What Can You Sell To Make Money (13 Examples)

11 min read

Selling products online is a great way to make a little extra cash in today’s world. You don’t need to have a full online business or marketing team to profit from online sales. All it usually takes is a little research, some understanding of SEO, and the right products.

Sounds simple enough, right? But you may be wondering, “What can I sell to make extra money online?” Technically, you can sell just about anything online. If there’s a product that exists, it has a market. But that’s not good advice if you’re looking to sell items online with a small budget. While there are tons of options for things to sell online, certain types of items are more profitable than others.

There are a couple of general guidelines to consider when choosing what to sell online.

First, shipping costs are an important factor. Heavy or bulky items cost more to ship. Fragile items, meanwhile, can be riskier, as they can be damaged during the shipping process. That does not mean that these items can’t or shouldn’t be sold online. But the cost of shipping should be factored into any decisions you make.
Second, the best items to sell online will have high demand, but low competition. Niche products, like hiking apparel (as opposed to general apparel) are usually the goal for online businesses.

But for those simply looking to make money fast online, here are some item categories to consider.

What Can I Sell to Make Money Online?

1. Your old, unused items

Let’s start with one of the most obvious answers. Most people have a few unused, but perfectly fine, items lying around the house. It could be an old couch, TV, or piece of workout equipment.

Rather than letting it collect dust in the attic, you can sell it online for each cash. The obvious benefit here is that selling these items comes at no expense to you. You’re clearing out space in your home and making money doing it.

Of course, you’ll need to make sure the items you sell are still in good condition.

2. Collectibles

One of the most lucrative categories of items to sell online is collectible items. This could be anything from sports memorabilia to vintage toys and action figures. Getting your hands on collectible items might prove difficult. But if you do manage to find them, selling collectibles online can offer a tremendous return on investment.

3. Furniture

Remember what we said about bulky items costing more to ship? There’s a reason we called that a “guideline” rather than a “rule.”

Selling certain items online is a great way to make a profit, even if shipping is more expensive. Furniture is perhaps the best example of this point. You can sell your old furniture online to make some quick money.

Or, you can set up a dropshipping business to sell furniture online for a more consistent revenue stream. Furniture is an evergreen product that will always have a large market, making it a consistent best-seller online.

4. Custom T-shirts

Custom T-shirts are a perfect example of a high-demand, low competition item. And designing and selling them online is easier than you might think. Many people can set up a print-on-demand business to sell T-shirts online.

All you need is a minimal investment in wholesale shirts and some basic graphic design skills. Once you have your designs, you simply list them online and wait for orders to roll in.

5. Food and baked goods

Selling food may come with a few added permits and requirements depending on where you live. But if you have any culinary expertise, selling food online is a great way to make extra money on the side. Running a home bakery or selling your own home canning goods is an easy (and fun) way to turn a hobby into money.

6. Books

Books are lightweight, easy to ship, and always in high demand. Even with other forms of media and entertainment rising in popularity, books refuse to go out of style. Selling books online, whether used books, or your own self-published books, is a great way to make money online.

7. Photography

If you have a knack for photography (and a high-quality lens), then starting a photography business is a fantastic way to make money on the side. Lots of people are willing to pay money for good photos, including stock photography companies.

Selling your pictures as stock photos is often one of the easiest ways to make money online.

8. Services

Who said you are only allowed to sell products online? When asking, “What can I sell online to make money,” few people ever think about providing services. But this can be a great way to turn your valuable time and skills into a source of income.

All kinds of people and businesses are looking for freelance work or other types of services. You can sell any expertise you have as a service online, provided you find the right market for it. This could mean working as a freelance writer, graphic designer, website builder, or academic tutor. These are just a few of many examples of services you can sell online.

What Can I Buy and Sell to Make Money Online?

Whether you’re buying and reselling wholesale goods, or using dropshipping, buying products for resale is often a successful business model. Here are some of the best items to buy and sell in bulk online.

9. Toys

Toys, ranging from dolls, to board games, to electronics, are always top sellers online. Vintage toys would fit under the “Collectibles” category mentioned above. However, new toys are also always in very high demand, especially around the holidays. Some toys may be more difficult to ship than others. But as long as things are packaged properly, there is virtually no downside to buying and selling toys online.

10. Jewelry

Jewelry is another item that is easy to ship and constantly in high demand. It is also relatively easy to find a niche within the broader category of jewelry. With so many unique styles available, there is bound to be a market for any quality design or product.

11. Home Decor

Home decor is also a broad category with plenty of room to find your niche. Anything from picture frames to curtains and bedsheets fits within this category. Additionally, most of these items are extremely easy to ship, and are also essential everyday items. Home decor items are consistently among the most popular products for dropshipping businesses.

12. Baby Items

Baby toys and clothing, as well as items like blankets and diapers, will always sell well online. New parents are always in need of baby items, and often rely on online shopping to find them. You can buy and sell baby items in bulk.

Also, if you are a parent yourself, you may still have unused baby items of your own. Selling them to new parents online is a great way to get rid of them while making extra money.

13. Daily planners and office supplies

Selling custom daily planners is a fun and easy way to make money online. But you can also expand that by selling all types of office supplies. This is a category with a lot of competition, but also extremely high demand.

People go through pens, post-it notes, staples, and other supplies every day. There will always be a need for these products online.

Where Can I Sell Online?

If you’re asking, “What can I sell to make money fast?”, then there is one more important topic to cover. And that is where you can sell online. There are several popular online marketplaces to choose from, each of which is better suited for some products.

Amazon is likely the first option on everyone’s mind, and for good reason, too. It’s the largest online marketplace, and becoming an Amazon seller is easy and affordable. But Amazon also has the most competition of any marketplace.
EBay is still a very good alternative to Amazon with slightly less market competition.
Etsy is an online marketplace for people who make their own custom items. So if you are selling handmade crafts, custom shirts or other printed items, or custom decor, Etsy is right for you.
If you are trying to focus your sales on your local area, Facebook Marketplace is right for you. Keeping things local can keep shipping costs down, which is especially beneficial if you are selling large items.

Want to learn more about starting your own online store? Ecwid has plenty of resources to help you create an online store.

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Product Ideas

Jan 7, 2023

About the author

Max has been working in the ecommerce industry for the last six years helping brands to establish and level-up content marketing and SEO. Despite that, he has experience with entrepreneurship. He is a fiction writer in his free time.