Selling Etsy Printables: Everything You Need to Know

Selling Etsy Printables: Everything You Need to Know

Selling Etsy Printables

Online marketplaces like Etsy have become popular marketplaces for both buyers and sellers. Etsy stands out among others in that it sells handmade products, vintage items, and crafted materials. It has a huge marketplace share in this regard.

It will come as no surprise for some shoppers that Etsy printables and downloadable items are also very popular on the platform. And for some busy people, it is a perfect side hustle. Then, how does the system work?

First off, it is vital to learn how to sell printables on Etsy. Next, choose your printable niche among the others. Finally, finding out how to use or create a printable with great tools will make the process easier for you. 

At the end of the article, you will see killer hacks for skyrocketing your sales right after you have figured out how to make printables to sell on Etsy. Let's get the ball rolling:)   

Table of Contents


What Are Printables?

What Are Printables

They are the products that are designed and made digitally to be printed at the end of the process. As the name suggests, they are printed both as a picture in different formats and as file documents such as pdfs. It depends on your purpose actually.

Oftentimes printables and digital downloads are used interchangeably with no difference in meaning. However, while printables are used physically as a planner, downloads can be used as a template for, say,  a social media platform logo.  

One great advantage of creating digital items like printables is that you don't have to be an expert in graphic design or creating templates, and logos. There are tons of useful tools out there that may get you covered in this regard.


Is it worth selling Printables on Etsy?

Definitely, yes:) It will be no difficulty for those wishing to start their own business on Etsy if they go for the printable section. It allows them the flexibility to choose what they want in terms of templates, logos, and pre-designed artwork.

Printables are really easy to create and modify when sellers familiarize themselves with some technical details. Once they have made a digital item, they can sell it on the platform as many times as they can. Sounds perfect, huh?

You can come up with any creative ideas such as baby shower cards, bachelorette parties, wedding templates, and many more. The crucial thing here is to find the proper strategies to turn your business on Etsy into a success.

💡Pro tip: 16 Tips on How to Be Successful on Etsy


15 Best-Selling Printables on Etsy

When it comes to which printables you promote to sell on Etsy, the sky's the limit here 🙂 You can select evergreen items to make your shop thrive in the long run. Having seasonal products are also a great option when considering the competitive market.

Bear in mind at this point, though, that you have to do comprehensive market research to see which products are trending, and what your competitors are selling at this time of the season. There are a bunch of factors to be considered.

15 Best-Selling Printables on Etsy

Therefore, you need to see the bigger picture to monitor the parameters in the marketplace to stand out from other sellers on Etsy.

Without further ado, let's jump right into the best ideas you can consider in Etsy printables business. It is up to you which one fits the bill, maybe all of them:)

Educational materials

These include a wide range of printables and downloads such as multiplication tables, Montessori activities, geographical maps, geometric shapes, and many more. Worksheets and flashcards are other great options on the platform.

As a seller, you can customize these printables based on the needs of your customers, which means extra profit for your store. Depending on the level of education, you can create different materials using minimum effort. 

Sewing & knitting patterns 

There are numerous options when you go for this category as well. You can find summer top knitting patterns as well as vintage baby cardigan knitting pattern printables. Chair cushion and pillow sewing patterns are also available for a customized design.

When it comes to designing your own sewing or knitting pattern, a little help from the professionals on Etsy would be great. It also applies to furniture decors such as cushions for stools, sofas, and a lot more.

Resume templates

These multiple-page resume printables will give you the professional look at your CV parameters. The well-designed resume templates will help you step up the job search game for sure apart from your unique work experience and personal traits.

Printable wall art

It can be abstract wall art with neutral tones or boho wall art selections. It will give customers a perfect sense of satisfaction with their printables. Needless to say, you can add your favorite quote or song lyrics when they have a customized service for you. 

Thank you cards

These cards are ideal upon purchasing an item. You specifically thank the buyer for the items they have purchased. The cards are also used for bridal and baby showers, and weddings with minimalistic or chic styles. They add a lot to an event for sure.

Invitation templates

Invitation to any occasion is made easier with these printables. A bridal shower or a superhero such as Spiderman's birthday invitation is a perfect choice with these templates, enabling people to have an unusual event that will be remembered for a long time. 

Coloring sheets

Different styles of coloring sheets ranging from geometric patterns for children to various forms of flowers for adults are ideal for both education and pastime activities. They will definitely help people of all ages to sharpen their skills in coloring patterns.

Social media filters

When it comes to templates or filters for social media platforms, it is essential that they captivate the potential visitors in the market. So, use the power of filters to reach out the masses out there. Some printables come with planners as well.

