I Researched 1960s Party Games on Etsy — Here’s What I Found

Can I turn Pinterest traffic I already have into sales of my own digital products instead of earning tiny affiliate commissions?

That is the experiment.

I already run a party website called Cheers & Chic, and Pinterest sends it thousands of outbound clicks. The problem isn’t getting people to click.

The problem is how much those clicks are worth.

One of the clearest opportunities hiding in my Pinterest analytics is 1960s-themed party content. So rather than creating another article and sending those visitors off to Amazon, I’m testing something different:

Experiment #001: testing whether existing Pinterest traffic can be monetised more effectively with my own digital products.

Why I’m Running This Experiment

My existing Cheers & Chic business is primarily monetised through Amazon affiliate links.

It works. People find my party ideas on Pinterest, click through to the website and sometimes go on to buy products from Amazon.

But Amazon commissions are tiny.

That creates an interesting business problem.

When I sorted my Cheers & Chic Pinterest analytics by outbound clicks, one result immediately caught my attention.

My actual Cheers & Chic Pinterest analytics, sorted by outbound clicks.

That matters because people aren’t merely saving attractive party pictures.

Some of them are actively clicking through looking for ideas and entertainment for a party they’re planning.

That is much closer to buying intent.

The Hypothesis

If that’s true, I could potentially replace some low-value affiliate clicks with sales of products I own.

And unlike an Amazon commission, most of the selling price of a digital product remains with me after marketplace and payment fees.

There’s another advantage.

I create the printable once. It can potentially sell repeatedly without inventory, postage or physical fulfilment.

So before spending time creating anything, I wanted to know:

Are people actually buying 1960s printable games?

Step 1: Researching Etsy Before Creating the Product

I used ProfitTree to investigate the existing Etsy market.

Etsy market research using ProfitTree before I create the product.

This is important because I don’t want to make products simply because I think they’re a good idea.

I want evidence.

The research showed something interesting.

The broad 1960s game market wasn’t screaming enormous opportunity.

But there were pockets of demonstrated demand — particularly around music, bingo, trivia and nostalgic group entertainment.

That changes how I would approach the product.

Instead of creating a vague product called something like 1960s Party Games, I can build around the formats people are already demonstrating that they’ll buy.

The research points toward music bingo, trivia and nostalgic party games rather than a broad generic “1960s game.”

What the Etsy Research Found

1. 1960s Music Bingo

The clearest winner in the research was 60s Music Bingo.

ProfitTree estimated one leading listing at approximately 29 monthly sales at $4.99.

That’s the part of competitor research I care about.

I don’t need somebody else’s design.

I need evidence about buyer behaviour.

Music also makes enormous sense for a 1960s party because it is intrinsically connected to the theme.

2. 1960s Music Trivia

Another visible leader was a 1960s Music Trivia product, which ProfitTree estimated at approximately 28 monthly sales at $1.50.

Again, the individual revenue isn’t enormous.

But I’m not considering building a business around one $1.50 trivia sheet.

I’m looking at the evidence for a bundle.

For example, a complete 1960s party game pack could contain several complementary games rather than relying on a single low-priced printable.

That potentially increases the value of the product while making the buying decision easier for someone organising an entire party.

3. Nostalgia Formats Are Selling Too

The visible Etsy winners weren’t limited to music.

The research also surfaced products built around:

• 1960s TV trivia
• TV commercial and advertising slogan games
• general 1960s bingo
• family-game formats
• senior birthday and nostalgia activities

That suggests the opportunity may be broader than a single music game.

The Most Interesting Gap: Personalization

One of the more interesting findings from the ProfitTree analysis was that personalization appeared in only around 1.2% of the listings it analysed.

That immediately gives me something worth testing later.

Instead of selling only:

1960s Music Bingo

I could potentially offer variations such as:

Linda’s 60th Birthday 1960s Music Bingo

or:

David’s 70th Birthday — Born in 1956

Or I could create versions designed specifically for:

• milestone birthdays
• retirement parties
• family reunions
• senior communities
• anniversary celebrations
• nostalgic game nights

The underlying game mechanic may be similar, but the occasion becomes much more specific.

Broad Keywords May Not Be Where the Money Is

This was probably the most useful warning in the research.

ProfitTree found that the broad 1960s game keyword was under-earning compared with Etsy overall.

That means it would be easy to see Pinterest traffic for “1960s party” and conclude:

But the commercial opportunity appears more nuanced.

The stronger proposition may be:

1960s Music Bingo for a 70th Birthday

rather than:

1960s Game

Or:

1960s Trivia for Senior Game Night

rather than:

Retro Printable

Demand Exists — But This Isn’t a Gold Rush

There’s another reason I’m treating this as an experiment rather than immediately creating dozens of products.

ProfitTree described current live demand as quiet, despite the keyword receiving a moderate score.

In other words, people are browsing and some products clearly sell, but the research doesn’t justify building a huge product catalogue yet.

That is exactly why I like small experiments.

What I Think the First Product Should Look Like

Based on this initial research, I don’t think I should start with one generic trivia sheet.

I’d rather test a small 1960s Party Games Bundle built around the strongest signals in the research.

A concept for the kind of printable games the research suggests may be worth testing.

Instead of one cheap worksheet, the experiment may test a more useful multi-game party bundle.

The eventual bundle could test formats such as music bingo, music trivia and other nostalgic group games, with the final contents decided from the research rather than simply filling the bundle with arbitrary games.

I’d also like to investigate whether personalization makes commercial sense.

The important point is that I’m not building all of this yet.

First comes research.

Then a minimum viable product.

Then traffic.

Then results.

Why Pinterest Makes This Experiment Particularly Interesting

If I were starting from zero, this would be a much riskier experiment.

But I’m not.

I already have evidence that Pinterest users click my 1960s party content.

That gives me a potential distribution channel before I create the product.

The second model doesn’t necessarily need more traffic to outperform the first.

It needs to generate more profit per visitor.

The Metric I’m Going to Watch

I’m not going to judge this experiment primarily by Pinterest impressions.

Impressions are nice.

Clicks are better.

But ultimately I’m interested in:

The calculation is:

Attributable profit ÷ Pinterest outbound visitors × 1,000

That gives me a way to compare very different business models.

• Amazon affiliate traffic
• my own digital products
• Etsy products
• affiliate courses and software
• future monetisation experiments

Instead of asking:

Which one gets the most traffic?

I can ask:

Which audience and offer make my traffic economically valuable?

What Happens Next

This is Part 1 of the experiment: the research.

Next I’m going to turn what I’ve learned into an actual product.

1. Decide exactly what the minimum viable product should contain.
2. Create the printable games using AI and design tools.
3. Track how long the product takes to make.
4. List the product for sale.
5. Put it in front of my existing Pinterest audience.
6. Track outbound clicks, product clicks and sales.
7. Calculate profit per 1,000 visitors.
8. Decide whether the experiment deserves to continue.

And if it doesn’t sell, I’ll document that too.

Because the point of Dreaming2Doing isn’t to pretend every idea becomes a successful business.

It’s to find out which ideas deserve more of my time.