5 Niches to Avoid as an Artist with an Online Handmade Business in 2026

If you’re an artist or you run a handmade business, chances are you’ve heard that you should pick a niche. But not every niche is a good niche. Some are completely oversaturated, others have really thin profit margins, and others are not great to explore anymore.

So in this video, I’ll be sharing 5 niches that would be good to avoid as an artist or handmade business in 2026. Hi, my name is Sterling, and I’m the artist behind Cactus Lady Creation. Each week, I share insights from my 8 years of running my art business here on this channel.

It’s also good to note that these niches may work for some people, especially in certain contexts, which we’ll also discuss. But overall, these are my insights based on research and personal experience, and I’ve come to the conclusion that these niches are an uphill battle if you have an online art business in 2026.

Please let me know your thoughts as well, and let’s keep this an uplifting artist community where we share and exchange ideas.

 

Generic Printable Art & Wall Quotes

Alright, so the first niche to avoid in 2026 is generic printable art and wall quotes. Selling digital downloads like printable art seems like a great product offering because there’s no inventory, no shipping, and zero manufacturing. But the main reason to avoid it is oversaturation.

The printable art space, especially for generic wall art like minimalist quotes, simple abstract art, and mass-market designs, is absolutely flooded with listings. Thousands and thousands of shops are competing for the same buyers. This means your product often gets lost in the noise unless you carve out a very specific niche, which is a point made well in an article by Tasha’s Collection.

According to an article by Dropbox, digital art marketplaces are often oversaturated, with limited ways for sellers to differentiate and customize their listings.

A research report by Data Intelo shows that the global art print market reached $12.7 billion USD in 2024 and is projected to reach $24.6 billion USD by 2033. This growth is fueled by a surge in e-commerce art platforms and a growing consumer preference for affordable, aesthetically appealing art for residential and commercial spaces.

So it’s really important with printable wall art to make sure your product stands out. You also want to be clear on who your ideal client is and what kind of designs they’re drawn to. The more solid you are on this, the better. And if you’re still not sure who your products are for, check out the video “STOP Marketing to Everyone and Find Your Ideal Client” next.

 

 

Basic Handmade Jewelry

The next niche to avoid is handmade jewelry with no clear niche or unique identity. If you sell generic jewelry, like simple beaded chains, minimalist basics, or standard charm bracelets with no clear audience or story, you’re competing with hundreds or thousands of similar sellers at very similar price points.

Although the handcrafted jewelry market continues to grow overall, it faces intense competition from both mass-produced jewelry and other artisans. An article by Mobility Foresights explains that mass-produced jewelry benefits from economies of scale and lower costs, making it easy for buyers to choose inexpensive alternatives instead of paying more for handmade pieces. Smaller makers often struggle to justify higher pricing when customers don’t immediately see the value difference.

Another helpful article by Peter Stone discusses how differentiation is critical in saturated markets. Buyers increasingly seek authenticity, storytelling, and connection to the maker. When jewelry lacks a clear theme, cultural anchor, or specific audience, it’s much harder to stand out in search results, social feeds, or build repeat buyers.

This is why it’s so important to lean into a specific theme, like botanical motifs, spiritual symbolism, vintage styles, or something deeply aligned with your personal aesthetic and niche.

 

Low-Priced Stickers

Another niche to avoid, and one that’s a very common starter product for artists and makers, is low-priced stickers. This is actually one I explored myself for a while. They’re easy and cheap to make, and people love buying them, so what’s the problem?

The first issue is customer price expectations. Most buyers expect to pay very little per sticker. Single stickers are frequently priced between $2–$5 USD. While that might sound fine, once you factor in production costs, shipping, platform fees, and your time, the margins become very thin. This is explained well in an article by Royal Elements.

When selling stickers online, a $5 sticker still comes with listing fees, transaction fees, and payment processing fees. Add in materials, packaging, and shipping, and your profit margin can shrink to just cents on the dollar.

