10 Ways to Make Money Selling Photography on Etsy
If you are trying to make an income selling your photos on Etsy but are a little unsure of how to go about it you have come to the right place. In this article we are going to go over 10 ways you can sell your photography on Etsy.
If you haven’t opened your Etsy shop yet, you can get your first 40 listings for free by getting started through this link. (It also gets me 40 free listings, win-win!)
So without further ado, here are 10 ways to make money selling photography on Etsy.
Related Posts:
- What to know before starting an Etsy shop
- Is selling on Etsy worth it
- Print on Demand services that integrate with Etsy
- Redbubble vs Etsy – a comparison
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. We may earn a small commission for purchases made through links in this post, at no extra cost to you.
1. Printable Wall Art
Selling printables is a huge business these days. Customers don’t have to wait for a product to be shipped and can print it in the convenience of their own home or take it to the closest print shop to get it printed in the size that they want it.
Printables are great for sellers as we don’t have to handle any physical product or worry about anything getting lost in transit and our profit margin is really high. Once you deduct Etsy fees it’s pretty much all profit (minus any costs you may write off like photoshop and/or equipment come tax time.)
Printables in the baby/nursery niche seem to do really well, as parents buy the frames once and then change out the poster when the child develops a new interest or hits a new stage of growth.
2. Wall Art
A lot of successful photography printable shops also offer physical wall art in their Etsy shops. That way customers can choose if they would rather do the work and print it themselves or wait and have the end product shipped to them.
You may be thinking you don’t want to go through the trouble of sending shipments out yourself. Well don’t be discourage, selling physical wall art can be just as hands off as selling printable wall art.
If you don’t want to go through the trouble of finding a printer and shipping the items yourself you can connect with a print on demand supplier like Printful or Printify and they will do the work for you! Both of these suppliers are free and integrate seamlessly with Etsy.
What is Print on Demand
If you are unfamiliar with print on demand here is a quick breakdown: Print on demand is a business model where a designer (you) works with a supplier (Printful or Printify) to produce products with your designs/photography on it. You can log into their platform to put your images on their products and integrate it all with your Etsy shop to create listings.
When a product is purchased, the order goes straight to the supplier and they then print the product with the design and send it out to the customer. The seller never has to touch any physical product themselves. Although you may want to order samples of whatever you are posting for sale so that you know 100% what your customers are getting.
3. Greeting Cards/Postcards
Greeting cards and postcards are another great way to get your photography in other people’s hands. And once again this can be done through print on demand companies like Printful and Printify so that you don’t have to touch any physical product if you don’t want to.
You can add text overlay onto your greeting cards to make them more niched down, you can add borders and elements or just leave them as is. Greeting cards sell quite well on Etsy, so this is a great way to get some additional income.
4. Stickers
Stickers! Who doesn’t love stickers? This may be little harder to sell as photography, but can definitely be done nonetheless. You’ll need to narrow down your target market and hone in on your keywords as stickers are already a huge seller on Etsy so there is lots of competition.
You can print stickers yourself with a cricut or similar printer, find a local shop to print stickers, or connect with either Printful or Printify.
5. Magnets
I’ve personally had some consistent luck selling magnets with photography in the travel niche with only a couple of products listed, so I really believe that this niche has a lot of opportunity in it.
You can find a printer yourself or pair with a print on demand company like Printify to sell magnets with your photography on Etsy. Unfortunately, Printful does not offer magnets at this time.
6. Coasters
Coasters are another print on demand product that can sell really well on Etsy. At this time Printful does not offer coasters, but Printify does. They offer them in singles or a pack of 4.
Unfortunately, they do not offer the ability to individualize each coaster in the set of 4, so they must be matching instead. It could have been a fun idea to mix and match photos from a similar niche into the pack of 4. Maybe they will update that at some point.
7. Mousepads/Desk Mats
Printify has six different types of mousepads and a desk mat for customers to choose from. I think desk mats are a seriously underserved market at this point and can really tie an office space together.
This could be a great niche to get into on Etsy with a relatively high profit margin.
8. Phone Cases
For the most part, we all have smartphones and want to keep them protected in cases. Some people even like to switch out their cases on a regular basis and treat them as fashion accessories.
There are already a ton of sellers on Etsy selling phone cases, but if you nail your target market and keywording you shouldn’t have a problem making sales on Etsy.
Both Printful and Printify offer phone cases and even offer a biodegradable option.
9. Ceramic Photo Tile
Offered by Printify, the ceramic photo tile is great for customers who collect ceramic tiles. Your target market will be down to a select few as it is definitely a niched down product, however the competition will also be much less, giving you the opportunity to get in there and make some sales!
Photos of close up nature and animals look like they could do well, as well as iconic buildings and monuments. So if that falls in line with your photography style this may be a good option for you.
10. Jigsaw Puzzles
I love jigsaw puzzles and this is a product that sells well on Etsy. Travel photography or photos of nature and/or animals can sell really well on jigsaw puzzles.
Printify offers jigsaw puzzles in three different sizes; 252, 500, and 1,000 pieces.
More About Selling on Etsy
Does photography sell well on Etsy?
Yes, with the right keywords and target market, photography can sell well on Etsy. Let’s dive deeper…
If you figure out your target market and use good keywords for them to be able to find you, and of course you have a good product, anything can sell well on Etsy. Photography is no different.
However, if you just dump your photos on Etsy without putting any effort into making your listings appealing and discoverable, then no, it will likely not sell well on Etsy.
How much money can I make selling photos on Etsy?
The answer to this, of course, varies. Depending on what exactly you are selling, your profit margin, and how often you are making sales, your income can range from next to nothing to hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month.
Other places to Sell Photography
If you’re looking to diversify your income and want to list your photography on more platforms than just Etsy you may consider these print on demand marketplaces as well.
- Redbubble
- Zazzle
- Society6
- TeePublic
- Shopify
On these platforms you can upload your photos on to hundreds of different products and list them for sale on their marketplace. It’s a very hands off approach, however the commissions are much lower than if you were to run your own Etsy shop and everyone on the platform is selling the exact same products as you.
You have likely already come across making money through stock photo websites, which is already insanely saturated so I don’t find it to be the best way to make money through photography. However, if you are interested in going down that route you can check out some of the following sites:
- Alamy
- Dreamstime
- Depositphotos
- iStock
- Shutterstock
Final Thoughts
I hope that has opened your eyes to the possibilities of selling print on demand products on Etsy to make a profit from your photography skills.
The really great thing about Printful and Printify is that they are completely free so you don’t have to make a huge investment up front to see if this is the right business model for you.
If you haven’t opened up your Etsy shop yet, be sure to do so by using this link here as it will get you your first 40 listings for free!