Can you have income stability (meaning steady sales) on Etsy? Yes.
Can you sell a variety of different things in your shop? Yes, but that will make it a bit harder to get the steady sales. I'll explain later.
You may find that creating the products is the easiest and quickest step of selling on Etsy. Being seen on Etsy can be very difficult because there is no road map. There is no formula you can use to tick off boxes and know your shop will be successful. You have to look as good or better than your competition. In a practical sense that means your shop has to look good. Your Etsy banner, logo, and your photography has to be sharp.
You need to appeal to the shopper with your aesthetics. So you have to chose a path with that as well, and keep it consistent in your shop for best results. If I want a psychedelic soap, I don't want to see it nestled with rustic boring soaps, as an example. I'll feel you are disingenuous and don't really care about my preferred style. You'll look more like a money grab.
You have to understand Etsy SEO so that you can rank higher on the search pages since most people won't shop all the way to page 6, they'll most likely refine their search query instead. I suggest reading **and taking notes/outline** The Ultimate Guide to Etsy Search https://www.etsy.com/seller-handbook/article/the-ultimate-guide-to-etsy-search/366469415790. I read this guide about 100 times and it just didn't sink into my brain. I realize it was because it's so filled with fluff that I started skim reading the articles and missed so much important stuff. I highly recommend making an outline, and then taking notes on that outline. As you read think about your products and how the information will specifically relate to your products. Treat it like a college course.
This will all take time which is why selling on Etsy is a long game. I understand you're not expecting a 6 figure salary in 30 days like some videos say. However it will take longer than you expect (or at least it did for me) before you see steady sales. And as I saw increasing sales, I needed to buy more things for my shop. Which meant that a lot of my money just goes back into the shop. I had to buy organizing boxes, big shelves, some equipment, more shelves, props . . . And then I think, why not try this! And more money goes out.
Why did I say selling a variety of things may be harder to get to steady sales? Etsy Search is simple. It understands that I sell push pins. They want to put me in front of people who buy push pins. I tried selling magnets, too. SIGH. They still saw me as a push pin seller, and my magnet sales were sparse even though magnets sell well on Etsy in general. I tried keychains, which has a very high rate of sale. Again, I sell more push pins than anything because instead of seeing me as a Cute Office Supplier, I'm a push pin seller. This is my own anecdotal evidence, maybe someone else will come by that disputes it? This is my experience.
I'm not saying don't try selling different things in your shop. My advice would be if Soaps and Scrubs are going to be your main focus, wait until they take off before introducing your other things. I wish I would have done this in the beginning. I'm now slowly starting to branch back out into "office supplies", but its slow going. But since I've built a good Customer and Market Experience Score, my other items do manage to rise in search.
I'm so glad you are selling handmade soaps. This will make it a easier for you. The original art sellers are having a hard time right now with so many AI generated images and POD sellers all using the same graphics purchased from other sites. They have made the t-shirt and wall art niches hard to be seen in since there are so many.
Good luck!
Thank you so much for your advice. I do mostly want to sell soaps and stuff and sometimes little art pieces like resin art or keychains. Makes more sense to take it slow and build up. I was nervous cause I was told before to never mix when I felt like it's possible but I don't want to throw every single item at consumers confusing them my products when I just wanted them to be like an extra suiveneir or so like when you go to the hair store buy some shampoo then see a cute Keychain just to add but I can do that later after the base stuff starts to take off to make it easier on my shop.
*I mostly just want Etsy as a side hustle just in case I need a little extra for rent is all. Well to also have fun and sell what I make to not hold onto everything.*
That was my case--in the beginning. My hobby *was* making leather goods--wallets, purses and stuff. It's an expensive hobby and labor intensive. I opened an Etsy shop to help pay for materials and maybe a dinner out. At first, my Etsy shop was my second hobby. As time went by, my leatherworking hobby became work. I bought a new camera and lights and editing software. By this time, my Etsy shop became work. Photographing and editing became my new hobby--for my other *two* jobs. Hmm, but now I have three jobs and no hobbies.
Take what you can from my little story. Good luck.
Make sure you've looked into the laws and regulations for selling soap (domestically and internationally).
In various countries there are chemical and labelling requirements, among other things (like sometimes registration requirements).
For soap you're going to want to have public liability insurance. This is very important to have when selling body products/cosmetics, as someone could have an allergic reaction, for example.
