Abby B. Confused what are the best niches for print on demand on Etsy? There’s simply too many one can think of and there’s definitely no right or wrong.
In anything you do, it’s always wise to stick to one niche/industry/segment and grow it out, rather than focusing on too many. You’ll be spreading yourself too thin.
I always believe that specializing or niching down will allow you to organize work easier and convey the message that you know what you’re doing to your audience – so they’ll trust you better. However, bear in mind that while a niche can work for someone, it may not work for you.
In this article, I’ll be sharing 11 top niches for print on demand on Etsy in no particular order. Plus, at the end of this post, you’ll find more exclusive insights on the best niches to explore and how to start today!
*This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission (at no cost to you) if you sign up for a program or make a purchase using my link!
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11 Best Etsy Print On Demand Niches
1. Cute baby designs
It is safe to say that most of the people shopping on Etsy are women. Whether they have their own baby to dress or want to gift a friend for their newborn, Etsy is the place to go for cute personalized baby items.
According to an article shared by Blogging Wizard, more than 51% of visitors on Etsy are women! It is also said that almost 50% of their users are under 35 years of age.
How can you appeal to this market? By offering some baby shirts yourself! This is as easy as placing designs of cute or funny baby quotes written in a nice font.
Quick Tip: If you’re unsure, go for cute cheerful colors as they are meant for cute babies. This includes light blue, light pink, orange and sometimes black (to be safe).
2. Floral themed merchandise
Some of the easiest designs to make for your print on demand business to sell very well on Etsy are floral prints. Flowers are universal and can be in large prints or even small tiny ones, it will look great regardless – there’s a huge market for both and trust us, they are two different audiences!
Floral prints are best on tote bags, phone cases and even as notebook covers. With just one main design, you can position on three different products in one shot, covering at least three of the top selling print on demand products.
Quick Tip: Repetitive patterns work best with floral themed designs! Seamless ones are great for all-over-print product (sample down below).
3. Stars, planets and galaxies
Similar to floral prints, there’s a growing search for galaxy prints. This includes planets, stars, and drawings of the milky way.
If you want to be different, it’s best to use include some unique drawings for this niche and add your personal touch. But if you find it hard to draw (because not everyone can do it well especially if you’re not a graphic designer), making designs with puns about the galaxy and prints are enough.
Galaxy prints are quite repetitive making them easy to design and quick for you to start your print on demand business.
Quick Tip: Choosing a light colored product works best for this niche since designs are often in dark colors. Some contrast will make your products look nicer!
4. The hustle culture
The hustle lifestyle has taken over in recent years whether we like it or not. It’s new, it’s Instagrammable and it is a lifestyle.
While I don’t agree or disagree on the hustle lifestyle 24 hours 7 days a week, work is a huge part of our lives (quote the typical 5 day work week). This is true for entrepreneurs, salaried workers or even freelancers.
Compared to previous generations, millennials are sharing a lot more on what they do on a daily basis sometimes to show that they’re hustling hard for their dreams. Not too sure about you, but I definitely love to read hustling quotes to boost our entrepreneurial spirits.
What’s better than having our favorite quotes printed on our phone cases or even hoodies? It will help your customers to keep going at their hustles and they will come back for more. Quite an addiction I’ll say!
Quick Tip: There’s a growing awareness on the dangers of hustling hard, so try to strike a balance even in your entrepreneurial quotes. We’re all humans and people love people they can relate to, and this is also true with brands!
5. Minimalism and simple designs
Unlike any other lifestyle fad, minimalism is here to stay. There’s definitely a market for simple bare designs so if you’re lazy to think too far, this is the niche for you.
Do some research on minimalism and wrap your head around it. Always stick to black & white tones for greater clarity, that’s what your customers are looking for.
A rational decision making for a minimalist would be to get just one or two things that match well with their overall wardrobe or room. They wouldn’t want to get anything more as it’s counterintuitive to the idea of owning less. Less is more!
