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I keep doing these because every time I dig, I find something weirder that’s quietly selling hundreds a month. (If you missed them, here’s round one, round two and last week’s round.)

This week I went looking for odd little corners of Etsy, checked every one in EverBee, and kept only the ones with real sales behind them.

The short answer: Five weird Etsy niches selling right now are rats (a rat tote bag crochet pattern did about 791 sales last month), dino chicken nuggets (a nugget badge reel did about 164), opossums, jarred “wet specimen” oddities, and fireflies. Most of the top listings are under a year old, and several are digital patterns that sell for $4 to $5.

Quick note on the numbers: they’re EverBee‘s estimates for last month, plus total sales since the listing went up. Use them as a gut check, not gospel.

What weird Etsy niches are selling right now?

1. Rats (yes, really)

EverBee data for this listing

This one made me laugh out loud. A tote bag shaped like a rat, with the tail hanging off the bottom. The pattern is $5 and it’s only about four months old.

• Rat Tote Bag Crochet Pattern: about 791 sales last month, 2,000+ total, 6,500+ favorites
• Rat Pouch Crochet Pattern (same shop): about 253 sales last month
• Rupert the Rat amigurumi pattern: about 126 sales last month, and it’s three months old

Remix ideas: don’t crochet? Rat people are a real fandom. Think “rat mom” or “rat dad” shirts, a cute rat in a tiny hat, rat-shaped stickers, or a funny phrase for people who keep pet rats.

2. Dino chicken nuggets

EverBee data for this listing

Dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets are pure nostalgia, and the buyers here look like nurses and teachers who wear a badge all day.

• Dino Chicken Nugget Badge Reel: about 164 sales last month at $9, 520 total
• Nugget Magnets: about 151 sales last month, and the listing is only about a month old

One warning: the biggest nugget shirt I found uses a fast food chain’s characters and logo. Don’t go there. Trademarks get shops shut down. Make your own nuggets.

Remix ideas: “nugget” shirts for kids and parents, “my emotional support nuggets,” a dino nugget sticker sheet, or a nugget badge reel design printed on acrylic instead of clay.

3. Opossums

EverBee data for this listing

Opossums keep popping up next to raccoons and street cats. They’re the “feral but lovable” mascot.

• Patricia the Opossum palm plushie pattern: about 95 sales last month at $4, 935 total, with a 7.6% conversion rate (that’s high)
• Trash Panda Night Crew shirt (raccoon, opossum and skunk): about 82 sales last month and only two months old
• Opossum howling at the moon tee: about 47 sales last month

Remember the frog howling at the moon from last time? Here it is again with a possum. Same design, different animal.

Remix ideas: “night crew” designs with a different animal lineup, opossum + a holiday (opossum in a Santa hat), or opossum sticker packs.

4. Oddities and “wet specimens”

EverBee data for this listing

Jars of preserved creatures, taxidermy kits, two-headed things. This is the “cabinet of curiosities” crowd, and they spend real money.

• Preserved jellyfish wet specimen jar: about 103 sales last month at about $52, which works out to roughly $5,300 in a month
• Rat taxidermy DIY kit: about 103 sales last month at $35
• Two-headed duck taxidermy: about 65 sales last month at about $64

Remix ideas: you don’t need actual jars. Vintage “specimen label” art prints, apothecary-style posters, oddities collector shirts, or a printable “curiosity cabinet” label set all fit this buyer.

5. Fireflies

EverBee data for this listing

A quieter one, but I love it. Wildflowers with little glowing fireflies, on a soft green shirt.

• Firefly Wildflower Shirt: about 144 sales last month, and it’s three months old
• Mini bugs embroidery design bundle (digital files): about 102 sales last month

Remix ideas: “summer nights” firefly designs, fireflies in a mason jar, firefly + a state (“catching fireflies in Tennessee”), or glow-in-the-dark ink if your printer offers it.

Which weird niches almost made the list?

• Screaming seagulls: teacher shirts with a flock of seagulls yelling the teacher’s name sell well (about 95 a month), but the joke comes from a famous animated movie. I’d skip it.
• Halloween jellyfish: a 4-in-1 crochet pattern did about 143 last month, but it’s seasonal.
• Snails, hermit crabs and beetles: real sales, but the top listings are years old.

What patterns keep showing up?

• Crochet patterns are quietly huge. Three of these five had a $4 to $6 digital pattern near the top.
• The animal is the niche. Rats, opossums and fireflies all have buyers who identify with the animal.
• Different buyer, different product. Nuggets sold as badge reels to people who wear badges at work.
• Avoid borrowed characters. Two of the strongest listings I found leaned on someone else’s characters. Skip those.

How did I find these weird Etsy niches?

I searched each idea in EverBee, filtered to listings with at least 40 sales last month and under a year old, then opened each listing to check total sales and age. A new listing doing 100+ a month tells you way more than an old one coasting.

Like always: remix the idea, don’t copy it.

Questions I get a lot

Are weird Etsy niches actually profitable?
Some are. The point isn’t that it’s weird, it’s that the buyers are passionate and there’s less competition. Check the sales before you jump in.

I don’t crochet. Can I still use these?
Yes. The crochet listings tell you the buyers exist. Bring them a shirt, sticker, printable or mug instead.

Are these sales numbers exact?
No. They’re estimates from EverBee, so use them to compare niches, not to predict what you’ll make.

Have fun with these! Tell me in the comments which one you’re trying. I read every one. :)

P.S. I use Printify for product fulfillment now.

P.P.S. If one of these sparked an idea, this is exactly what I teach. You can learn how to make printables here, or physical print on demand products here. I walk you through it step by step, so you can go from “huh, that’s weird” to a real listing. (I’m of course not promising you’ll hit the numbers these products do, but every one of these sellers started with one listing.)

Rachel Rofé has been building online businesses since 2006 and has taught 18,000+ students how to sell on Etsy and print on demand.