Are you searching what are the Best things to sell online to make money? what can I sell to make money from home? Then this article is for you. The reason behind the massive growth in online business is the opportunity to reach a global audience which is not possible for an offline business.
The success of an online business depends on a lot of things. There are a lot of factors like the competition, total market, inventory cost, business model, Logistics and operations, etc which you definitely need to research before starting any business.
Here, in this article, we have tried to touch on every point in brief which is important for your online selling business. Later on, you can research each point in detail.
Before starting to sell anything, you have to have a clear and planned picture of everything like business model, types of product, market size, etc.
Types of Business Models
There are different types of business models available, which we have discussed briefly. Like Private and white-label, Print on demand, Dropshipping, Retail Arbitrage, Affiliate Marketing, and Marketplace Models.
1. Private and white-label products
In these business models, the seller buys products from the manufacturer and sells them to the customer using the seller’s brand and name.
The difference between the white label and private label business is in the white label model, the seller buys some pre-existing products from the manufacturer while the private label model allows the seller to customize the products with the help of manufacturers. This means they can give ideas to the manufacturer and the manufacturer can make the products as per the instructions.
Later on, in both models, they can sell the products to the customer using their own brand name and logo.
2. Print on demand
POD or Print on demand model involves producing a product only after a customer orders something from the seller. This is very good for avoiding upfront costs like huge inventory costs, storage space requirements, etc. Here, the seller can offer end-user customization as well. Some of the successful POD products are t-shirts, mugs, phone cases, etc.
3. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is good if you don’t want to take the headache of anything like manufacturing, processing the orders, and delivery. Here, you just make your own e-commerce site and list down other brand’s products, and if any user orders you just re-direct them to the original website.
4. Retail Arbitrage
In this model, the seller purchases products from a retail store or an online marketplace and resells them for a higher price to other platforms or markets.
5. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing basically is to promotes someone else’s product. For each sale, you will get a commission based on the product category’s Commission rate. You can join the Amazon Affiliate program and create your own website where you can sell and promote products through blogs and can get a commission as per the category.
6. Marketplace Model
The marketplace model is very good to reach huge customers at the beginning of your business. The marketplace model is basically, a platform or e-commerce site where multiple sellers can list their products. A perfect example of this Marketplace is Amazon where you can list your product and can get all of the other seller’s customers.
Different types of marketplace
There are many popular marketplaces where you can list your products to get good sales. Some examples of popular e-commerce platforms are Amazon, Flipkart, and IndiaMART where you can sell almost anything. As these sites are very popular, people can trust the products easily and eventually, it helps to grow your business.
However, some of the marketplaces are also there those stick to a particular category like fashion or clothing (Myntra), foods(big basket), photos(iStock), etc.
How to Choose the Right Product to Sell Online to Make Money?
The best way to choose any product should be best on market research like what’s the gap in the market? What are the trending products in the market? You can use many tools to analyze the trend or growth of a product using Google trends.
For researching keywords, you can use tools like Ahreaf, and Semrush. If you want to sell your things on your website then you should choose low-competition and high-volume keywords.
You have to find a Niche market where demand is medium to high but competition is low. Narrowing down the category and finding the untapped market is important
Besides your business model, you have to decide the types of products/services you want to sell. There are different categories of products that you can sell to make money online. Like Physical products, Digital products, Services, and Custom products.
Some of the Best Things to Sell Online to Make Money
I. Physical Products
So, what’s the best Physical product to sell online to make money? Well, the list could be infinite. However, we have provided some of the best categories under the physical product which you can try out.
1. Clothing and accessories
Clothing is one of the most popular categories that you can sell. The current Apparel market in India only is around US$96.47bn. So, the market and categories under clothing are huge. However, the market is crowded, you have to come up with some unique designs that can attract users. Under the clothing, you can sell t-shirts if you think of a print-on-demand business. There are many accessories as well where demand is comparatively low.
