How to Sell on Etsy: Easy Steps for Open Your Etsy Shop in 2023

The Etsy marketplace is the best location to offer handmade items, craft supplies, and vintage goods if you’re trying to sell online. At the end of 2020, the marketplace will have more than 81 million registered users, and it will host merchants and buyers from all over the world, particularly those who have a passion for rare and unusual products.
Selling on Etsy, on the other hand, might be overwhelming. The list of tasks is endless, and it isn’t easy to know where to begin.
In this post, we’ll show you how to open an Etsy shop and begin selling your products in minutes, following a few basic steps. You’ll also find valuable materials to assist you in developing your company over time.

6 Easy Steps for Selling on Etsy

• Choose and Source Products to Sell
• Sign up on Etsy
• Open an Etsy Shop
• List Your Goods
• Receive Payment
• Grow Your Etsy Shop

1. Choose and Source Products to Sell

Handmade goods, craft materials, and vintage things are the three primary products sold on Etsy. If you’re struggling to come up with new product ideas, consider the following methods of conducting market research:

• Spend some time perusing Etsy to get a sense of the currently popular things.
• Make a list of items you might be interested in making or curating in the future.
• Learn more about current market trends by browsing the Editor’s Picks section of Etsy.
• Determine how much it would cost to manufacture/source the goods and sell them.

Following your selection of products that you believe you will be able to sell for an extended period, you will need to examine how you will obtain these items. You have the following options:
Make the following items by hand: The most excellent option for you, if you have previous expertise in creating and manufacturing hand-crafted things, is to go down this route.
Partner with an Etsy-approved manufacturer to achieve the following results: You can work with a manufacturer who conforms to Etsy’s ethical manufacturing principles to create something beautiful.

Incorporate Items from Your Own Personal Antiques Collection: For a product to be labeled vintage, it must have been in production for at least 20 years. In other words, if you’ve been collecting for a long time, you can post your stuff on Etsy as ‘antique’ or ‘vintage.’

2. Sign up on Etsy

The process of selling on Etsy begins with creating an Etsy shop. However, to open this shop, you’ll need first to register an Etsy account. So go to Etsy.com and click Sign In in the top right corner, followed by Register, to begin your shopping experience.

To complete the process, you can continue using your email address or one of the third-party login systems, such as Google, Facebook, or Apple. Then, to validate your account, follow the directions on the screen that appear.

Upload your profile photo and a thoughtful bio to introduce yourself to the Etsy community after you have completed the account setup process.

3. Open an Etsy Shop

As soon as you’re ready to start selling on Etsy, go into your Etsy account and click Sell on Etsy in the top right corner. Then click on the button that says “Open your Etsy Shop.”
Select your shop name, country, currency, and language from the drop-down menu on this page. Then click on the Save button. Remember, your company’s name should be easy to remember and relevant to the things you sell.

While you are free to exit at this point, we urge that you spend a few minutes filling out some of the necessary details to finish the setup of your shop. These are some examples:

• Shop Banner and Logo: Including distinct visuals in this section will go a long way toward defining your brand identity.
• The Shop Announcement section allows you to write a brief welcome message for customers.
• Regarding this section: This section should be used to convey your company’s story.
• Members of the Shop: Introduce the other individuals who are a part of your venture.
• Shop Policies: This is the ideal location to spell out the rules for shipping, exchanges, refunds, and payment, as well as any other regulations that are relevant to you and your customers.

4. List Your Goods

Following that, it’s time to begin offering things for sale on Etsy. Navigate to the Shop Manager section of your Etsy account. Afterward, select Listings or Your Shop, depending on whether you’re adding your first product or not. Then click on the Add a Listing button. On the following screen, fill in the blanks with the following important information:

Give High-Quality Product Photos

High-quality photographs taken from various perspectives are vital for giving potential clients a better impression of your products. Etsy suggests that your images be at least 2000px on the shortest side – along with a 72PPI resolution – and, fortunately, allows you to upload several photos simultaneously if you have many items.

Listing Detailed Title

Don’t get this confused with the name of your company or product. Your listing title should be based on the terms and phrases that people typically use to search for the item on Amazon. These are the elements that will aid in the discovery of your product when customers search for related articles on Etsy.
If the title of your product differs from the search keywords, it is preferable to include the difference in the description instead of the title. Remember to adhere to the following best practices as well:

• If your title is more than 140 characters, it should be shortened or deleted.
• Only one instance of the letters “percent,” “:” or “&” may be used in the title at a time.
• It is not permitted to use the symbols “$,” ” or a single quotation.
• In all caps, your title should not contain more than three words.

Put Item Description

The appropriate description will enhance customer confidence in your goods and persuade them to purchase from you. To write a description, follow the guidelines listed below:

• Put the most critical information at the top of the list.
• Write in the first person to establish a personal connection with readers.
• To make the description easy to skim, write short paragraphs and use bullet points to break it up.
• Visitors should be able to discover more about your shop or featured products by clicking on a link.

Product Shipping Details

Choose the method by which you want the item transported. You can also establish separate handling charges for domestic and international shipping. Furthermore, if you choose calculated delivery, you’ll be required to specify the dimensions and weight of your purchase.
Finally, click Publish or save your listing so that you may return and change it later.

5. Receive Payment

First and foremost, you must ensure that your bank account information has been entered correctly into your Etsy account to begin receiving cash from your sales.
After that, make changes to the deposit schedule to reflect when – and how often – you wish to be paid. You choose daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly delivery.
It is possible that it can take up to five business days for your money to arrive in your bank account after Etsy begins a payout.

[Note]

Etsy charges a fee for a variety of services. The most significant of these are as follows:

1. Listing Fees

Regardless of whether or whether you are successful in selling the item you advertised, Etsy charges you a flat rate of 0.20 USD for each product you list.

