Sell Digital Papers in a Saturated Market?
Digital paper patterns are hugely popular on Etsy and the selection available is massive... 2.4 million in scope massive. And that's just Etsy, every other digital resource marketplace will have a large collection of offerings as well.
So what if you want to get started today selling digital papers? Can you still be successful, is there room for more, and how hard will it be to stand out in such a crowed category?
Let's take a look...
STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD
When
joining an already crowded market, and this applies to any product or
service, in order to be seen and chosen your best option is to stand
out in some way from all your competitors. There is a variety of ways to
do this with papers, from chosen topics to style and aesthetic to pricing or format.
You need to ask the question "what else can I offer"?
KNOW WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS WANT/NEED
If you are starting to design digital papers and have no experience using them or have knowledge on what customers are looking for and needing; you are going to be at a critical disadvantage.
You need to understand your product niche and your target customer base well enough to anticipate what they will benefit from, what they are looking for and the value they place on different features.
Don't just copy what other sellers are offering, do the research to understand the product inside out so that you can provide something better or unique that customers will actually want.
RESEARCH BEFORE YOU DESIGN
Before you even begin designing your paper patterns to sell on Etsy you'd be wise to do some thorough research. Not only will this aid you in achieving the above two points but you'll also be able to uncover less competitive niches within the category.
This is also a good time to be thinking about possible keywords. Most sellers tend to keyword their products after they've made it and are uploading it to sell. But by thinking about keywords from the outset you can create products to fit gaps in the market and to specifically take advantage of lower competition keywords.
WHERE IS THE SATURATION?
Yes, there are a lot of digital paper listings in total on Etsy. But does that mean everything is super saturated already, or is there room for more?
While some of the really popular categories have a huge number of choices, floral papers for example, there are still many specialist themes that have significantly less variety and would be much much easier to rank well for. Even within the floral theme.
You might ask, but can you sell enough from lesser searched for themes to do well in sales? Probably not. But the objective should be to balance your product offerings for a range of really popular or classic designs alongside more unique themes in order to bring in a broader base of buyers and to have less competition for at least some of your inventory.
I've compiled a list of themes, starting with some basic searches and really popular categories to give you a feel for just how many listings show up in these very busy niches. And then I worked through the numbers for ideas that have a lot less going on at the moment.
Just a quick note: Where you see just a number, this is the total number of listings Etsy delivered for that exact search term. Where it says "under x" I have approximated how many listings actually match the search term exactly because Etsy is now including a lot of related/unrelated listings into the mix that ultimately pollutes the true result. I've tried to exclude those listings that aren't directly on point for the intended search.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
Digital paper = 2,400,642
Digital seamless paper = 95,519
Digital scrapbook paper = 1,180,291
polka dot digital paper = 17,625
Christmas digital paper = 206,846
unicorn digital paper = 18,486
Floral digital paper = 174,640
Boho digital paper = 85,227
Halloween digital paper = 118,488
Vintage digital paper = 28,372
Valentine digital paper = 83,396
Guinea pigs digital paper = under 200
Platypus digital paper = under 100
Stingray digital paper = under 100
Robin digital paper = under 1,000
Dragonfly digital paper = under 3,000
Insect digital paper = under 5,000
Jellyfish digital paper = under 600
Chameleon digital paper = under 500
Tulip digital paper = under 3,000
Pansy digital paper = under 1,200
Bluebell digital paper = under 200
Oak leaf digital paper = under 500
Petunia digital paper = under 50
Bird of paradise digital paper = under 400
Bromeliad digital paper = 0
Mango digital paper = under 300
Dragonfruit digital paper = under 50
Sushi digital paper = under 700
Vegetable digital paper = under 3,000
Jelly bean digital paper = under 250
Pickles digital paper = under 300
Peanut butter digital paper = under 200
Skateboard digital paper = under 1,000
bmx digital paper = under 10
Karaoke digital paper = under 50
Hip hop digital papers - under 100
Saturn digital paper - under 500
Computer geek digital paper - under 200
Chinoiserie digital paper = under 1,600
Agate digital paper = under 2,400
Honey comb digital papers = under 900
Terrazzo digital paper = under 1,200
Shibori digital paper = under 900
Paisley digital paper = under 2,200
Ikat digital paper = under 200
Granite digital paper - under 700
Jade digital paper - under 400
Vampire digital paper = under 3,000
Zombie digital paper = under 2,000
Dracula digital paper = under 1,000
Werewolf digital paper = under 200
Frankenstein digital paper = under 1,000
Poison digital paper = under 1,000
I hope you found this list useful. Perhaps it inspired you to explore hidden or under-developed themes. Let me know in the comments how you've fared in this category.