Most people start with the product.
They have an idea. They think it’s good.
They spend a week building it. They list it. They wait.
Nothing.
So they adjust the price. Then the title. Then the description. Then they wonder if maybe the niche is too competitive. Then they start on a new product.
Then that one doesn’t sell either.
Here’s the thing nobody wants to say: the product idea is usually the problem. Not the listing, not the price, not the SEO. The product itself was never validated. It was just an idea someone had that they liked.
The fix is simple and takes about 15 minutes. Most people just don’t do it first because it feels like procrastinating instead of building.
It’s not procrastinating. It’s the most important 15 minutes of the whole process.
The Only Research Question That Matters
Forget “Is there demand for this?”
That question is too vague. Everyone answers it with “I think so” and then gets surprised when the answer is no.
The right question is: What are people already buying right now on the exact platform I’m selling on?
Not what seems popular. Not what’s trending on TikTok. What strangers are actually checking out and paying for, today, on Etsy.
That data exists. You just have to know where to look.
Tool 1: ListingView
ListingView pulls real sales data from Etsy listings. Not estimates. Not projections. Actual sales counts, revenue figures, and pricing data for individual products.
You search a category. You see what’s selling. You filter by digital products. You sort by sales volume.
What comes back is a ranked list of what the market has already voted on with money.
That’s your product research.
Specifically, you’re looking for:
Sales momentum. A listing with 5,000 sales over 3 years is different from a listing with 5,000 sales in 6 months. You want momentum. Recent reviews, consistent purchase activity, listings that are clearly being found right now.
Price point in the $9-$47 range. Below $9, you’re fighting volume wars you probably won’t win yet. Above $47, buyers want more trust before they purchase. The $9-$47 window is where strangers will buy from someone they’ve never heard of.
Simple product type. A 30-page PDF guide that’s pulling 10,000 sales is your signal. That’s a category with real demand and a product format you can build in an afternoon.
Reviews with specific language. Read the actual reviews on top listings. What are buyers saying they got out of it? What problem did it solve? That language tells you what to promise in your own listing.
Tool 2: Etsy Search Itself (Free, Underrated)
You don’t need a paid tool to start. Etsy’s own search bar gives you something almost as useful: autocomplete.
Type “digital product” into Etsy search. Look at what populates. Then type “Claude AI” and see what comes up. Then “side hustle guide,” “AI prompts,” “ebook template.”
Every autocomplete suggestion is a search Etsy buyers are actively typing. Not keywords someone guessed. Actual demand.
From there, click into the top listings. Look at:
- How many sales the listing has
- When the last sale happened (check the reviews for dates)
- Whether the listing is “Best Seller” or “Star Seller” badged
- How many listings the shop has â a shop with 50 listings and 2,000 sales is different from a shop with 2 listings and 2,000 sales
You’re building a picture of what wins in a category. Then you make something that fits into that picture with your own angle.
What You’re Actually Looking For: The 3 Signals
After doing this for a while, three signals separate sellable products from ideas that feel good but don’t move.
Signal 1: Proven format + fresh angle.
A category like “AI productivity guide” has proven demand. Your job isn’t to invent the category. Your job is to bring a fresh angle. “AI Productivity Guide for Nurses” or “AI Side Hustle Playbook for Stay-at-Home Parents” is more specific, less competitive, and speaks directly to someone who feels like it was made for them.
The broader version has more searches. The specific version has more conversions. You want conversions.
Signal 2: High sales with low reviews.
This is a sign of a listing that’s getting organic Etsy traffic but hasn’t fully optimized. It means the demand is there, the product is good enough to sell, but there’s room to do it better. Make your version. Get 5 reviews fast (friends and family buy it, leave honest reviews). Now you’re competing on even footing with better social proof and maybe a better listing.
Signal 3: A product that solves a specific problem in a measurable way.
“Productivity tips” is vague. “30-day system to cut your work emails in half” is specific. “AI prompts for copywriters” is specific. “Social media content calendar for Etsy sellers” is specific.
The more specific the problem, the more certain the buyer is that this product is for them.
Certainty converts. Uncertainty doesn’t.
The 15-Minute Research Process (Do This Before You Build Anything)
Open a new doc. Do this in order.
Minutes 1-3: Type 3-5 topic areas you’re considering into Etsy search. Write down the autocomplete suggestions.
Minutes 3-8: Open ListingView or browse the top 10 Etsy results for your best category. Note the top 3-5 products by sales. Write down: title, price, sales count, what the product actually is.
Minutes 8-12: Read the reviews of the top 2 listings. Copy exact language buyers use. “This helped me…” “I was struggling with…” “I didn’t expect it to…” That language is gold. Use it in your listing copy.
Minutes 12-15: Choose your product. Not the most interesting one. The one with the strongest signal.
Done.
Now you build.
What This Research Actually Buys You
The temptation is to skip this and just make something.
I get it. Research feels like not doing anything. Building feels like progress.
But here’s what happens when you skip research: you build for yourself instead of for the buyer. The product makes perfect sense to you. It doesn’t match what someone is typing into search. It doesn’t solve the problem in the way people are already looking for solutions.
And then it doesn’t sell.
And then you assume digital products don’t work.
They work. The research is what makes them work.
Fifteen minutes of looking at what’s already selling before you build anything is the difference between a product that finds buyers and a product that sits in a folder on your desktop.
Want the guide I WISH I had before I started?
How to determine your first product
How to make it with AI
Yeah… Grab it here