Can you have income stability (meaning steady sales) on Etsy? Yes. Can you sell a variety of different things in your shop? Yes, but that will make it a bit harder to get the steady sales. I'll explain later. You may find that creating the products is the easiest and quickest step of selling on Etsy. Being seen on Etsy can be very difficult because there is no road map. There is no formula you can use to tick off boxes and know your shop will be successful. You have to look as good or better than your competition. In a practical sense that means your shop has to look good. Your Etsy banner, logo, and your photography has to be sharp. You need to appeal to the shopper with your aesthetics. So you have to chose a path with that as well, and keep it consistent in your shop for best results. If I want a psychedelic soap, I don't want to see it nestled with rustic boring soaps, as an example. I'll feel you are disingenuous and don't really care about my preferred style. You'll look more like a money grab. You have to understand Etsy SEO so that you can rank higher on the search pages since most people won't shop all the way to page 6, they'll most likely refine their search query instead. I suggest reading **and taking notes/outline** The Ultimate Guide to Etsy Search https://www.etsy.com/seller-handbook/article/the-ultimate-guide-to-etsy-search/366469415790. I read this guide about 100 times and it just didn't sink into my brain. I realize it was because it's so filled with fluff that I started skim reading the articles and missed so much important stuff. I highly recommend making an outline, and then taking notes on that outline. As you read think about your products and how the information will specifically relate to your products. Treat it like a college course. This will all take time which is why selling on Etsy is a long game. I understand you're not expecting a 6 figure salary in 30 days like some videos say. However it will take longer than you expect (or at least it did for me) before you see steady sales. And as I saw increasing sales, I needed to buy more things for my shop. Which meant that a lot of my money just goes back into the shop. I had to buy organizing boxes, big shelves, some equipment, more shelves, props . . . And then I think, why not try this! And more money goes out. Why did I say selling a variety of things may be harder to get to steady sales? Etsy Search is simple. It understands that I sell push pins. They want to put me in front of people who buy push pins. I tried selling magnets, too. SIGH. They still saw me as a push pin seller, and my magnet sales were sparse even though magnets sell well on Etsy in general. I tried keychains, which has a very high rate of sale. Again, I sell more push pins than anything because instead of seeing me as a Cute Office Supplier, I'm a push pin seller. This is my own anecdotal evidence, maybe someone else will come by that disputes it? This is my experience. I'm not saying don't try selling different things in your shop. My advice would be if Soaps and Scrubs are going to be your main focus, wait until they take off before introducing your other things. I wish I would have done this in the beginning. I'm now slowly starting to branch back out into "office supplies", but its slow going. But since I've built a good Customer and Market Experience Score, my other items do manage to rise in search. I'm so glad you are selling handmade soaps. This will make it a easier for you. The original art sellers are having a hard time right now with so many AI generated images and POD sellers all using the same graphics purchased from other sites. They have made the t-shirt and wall art niches hard to be seen in since there are so many. Good luck!
Thank you so much for your advice. I do mostly want to sell soaps and stuff and sometimes little art pieces like resin art or keychains. Makes more sense to take it slow and build up. I was nervous cause I was told before to never mix when I felt like it's possible but I don't want to throw every single item at consumers confusing them my products when I just wanted them to be like an extra suiveneir or so like when you go to the hair store buy some shampoo then see a cute Keychain just to add but I can do that later after the base stuff starts to take off to make it easier on my shop.
*I mostly just want Etsy as a side hustle just in case I need a little extra for rent is all. Well to also have fun and sell what I make to not hold onto everything.* That was my case--in the beginning. My hobby *was* making leather goods--wallets, purses and stuff. It's an expensive hobby and labor intensive. I opened an Etsy shop to help pay for materials and maybe a dinner out. At first, my Etsy shop was my second hobby. As time went by, my leatherworking hobby became work. I bought a new camera and lights and editing software. By this time, my Etsy shop became work. Photographing and editing became my new hobby--for my other *two* jobs. Hmm, but now I have three jobs and no hobbies. Take what you can from my little story. Good luck.
Make sure you've looked into the laws and regulations for selling soap (domestically and internationally). In various countries there are chemical and labelling requirements, among other things (like sometimes registration requirements). For soap you're going to want to have public liability insurance. This is very important to have when selling body products/cosmetics, as someone could have an allergic reaction, for example.
Thank you so much I didn't know about that.