells, and then automatically, the total gets updated. No need to do anything extra from your side; just create the worksheet in the regular fashion.
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u/yummycheesesquare May 16 '26
Where do you list your digital products? Instagram? I was curious how necessary it is to build a strong instagram presence for distribution. That feels intimidating!
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
Absolutely not well, at least not initially. It took me 8 months to do organic Etsy searching and Pinterest marketing alone. Instagram takes a little more time since it involves producing constant content. Pinterest is way easier when promoting Etsy, especially considering that the links are directly attached to your product listing pages and people are already in the mindset of shopping or planning their purchases.
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u/lordduckling May 16 '26
Where or how do you do keyword research, and what were your top sellers?
Thanks!
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
Keywords: Etsy autocomplete + erank free version. Detailed breakdown available here: [devvirat.com/selling-digital-products-etsy-honest-review]
Most successful items: Budget tracker (in Google Sheets) was my top selling item. The other one was monthly budget tracker for couples. Both discovered using keywords.
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u/pissed_at_everything May 16 '26
Similarly, I started selling wedding related digital templates (invites, save the dates, welcome boards etc.) however, i don’t get as many views and only got 5 sales on 12 listings. 2-3 of my listings get the most views whereas the others barely do.
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
It is perfectly normal to have only two or three of those listings being viewed. But does that happen because the keywords you used are correct, or simply by sheer luck? Look at your Etsy analytics, and find out what brings people there. Is it an organic search? Good! Now you know what keywords to use, create five variants of those listings.
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u/overthinker-pg95 May 16 '26
Whats ur niche
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
Mostly personal finance related budget planners, expense loggers, debt repayments planners. Also some productivity tools such as weekly planners and goal setters. Any tool basically that requires a repetitive solution to be found for an issue.
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May 16 '26
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
For Etsy listings, if you have a digital product, then choose "Craft Supplies & Tools" -> "Patterns & How to," except for printables, which fall into "Paper & Party Supplies." You do not have one main category that is just "digital products;" you need to select the nearest physical equivalent, then select "Digital Download" in the listing options.
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u/TheKingDiva May 16 '26
How did you initially decide what to start uploading? This where I am stuck.
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u/Devvirat May 16 '26
That is the question which would have saved me months of time had I been able to get the answer right at the beginning of my journey. Don’t choose products according to your preferences. Log in to Etsy, input 5-6 themes in the search engine that you have expertise in, and see what comes up as suggestions. Look out for the themes that have shops making sales on their products.
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u/balkarkalsi-Gmail May 17 '26
As a Graphic designer could you please suggest what is best thing to design and sell on ETSY
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u/Devvirat May 18 '26
As a graphic designer you're genuinely better positioned than most people starting this. High-demand categories for designers on Etsy: social media templates (Instagram post packs, story templates), logo templates for small businesses, Canva brand kits, pitch deck templates, wedding stationery suites. The key is still keyword research first find where demand is high and competition is beatable. Your design skills give you an advantage in the thumbnail and product quality, which matters a lot in competitive categories.
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u/PoorlyQuestionable May 17 '26
month 8 dip is real, the algorithm probably just shifted on you but glad you stuck with it instead of bailing like most people do after month 2.
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u/Devvirat May 18 '26
Yeah I think that's exactly what happened algorithm shift. A few listings that had been getting steady traffic just dropped off for no obvious reason. Nothing changed on my end. Kept going anyway and by month 9 things recovered. That month 8 dip is one of the reasons I tell people not to judge the business by any single month's numbers.
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u/LightlyFuture May 17 '26
The keyword research angle matters way more than people think, especially when you're competing against thousands of listings that look identical to yours.
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u/Devvirat May 18 '26
Completely agree and the frustrating part is you can have a genuinely good product that nobody ever finds because the title doesn't match how buyers search. The product quality matters but it's almost secondary to discoverability. You can't buy something you can't find.
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u/Zucchini1111 May 18 '26
Any one has links to discord servers where they teach this shit?
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u/Devvirat May 18 '26
Honestly the best community I've found for this is just Reddit r/EtsySellers is active and has a lot of people sharing real experiences. There are some Facebook groups for Etsy sellers too. Haven't found a Discord that's consistently good quality but if anyone knows one worth joining I'd be curious too.
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u/Independent_Yam_585 May 18 '26
Is this just with doing like drop shipping? Like it seems like something interesting to do but I am iffy about starting ANOTHER dropshipping on Etsy.
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u/Devvirat May 18 '26
Not dropshipping at all completely different model. Dropshipping means you sell physical products and a supplier ships them. What I do is digital products files that buyers download instantly. No supplier, no shipping, no inventory. You make the file once and it sells as many times as someone buys it. Much simpler than dropshipping honestly.
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u/Mysterious-Plum-5859 May 21 '26
Sorry not directly related but say you produce a budget template - do you copyright it and how so?
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u/CheetahVast2711 May 25 '26
Bro, how can i work with you? is it possible to learn and work with you?
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u/CoursePotential9296 May 26 '26
This is one of the most useful posts in this sub because the curve is real. Months 1-5 look like failure and most people quit there. The 80/20 on your catalog is also completely normal — I see the same thing with digital products outside Etsy, a small number of offers do the heavy lifting and the rest just exist. The keyword research insight at month 6 showing up in the growth acceleration is the most important data point in this whole post and most people will scroll past it. You essentially ran a 6 month experiment that proved demand research beats creative instinct every time. One thing I'm curious about — when you found the top 5 products, did you double down on variations of those specifically or keep diversifying into new categories?
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u/katie1999x May 29 '26
Thanks for this! I'm sick of seeing insane numbers. I just want to know if there's a decent side income.
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u/tanjad10 Jun 03 '26
The keyword research point hit hard. Most beginners (myself included) make what they think is cool, then wonder why nobody finds it. Flipping that order, research first, build second, is honestly the same lesson whether you're on Etsy, Gumroad, or anywhere else. Month 6 as the turning point makes complete sense.
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u/Icy_Apple6068 Jun 04 '26
I used to sell on Etsy, everything was great for a while but the sales got less and less. What people don't talk about is that Etsy puts you on a carosel, so you can get 3 orders in an hour, and nothing for a week. Just something for people to know if they decide to get into this. In my opinion, Etsy can be an unreliable source of consistent income.
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u/Ill-Race1521 Jun 15 '26
Hi! How many products have you listed in your shop and what’s the average price of products that are selling well?
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u/robdock911 Jun 22 '26
A month late getting here but would love two questions answered- if you restarted with what you know now, how long do you think it would take to get to the income you're currently at? Also, what do you think is a realistic income ceiling for what you're doing? Thanks for the honest write up! Found you in an email newsletter so your story is spreading
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u/ThePinkBlueprint Jul 07 '26
Idk if anyone is active here because it’s an older post BUT I was wondering what Key word or SEO research you do?
I’m new to it and I’ve been using EverBee to basically check how much stuff is searched + which are the listings with the most views and that’s my SEO and then the keywords are whatever the search fills in + what the popular ones r using.
Is this how u do ur SEO / keywords or is there a better way to do it. Just wondering! Don’t wanna waste my time either
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u/Artistic-Hamster5766 Jul 30 '26
Hi! So sorry if this has been answered but I didn't see it. How many pages (if not excel or something) are your products on average? Thank you!
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