The Business of DIY: 16 Things to Make and Sell Online

• T-shirts and printed merch can supplement an existing business. Gyms, musicians, and charities, for example, can sell branded swag to current audiences and help to build their brands.
• Not a designer? Use sites like Shopify Experts, Creative Market, or Upwork to find talent to help you turn your ideas into designs for your t-shirt business.
• Use a print and fulfillment app, like Printful, Lulu Express, Gooten or Teelaunch. They integrate with your Shopify store and automatically print, fulfill, and ship each order.

3. Jewelry

Jewelry is another business idea that can range from simple and low-tech (say, beaded necklaces and woven bracelets) to skilled trades with special equipment (such as silversmithing). It’s a saturated market, so doing your homework up front is important—how can your designs stand out? Is there a niche market to sell to? How can you ensure your jewelry brand has unique items to make and sell?

Get started: How to Start a Jewelry Making Business

💡 Tips:

Fashion is fickle. Validate your idea by tracking trends in jewelry—use Google Trends, and follow popular fashion blogs and influencers.
Consider adding apps like Jewelfie to help your customers with fit.
Photography is extremely important but also difficult because of the scale and reflective qualities of jewelry. Invest in great photos by hiring a pro. You can save money by partnering with complementary apparel brands to share the cost of lifestyle shoots.
These are great items to make and sell for budding young entrepreneurs. Basic jewelry like beaded necklaces are among the many things kids can make and sell.

4. Curated gift and subscription boxes

A gift or subscription box business is a great idea for those who are less crafty but are still interested in making items to sell. If you have an eye for curation, assorted boxes could be perfect for you. Contrary to print-on-demand t-shirts, curated box businesses can be very hands on. Assembly can be a tedious task, but the business has its advantages: subscription boxes are usually packed all at once at the same time each month and in the same size box, making the shipping process simple.

💡 Tips:

• Calculate your storage and assembly needs. Can your home accommodate your business, or do you need to rent additional space?
• Ease your customers into commitment. Offer a substantial discount to those who pay up front for subscriptions, or offer the first month free.
• Use a subscription management app like Recurring Orders and Subscriptions to keep everything organized.

5. Candles

Candles are quick things to make and sell—and they present an excellent business opportunity. The candle business in the US is a $2.3-billion industry, and within that there are several niches to explore: religious, birthday, eco and natural, scented, beeswax, novelty, and more. Like with soap, there’s no shortage of DIY tutorials for novice candle makers, and basic melt and pour methods require little to no previous craft skills. That's why it's one of the easiest crafts to make and sell.

💡 Tips:

• Get insured and use safety labelling. Due to the nature of candle use, and the increased risks of injury or fire damage, be sure to protect your business from civil suits that may result from the use of your product.
• Tap into a niche to stand out in a crowded market. Frostbeard Studio appeals to book lovers with cleverly named candle scents and copy filled with literary references.
• Pay attention to branding and packaging. Candles don’t differ much from an ingredient perspective, but your product can stand apart with beautiful packaging and strong branding.

6. Sweets

Candy, cookies, baked goods, chocolates, and jams. Sugar can be spun and dissolved and baked into endless things to make and sell. This is a category with unique complications—legalities, labelling, and shelf life—but also with lots of room to get creative. Niche markets include: holidays and occasions, custom, novelty, catering, pet treats, and gift baskets. Be sure to investigate the viability of selling your product online when considering food business ideas. Are fragility and refrigeration barriers to shipping?

💡 Tips:

• Trace the supply chain. Carefully select your raw ingredient suppliers to ensure that what’s on your label is what’s inside.
• Consult with a lawyer or food inspection agency to be sure that your labelling meets local requirements for nutritional content, ingredients, and allergy warnings.
• Rotate your inventory and stress the importance of doing so to everyone who handles it.

7. Art and prints

 Forget the story of the starving artist. It’s never been a better time to pursue art and related cool stuff to make and sell (without selling out). Whether you’re dealing in fine art, reproduction prints, or just want to sell photos online, you can access far-reaching audiences and sell worldwide.

💡 Tips:

• Work with an established gallery like Shopify-powered Spoke Art to show your work in person and help build an audience for your online store.
• Have your work professionally photographed or, as a low-cost option, scan it on a flatbed scanner in pieces and stitch the image together in Photoshop.
• Consider reproducing your art in multiple formats, from easy things to make to sell like prints, cards, t-shirts, and mugs. Do it yourself through a print and fulfillment company, or license your work to other ecommerce brands.

8. Digital products

 The digitization of goods shows no signs of stopping. MDigital products like font licenses, wedding invitation templates, webinars, or Photoshop actions are great things to make and sell from home—or anywhere you can use a computer. It requires a little up-front work but is relatively hands off once you get started. The overhead costs are very low, can generate passive income, and some typical pain points that come with physical goods (inventory, shipping) are non-existent.

💡 Tips:

• Choose a delivery method. Apps like Digital Downloads and Sky Pilot integrate with your Shopify store to automatically deliver digital goods, or provide a download link to each customer.
• If you’re hosting files on Shopify, make sure files are each 5 GB or less. For larger files, try compressing them into .zip archives.