Quick Tip: Minimalism should be the only theme for your one Etsy shop. Mixing with anything else wouldn’t make much sense to your minimalist customer.
6. Funny quotes for gifting parents
If cute designs for baby works for print on demand, the opposite may be true too. I speak from personal experience, merchandise designed with funny quotes is something I would give my dad!
It can be difficult for most kids to express their feelings towards their fathers, so a funny or cute merchandise with quotes will always make up for it.
Aside from the usual t-shirts, you can place your designs on mugs, desk mats, gym wear, tumblers or even puzzles! These are some of the best gifts for fathers, as well as mothers.
Quick tip: You might think some designs are cringey, but when it comes to gifting – there’s no such thing! The most cheekiest designs may make the most sales, even if you don’t believe in them.
7. Everything cute for pets
Are you a pet person? Do you have a cat or a dog? Or maybe a few of each? If you don’t, maybe you won’t get this. Truth be told, people spend a lot on their pets.
There’s a great tendency that pet lovers also love pet-themed items for themselves. This niche is a big one because there’s just so many things that you can offer, so many types of pets (cats/dogs) for you to explore.
Quick tip: It would even be more exquisite if you go for less popular pets like an iguana. Do some keyword research to find out if that market is underserved. You’ll have a greater chance of success with less competition.
8. Quotes to prioritize self-care
Everyone loves some form of therapy and the easiest most practical one is to practice self-care in our daily lives. This might cover quite a wide spectrum of things but it’s as simple as taking a short stroll to unwind.
Even if their day is really hectic, they might just be reminded to take a step back when looking at their self-care themed phone cases, or even their yoga-inspired tote bag, who knows? That’s an idea for you.
Just like hustling, self-care themed designs can be done with just a sprinkle of chic typography, up to you!
Quick Tip: Self-care themed designs work well with sport attires and tumblers. Jogging and drinking water might just be the two best stress relievers we can fit in our busy schedules.
9. Personalized gifts for weddings
The wedding industry is a big one with so many opportunities for small businesses like yours to flourish. People are increasingly searching for unique items, to not end up looking like what their best friend had at their weddings.
This once in a life event can be a great expense for a lot of people and most don’t even mind it. Their only goal is to have the best of experiences which includes all the small parties leading up to the big day and sometimes all the big parties post-wedding.
How do you come in with your print on demand business you say?
As a start, make prints for the bridesmaids. Brides love to gift items for their bridesmaids as a token of appreciation helping out for their big day. This can include t-shirts, notebooks or even phone covers if we’re trying to be modern, they’re among the best selling print on demand products for a reason.
Quick Tip: Not all print on demand providers offer personalization so do some research before you choose a print provider. It’s a great way to price higher and get sales within the wedding niche!
10. Common things about a job
Let’s be honest, our jobs take up a huge part of our lives! Most of us may be defined by the jobs that we have and take great pride in it (no shame!).
As a blogger, I talk about my profession all the time so it’s no surprise if my family or friends decide to gift me something that’s related to blogging. It may be the same for you!
Regardless what day job you have at the moment, I’m sure you’ve received gifts that’s related to it. So why not capitalize on this idea and make designs for a particular job or profession?
Quick tip: Make designs using a lot of typography and include typical sayings about a job (just Google!). Make it funny or quirky and add on some graphic design elements. Easily done!
11. Activities you can do in the summer
It makes sense doesn’t it? People will buy things to use for when they’re out and about living their best lives. That’s the main agenda for summer season!
You can make designs around activities people do in the summer and celebrating the vibes of summer as a whole. This can include t-shirts for family travels, tank tops or swimming gears for when you’re at the beach, beach towels and also picnic blankets.
The same can be applied to colder seasons when people are celebrating Christmas or Halloween. However, these events are much shorter and focused so you might have a small window to make sales.
Quick tip: Ideally, you would want to choose niches where you’re able to sell all year round – unless it’s your second store. Let’s not forget that in some parts of the world, it’s always summer time!
