We all need a little extra cash at times. Good thing you can earn money from home. There are many benefits to making money from home such as having the flexibility to make your own schedule and enjoy a strong work-life balance.
Things you can sell from home include handmade items, old stuff, or a bunch of trending products you can dropship.
There are a lot of opportunities to earn in this day and age. As long as you are hardworking and dedicated there is nothing you can’t achieve.
Things to sell online to make money in 2024
There are a lot of products for money making online so you can stay home as much as you want. You just need to determine what you are most interested in pursuing.
We all need money to pay for all the things in our lives. If only shelter, food, healthcare bills, and good education can be free. But as they say, money makes the world go round.
We don't have to be Elon Musk, Warren Buffet, or Jeff Bezos to pay for these things. But we do need money. Good thing there are a lot of ways we can earn an income, and now we can even make some cash at home!
Make money selling coffee today!
How to find what to sell to make money online?
For starters, you can think of things to sell online to make money from home. With just a little bit of creativity, you could find yourself a stable source of income. Who knows, you might end up with a ticket out of your 9-5.
Let yourself think of creative things to sell to make money online. If you are good at art or cooking, you can sell paintings online, or perhaps sell your baked goods. Some people also sell their crafts like jewelry, trinkets, and even knitted clothes.
Things to sell to make money from home
While you can sell regular stuff from your home, one of the better ways to make money online is to go into eCommerce and dropshipping. If you choose dropshipping, it would help to pick the right niche for you so you can focus on what is the most profitable thing to sell online.
How do you choose what to sell online? Considering every item you add to your business is one of the things you can do. You can start by asking yourself if there is a market for it, how it benefits buyers, and can it be sold repeatedly.
Your business has the potential to become an expert in its field. You might wonder: “Won’t this limit my income?” Not exactly. Just because you are selling for a select group of people, doesn’t mean you are putting a cap on how much you can earn.
Choose your niche: How can I make money selling online?
Putting a bullseye on a specific niche will bring in more customers for your dropshipping store. You can do this by asking the following questions:
- What are my passions and interests?
- Who are my customers? What problems do they need help with?
- Who are my competitors?
- What niche sells the stuff I want? Is it profitable?
- What is the quality of the products? What is the quality of the service?
Here’s a checklist you can use to guide you in choosing your niche:
Customer demand
One of the basics of understanding demand is to find problems you can solve with your product.
Find out what your potential buyers would want in a target market for a product or service. Doing this will help you figure out if you can enter a market and make money at all. Your businesses can benefit from this information.
Remember, you have to figure out which market is worth investing in. Or else, you’re just throwing money. Making sure your consumers' needs are met will make them want to buy your products more.
Passionate customers
Find a market with passionate buyers who are really into what you are sellingl. This is one of the best ways to make sure your dropshipping business can grow.
These customers may be more particular about buying the things they like. But they're great for building long-term relationships and will spread the word about your business if they like it.
The average coffee drinker in the United States consumes 3.1 cups of coffee each day. According to the financial reports for 2019-2020, Americans consumed an estimated 3.3 billion pounds of coffee.
Coffee is consumed by 66% of Americans on a daily basis. Imagine if you can draw in people who love coffee? Then this means you can expect a sale every month when their coffee runs out.
Get a slice of the cake. Sell coffee today!
Demand planning
Speaking of customer demand, it is important to know how customer demand for products goes up and down. This will let you change what you sell and grow your business. Don't choose products with very little information. You need to perform demand planning and take the time to find out what customers want. It also helps you identify how long a product will be popular.
Whether a product is seasonal or just out of fashion, proper demand planning will help you change your products when needed.
Availability of Suppliers
Having good suppliers will you give your buyers the kind of product they want. You need consistent high-quality products. Nothing is more frustrating than waiting for your buyers than getting a crappy product.
The more you know about your suppliers, the better. Make sure to research and pick a niche where there are decent suppliers. They should be able to give you good service, affordable prices, and reasonable terms.
Product quality
Now that we’ve arrived at the topic of products, remember that quality is key.
Remember, you can't build a successful dropshipping business on low-cost, low-quality products. Businesses that sell low-quality products and bad customer service for years have a low success rate. You need to pay attention to quality while finding a good balance between product quality and profit margins.
In the long run, your success depends heavily on how well you can keep customers happy and make yourself known as a reliable source of products. Unless you give them quality, your buyers will find other stores to buy from when they get burned from buying your low-quality items.
