Many successful ecommerce success stories started with a hobby.
One hobby you can turn into an online business idea is woodworking. And you don’t need to be a skilled artisan to turn some woodworking projects into products. There are projects suitable for all skill levels—it’s just a matter of figuring out which project is right for you.
Explore the most profitable woodworking projects as well as everything you need to get started. For some of these projects you need little more than some wood glue and a few pieces of quality wood.
Basic woodworking tools
Each of the following woodworking project ideas requires different materials, tools, and expertise. That said, there are some basic woodworking tools you should have at your disposal before diving in.
- Scrap wood, pine wood, or your wood of choice
- Wood planks
- Wood glue
- Handsaw for cutting
- A cutting board or mat
- A power drill
- A mallet or hammer
- Safety goggles and gloves if preferred
13 wood projects that sell in 2024
- Wooden signs
- Wood pallets
- Wooden kitchen products
- Furniture
- Surfboards
- Boxes
- Picture frames
- Children’s blocks
- Birdhouses
- Planters
- Art wood projects
- Wood turning
- Wooden toys
1. Wooden signs
Wooden signs are an incredibly easy woodworking project to get started with. They come in all shapes and sizes, and people use them in lots of different ways, indoors and out.
You might see wooden signs in and around people’s homes as decoration—consider offering personalized signs featuring a family’s last name, for example—and also at events like weddings and parties as welcome and directional signage. There’s nothing better than hanging a few high-quality wall signs in your home.
You can create wooden signs in a number of ways. Maybe you hand paint designs onto wood pieces or you cut out letters and shapes from pieces of wood themselves. Wooden signs can be made with simple scrap wood and customized to fit the needs of your target audience.
2. Wood pallets
Shippers and ecommerce companies use wood pallets to move large amounts of product. The problem is, these pallets are wasteful—but they’re ideal material for a variety of woodworking projects you can turn into cash flow.
The following all make great pallet projects:
- Planter box
- Decorative sign
- Coffee tables
- A wooden bench
- Chair or small bench
- Wooden business card holders
- Mail sorter/key holder
- Wooden serving trays
- Raised garden beds
- Bed platform
- Shelves
Infinite Abyss has a collection of woodworking projects in its DIY guide Wood Pallet Wonders, available on its Shopify store.
Just remember, if you plan to sell these products online you need to account for shipping and handling—both in terms of protecting the product from damage while in transit and in terms of keeping shipping costs down, especially for larger and heavier items. The projects that sell the most might not be most profitable when accounting for shipping costs, etc., so it’s important to do your research.
3. Wooden kitchen products
Kitchen products have proven time and time again to be among the top projects that sell consistently. Keep it simple with a wooden cutting board and wooden coasters or go for something more specialized, like detailed wooden utensils. You could even create a wooden serving tray or a wine rack.
Old World Kitchen is a fantastic example of a skilled woodworker that built a business around these projects. The merchant started selling wares on Etsy and eventually moved over to Shopify to scale the business.
4. Furniture
There’s a lot of opportunity for selling furniture online. As consumers have fewer in-person options, they’ll have to turn to online shopping to fulfill their needs.
Environmentally conscious brand Fyrn sells beautifully crafted wooden furniture on its website, including its staple collection of chairs.
5. Surfboards
Contrary to what you might think, surfing is a year-round sport, so there’s a pretty consistent demand. However, many surfboards are made of foam, fiber, plastic, and other materials that aren’t exactly environmentally friendly.
Using wood is one way to make surfboard manufacturing a bit more sustainable—at least that’s what David Dennis of Ventana Surfboards and Supplies has figured out. Plus, it’s a lot more affordable, leaving room for lower prices and/or greater profit margins.
6. Boxes
Another flexible idea, wooden boxes make great woodworking projects that sell. And it’s a suitable idea for skilled artisans and newbies alike. You can go straightforward with basic crates and storage boxes or get creative with decorative shelving and jewelry boxes. With a little bit of wood glue, you can really create some incredibly creative boxes that your customers will love.
7. Picture frames
Wood picture frames coupled with wall art can be a great combination to sell. Picture frames are relatively easy to make, and you can do all different sizes and styles. You can even repurpose old or scrap wood. Barnwood USA, for example, uses repurposed barn wood to make its wood products.
8. Children’s blocks
Children’s wooden blocks are great because you can use wood scraps to create blocks of different shapes and sizes. You can also paint them different colors or add burnt iron designs. PoppyBabyCo, for example, sells wooden blocks for children. You can get creative with your own collections.
9. Birdhouses
Birdhouses are a lovely indoor or outdoor decoration—and they’re a common item for people to collect, so it’s an excellent niche to get into. Again, you can create a simple bird house using just scrap wood or invest in higher quality material.
Many Shopify merchants sell wooden birdhouses online. Stone Bridge Collections, for example, has an entire category dedicated to its wooden birdhouses. Stone Bridge’s birdhouses are species-specific—it also has a bat house for sale.