How To Find Your Niche For Print-On-Demand
There are multiple ways you can explore to discover the right niche for your print on demand store. Here are six things you can consider:
- What is a personal passion you have?
- What do you purchase when you’re buying for yourself?
- What would you go for if you’re buying a gift for a loved one?
- What kind of designs has evergreen demand and does not fluctuate based on seasons?
- What kind of niche is good for a season you would want to focus on?
- What product do you plan on selling and what kind of designs work best on them?
If you’re not interested in addressing the questions above, there are a few technical ways to know if you’re going for a profitable niche.
- Make a search on Etsy search bar to see competition levels
- Use Etsy keyword research tools like eRank or Sale Samurai (more down below)
Once you’ve decided on a niche, take these steps to grow your store:
- Upload at least 100 designs in the same niche on a product of choice
- Collect visitor data for a month to see what people are interested in
- Set up Etsy ads for a product you’re getting sales for
- Place winning designs on different products
9 Keyword & Niche Research Tools For Print On Demand Etsy
- eRank
- Sale Samurai
- Marmalead
- Etsy search bar
- EtsyHunt
- Alura
- Merch Titans
- Keysearch
- Printful’s Keyword Scout
Get 40 FREE listings when you sign up for an Etsy shop using my link (special for my readers!). Etsy shops are free to create and free listings will allow you to start selling 40 items in your shop without paying for anything.
31 Evergreen Niches For Print On Demand Etsy
The best niches for print on demand on Etsy are ones that are evergreen! They can make you sales for years and will not go out of trend.
- Romance
- School supplies
- Gardening
- Wedding gifts
- Abstract
- Inspirational quotes
- Typography
- Feminism
- Gifting
- Vintage
- Corporate
- Remote work
- Sports
- Nature
- Photography
- Travel
- Cars
- Annual celebrations
- Summer
- Doodles
- Jobs
- Age & birthdays
- Home decorations
- Funny quotes
- Beauty
- Movies
- Planets
- Horoscopes
- Animals
- Family & friendships
- Outdoor activities
Top 7 Print On Demand Providers To Use For Etsy
Bottom Line
All of the niches I’ve explained above are great for newbies. You can choose between going deeper into it and finding micro-niches or going with the broad category as a whole.
I personally find it much easier to stick to a sub-niche in the beginning. As long as it has sufficient demand to cater to, you’ll be able to grow into other sub-niches later on (within the same Etsy shop).
With that said, once you set your mind on which niche to go for, do some keyword research to see what’s currently trending for that particular niche.
It could be “genius baby” for the baby niche, or “midweek self-care routine” for the self-care niche. We can’t tell for certain because it can depend on when you’re entering the market but always try to tailor your designs to these trends.
I hope you’ve at least taken the first step to set up your print on demand shop on Etsy!
Here are 11 best niches for print on demand Etsy:
- Cute baby designs
- Floral themed merchandise
- Stars, planets and galaxies
- The hustle culture
- Minimalism and simple designs
- Funny quotes for gifting parents
- Everything cute for pets
- Quotes to prioritize self-care
- Personalized gifts for weddings
- Common things about a job
- Activities you can do in the summer
Unsure what product to focus on after choosing your niche? Check out my print on demand product guides down below! Great tips included.
- Tote bags for print on demand
- Tumblers for print on demand
- Phone cases for print on demand
- Posters for print on demand
- Leggings for print on demand
- Jewelry for print on demand
- Candles for print on demand
- Doormats for print on demand
- Hoodies for print on demand
- Pet products for print on demand
- Socks for print on demand
- Pajamas for print on demand
- Blankets for print on demand
- Baby clothes for print on demand
- Wrapping paper for print on demand
- Puzzles for print on demand
- Stickers for print on demand
- Athletic wear for print on demand
- Hats for print on demand
- Journals for print on demand
- Greeting cards for print on demand
- Mugs for print on demand
Photo by Harry Grout on Unsplash