2. Health and beauty products
After covid-19, people have become more health conscious and started using various fitness equipment and supplements for better health. You can sell this fitness equipment and supplements.
Along with that, beauty products like Skincare, Makeup, Hair care, Fragrances, and Personal care have also a good market.
3. Home and kitchen products
There is no doubt, one of the selling categories is the Home and kitchen category. Almost everyone needs these products in their home. Under this category, you can find more sub-categories. You need to narrow down the category by entering into the sub-categories and finding a niche product.
II. Digital Products
The next category of our article ‘ Best things to sell online to make money ’ is digital products. Digital products are products that can be created, delivered, and consumed completely through a digital medium.
Some digital products that sell well online are eBooks, Online courses, Stock photos, and graphics. The major benefits of Selling digital products are low overhead costs, scalability, instant delivery, and global reach. Once the product is created, you can sell it to as many customers as you want.
1. eBooks
If you hold excellent writing or storytelling skills and have knowledge that can benefit others in their life, then creating eBooks can be a great option for you. You can sell them to platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
2. Online courses
Do you love to teach or share knowledge with others? If yes, then this category is for you. You can make courses and list your course on platforms like Udemy, Skillshare, etc. On each sale, you can get some loyalty amount. Once you get good ratings, it’s not that hard to get recurring sales.
3. Stock photos and graphics.
People need different photos and graphics for their businesses and other purposes. You can be that potential seller If you are a passionate photographer or a graphics designer. Besides following your passion, you can earn money by selling your photos to different platforms like Shutterstock, and iStock. Each time people download your photo, you will get some royalty.
III. Services
What can I sell to make money from home? Well, to earn money online you need to sell something whether it’s products or services. Yes, you can provide different types of services as well to earn money online. To offer these services, you can use platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, and even Facebook groups.
1. Content writing
If you are good at researching and communicating then you can start writing for clients for their websites. You can increase your fee as you brush up on your writing skills.
2. Web design and development
In this online era, every people need a website for their business, and you can use this opportunity to design and develop websites. It’s a great idea if are a techy person to start as a freelance web designer or developer.
3. Virtual Assistance
A virtual assistant is basically a person who provides an administrative service from a remote location. They do a variety of administrative work like scheduling phone calls and appointments, managing email, social media management, content creation for blogs, data entry, etc. To become a virtual Assistant you need a lot of skills like communication, time management, customer service, and different types of computer skills. It depends, on what purpose you are getting hired by your client.
IV. Custom Products
Nowadays, one of the popular upcoming categories which can be sold well is custom products. Custom products include products that can be customized based on customers’ requirements. The reason for the popularity of custom products is the uniqueness of the product which users can get from it.
Some of the popular custom products in the market are:
1. Personalized Jewelry
The market for jewelry is huge big. You need to target a particular audience and create an emotional bond with them while selling any jewelry. Personalized jewelry has good potential, especially for gifting purposes. People love customized rings, necklaces, and bracelets with their names, and logos on them.
2. Customized home decor
customized home decor products have become very popular for personalizing owners’ living places. People really want these products to customize their homes. The category includes personalized wall art, personalized throw pillows, customized doormats, unique handcraft products, and many more. You need to come up with unique designs with time.
3. Embroidered clothing and accessories
Embroidered clothing and accessories are items that have been designed using needles and threads to enhance the look of the products. Examples of this category could be hats, bags, clothing, and even shoes.
Conclusion: Best Things to Sell Online to Make Money
You can’t pick a product randomly, you need to pick a product that solves customers’ problems. Do market research fast and take action. Think about how you can give a solution to a problem with your product.
Now, you have an overall idea and you can pick any category at your convenience. However, ideas are easy but the implementation is hard. Many people just collect the idea and don’t act due to fear of failure. Don’t let your fear stop you, what if you can get huge success with your business? Think of the positive side and take your next step now! Fear of failure is real but if you never try then you never know your potential.
[ Also check out: Why Your Business Needs Video Marketing? ]