The sticker market is also extremely crowded. Thousands of sellers offer very similar products, often at very low price points. This drives competition based on price rather than unique value, making it hard for newer sellers without a strong audience or brand to gain traction without undercutting profits, as noted by Entrepreneur Life.

For me, these were the reasons I didn’t continue exploring stickers as a main product. I made them for fun and included them as free extras for collectors and customers. At the time, I was designing, printing, and cutting them on my die-cut machine and realized that to scale, I’d need to outsource production and focus much more heavily on marketing.

So with stickers, it really depends on your goal. If you want a fun creative side hustle or a simple upsell product, stickers can be a great option. But if you’re aiming for a scalable, full-time business, you’ll need strong branding, marketing, and a very niche-focused design approach.

The sticker market was valued at $148.5 million USD in 2021 and is expected to reach $188 million USD by 2028, so they can absolutely work if done strategically. But if you’re planning to dabble just because they seem like an “easy product,” I’d consider skipping them in 2026.

And if you are having success with stickers, let us know in the comments. What’s working for you and why? I really love keeping this community a space where we can share what’s actually working.

 

Trend-Based Products

Another niche to be cautious of is trend-based products. This includes designs inspired by memes, viral TikTok accessories, or anything tied to a fleeting online moment.

These products often see an initial spike in attention and sales because they’re trendy. The problem is their extremely short lifespan.

Trends can rise and fall in weeks or even days. So if you build a product around the next big thing, demand often disappears just as fast as it arrived. This can leave you with unsold inventory and wasted marketing efforts, as outlined in an article by Papercloud.

Constantly changing designs to keep up with trends can also lead to an inconsistent brand identity over time. Consistency is key to building brand recognition and loyalty. If your brand’s look is always shifting, it can confuse customers and weaken your overall impact.

Instead of strengthening products your customers truly value long term, you end up diverting time and resources into short-lived ideas. This pulls focus away from building product lines and marketing strategies that actually support sustainable growth, as noted by Excellent Business Plans.

Examples of trend-based products include pieces using trending slang, aesthetics like barbiecore or brat summer, or trending accessory silhouettes. If you do want to explore trends, it’s best to do so in moderation and balance them with your core aesthetic, or infuse more timeless design elements into trend-inspired pieces.

 

Home Decor that is Expensive to Ship 

Home decor is a stable niche to explore in general because people are constantly moving and looking for ways to make their homes reflect them and their personal style. But a specific niche to stay away from with home decor especially as a small business are pieces that heavy, bulky and expensive to ship or even fragile because that’s an extra risk as well. In 2026, shipping costs and shipping fragile items that break easily can erode profit margins and hurt customers experience and satisfaction. 

Logistics experts focused on handmade businesses echo this. A guide from IThink Logistics explains that handmade products often already need special packaging due to fragility or weight, which increases both material costs and shipping fees. Unlike factory-made goods, handmade decor doesn’t benefit from standardized sizing or bulk freight discounts, making transportation one of the biggest operational challenges for solo makers.

Some examples of bulky home decor is large wall art, oversized wood signs, layered plywood art, handmade furniture like stools and side tables, and concrete pieces or framed glass decor and mirrors as well are tricky.

Now I know for me I love making and creating large scale fiber art tapestries, but for items like this I think it’s best if you sell these items that it’s best to stick to local markets, gallery sales, commissions or pick-up based models but of course these can be much harder to scale these models and base an entire art business on this, and great to have some smaller pieces and easy ship pieces that are easier to scale for your businesses as well. 

 

Alright so those are the 5 niches to avoid for artists and handmade businesses for 2026. Let me know what your thoughts are the comments below. And make sure to subscribe to the newsletter and join me each week for more articles like this!

If you liked this article, you might like to read "10 Low-Cost Handmade Products With HIGH Profit Margins (2026)" or 7 Best Niches for Artists & Handmade Businesses in 2026 next. 

 

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Sterling | Fiber Artist (@cactusladycreation) • Instagram photos and videos




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