Work for 3 months and lie down for a year. He makes millions a year doing e-commerce as a sideline in the United States

Before and after the holidays, A-shares soared, and a group of sellers even joked: They will stop selling goods for the time being and focus on A-shares. Of course, this is just a joke after all.

After the holidays, Amazon's autumn promotion came, and some people continued to be worried about sales, but Yien.com also noticed that some sellers said that their sales were up compared to the past. A survey of sellers showed that 40% of sellers said that their sales increased by 1-3 times, and 5% of sellers' sales increased by more than 10 times.

Although it is always said that cross-border transactions are becoming more difficult every year, in the overseas e-commerce market, there are still many small individual sellers who make a lot of money by using creative products.

Can you rest for a year by working on a side job for 3 months?

In 2021, Kyle , a full-time abstract artist , suffered a setback in his career. He didn't sell any of his works for several months. In order to survive, he decided to start a side job.

As a person working in the art industry, Kyle likes to pay attention to practical art products, such as fabrics, on various social media platforms in his daily life .

“Setting up a stall is not feasible because there are frequent robberies and it is not very convenient for my creations,” Kyle said, so he set his sights on Etsy, which focuses on handicrafts and has an average of 400 million visits per month .

But after being online for a while, Kyle found that his fabric products had no sales, and "I only had $37 in my pocket."

The embarrassing situation caused Kyle great pressure. At this time, he saw a collage on his wall. The thought of “Why can’t I try clip art products” flashed through his mind. With the mentality of “It’s okay to fail again”, he began to make colorful collages.

At the end of 2021, Kyle removed the original products from his Etsy store. "I plan to start directly with the animation IP," so Kyle started with classic animation characters such as "The Simpsons," "Rick and Morty," and "SpongeBob SquarePants" to create derivative works. However, before they were put on the shelves, he saw the news that the producer had won the infringement lawsuit against the above-mentioned IPs. Kyle suddenly realized that he had overlooked the copyright issue.

But he was not discouraged. He quickly picked up the paintbrush again and created 10 colorful collages with the themes of pets, flowers, plants and celebrities. He successfully earned his first pot of gold from his side job.

Kyle then signed a contract with an art gallery to continue his main business, while also taking care of his collage business on Etsy . According to him, by the end of 2022, the average monthly sales of his side business will be about $6,000. By 2023, his side business has brought Kyle nearly $200,000 in net profit .

" Last year was crazy. I had no inspiration for a while, so I was creating collages, so my side income also skyrocketed. In July alone , my income on Etsy reached $30,000, and most other months were over $10,000 . "

In other words, Kyle 's side income last year reached at least 140,000 US dollars, equivalent to about 990,000 RMB, nearly 1 million.

Kyle said, "If I focus on collages, I can complete the amount of work I create on Etsy in a year in just one quarter, leaving me 9 months to do nothing , but I don't want to give up my dream of being a painter. 'Make Your Own Collage Art! Make Your Own Art!' "

Hair salon owner earns $380,000 from wig business

Before the epidemic, Jennika ran a hair salon in Chicago. She didn't have any particularly lofty ambitions, such as expanding the salon or turning it into a chain brand. She just hoped to have a stable income to support her three children.

But with the outbreak of the epidemic, offline activities have become sparse, Jennika's hair salon is unable to make ends meet, and its business is almost stagnant. One day, her little daughter who loves Barbie dolls was preparing for cosplay at home, but was worried about not having a suitable wig.

Jennika suddenly had an idea, "Maybe I can try making wigs." Based on her experience in running a hair salon, Jennika is no stranger to wigs.

At the beginning of 2022, Jennika found that many people would buy wigs through e-commerce platforms. At the same time, many cosplayers would also customize them online, especially on Etsy .

Jennika seized the business opportunity and quickly registered a store on Etsy . After listing some wigs in the images of classic characters, she also stated on the store page that the wigs can be designed and customized according to the coser's head size and other external characteristics.

This business quickly brought her considerable income, and has generated over $380,000 in revenue since its launch.

Although Jennika is unwilling to disclose product unit prices and other customization service fees , judging from the Etsy platform, the price of a handmade wig ranges from tens to hundreds of dollars, and there are even products that cost up to 700 dollars. If customization is included, the charges will only be higher .

According to Jennika, it only takes her half a day to make a wig by hand. "My hair salon is still open for business, so I use my spare time to run my business on Etsy , including making wigs. "

Today, Jennika is focusing on both her main business and her side business. Although in fact, the amount of energy she puts into the two is quite different, she said that the difference between the income from her Etsy shop and the hair salon is not that big. However, when asked whether she would consider closing the hair salon and focusing on Etsy , Jennika said she would not consider it, "Running a hair salon makes me happier, and running Etsy only helps me increase my income. "

18-year-old female college student uses Chinese embroidery as a sideline job on Etsy

Like Kyle and Jennika, Paula also started her own side business on Etsy .

Last year, Paula , who was only 18 years old, learned Chinese embroidery in her school's interest course and has since fallen madly in love with this handicraft activity.

The image is not related to the respondent's product

"I bought a lot of fabrics, and also bought embroidery threads of various colors and other cutting tools on Chinese e-commerce platforms. I was so obsessed with this art that I started making so many that I couldn't even fit them in my apartment."

Later, the Chinese teacher who taught Paula this course told her that she could put her works on the Etsy platform for sale. From then on, Paula began to become a small seller of handicraft products.

It is understood that her embroidery can be used in a series of home areas such as tablecloths, sofa covers, curtains, bed sheets, quilt covers, pillowcases, etc. She will also create different embroidery according to different uses. "I will embroider clouds and flowers on curtains; embroider grass on quilt covers and pillowcases, and often look for Chinese elements to create. Of course, I still pay more attention to American fashion. I will also embroider Iron Man."

On Etsy, the lowest price for Paula 's embroidery is $40 , and the highest price is currently $170. "Some customers will come to me directly to tell me what they need, and I will embroider according to their needs. The price of customized products will be higher, but the difference is not big."

Currently, Paula's side business income from Etsy is enough to support her university tuition and living expenses, and even has a surplus. "It can satisfy my hobbies and make money, so why not do it?"

As for whether she will continue to engage in embroidery in the future, or become a full-time worker on Etsy after graduation, Paula said that everything is possible. Based on the current efficiency and sales situation, she said that if she were to work full-time, her annual income on Etsy could reach 300,000 US dollars .

Even if they don't put all their energy into Etsy, they can still earn impressive incomes on the platform just by spending their spare time on it. Compared with Amazon, Etsy's competition is not that fierce, but this platform has many barriers for sellers, and it pays special attention to product differentiation, so it is not easy to enter.

sideline

Big profit