Here’s a quick idea to make some extra income on Etsy.
If you don’t yet have an Etsy seller’s account, sign up for one.
Then buy books with ‘plates’ – those prints that look especially good. You’ll find them for all sorts of things, but what you’re looking for is pictures people would want to hang on their wall. For example, I found a seller who buys certain art books from the 80’s and 90’s and cuts out the pictures. These pictures are high quality and look fabulous.
Then he mats them, frames them and sells them.
You could just mat them if you don’t want to hassle with the framing, but there are more buyers for framed pictures that are ready to hang on the wall. One book might yield you a dozen or even 50 pictures that you can then mat and sell. And since you can buy good used books through Amazon at cheap prices, your costs are very low.
I don’t want to create direct competition for the guy who is successfully doing this, so I’ll leave it to you to pick your niches to focus on. Just think about what enthusiasts like, find those books with artsy type pictures depicting those things and you’re in business.
And by the way, this guy is up front about the fact that he gets his pictures from old books. But they look so good, people really don’t care.
If you’re looking for extra cash, starting a new Etsy business may be just what you need.