If you’re looking to start a business online, but you’re stuck because you’re not sure what even to sell then read this post.

I’ll cover five of the best products that are low-cost yet highly profitable to start making and selling online. 

I know so many people who are stuck in the ideation phase of starting a business that they never get started! 

And I get that because we all want to choose a product with the highest chance of success, right? 

And a product that’s also not super costly to start with but has the potential to make you a ton of money.

Product Idea # 1: Jewelry 

Jewelry is timeless.

Most people wear jewelry, and they never stop buying them. 

While it’s true that it’s competitive, consider that there’s so much demand for it and people shop for it year-round. 

You can still be successful with a jewelry shop today. There’s a highly perceived value when it comes to jewelry, which means that people who shop for it are already pretty much expecting to spend a good amount on it. 

There’s really no ceiling to how much you can charge for it, and that makes it highly profitable. 

Especially if you can position your jewelry to have a higher perceived value, like with your branding, photography, and jewelry design and even with the materials you choose to use. 

When it comes to the cost of making jewelry, the price can vary, but you are in control of what materials and tools you want to use. 

You can absolutely make stunning jewelry with low-cost materials and earn a high profit from it. 

You can experiment with so many different kinds of materials and even get into doing mixed media as a way to stand out from the crowd. 

Product Idea # 2: Digital Products 

There are so many pros to selling digital products. 

You don’t ever have to worry about storage, shipping fees, or product defects, and you make the product once, and it sells over and over again for you. 

One of the most popular digital products is online courses.

With all the software and platforms out there nowadays, and you probably already own some of them, or they’re free to use, it’s so much more accessible to create a course and put it up online yourself. 

Creating online courses isn’t just low-cost in terms of money but also in terms of time. 

Yes, it can take months and sometimes even years to develop a course. 

It took me a year to create A Sale A Day, my signature course, but once the upfront work is done and your course is up and running, it becomes a source of passive income that will keep generating income for you, for years to come, without having to do the work over and over again every time you make a sale. 

Of course, it’s not truly passive as I have to spend time supporting my students and updating the program, but my income with this course is more scalable, which means greater profits for me. 

People always want to learn new things, practice an existing skill, or just simply want to start a new hobby for fun, so there’s always going to be demand for what you can teach. 

Now before you say, “I couldn’t do that. I’m not knowledgeable enough in anything to teach people,” hear me out. 

Take a few minutes to think about all the things you’re good at that other people ask you about or admire your skill in. 

Are you good at crocheting cute clothes? Knitting? Creating furniture? Making jewelry? 

Whatever skill or hobby you have, you could make a course about it.

Even things you do for fun can be turned into a profitable online course. 

All with using your phone’s camera, free editing software like iMovie or if your course can be taught using presentation slides, you can use Google Slides to make those and add in your voice! 

Product Idea # 3: Artwork 

Artwork is another digital product you can sell. 

Customers can buy your digital art and print it themselves. 

Digital art sells for less than an original physical piece of art, but digital art is a way to reach many more customers, making your artwork accessible to them too and not just to high-profile art collectors. 

This way, your digital art can also become a passive income stream, as anyone at any time can buy from you. 

Digital art can be more cost-efficient to create, too. If you already have a computer or a tablet, then you have all the canvases you’ll ever need. 

If you have a stylus, then you have all the paint brushes or pencils you’ll ever need, all built into one.

Do you see where I’m going with this? 

Materials to create art, like oils, paints, brushes, and pencils, can add up over time.

Of course, you can still absolutely make your art with traditional media and digitalize it later to make digital art that’s still profitable to sell! 

Also, if you’re an artist or designer, you can design and sell templates using Canva.

You can use a free Canva account if you don’t need to get fancy with custom fonts or if you don’t need paid graphics. 

Canva templates are so in demand; whether it’s thank you notes or party invitations, or social media post templates, there are so many things you can make and sell using Canva. 

Product Idea # 4: Cosmetics 

The beauty industry is gigantic. 

As of 2021, it was a $511 billion industry, and it only keeps growing year after year. 

One of the most popular types of cosmetics is mineral makeup. 

Unlike regular makeup, mineral makeup is in such high demand because it’s gentler on the skin and helps reduce acne problems since it doesn’t contain chemicals, fragrances, or dyes. 

And did you know that it is actually cheaper to make mineral makeup at home, rather than buying it in the store? 

And it’s simple. 

You only need a few affordable ingredients, and those ingredients have a very long shelf life that will last at least twice as long. 

This means that starting your own mineral makeup line at home is extremely low cost.

Since it’s also in such high demand, you can really markup your products because, you know, people will pay an arm and a leg for beauty, and with the right sales strategies, you can make a lot of money from it. 

Nail polish is another great product in this industry to sell. 

Lots of people have turned to DIY nail art or have started small businesses doing nails at home, which requires them to have a healthy stock of different nail polish. 

There are just three simple ingredients needed to make nail polish that you can easily find at very affordable prices. 

A little goes a long way, so you can make many bottles of a variety of beautiful nail polish colors with minimal ingredients.

Hair care is also a successful niche in cosmetics. 

You can make so many different kinds of hair products, but hair masks are especially popular right now, and they are so simple to make. 

The best hair masks tend to have all-natural ingredients that can all be found in any grocery store.

Ingredients can vary, but popular ingredients include coconut oil, honey, aloe vera, olive oil, eggs, and bananas. 

These are relatively cheap ingredients, and a little bit goes a very long way in creating several bottles of your very own hair care line.  

Product Idea # 4 : Skincare 

Speaking of the beauty industry, skincare may arguably be even more sought after than cosmetics. 

There are a ton of skincare products you can create, and going over all of them in one video is impossible, but here are a couple of ideas you can try.

A widespread pain point for a lot of people is moisturizing dry skin, which is why body scrubs and lotions sell very well. 

Similar to cosmetics, making products for skin care is very accessible in terms of finding ingredients and the cost of making them. 

Lotion really only needs three to four affordable ingredients, and body scrubs can have anywhere between two to five simple ingredients. 

To give you an idea of how low cost this is, the ingredients in body scrubs are things like sugar, coffee grounds, salt, and an oil of your choice (like coconut, olive, or jojoba). 

You can make several bottles of body scrub with one round of ingredients. 

The market for body scrubs has been growing each year steadily, which means people are always looking to buy.

Product Idea # 5: Essential Oils 

We love essential oils because they smell so good, and they’re also great for aromatherapy which can help with improving both mental and physical health.

You can easily make essential oils at home.

You can distill your own oils at home, or an even easier way is to make your own blends using existing essential oils you can buy wholesale from suppliers online. 

You can always experiment to see which method works best for you. 

People pay money for essential oils because it’s related to a person’s health and well-being and can address specific problems like stress or headaches or lack of sleep. 

So, those are five of the best low-cost, highly profitable products to sell online that’ll actually make you money. 

Did any of them catch your eye? 

Let me know the comments!

I hope this post has been helpful to you. 

Thank you for reading! You can also check out my YouTube Channel for more tips and tricks on how to grow your handmade business.