10. Planters
Wood is a great material for making planters and pots for all kinds of plants—everything from planter boxes for small home vegetable gardens to tiny succulent holders to be used as desk accessories. Woodchuck USA sells desktop planters and also promises to plant a tree for every product sold.
You can also create complementary items for the home gardener. To accompany an outdoor planter box, consider items like potting tables and benches, like this one from Lee Display:
11. Art wood projects
Selling art online is a great way to turn your creative projects into income. Wood is an excellent material to craft with, and you can make a variety of items. It really depends on your creativity and skill set—and what customers are willing to buy. Feel free to experiment with your creations.
You might also choose to pursue a specific niche. Track Sculptures is a perfect example of this. The Shopify merchant makes wooden sculptures of the maps of racetracks all over the world—a unique and special item for racing fans in particular.
12. Wood turning
Wood turning is a more advanced woodworking skill set. It involves putting a piece of wood on a rotating axle and then using handheld tools, like a lathe, to carve a shape in the wood, which is symmetrical all around the axis. If you’ve mastered it, you have a lot more opportunities to specialize in items like stair posts, newels, spindles, and similar items.
13. Wooden toys
Wooden toys are a profitable woodworking project. Plastics and other harmful materials are on the minds of parents everywhere—you can position your wood alternatives as safe and non-toxic. Happy Little Folks creates handcrafted wooden toys that are earth-friendly.
Wooden toys can be enjoyed by people of all ages, from wooden chess sets, to wooden puzzles. So keep your options open when thinking of your next woodworking project.
How to sell woodworking projects
Creating your woodworking projects is only half the battle. Once your projects are ready for new homes, it’s up to you to find them. It will likely take some trial and error to discover which woodworking project will sell, but here are a few tips to help improve your chances of success.
1. Choose your product
Use the list above as a starting point to give you ideas. Once you’ve chosen your product, you’ll want to start with a test project. Make sure you can execute your creation so not only you are happy with it, but paying customers as well.
Here are some more resources to help:
2. Identify your market
Now it’s time to figure out who is willing to buy it. This market research should consist of a competitive analysis, social listening, and industry analyses. These resources can get you started:
3. Build a website
One of the smartest places to sell your woodworking projects is through your own ecommerce site. This is because you have complete control over your business—from pricing and promotion through to shipping and fulfillment. Third-party marketplaces come with more restrictions, and a physical space has more overhead.
Start with these resources:
4. List and price your products
Now it’s time to take product photos, write compelling descriptions, and list them online for the world to see—and purchase. You’ll definitely want to list the items on your website, and you might also consider third-party marketplaces.
Etsy in particular is a great place to sell handcrafted goods, but there are Etsy alternatives worth checking out as well. You can search “wood projects” on Etsy to help you discover which wood projects are most popular.
Pricing is another story. You want to price your products high enough to cover your time and expenses and still earn a profit on top of that, but not so high that no one will buy.
5. Drive traffic to your website
Once your website is up and running and your product pages are live, you have to put in a bit of work to attract people to visit your online store. You can drive traffic through both organic and paid marketing strategies and tactics. Some resources to get you started are listed below:
6. Check analytics and improve
Over time, you’ll have more data to help you better understand your business. Your Shopify analytics dashboard shows key sales, orders, and online store visitor data, among other information. You can analyze that information to uncover strengths and weaknesses and even potential new opportunities.
Here are some resources to help you master your data:
Kick-start your woodworking business today
When you’re ready to start selling your woodworking projects, get yourself set up with a reliable online store builder like Shopify. Shopify has a whole suite of tools to manage every aspect of your business, with the features you need at launch and as you scale.
Illustration by Chris Gash
Ready to create your business? Start your free trial of Shopify—no credit card required.
Woodworking projects that sell FAQ
What are some good woodworking projects?
Here are a few ideas for woodworking projects that sell.
- Wooden signs
- Wooden pallets
- Kitchen products
- A cutting board
- Furniture
- Surfboards
- Boxes
- Candle holders
- Picture frames
- Children’s blocks
- Birdhouses
- Planters
- Art
- Wine rack
- Raised garden beds
- Wood turning
Is a woodworking business profitable?
Yes, a woodworking business is profitable. If you price your products strategically and keep expenses low, you can make a good profit margin from selling your woodworking projects.
If you sell a wooden cutting board or wine rack for example, it won’t cost as much to make as say fully polished coffee tables. The amount of profit you can make from your woodworking project depends on a lot of factors such as costs of goods, how much you spend on marketing, shipping etc.
What handmade wood items sell best?
Some of the handmade wood items that sell best include those listed in this post:
- Wooden signs
- Wall signs
- Wooden pallets
- A wooden bench
- Kitchen products
- Furniture
- Surfboards
- Boxes
- Candle holders
- Picture frames
- Children’s blocks
- Birdhouses
- Planters
- Art
- Wood turning
- Coffee tables
How much do woodworking projects sell for?
Woodworking projects sell for a variety of prices. You can sell lower-priced woodworking projects for as little as a few dollars, whereas complex projects made by skilled artisans can go for tens of thousands of dollars. We recommend you start with an easy woodworking project and then scale as you generate more sales.