Good day, everyone! This is Masha Kaganovich, a marketer at Western Bid. Today’s material is a follow-up to the previous live session and article, about paintings. I’m writing a continuation because you left so many questions. So, I’m analyzing and finding the best niches, what will sell better in the paintings.
We will talk about birds. You asked, right? I probably analyzed more than a hundred different birds. A lot of birds. Then borscht, dumplings — you asked about national dishes. Next, we’ll talk about American food, American national dishes. You asked about male figures in paintings. So, next is string art — this is an art of drawing with thread. Painting on fabric, clothing, shoes, and ACEO — small cards-miniatures.
Therefore, in today’s material, if you’re interested in these niches in paintings, I will analyze them, review, say which are good, and which are not very. And in which you can delve deeper and find something interesting for yourself to sell your art on Etsy and other marketplaces.
How to find trends: start with Target
So, as always, I first go to the Target website and see what’s trending, right? What birds, what paintings, what styles. I highly recommend you do this. So, in this case, when I started searching for birds, I simply searched for bird wall art. It’s clear that there are no original paintings here.
It often happens that Marmalade shows excellent demand, but there are no sales at all in stores. And vice versa. Sometimes Marmalade indicates there’s no search at all, but actually there is.
Let me give you an example. Recently, I searched on Etsy for a gift for my cousin’s 50th birthday. I typed “50th birthday present for man personalised.” Marmalade showed me, just out of curiosity, that there were fewer than 25 searches per month. Seriously? A personalised gift for a man for his 50th birthday with less than 25 searches a month? Of course, the sales in stores are skyrocketing, right?
And people who rely solely on analysis tools cannot just find such niches without knowing or exploring that market. That’s why, always, every niche—regardless of whether you use Marmalade or E-Rank—you must check and look on Etsy as well.
Example of a successful shop: Slavi Art
A shop from Bulgaria — Slavi Art, with 24 thousand sales. It’s run by a woman who mainly paints with watercolors. In general, she has quite a few items in her shop. Note that she sells sets. This is also very, very important for art — selling not just one painting but two, three, five together. Because people often have large walls and can’t or simply don’t want to hang just one small picture.
Just look at her shop. It’s called Slavi Art. She’s very attentive to trends and writes what will likely be popular now: ducks. Well, her content can be a good example from competitors. She also shows her sales, what sold best in her shop. So, this way, you can find interesting niches by just observing successful competitors and seeing what kinds of paintings have been selling recently.
I analyzed the niche with birds, but here also dogs, bears. By the way, a flamingo has appeared. So, maybe Marmalade shows something incorrectly. Because there has been high sales of flamingos in stores. Marmalade indicates good demand, but now it’s fallen. Not drastically, though. All kinds of exotic animals — Axolotl. Also, pay attention to the competition too.
The best niches with birds
I identified the following good niches:
1. Heron
Yes, look. First — it’s Heron. A heron — a heron. If you noticed, I took this idea again from Target. Yes, I saw that it’s there. And look at June, August. If you think that for each bird I analyzed, there was a pattern — no, not at all. But I see based on real sales on Etsy and a spike in June and August. You know, if there are fewer than 5,000 competitors in the paintings, it’s a good niche.
2. Dove
See, this is a white dove. Usually called Dove. Again, there was demand in March, May. Okay, if Marmalade shows 33 searches per month with less than 3-4 or 5 thousand competitors. Then you can start selling in this niche — a dove.
3. Pigeon
Also Pigeon. A pigeon — a common pigeon, not white, but regular. There was also a spike in June. I usually look at what has been in demand in recent months. Of course, that does not guarantee demand in September, October, November. But still, it’s a better indicator than what was five years ago, right? Pigeon Painting 43. Engagement 310. Competition 1900. Perfect, right?
4. Farmyard Animals
Also the theme of farm animals: goose, chicken, cow. Pay attention to this. For some reason, there’s demand for geese. People love their Country House or, generally, traditional realistic paintings. In brief, paintings with geese. Again, searches are small but there. Engagement and fewer than 5000 competitors.
5. Robin
Next is Robin Painting. A bird — a robin with the red-orange throat. 26 searches, engagement, and fairly low competition.
6. Parrot — one of the best niches
And last — parrots. If you saw, there was also a lot of parrots. Demand for parrots was good over all 5 years. It repeats: June, October, July. So, I would highlight this particular parrot as one of the best. Maybe compare it with a heron, right? Heron and parrot.
Notice that these birds — parrots and herons — are shown here. Just an incredible tool, right? Just go to Target and check trends there.
Additional tip: birds with flowers
Another tip I can give regarding birds — it’s very beautiful and stylish to decorate birds with flowers. That is, painting birds with some headgear of flowers. Thanks to finding such stunning paintings and high demand for birds with crowns, I started to look further.
Bonus niche: African women with headdress
I found another interesting niche — African women, who often wear such turbans, you know? Such beautiful headpieces, called headdresses, or headscarves. Hard to describe, better to see. Here’s how it looks. I see some shops have good sales in this area. Look, for instance, she has flowers instead of hair. So, all in this style. Floral majesty. Very, very popular.
National dish: borscht and dumplings
Next is borscht. I found nothing on this topic. Just showing you that borscht is a kind of exotic dish. It’s better to sell borscht recipes. Of course, competition is very low, almost none.
If we go to Etsy and look, there are only a few shops with borscht-related items and a couple of posters. Well, I thought, maybe they are truly selling, right? I checked one shop for their borscht item. It has 113 sales, and you can see if there were sales of the borscht.
