How I made $16,000 Selling Greeting cards on Etsy

If you’re interested in a step by step guide on selling greeting cards on Etsy, read my article “How to start a stationery business in 10 steps!”

Starting an Etsy shop can feel overwhelming, especially when juggling life’s big moments!

But I found a way to turn my passion for greeting cards into a steady stream of income with minimal but faithful effort.

Below I’ll share my journey selling greeting cards on Etsy for the past 4 years, including screenshots of my statistics each year!

If you’re thinking about selling greeting cards on Etsy or starting a creative side hustle, I hope my journey offers insights, encouragement, and practical tips!

Getting Started: A Rocky Beginning (December 2020)

Like many Etsy sellers, I opened my shop with high hopes and little experience. My first products were print-on-demand Christmas cards, but I quickly realized that:

Print-on-demand quality wasn’t great, and profit margins were too low.

Custom orders weren’t for me. Etsy is a fantastic place to sell custom orders, but I’m just not interested in a lot of back and forth with a customer unless I know them personally.

Print on demand shipping costs ate into my margins terribly.

Despite these setbacks, my family and friends purchased their Christmas cards from my new little shop, which gave me a little nest egg to invest in new card designs.

I knew that I ultimately wanted to make sales from real customers on the internet—not just my friend’s and family. But I had never done that before, so I wasn’t sure if it was possible!

The First Big Pivot: Taking Control of Production

After evaluating what wasn’t working, I made some key business decisions that I still like to this day:

✔️ I ditched print-on-demand and ordered high-quality cards from an online family-owned print shop. I searched and searched to find a wholesaler I could use that offered competitive prices for a small shop like me. I wasn’t in the position to order thousands and thousands of cards!

✔️ I chose to store and ship cards myself to improve quality control and profits.

✔️ I optimized shipping costs by inventing my own method to ship individual greeting card orders for less than the cost of a stamp!

With the money from the sales to my friends and family, and these new strategies, I set about designing my next cards.

Because the cost per card was the cheapest starting at an order of 75 cards, I purchased 75 of 2 card designs. Looking back, this was a huge mistake! I should have paid more per card and ordered fewer of more types of designs to stay diversified. Fortunately for me, it worked out anyway!

Finding My First Niche & Making My First Organic Sale (2021)

The first card I ever sold! Looking back, it is too generic to usually do well online.

January 2021 brought my very first organic sale! It was a simple hygge-themed card, but that small win still excites me to this day! I’ll never forget my first customer’s name. I had never before sold anything to a stranger!

The second card we ordered 75 of was a niche themed Valentine’s Day Card. Even though I didn’t know what I was doing, my timing was perfect. We sold all 75 cards! I remember crying because I couldn’t give my husband his valentine, because it sold!

With our pricing at the time, I profited about $3 per card sold. So I made $225 pure profit off of one Valentine’s Day card!

After this success, for the rest of the year I doubled down on that niche while still creating other cards I enjoyed, and learning as much as I could.

Alongside growing the Etsy store, our family also grew! The pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum period obviously took tremendous amounts of time and effort. I was very pleased with the growth the store saw despite all of these personal milestones going on! (If you’re interested in that kind of thing, you can read Ruby’s birth story here!)

At the end of my first year, I had sold 451 cards!

My 2021 Etsy Statistics

Running an Etsy Store while Moving (2022)

In 2022 we moved houses! Once again, my focus had to shift from the Etsy store to all the logistical challenges of moving, selling, and buying a house.

In between houses we lived in an Airbnb for a month, but I was still able to easily bring my inventory and fulfill orders from my temporary address.

I was impressed with the flexibility of my business!

Upgrading My Etsy Game

In it’s second year, as my shop grew, I made a few key investments:

✔️ First, I adjusted my strategy to ordering just 10 copies of new designs to test demand before making larger orders.

✔️ I invested in an Erank subscription to help me research keywords and improve Etsy SEO. I actually experimented with several services before landing on this one as my favorite. It only costs $5.99 per month!

✔️ I purchased this compact Photo Booth. Previously I took pictures outside on days when the weather was good. This made it so much easier to take professional-looking product photos indoors.

This is the Photo Booth I have. It’s simple, but really does the trick! I love that it folds up flat so I can store it easily when not in use.

Customer Service = Five-Star Reviews

I created a no-hassle refund & replacement policy for lost orders:

✔️ If a card gets lost in the mail, I immediately refund the customer once the delivery promise is past.

✔️ Often, I send a replacement too, to built trust and goodwill.

✔️ This approach has helped me maintain excellent reviews and keep happy customers!

The nice thing about having a stationery store on Etsy, is that the products are so cheap that I can afford to be generous.

By continuing to work on it when I was able, I sold 759 cards on Etsy and made over $4K in revenue!

My 2022 Etsy Statistics

Growing the Business While Expanding My Family (2023)

In 2023 we had another baby girl! Once again I was grateful for the (mostly) passive income while focusing on my pregnancy and baby.

As in previous years, the shop was running smoothly, and I was adding new designs when I had time. Some designs sold well, while others flopped. But instead of getting discouraged, I kept increasing my total number of listings over time.

My 2023 Etsy Statistics

Where My Etsy Business Stands Today (2024 & Beyond)

Now, in 2024, my Etsy shop is a low-maintenance side income.

✔️ I fulfill orders as they come in.

✔️ I work on new designs in my free time.

✔️ I reorder my bestsellers and occasionally add fresh designs to my shop.

My 2024 Etsy Statistics

Overall traffic to Etsy has been down this past year because of broader economic trends. My store has definitely suffered, but not as much as some others!

Key Lessons from My Etsy Journey

✔️ Niches Matter!

The right niche can make or break a product. My niche Valentine’s Day card was my first major success, and focusing on similar styles helped me grow.

✔️ The Best-Selling Card Types Are Seasonal & Personal

The demand for single greeting cards that sell best in the U.S. is highest for:

✔️ Valentine’s Day

✔️ Mother’s Day & Father’s Day

✔️ Birthdays (at least half of your store should be birthday, because these cards can sell all year long!)

These are the occasions when people are most likely to buy a unique, individual card.

✔️ Life Happens and That’s Okay!

Between moving homes and having three babies, I couldn’t dedicate as much time to my Etsy shop as I would have liked. But it still provided a steady, passive income that I could scale when time allowed!

✔️ Test Small Before Ordering Big

Ordering 10 copies of a new design before committing to a big order saved me so much money and allowed me to test designs and find best-sellers!

✔️ Customer Service Builds Trust & Loyalty

Quick refunds and free replacements = happy customers + great reviews = more sales in the long run!

Final Thoughts: Would I Do It Again?

Absolutely! Even with the challenges of balancing family life and a small business, my Etsy greeting card shop has been a fun, profitable, and rewarding journey.

Obviously I haven’t made a life-changing amount of money from Etsy. But as a busy stay at home mom I feel grateful that I have been able to earn money at home!

Instead of treating it like a high-pressure business, I’ve allowed my Etsy shop to fit naturally into my life, and that has made it an enjoyable, sustainable income stream!

If you’re thinking about selling on Etsy, here’s my advice:

✔️ Start small and test your niche.

✔️ Invest in keyword research and great product photos.

✔️ Be generous with customers, it pays off.

✔️ Let your shop grow at your own pace, and don’t give up on it!

Have you ever thought about selling greeting cards on Etsy? Drop your questions below, I love to help!