High product turnover
It is important to consider inventory, sales, and profit in your business. A low inventory turnover could mean that the product isn't priced right, isn't positioned right, or there isn't enough demand for it.
Retail industries like dropshipping have a turnover ratio of 10.86, which means that their whole inventory is replenished more than ten times per year. High-end clothes and entertainment are considered non-essential but are pretty desirable to a lot of people with enough money.
A high inventory turnover like this is largely caused by a retailer’s need to compensate for reduced per-unit earnings with larger unit sales volume.
The higher the turnover ratio, the more likely it is that the sales are going well. A lower turnover means sales are low. For most businesses, a decent inventory turnover ratio is between 5 and 10, indicating that you sell and replace your goods every 1-2 months.
Cross-selling opportunity
Cross-selling makes each customer spend more at your store. Cross-selling can give you a sales increase of 20% and an increase of 30% in profits. Eventually, you make more sales.
Your dropshipping business will depend on a lot of orders. This give you any chance to raise the average order value of your customers. Focus on products that are similar and can be used to sell other products.
Cross-selling can result in a 20% increase in sales and a 30% increase in profitability.
For example, you can put a widget on your website that will show product recommendations below the page. If they are ordering a shirt, perhaps you can have a pair of shorts show up as a recommendation to complete the outfit! This way, your buyer will be more likely to add these items to their order. This will help you make the most money possible from each sale.
What items are most profitable to sell? - Best things to sell online to make money
You must be thinking, how can I make money selling online? As we mentioned earlier, we need to decide on a promising niche and a really good product.
Here is a list of 33 things to sell online to make money. You can either make things, let go of a lot of your old stuff, or get into an online business.
Handmade products
1. Make jewelry
What can I make to sell online to make money? Jewelry!
Try crafting jewelry if you're more creative. Begin with one or two things, such as necklaces and earrings, and gradually add to your collection. You might sell to people in person or create an online store.
Jewelry has been known to generate profit margins of around 25%-75%. Much of which has to do with how we perceive the value of the jewelry.
This is perhaps one of the main reasons why jewelry is such a great niche to get into. It remains to be a robust market and is easily one of the simplest items to sell for a profit.
If you decide to sell jewelry, you can achieve a gross profit margin of about 43-47%. Luxury jewelers who have built outstanding brands for their business may make more. But since you are just starting out, expect to make a lot less. Still, it makes sense how jewelry is a popular choice due to its high potential.
2. Make t-shirts
Do you consider yourself artistic? If you are thinking of how to make money from home then you could take on printing t-shirts. Most of the time companies or clubs buy in quantity especially if they have an event. But if you don’t have the capacity or man power, you can also do individual patterns and designs. Selling printed apparel is one of the things to sell to make money from home. You can even hand paint them!
Printing your own t-shirt can be made easier with sites like Printful and Printify. A solid idea is all you need to get started in the T-shirt industry, where creating, producing, and selling your product is quite simple.
3. Paintings, drawings, artworks
On the topic of creativity, do you enjoy drawing or painting? If you do, why not sell your works of art on the internet. You can make any type of art, take some pictures, and put a price.
You can post it on sites like Etsy or UGallery.
In my opinion this is one of the easy things to sell online to make money. You also have fun in the process!
4. Candy
Do you love to make sweets? Mix art and food with your edible art!
Start a business selling candy and make large batches on the weekends. Before, you can only sell them around your neighborhood or to family and friends. But with the power of the internet, you can reach more people.
Did you know that the average American consumes about 24 pounds of sweets per year? Wow! The speciality candy business is large and expanding with Americans spending $84 per yearon candy.
5. Decorations
Home decors like wall art, vases, pillows, linens, and even dishes can be turned into your next income-generating activity. Not everyone has the talent that you have. And a lot of people are tired of the repetitive decors at shopping stores.
There is a plethora of online marketplace for home décor online. You can sell your work at eBay, Chairish, AptDeco, or even Craigslist.
6. Holiday and event decorations
Do you like to decorate your home during Christmas? Why limit your art to just gifts for your family? Don’t let your talent come for free!
There are lots of holidays all year long, and distinct decorations and holiday accents that go with them! If you have decorations you have made yourself in your spare time, you can sell them on Etsy or even start with Craigslist to find local buyers.
7. Soap bars
Some Etsy stores selling soap can earn $80,000 per year. This is based on the store's sales and average product prices. This would be determined by the entire number of markets that you might conquer, as there is already a market for soaps.
