Have you ever wondered how to sell coloring pages on Etsy?
Maybe you are looking for a way to sell your art online or you want to start selling printables and are unsure where to begin.
Colouring pages are a great way to unwind and do something creative.
The recent rise in the popularity of coloring pages on Etsy has led to a new market for artists.
Artists have begun creating digital versions of their work and selling them online.
Whether you’re an artist looking to reach a larger audience or simply looking for a side hustle, selling your work via Etsy may be your answer.
And selling coloring pages may be a good place to start.
In this post, we’ll take you through the steps on how to successfully sell your coloring pages online on Etsy plus we’ll have a look at other options such as Amazon and your own website.
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more information
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Do Coloring Pages Sell On Etsy?
Coloring books are a recent trend, and there is no shortage of buyers on Etsy.
Just like with other Etsy printables businesses, there are so many different options when it comes to coloring pages that it is easy to create a viable business for yourself.
All kinds of coloring pages and books sell really well on Etsy, a quick glance shows the following searches are trending right now:
- Quote coloring pages
- Coloring pages for kids
- Adult mandala coloring pages
How Much Do Coloring Pages Sell For On Etsy?
The average price of a digital coloring page is about one dollar, and there’s no upfront cost involved – perfect for people who want to start their business with as little investment as possible.
You can combine multiple coloring pages into books or bundles and quickly you will have an Etsy shop full of great coloring products that are sure to be flying off the shelves.
If you decide to add in other products such as digital stickers that you design, there is no reason that your Etsy store can’t make thousands every month.
What Printable Coloring Pages Should I Sell on Etsy?
In order to sell coloring pages on Etsy, you must decide what type of design you want for the people who will be using it.
You can focus on high-quality coloring pages for children or adult coloring books and then niche down to a specific kind of coloring page – mandalas or animal pictures for example.
Coloring pages are a popular item to sell on Etsy.
However, selling coloring pages is not as simple as it sounds- you have to find inspiration from Pinterest and other places for clipart.
It’s important that your coloring page has enough detail so that people can easily color the pictures without difficulty.
You could also consider including extra materials such as stickers, stencils, and crayons in order to make the experience more interactive with customers.
Physical v Digital downloads
Before we learn how to sell coloring pages on Etsy, you need to decide whether you are going to sell digital items or physical coloring books.
Physical products are printed and shipped to the customer by the seller.
The downside is that you have to print, package and ship them yourself, meaning when you make a sale your work isn’t done yet.
You will also need to factor in your packaging and shipping costs into your prices plus consider things such as international shipping.
Printable digital files are PDFs or Jpegs that buyers can download and print at home.
These are a great option if shipping from your country would be expensive or you are looking for passive income ideas.
With digital products, you make the item once and then can sell it again and again.
It is one of the best ways to make money online as don’t have any additional work to do once you sell the product. Plus you can sell the same PDF over and over again.
The only downside to selling digital downloads is that some people may have trouble printing their own items.
Of course, you can always offer both physical and digital versions of your products at different price points to solve this issue.
Tools Needed to create Etsy Coloring Pages
Although you can sell out hundreds a year on the full Adobe Suite of creative tools, if you are just starting out, you probably need more budget-friendly options.
Luckily, there are a bunch of free or super cheap options you can use.
My top picks include:
Inkscape (Free)
Inkscape is a free software that allows you to create illustrations and vectors that you can turn into coloring pages.
PicMonkey (14.99 a month)
PicMonkey is not a free program but it a really robust graphic design software that you can use for your Etsy listings and to make lots of different designs.
Procreate ($9.99 one time payment)
Procreate is an app for iPad. It allows you to create all kinds of art and illustrations that you can then upload and sell.
Canva (Free)
This is the best place to start as a newbie, and it is great even for people who are not too artsy.
Canva also has a ton of free elements and graphics that you can use to create your coloring pages.
