Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

You’re likely reading this blog post because you want your business to be successful. You also sell products and probably do so on the Internet. But, you’re looking for product ideas that won’t flop during a recession. Or even in times of crisis, such as COVID-19.

When adding new products to your existing range, you want to make sure they’re going to sell and be profitable. Otherwise, your time and financial investments will get wasted. With that in mind, take a look at these mind-blowing ideas for recession-proof products to sell:

1. Everyday Essentials

Let’s face it: everyone needs certain items in their lives, regardless of their background, where they live, or even their wealth status. Everyday essentials are perhaps the best recession-proof products you can sell.

Examples of everyday essentials include food products like bread, milk, pasta, fruit, and vegetables, and things like toiletries and household cleaning products. You’ll find it’s a profitable venture, whether you sell those items in a retail store or on an e-commerce site.

If you’ve got the cash, consider buying items in vast volumes to negotiate exclusive volume discounts. You can then pass those savings onto your customers. After all: it can often make sense to sell lots of low-margin products than just a few high-margin ones.

2. Plumbing Supplies

Things still need fixing in people’s homes and commercial and industrial properties. One such example is plumbing – things like faucets, pipes, bathrooms, showers, and so forth. Plumbers need a reliable source of plumbing supplies, and you could corner the market.

Plumbing supplies are an excellent niche to get involved with, and there’s little to no downturn of sales during a recession. So if a plumber or engineer needs a solenoid valve or some faucet fittings, you can be their number one source in your local area.

Of course, you should also sell your products online to expand your reach – especially if you live in a rural area.

3. Camping Supplies

Let’s face it: when there’s a recession going on, many people will seldom spend the money on a vacation abroad. Instead, they’d prefer to go camping so they can still enjoy themselves but keep their vacation costs down.

Camping supplies are another niche market that’s worth capitalizing on during a recession. Many people will want to buy things like tents, portable gas stoves, folding chairs, and solar charging packs for their ‘staycations.’

4. Automotive Parts

During a recession, many people will rightly avoid spending money unnecessarily. As you can imagine, new car sales will nosedive during a time of economic strife as most individuals worry about getting laid off.

Instead of buying a new car, many people will keep what they’ve got, and some car owners may even take to maintaining their vehicles at home. It’s for that reason the automotive parts niche does so well during a recession.

Even when there isn’t an economic downturn, it’s still a profitable niche because everyone needs their cars and trucks serviced and repaired.

5. Candy

Everyone knows that candy isn’t an ‘essential’ food – but most, if not all, people enjoy eating candy. That’s because candy is cheap to buy and brings people lots of happiness. Of course, candy isn’t a healthy food – but people don’t think about that when they eat it!

You might think that candy wouldn’t sell so well during a recession because it’s not an essential food, as mentioned a moment ago. Yet, candy manufacturers such as Nestle and Cadbury report increased profits during recessions!

6. Video Games

It’s easy to assume that teenagers are the biggest consumers in the video games market, but you’d be sadly mistaken. According to Statista, the largest age group among gamers in the United States is 35 to 44 years.

During times of recession, middle-aged people are less likely to go out and spend their money. But, many of those individuals would be happy to stay indoors and play video games for hours on end – much to the annoyance of their partners and family!

7. Baby Products

Diapers, clothing, formula, bottles, and wipes are just some of the baby products that are resistant to economic problems caused by recessions. Each year, millions of babies are born in the United States. That means there will always be a demand for baby products.

Again, you could sell these items in a retail store, but it also makes more sense to sell them online for increased market reach and profitability.