Is it legal for me to sell my homemade soap? In the United States, Cosmetic items and ingredients do not require FDA approval before entering the market. For US residents, soap is in a different category. If your products match the FDA's definition of "soap," they are exempt from the FD&C Act's restrictions.
You can sell custom-made soap as party favors. So go ahead and start mixing your essential oils and bring out those cute molds!
Bring out your old stuff
Do you know another easy way to make money from home? Selling your old stuff!
8. Old clothes
They say spend some to earn some. I bet you’ll be happy to know that there are real ways to make money from home for free!
Some of the things to sell to make money from home are old clothes. If you have any clothing in good shape but no longer wear it, consider selling it.
You can sell apparel on many websites and you can make some money, especially if you offer name-brand clothing items.
With the help of Tradesy, Depop, Thredup, Facebook Marketplace, and more, you can sell your old clothes online and make money!
9. Old furniture
If you're wondering what you may sell to make money from home, furniture is a smart place to start. Perhaps you have furniture in your garage or house that is rarely used. Clean it up and put the furnishings on the market!
All you need to do is put a reasonable price on your furniture and post! You can upload them on Facebook Marketplace, Poshmark, Chairish for particularly stylish or high-quality furniture, and Craigslist for local buyers or larger furniture.
10. Sell old books
Books are one of the things to sell to make quick cash. If you have a large collection of books that you no longer read and wish to sell them, you can do it easily online.
Check out BookFinder or bookscouter to see how much your old books are worth right now. It’s a big help to know how much online buyers are ready to pay for your titles. Simply select the best offer and contact them about the book!
Try selling on AbeBooks for more valued books. Keep an eye out for any series that could be sold as a set. Selling textbooks are one of the things to sell to make money from home — lot of money.
11. Sell old shoes
Are you thinking “what can I sell to make money quickly?” Well, old shoes are things to sell to make quick cash. But not just any shoes of course!
If you have any designer shoes in good condition, consider selling them. Obviously, you shouldn’t expect to get what you paid for them, but they could still be worth a significant amount.
12. Baby items
Babies are beautiful. But they grow up so fast! And because this means that clothes, toys, cribs, strollers, high chairs, and car seats, are quickly unused and probably taking up space.
Do you remember the thousands of dollars you spent? Yikes! The good thing is there are always new parents who need baby stuff. Check out Kidizen where you can sell baby stuff that are still in good condition.
You can also try Mercari which is the go-to for decluttering.
Collectible items
Remember the My Little Pony collection found on Storage Wars? You can also make money out of the stuff you collected.
Popular online marketplaces for collectors include Bonanza, Etsy, Craigslist, and Ruby Lane.
13. Comic books
Are you a huge comic book fan? Marvel?
Do you have something old or rare laying around, or that you’ve found at the thrift store, something that you think might be of some value?
You can get your collectibles professionally appraised at Value This Now to find out how much money you can get.
Some collectibles are worth a few bucks while there are also higher-end items and collectibles. Good thing is, there are actually membership sites for serious buyers and sellers.
Check out Ruby lane, The Internet Antique Shop, or just have it auctioned on eBay.
14. Action figures
On the topic of comics, you can also sell mint Action figures.
Mint refers to collectibles that have never been taken out of the pack or box. This also goes for collectibles like cards.
Believe it or not, toys can sell for hundreds of dollars online, while other vintage toys are selling for thousands.
Check out eBay and see how much you can auction your collectible items. Now if you have an antique toy, head to Vintage Cash Cow.
14. Cards
Did you know that Logan Paul smashed the record for the most expensive Pokémon trading card? On April 2, 2022 he bought a PSA Grade 10 Pikachu Illustrator card that cost him $5,275,000.
Collectible cards are pretty valuable, but not right away. If you wish to sell your cards, there is a procedure to follow, and only some cards will be worth selling.
eBay reported that sports card sales in 2020 increased on the site by 142%. It started in 2019 during the pandemic with more than 4 million cards sold. Aside from eBay, you can check out My Collectibles and Dave and Adam's Card World.
15. Video games
Vintage games like Air Raid – Atari 2600, The Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak – NES, and DuckTales 2 – NES can be worth a lot of money.
You may not have these games in your collection but you never know who would be willing to pay good money for them.
16. Game consoles
Just like the video games, why don’t you set your old friends free and post them on Decluttr, Usell, or swappa. It’s a shame to just leave them lying around collecting dust.