Other Equipment
You’ll also need an iPad and most likely a computer in order to create your printables.
If you are planning on making physical products, you’ll need to add a printer, paper and shipping materials to the supply list.
Once you have all your tools, it is time to start creating your products!
How to Create a Coloring Page for a Coloring book
There are two approaches to create coloring pages for your coloring book: buy clip art from other websites or design your own using the Inkscape or the Procreate app.
Let’s briefly look at each option:
Using Clipart to create your coloring page
If you want to learn how to sell coloring pages to sell on Etsy and are not really great at art, this is the easiest method for you.
Using clipart, a vector image and other design elements, you can create all kinds of coloring pages in minutes.
All you have to do is arrange the graphics with text on letter sized paper and export it as a PDF.
The most important thing to consider is that you obtain the correct license for the clipart.
For commercial use, you can purchase the rights to use clipart off of a website that sells it.
Even a commercial use license does require that you make substantial changes to the artwork before selling it so you will need to be a bit creative.
Here are some places to get commercially licenses graphics and clipart:
Another option is to find graphics that are in the public domain so are available for you to use for free.
The main thing to be careful about is copyright infringement.
Even though you may see lots of Etsy sellers with digital coloring pages of Disney characters or other licensed characters, it is strictly forbidden on Etsy and you will find your new Etsy shop closed and suspended if you are caught.
Using Inkscape or Procreate to make a coloring book
If you are good at art, then you can create your own drawings on Inkscape or Procreate and then export them as a PDF.
Using your own illustration is the best way to create all types of coloring pages that you know are unique.
You can also create vectors on Inkscape and then import them into Canva and then work from there to create your final coloring sheet.
If you have paper drawings that you want to turn into digital coloring books, you can also do that by importing them to Inkscape and then turning them into Vectors.
How To Turn your Coloring Pages into a Digital Coloring Book
Selling coloring books with multiple pages will make you more money and attract more customers.
Luckily it is super easy to turn your pages into books.
The easiest way to create a digital coloring book is to take all the artwork in PDF form and merge them into one single document.
You can do this using a free online tool such as PDF Merge.
If you are creating your coloring pages on Canva, then you can make a multiple page PDF document with Canva and export as a PDF or PNG file.
Don’t forget to add a cover page to your book!
After you have created your printables, it’s time to head over to Etsy and upload them once they are ready.
Listing Your Coloring Pages on Etsy
Now that you’ve created your artwork, you’re ready to list it on Etsy.
You’ll need an account for Etsy and even if you plan to create printables long-term, then you should take a printable course.
Once your Etsy account is open, you can create your store front.
Listing coloring pages on Etsy is easy!
To get started with listing your coloring page or other creative product on the site, you’ll need so start your own Etsy Shop.
This is completely free to do and only takes a few minutes.
1) Create an account at Etsy.com
2) Select “Shops” from the navigation bar on the left.
3) Click “Add Shop” and select your shop name and title.
4) Enter your website address, payment options, etc.
5) Add a photo of yourself or your art to the listing page (optional).
Create Your First Listing On Etsy
If you created your shop through the link above, you will get 40 free listings to start you off. Normally these are 20 cents each so it’s a nice freebies.
Now you are ready to create your first listing:
Head to the shop icon and then on the left hand menu look for “listings”
Now click the tab in the far right corner that says “create a new listing”
You can now add your listing images, description and all the details to your listing. Make sure to use keywords and tags to help your products get found in the Etsy search.
For tips on how to improve your Etsy SEO, you can download my free cheatsheet.
Promote Your Digital Download Coloring Pages
To promote your digital download coloring pages, you’ll need to target an audience who will be interested in the product.
You can do this by doing a bit of research about the person or people that might purchase these products and then find out what social media platforms they use most frequently.
Once you have figured out who your ideal customer is, it’s time to create effective marketing strategies on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
You want to promote your Etsy shop on social media and especially make use of Pinterest.