9. Enamel pins

Enamel pins remain incredibly popular things to make and sell and are still on a strong upward trend. You’ll usually work with a manufacturer to make enamel pins, but the design component can be as involved as you make it. Design your own, or work with a designer to illustrate your vision.

💡 Tips:

• If you choose to design your own pins, use Photoshop, Illustrator, or free alternatives like Pixlr and GIMP. Stick to solid colors (no gradients) and avoid fine details.
• Whether you manufacture overseas or locally, be sure to ask the right questions of your manufacturer: What are your clasp and material options? Can you send me physical samples? What packaging options do you offer?

10. Traditional handcrafted goods

Leather tooling, wood carving, furniture making, and embroidery are all traditional mediums with thriving markets and qualify as great stuff to make and sell. And they’re just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ideas for unique items to make and sell. The backlash against mass production is driving trends  one-of-a-kind and bespoke goods, and artist craftsmanship. Many of these disciplines require skills honed over time, but you can access your inner maker and learn these skills via online tutorials, local workshops, and trial and error.

💡 Tips:

• Much of the appeal of crafted goods is the story behind the maker. Weave your own story into product pages, a compelling About page, and even packaging.
• How will you scale? If your idea takes off, consider how you will maintain the handmade nature of your goods while producing in large quantities: Can you hire contract makers? Can certain components of the process be outsourced to a manufacturer then finished by hand?

Consult Google Trends to determine how to use your skills to make things that are in high demand. Wine racks and hanging chairs are identified among some popular things to make and sell in 2021.

11. Lip balm and cosmetics

Like bath bombs and soaps, lip balm is one of the easiest products to make and sell with the tools you already have in your home. Simple formulations using beeswax and natural oils require little more than a heat source to assemble. You don’t need fancy equipment, but you should ensure that your setup still meets the standards of the industry and follows local regulations for home production. When you’re ready to scale, lip balms are a gateway to more complicated cosmetic items to make and sell.

💡 Tips:

• Invest in ingredients—research suppliers and the source of your ingredients to be sure you’re using those that have been rated for cosmetic use.
• Understand the labelling laws of any country or region where you plan to sell your products. In some countries, the word “organic” is regulated, and you cannot use it unless you have acquired the proper certification.

12. Pottery and clay objects

💡 Tips:

• Things to make with clay or clay alternatives include: planters, sculptures, ornaments, jewelry, magnets, containers, and coasters.
• Have a future entrepreneur in your family? Some clay alternatives are quite safe and offer many possibilities for things kids can make and sell. 

13. Pet supplies

Making items to sell for pets is a business idea with huge potential. In fact, the global market is estimated to top $269 billion by 2025. What can we say? Fur babies deserve to be spoiled. Dog treats, catnip toys, and pet collars are all easy things to make to sell from home if you already have a fairly creative side. 

💡 Tips:

• Use your own pets (free models!) as the “faces” of your business. 
• If you’re making and selling treats or toys—basically, anything that can be ingested—be sure to do your research. Are your cookie ingredients safe for pets? Do your toys have small parts that could cause choking? Have you considered the appropriate labels and warnings to protect yourself legally?

14. Music

Music is a challenging industry, but if you have the talent, the world should know! While it can be tough to break in, there are many advantages to starting a music business in the age of ecommerce and TikTok. Some music-related things to make and sell from home include selling stock music, giving music lessons, licensing your songs to brands, selling merch, and maybe, just maybe, becoming the next big internet thing are all possible business avenues for budding musicians. 

💡 Tips:

• Brand storytelling is important, even when your brand is just you.
• Build your following by collaborating with other artists and sharing your music across multiple platforms. 
• Beyond making a splash on social media platforms, own a dedicated domain name and build a website so fans can find you. 

15. Photography

There are a number of ways to create your own photography to sell online, whether you’re a trained professional or an amateur shooting with your smartphone. You can sell individual prints, put your shots for sale on stock sites and even offer your product photography services for hire. You might also use paid or free photo - editing apps to manipulate your images and create unique designs.

💡 Tips:

• Remember to ensure you’re not breaking any laws when selling your photos. You’ll need permission from any individuals captured in your shots, and you’ll also need to ensure you’re allowed to shoot in whatever locations you’re thinking. National Parks, for example, require specific permits.
• Create packages for your product photography services. This makes it easier for potential clients to find an option in their budget.

16. Woodworking projects

Woodworking is a favorite pastime for many makers, and it can also present a viable business opportunity. Many woodworking projects qualify as great things to make and sell online. And the best part is, you can make the woodworking projects as simple or complex as you like. Stick to photo frames and hand painted signs, or test your skills with more advanced woodturning projects or custom-made furniture.

💡 Tips:

• With handmade woodworking projects, you’ll want to either create one-of-a-kind high-priced items or more affordable pieces that are relatively easy to replicate and produce. The level of effort and skill should both be reflected in your pricing.
• Capture content to document the process. Potential buyers may be interested to see how the products are made, and it serves as a testament to the quality of your products.

Launch a business with your things to make and sell

The popular things to make and sell don’t stop here—there are creative ways to make money through crafting your own goods. You can make and sell everything from dog biscuits and coffee tables to handbags and terrariums. Browse our case studies for more m

FAQ: Things to make and sell