The next part of our list is things you can sell through eCommerce, dropshipping, private label, and print on demand. These are a few product ideas that will work depending on the business model you are using.
Clothing
everyone needs clothes so it makes sense that it is one of the profitable things to sell online to make money. According to industry analysts, retail clothing profit margins typically range between 4% and 13%.
17. Innerwear and loungewear
The sales of bralettes and other non-wired bras went up by approximately 40% compared to 2019. This is probably due to the demand for more work-from-home comfort outfits.
The increase in sales is also happening for loungewear since it is essentially clothing you can relax in, It is your go-to for ultimate comfort.
18. Activewear
On the talk of innerwear and comfort, the pandemic has also paved the way for yoga pants. Why? This is because of the number of people trying to be healthy.
What is the appeal of activewear? It is because of comfort and versatility. Activewear or athleisure wear is becoming more popular in social settings, you can wear it almost anywhere.
19. ootds
Now that most restrictions are gone, a lot of people are going out. And going out requires an outfit of the day! Click! 📷
T-shirts and hoodies are everywhere right now. Why not take a piece of the pie? Create interesting designs that people love. Focus on offering your designs with quality clothing products.
Check out Printify or Printful for on-demand product fullfilment.
Home stuff
20. Mugs
Since we’re still on the subject of print on demand, selling printed mugs are one of the most profitable things to sell online to make money. Aside from Printify and Printful check out other print-on-demand companies like Apliiq for printing and product fulfillment.
Print your own line with catchy sayings. Just like designs you put on clothing, you can sell fun mugs that could read “I hate mornings but I love coffee.” Mugs aren’t just for cheesy stuff like putting photos of your kids or “#1 Dad.”
21. Kitchen equipment
Being on long lockdowns has forced us to be home buddies and cook our own food. This has increased the demand for kitchen equipment.
There are a lot of incredibly popular kitchen gadgets you could sell in your own online store, such as:
- Air fryers
- Griddles
- Pizza ovens
- Portable blender
- Mandoline slicers
Kitchen equipment like pizza ovens has 76 thousand monthly Google searches and 35 thousand Amazon searches. This ensures that you can find an audience and potential buyers.
22. Wall art and decorations
A lot of us have been LOVING the arrangement of working from home. This has also pushed us to make more effort in beautifying our home spaces.
The global share of the decorations market could reach up to $838.6 billion by the end of 2027.
23. tools
gardening
Like our living room, we definitely have ended up wanting to give our gardens a makeover.
Having to stay at home has made us some sort of handyman.
24. Food and groceries
Everyone needs food obviously! While it may not be a good idea to dropship food online, non-perishable food can be pretty profitable.
Selling coffee can be a very good idea since the market is expected to grow by 8.28% annually. Not to mention, you are almost 100% sure that your buyers will come back every time they run out of coffee.
So, if you are a coffee lover and think this is the kind of product you feel confident to sell, check out Dripshipper!
25. Car tools and accessories
You have to be consistent when selling car accessories. This means you should offer ALL of your customers' accessories 100% of the time. You don’t want them looking at other stores because you don’t have the second item on their list.
The cost of storing and shipping big products like tires could get really expensive. Dropshipping involves the suppliers storing and shipping the products on your behalf.
Baby products
The world never seems to run out of babies. This makes this particular product a good idea to sell from home.
26. Baby clothes
You can sell baby clothes online or in person or you can sell them online. You can sell baby clothes from your own store built with a platform like Shopify, on third-party marketplaces.
The global baby apparel market was worth around $62.04 billion in 2019 and is expected to be worth $82.54 billion by 2027.
Baby clothes have a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.2% during the forecast period and could be worth $82.54 billion in 2027.
27. Baby and kid’s Toys
The toy industry has enormous growth potential. The toys and hobbies market is expected to generate $88,206 million in sales by 2025, growing at a 3.9 percent annual rate.
This amounts to a market volume of $106,766. As a result, it should come as no surprise that many dropshippers find the toy dropshipping market to be profitable.
Here are a few of the best toys to dropship —and they’re not just for babies:
- Drones
- Remote controlled cars
- Digital drawing boards
- Plushies
28. Baby feeding
Another top product you might want to consider is breast pumps. With the growing health consciousness, parents are preferring the natural and organic. And nothing is more natural and organic than breastmilk.
Speaking of organic, honorable mentions for our baby products include organic baby wipes, organic baby food, and bath products.