Banners

From letters to numbers, banner templates offer tons of alternatives to people with their events. It can be a soccer match or a birthday party they want to organize, the printables will come in different styles such as floral scenery, or rainbow style. 

Digital invites

They certainly make your event more fun. The digital printables come in really amazing themes like Jurassic Park, or cartoon characters such as Elsa in Frozen. They are amazingly colorful and captivating, making the occasion more charming.

Printable signs

As for the signs, they are in different styles from bridal signs to unlimited personalized signs. It will give you the perfect sense for your unique event. Enjoy it:)

Pdfs for patterns

These printables vary from embroidery patterns for your business to collage sets of different flower patterns. It is visitors’ job to choose the ones from a wide range of selections that suit their interests and needs.  

Planners

Planning is of vital importance to those who want to keep themselves and the people around them organized. They want every moment of their life scheduled. 

A good-looking and well-designed planner printable with a bunch of different themes is exactly what they need. It is true not only for adults but students as well. 

Printable stickers

They save time and keep stuff organized for sure, right? Printables with emoticons or themes such as good vibes are trending on Etsy. Stickers can be any kind varying from days of the week to animal kingdom sets for educational purposes.

Digital planners

As with digital invites, digital planners are ideal for keeping track of time in the digital world. They have versions for teachers, and iPads, for specific years. All-in-one digital planners are the trending ones on Etsy these days.


How to Sell Printables on Etsy?

Selling printables on Etsy seems perfect, yet every step at this point should be taken carefully. Doing business on the platform can either be a full-time job whereas, for some, it may be a side hustle. Whatever the choice, it proves to be profitable.

Now is the time to take a closer look at how to sell your items on the platform. Please keep in mind that the first step is to open an Etsy shop and provide the required information. Then you are set to go:)

💡Pro tip: How to Start an Etsy Shop? Step-by-step Guide

Last but not the least, before adding files to a digital listing on Etsy, they should know that there are two types of printables or downloads:

  • Ready-made items which are set to be downloaded
  • Custom printables that are to be completed based on buyers’ needs

Now, onto the easy-to-follow steps on how to sell printables on Etsy:

  • Adding multiple photos of the printable
  • Providing an explanatory video of how-to-do stuff
  • Printable described in detail in sections such as:
    • Title
    • Creator
    • Creation time
    • Category or sub-category
    • Materials 
    • Tags
    • Content
  • Setting and tracking pricing of the printable
  • The quantity specified to offer some sales and avoid some extra fees
  • Finally, printables to be uploaded to the platform for buyers

How to Make Printables to Sell on Etsy?

As understood, uploading digital printables on Etsy seems to be the easier part when compared to creating them. You can make printables either through some graphic designing programs or some practical online tools.

Graphic design programs such as Photoshop require many more technicalities than online design tools. The tools available online offer simplicity and flexibility when it comes to basics in this specific field. You don't have to be an expert in design:)

Some of them have paid versions with limited free parts while others are totally free of charge for good. It would be wise, to begin with, the tools with free versions.

You are also highly recommended to know strategies backed by real cases to sell downloads on the platform with great tools.


9 Amazing Tools to Create Etsy Printables 

It is high time we delved into the ins and outs of these online tools to give you a general insight into creating a work of art ready to sell on Etsy. 

Canva

Everyone talks about this tool. So, what makes Canva unique? Well, it offers over 250.000 templates and one million photos for free, which is amazing. It also offers over 100 design types such as social media posts and presentations.

No design experience is required through Canva, making it an attractive platform to create designs. Visual content can be created in collaboration with other potential designers like you. Designing a logo fitting your interests is within seconds.  

Gimp

The free and open source photo editor is just perfect for you in terms of affordability. It requires a little bit of expertise in design or photography. It basically provides tools for high quality image manipulation.  

Artists and illustrators get the power and simplicity to modify their images into really great works of art through Gimp. It is also ideal for creating icons, making graphical design items, and many more for interface elements and mockup products.

Inkscape

The tool which allows users to draw what they want freely is an open source and free program. A powerful design tool, Inkscape provides users with flexible drawing items, broad file format compatibility, and powerful text tools needed for success.

Inkscape has lots of useful features such as creating an object, manipulating an object, having operations on paths, and more. It also gives some resources such as tutorials, manuals, and videos for visitors to figure out the fundamentals.

Procreate

This tool is exclusively designed for iPad designs and works of art. It has a creative experience like no other tool. As they say, the best learning comes from doing. They offer really great videos to design, sketch and animate a piece of art on iPad. 

After having had the fundamentals, users familiarize themselves with painting tools such as colors, brushes, and layers, allowing them to create a perfect scene.

 Next, editing the items will be possible with a bunch of options. Finally, you can manipulate actions and animate the artwork, which is perfect for Etsy printables.