Sales speak for themselves. No one bought the borscht here, although it’s listed. I checked another shop with borscht. Again, to see if it’s selling. Just illustrating how you need to analyze and check. Having competition for borscht does not mean it sells. Out of 8 paintings, none is a borscht. So, it’s not a promising niche.
American food: burgers
Let’s move to American food. By the way, there was a question in the comments about whether you can use words like McDonald’s or Burger King — popular chains. No, you can’t. Because those are trademarks. Why use those words? Some might search for McDonald’s, but it’s better not to use those names. Just write Bumper Painting. Why make it complicated?
See, someone still searches for McDonald’s, your search will still appear, understand? For Burger Painting. Competition 1000. Searches present. Engagement is small, especially in July. Again, looking at shops, I see they have sales of burger-related items. For example, one picture with McDonald’s. If McDonald’s sees this, they could say something about it.
Male figure in paintings
Regarding male figures. You know, nothing special apart from gay art, right? You understand what I mean. There’s a competition of 60 thousand, yes? And there are searches and engagement. They have been around for five years. So, in principle, if you like this kind of imagery, you can dig deeper.
But be careful. Recently, Etsy has strengthened rules on nudity. My own material was even removed. So, depending on what you show, it can be problematic. Watch out for some artworks that might be flagged.
If it’s a clear gay-themed image, like an anonymous face or torsos, without explicit details, it’s usually safe. Just don’t get banned for that. If you want to depict nudity, check Etsy’s latest rules. Be very cautious with this issue, maybe even obscure some parts.
String Art — art with thread
Next topic — string art. This is art of drawing with thread. Of course, competition is quite high, but I’ll tell you — for general words, less than 50,000 results for such a broad term is actually very low. Because it’s a generic term, right? Competition even for such broad terms is medium, I’d say.
What are the searches? What’s the engagement? What does this tell us? It indicates that if we look deeper, we will find more interesting niches.
Promising sub-niches in String Art
Indeed, they exist:
- String art kit / String art kits, right?
- Christmas string art — competition drops to 16 thousand. 285, 64 — right? There are searches and engagement.
- Custom string art — people send you a photo, and an artist draws a portrait with threads, your own portrait. Look at the frame here, right? An amazing thread portrait. I guarantee it will sell if you can do this.
- String art template — also sells well. A template for string art.
- String art portrait — also from the same series. Personalized, but with much lower competition. Use these as your keywords.
Clothing and footwear paintings
Regarding the niche of clothing and portrait painting, painting on clothes — very simple. Do NOT do this. It sells very poorly. Look, “hand painted clothes,” right? Competition exists. Check sales in such shops. Usually one or two stars, sometimes one or none. Overall, I dislike this niche. But if you really want to pursue it, I’ll give you two tips.
First, hand painted jacket. Specific phrase. This means a jacket painted on the back. And I suggest you consider the wedding niche. Of course, good marketing packaging is essential. Look, there was demand in February, and for the last five years too. Engagement is visible here.
But what sells better? Custom painted shoes. The demand has been consistent for five years. With good searches, engagement, and competition. But, when it comes to this niche, it’s probably mostly for weddings. And the prices are different, of course, with a corresponding demand. So, all things related to wedding art — that’s what I’d call it.
ACEO — miniature paintings
Last topic. Let’s finish on a positive note. Next is ACEO. If you don’t know what it is, I’ll tell you. ACEO — artwork. It’s a small original painting. Size 64 mm by 89 mm. About 2.5 by 3.5 inches.
This is a fantastic niche. The term ACEO is used by few in searches, which is understandable — it’s too broad. But in this broad term, there are 18 thousand competitors. It means that anyone using the word ACEO in tags or titles is limited. Again, promising for long-tail niche searches.
Keywords for ACEO
- ACEO Original Art — competition drops immediately, searches grow.
- ACEO Art Cards — 189 searches, engagement 673. Narrowing the niche.
- ACEO Painting — add this keyword.
- ACEO Landscape
- ACEO Oil Painting
Add some words or just “Art,” and see that competition decreases while searches and engagement remain high.
Why ACEO is a great niche
I saw these paintings but didn’t pay attention to them earlier, didn’t analyze. After a detailed review, honestly, I even want to buy such paintings and start collecting them. An incredible niche.
It includes watercolor and oil paintings. Look at how to properly package and showcase these paintings. Packaging is often overlooked but critical. People care whether it’s an original work. Showing the creation process in a video can be very effective. Overall, an excellent niche.
What’s important for success
Having good taste and interesting, trending ideas is key. Sometimes, a shop might have been open since 2006, but all sales happen only in the last year. Maybe the shop was long inactive, and now the owner is seriously selling, and sales are very good. You can tell from reviews.
Conclusion
What niches are currently best-selling on Etsy for paintings?
Brightly demanded niches are parrots, herons, robins, and farm animals (geese, chickens, cows). These have low competition and steady seasonal peaks, making them promising for artists.
Is it worth trying to paint national dishes like borscht or dumplings?
No, the niche for borscht and dumplings hardly sells. Shops upload such art but have no sales. American food, like burgers, are much more promising — they have real demand, engagement, and regular sales.
What’s profitable in unconventional art formats like string art or ACEO?
In string art, the best niches are: string art kits, custom string art, thread portraits, and templates. ACEO miniatures are among the most underrated but profitable niches: low competition, good demand, and a chance to stand out with originality.
Well, I hope this material was helpful and interesting. In the next session, I will continue the topic of paintings and additional research I’ve done upon your requests. Goodbye everyone!