This tutorial will show you How To Use Pinterest For Etsy
Other Options For Selling Your Coloring Pages
If you want to sell both digital and physical products, then WooCommerce or Shopify might be your best option. Gumroad is another great site for selling adult coloring pages.
A lot of people also find success in selling their coloring pages and coloring books on Amazon. You can create a book and self-publish it using the Kindle Self Publishing service.
Gumroad
Gumroad is a platform that allows you to sell your coloring sheets and books worldwide.
It has quite a lot of advantages because it is free to start and there are no monthly fees – you only pay when you sell something (Gumroad takes 7% of your sales up to $1000).
Amazon
You can sell both physical and digital coloring books through Amazon Kindle Publishing.
This is a really easy way to get started, especially if you want to sell physically books.
To learn more about selling with Amazon, you can read my full tutorial here.
Your Own Website
You can start a blog and then make money through affiliate marketing, advertising and also selling your coloring pages.
You can start a blog in conjunction with an Etsy store to really boost your sales.
If you want to sell your coloring books directly on your blog, you can use a WordPress Plugin such as WooCommerce or Studiocart.
How To Sell Coloring Pages On Etsy – FAQS
What are the bestselling coloring pages?
Depending on the audience you are going after, there are all kinds of coloring pages that sell really well on Etsy.
One kind are Disney and character coloring sheets however, you have to have a special license to sell these.
Here are some other popular coloring page ideas to try:
- Mandalas
- Seasonal Pages such as Christmas, Easter, Valentines etc
- Slogans and affirmations
- Printable adult coloring pages
- Funny designs (one Etsy seller struck gold with coloring pages made with swear words).
How do you protect/sign your designs?
One thing a lot of designers worry about is how to copyright your designs.
Obviously no one wants their work copied and especially when selling digital downloads is kind of an honor system.
Although your work is automatically copyrighted, you can also officially copyright your designs which will help in a dispute.
Most people don’t bother doing that but it is not as daunting as you might think. It also be relatively can be affordable if you copyright coloring books versus individual pages.
How To Price Your Etsy Coloring Sheets
The easiest way to decide how to price your coloring sheets is to do some research. Take some time on Etsy to see what is already selling.
You don’t want to price you stuff too high but you also don’t want to be the cheapest.
Aim for somewhere in the middle. You can always adjust the pricing with sales and promotions as time goes on.
Tips For Pricing Your Own Colouring Pages
To determine the price you list on Etsy, use your market research to see what other people doing.
First, look up your competition and see what they charge. Price your items competitively while maintaining your profit margins.
Remember that most people hate paying for shipping so if you can offer free shipping while still making a profit, then this is a great option to attract potential customers.
To decide on a price, consider the following:
- The cost of your materials
- Packaging supplies
- Shipping fees
- Your Etsy fees
- Your profit margin (ideally at least 25%)
You need to cover all your costs (materials, fees, shipping) and make a profit.
How Much Are Etsy Fees?
An important piece of the Etsy puzzle is the fees that you will be charged for listings and sales.
Listing Fees
You will be charged a listing fee of $0.20 USD for each item that you list for sale on Etsy.com or Etsy’s mobile apps.
(Don’t forget to take advantage of the 40 free listings when you open your shop to save some cash).
Transaction Fees
Every time you make a sale through Etsy, you will be charged a transaction fee of 6.5% of the price you display for each listing plus the amount you charge for delivery.
Etsy will automatically deduct all fees owed from your payment account so you do not need to pay them separately.
How To Sell Coloring Sheets On Etsy – Final Thoughts
When you’re an artist and your hobby is coloring, it’s normal to want to share your work with others.
But where do you start? How can you make money from something that might not be considered art by some people? Selling on Etsy!
Learn to sell your coloring sheets on Etsy and make money from your passion!
Making and selling a colouring book or two is a low-cost way to start your own Etsy store and make money online.
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