Affinity Designer

Compatible with nearly all devices and operating systems, the Designer offers high standards in the world of design. Awarded by the world’s leading players like Windows and Apple, it is perfect for creating logos, concept art, icons, and a lot more.

This paid tool is exactly what you want in terms of design, graded complexity, perfect workflow, time-saving functions, and unlimited artboards. It also provides live pixel preview, advanced grids and guides, and sophisticated typography. Give it a try.

PicMonkey

There are a bunch of templates, themes, and collage styles you can use via this tool. It also provides some enticing social media designs like Instagram. PicMonkey is now more powerful with background remover and eraser, and mobile templates.

Google Slides

It allows users to prepare beautiful presentations, sync with other Google apps, and make slides with built-in intelligence. Saving automatically enables all users on a slide to work on fresh content, making it an enticing platform.

Adobe Illustrator

This tool is really practical for making professional designs, icons, logos, and many more. You can use them anywhere at any size with the synchronization made possible. It is much better now with 3-D effects.

Piktochart

Selling Etsy printables will be much easier with this all-in-one visual tool. It lets users not only edit and create photos, but it also allows them to modify videos at the touch of a button. Its features really stand out from other tools.


5 Exceptional Tips to Boost Your Sales

When it comes to increasing sales at a breakneck pace, there will be super important strategies to consider. These will be your assistance along the way especially if you want to be a key player in the printable business on Etsy.

Do Market Research

Comprehensive market research is key to understanding all the parameters of the market. You will see the mobility and organic traffic for a specific niche. 

When it comes to doing market research in detail, EtsyHunt Product Analyzer has got you covered. It displays all the data regarding a particular item, enabling you to get the full perspective about it.

Imagine a seller having made thank you cards printables using one of the amazing tools mentioned above. She wants to sell them on Etsy. But first, she wants to have comprehensive market research.  

It is amazingly convenient to do that through Product Analyzer. She will type thank you cards into the search bar and will select the Digital under the Product type in the Filters category.

She will be able to see the average prices for the cards printables. Plus, she will have the sales data not only for the last 7 days but also total ones. It will help her figure out which store has the top sales.

The seller also has the opportunity to analyze the total reviews and favorites, enabling her to monitor the factors much more closely.

Last but not the least, she can see all the details about the item, go to Etsy for more details, and add this top product to her favorite list so that she can learn from the competitors effectively in the marketplace. 

Focus on Etsy SEO

Another key factor in putting the SEO factor into practice. Proper selection of keywords compatible with the title and product descriptions is what sellers need to skyrocket their sales on the platform.

EtsyHunt Keyword Tool is a great helper to sellers in this regard. Let's go with the same seller and she types thank you cards in the search bar. 

The first set of data she gets when she hits the button is views, favorites, competition, and sales. It will help her gain a competitive edge over her competitors and apply the right strategies to boost her store sales.

Plus, keyword analysis is provided through Google Search Trends, meaning she can work out variables over the years. She can also see the country distribution of the item and she can target her marketing strategy based on the data. 

She will also analyze similar keywords so as to select the proper keywords for her printables so that she drives more traffic to her shop.

Use Captivating Photos

Capturing enticing images is essential when sellers want to make a difference in boosting sales, particularly in the printables category on Etsy. Stating in the description part that it is a downloadable item helps a lot.

Setting a role model for your printable item is another key factor. Sometimes potential shoppers have difficulty visualizing themselves using this digital item. Taking some photos while implementing or shooting a short video can be a perfect helper.  

Follow Proper Pricing Strategy

There are tons of factors when pricing comes in such as the time spent, extra fees charged by Etsy, and a lot more. So, deciding on a final price for a printable requires both following other prices in the market and other factors within your shop.

In order to grow your sales, you should also think of your items as two different categories: physical and printable ones. Their expenses will vary a great deal depending on different parameters on the platform.

Offer Great Customer Service

When it comes to providing great customer service to those having made a purchase, it should cater to the purpose. When they have difficulty using Etsy printables, you are to assist them with their items properly.

Feedbacks and reviews from your customers play an important role in making your customer service better. You send them your templates with the printables so that they can visualize what they are like and what they look like.


Wrapping Things Up

Selling Etsy printables may seem easy, yet sometimes it has challenging and demanding parts as well. Sometimes, it is the creating process that makes people feel overwhelmed. 

So, it is critical to find out how to make printables to sell on Etsy. Fortunately, there are a ton of online tools that do the job for you perfectly. Apart from making, one has to know the basics of how to sell printables on Etsy.

Finally, for better sales and success in your business, you can follow some tips for your printable business in this article. It doesn't hurt to try, right? Go and enjoy the ride:)


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