Personal improvement
Since the pandemic, more people have looked into self-improvement. Selling these items online from home makes sense.
29. Health and personal items
Did you know that the skincare market is among the most profitable in the world?
The global skincare market was worth $134.8 billion in 2018 and is expected to be worth approximately $200.25 billion by 2025. By then, it will grow at a 4.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
Health and personal care items are one of the best-selling dropshipping niches. Skin creams, hair care items, and even razors can be marked up significantly. This means you can have the highest possible profit margin.
Not to mention, you can expect your buyers to come back. People will regularly need razors, won’t they?
30. Fitness equipment
The pandemic has led people to live healthier lives. This explains the surge in demand for fitness equipment. Gyms and health clubs have re-opened but a lot of people have been used to using their own fitness equipment at home.
In 2020, the global fitness equipment market was more than $10 billion. It’s expected to grow at an 11% CAGR between 2021 and 2027.
31. Water bottles
Speaking of fitness, there has been an increase in demand for water bottles. This is also because of people’s desire to ditch plastic.
The water bottle craze is still going strong and shows no signs of abating. New styles and designs will continue to enter the market for the foreseeable future.
You can count on your buyers’ desires for fancy water bottles.
Eco-friendly products
Eco-friendly products and eco-friendly lifestyles are more popular than ever. If you want to stay on top of the current trends, I recommend looking into the dropshipping specialty.
32. Reusable bags
Reusable bags like tote bags have a steadily growing popularity. A reusable bag business could profit around $30-50,000 per year.
A lot of people are deadset on ditching plastic. It seems that sustainability is becoming as stylish as ever. Reusable shopping bags eliminate the need for disposable plastic bags while also reducing the harm that plastic bags create.
33. Food storage
Reusable food storage items make food look more appealing. It makes sense that silicone reusable food storage bags and silicone stretch lids are a new rave.
Silicone reusable food storage bags are great for packing up sandwiches and snacks on the go. silicone stretch lids, on the other hand, help make everything look a lot more appetizing. This takes care of covering opened, half-used cans of food and ingredients, bowls of leftovers, and even cut fruit like watermelon.
How to sell things online and make money: dropshipping
Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment strategy for online sellers. They use a third-party vendor to send products. Instead of maintaining inventory, with this business model, you will be purchasing items from a supplier as your buyers make orders.
With dropshipping, you can see profit margins of 300% or more. It allows you to make money by increasing the profit margin on your product.
Can you make money with dropshipping?
Dropshipping can be a profitable business. In your first year, you may anticipate making between $1000-$3000 a month. This is after factoring in the 10%-30% margins.
Yes, just like any other business, it is not without its challenges. You just need to know what you’re getting into.
What do I need to start my dropshipping business?
If you want to start your own dropshipping business, here are a list of things you need to start:
The right products
Yes, products! We were just talking about that.
You need to have to understand how customers think and feel. Sell a product that provides a solution to a problem for your target market. You can also consider that most people make emotional purchases.
A subscription to an eCommerce platform
An eCommerce platform can help you sell products online and manage key elements in your business like your website. It also helps you with operations, sales, and marketing
Here are a few dropshipping platforms:
1. Magento
2. Shopify
3. WooCommerce
4. BigCommerce
5. WIX
6. Shift4Shop
7. PrestaShop
Having a well-made dropshipping store will help you reach more people and lets you build trust with customers through a unique online experience.
Dropshipping tools
Dropshipping tools can help cut down on the time it takes to order, solve user problems, offer support, and answer questions.
Dropshipping is easy because you won't have to worry about inventory management or product fulfillment. However, you will still need to manage refunds and returns, handle out-of-stock products, coordinate with several dropshippers, and shipments.
Your own site
The dropshipping business model is flexible. But if you're serious about your store, having your own domain can be pretty helpful.
Ad campaign
Paid traffic is used by a lot of dropshippers. This helps them show their products to more people. Also, to get more organic traffic to your site, you need to learn SEO.
You’ll also have to consider content marketing and social media marketing.
Email marketing
Email marketing is up to 40x more effective than social media. It can encourage your audience to proceed with a purchase.
Also, it can help remind existing customers about your offers and tell them about new products.
Things to sell online to make money
Which product do you feel like selling? Just like what you read, there are plenty of opportunities for money making from home.
So if you feel like ditching your 9-5, consider selling the stuff on this list. All you need is to find the best things to sell online to make money.