2. Transaction Fees

Etsy deducts this fee from the sale price when a product is sold. Typically, it accounts for 5 percent of the entire product cost.

3. Payment Processing Fees

This fee is applied to any transactions that use the Etsy Payments service provider. There are two parts to it: a fixed rate and a percentage of the overall selling price, and both of them are determined by the country in which you operate.

6. Grow Your Etsy Shop

While Etsy makes your products visible to millions of buyers, this does not imply that you will not be required to market your products to those shoppers. A well-thought-out marketing approach is critical to the success of your Etsy store. Here are some of the most effective tactics you can employ to reach more customers and improve revenue:

Etsy Advertising

Use Etsy Ads to get your things noticed in the Etsy search results. Navigate to Shop Manager > Marketing > Etsy Ads in your admin panel to create your campaign. You will be able to establish a daily budget and begin advertising from this page.

Social Media

Another efficient method of promoting your products is through social media. Etsy allows you to link your social media accounts, allowing you to post product updates directly to your social media channels from within the Etsy platform.
Select Shop Manager > Marketing > Social Media from the menu bar to link your accounts. Please select the social media channel you wish to connect to by clicking Social Accounts and selecting it from the drop-down menu.

Sales and Coupons

Offering discounts helps generate sales from new consumers and helps promote customer loyalty from past customers. Create a deal or coupon in your Etsy account by going to Shop Manager > Marketing > Sales and Coupons on the left navigation bar.
Then, select New Special Offer from the drop-down menu and choose the type of discount you wish to offer. You have the following options:

• Running a Sale: Display your items that are now on sale on your shop’s home page and search results on Etsy. Free shipping or a percentage discount can be included in the sale offer.
• Send a deal to buyers with a high level of interest: Customers who have recently added your products to their shopping carts or favorites should be given a special discount.
• Create a Coupon by following these steps: Distribute a coupon to a specific group of purchasers or post it on social media.

How to sell on Etsy without shipping

Shipping might be one of the most expensive aspects of running a business, depending on what you’re selling. Organizing everything and getting it to the post office to be mailed might also bother. Fortunately, numerous options are available for digital products, such as calendars, wall art, résumé templates, etc. This removes shipping costs and upsets by allowing buyers to download the files straight from the website.

An added plus is that these items are created utilizing design software like Canva, which is ideal if you are not exceptionally talented with your hands. As soon as you’ve finished designing your digital item, upload the file and create a listing for it as an instant download, which clients will receive instantly after purchasing the item. A second option is “made to order,” which means that you can alter the article to meet the preferences of the consumer after they have purchased it.

Is it worth it to sell on Etsy?

It all depends, to put it briefly. The following are some of the advantages and disadvantages of selling on Etsy to help you determine if it is appropriate for you.

Pros:

• Because there are no monthly subscription fees, starting a business on Etsy is a low-risk endeavor. It costs only $0.20 to put an item on the site, even if it does not sell.
• A terrific creative outlet, selling on Etsy may be a great way to express yourself because you can sell almost anything that you can manufacture by hand, design, or even generate digitally.
• It is pretty simple to get started. It takes only a few minutes to get a shop up and running.
• The managing editor of Good Housekeeping, Dana Levy, who also owns DV Design Shop, adds that she likes using Etsy because it is “simple to publish products to sell and advertise them.” It’s also a well-known and respected website.” She appreciates that it eliminates the need to create and manage a standalone website where you must drive your traffic. Etsy already has millions of people browsing for products in one location, which she finds very convenient.

Cons:

• The upfront cost of equipment, even though listing products are low-cost, depends on what you decide to sell and how much you want to make. For example, Cricut machines, embroidery machines, and sewing machines can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars each. If you’re not sure whether or not you want to sell on Etsy, you might want to start with a low-cost craft to test the waters.
• Setting up an Etsy shop is simple, but maintaining the shop requires a more significant and more consistent time investment. Your responsibilities will include maintaining your inventory, responding to possible customer questions, and shipping merchandise.
• There is no assurance that you will make a profit, and in fact, you may even lose money if you are not cautious while setting rates and monitoring advertising fees.

More Tips for Selling on Etsy

Following the completion and optimization of your Etsy shop setup and optimization, how can you increase sales over time? What are some strategies for improving your “Etsy SEO” and gaining greater awareness as a new store owner on the platform?
Here are six last pointers for making money selling on Etsy.

1. Hire a Professional Photographer

People are visual creatures; we want to be able to see, touch, and feel items before making a purchase. There’s also a psychological component to compelling product photography.
The two most common product photography shots are hero shots and lifestyle images.

First and foremost, hero shots are close-ups of your products on a plain white background to draw attention to them. These are excellent for your primary photographs, and they should be in high resolution so that users can zoom in and see the product on its own when viewing the product page.

Following that, lifestyle pictures depict the product being utilized by a human or in a more natural setting. In one example, a sweater image of a woman may be worn by a cheerful woman outside in a park.

A final piece of advice is to use a combination of these techniques and shots in the middle. Using a craft materials set as an example, a picture of the set may be dismantled to reveal all parts and then arranged in a pleasing pattern.

Etsy allows a maximum of ten photographs per listing, so make use of them all. High-quality photos in your Etsy shop will aid in promoting your products and increase sales.

2. Learn Etsy SEO

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a technique for increasing your online visibility on search engines such as Google. However, search engine optimization (SEO) on Etsy is essential for generating sales.

The platform determines which SEO tactics are used. Like eBay, Amazon, and Google, Etsy uses a variety of SEO tactics, as do the other marketplaces. On the other hand, the fundamentals are the same, and it all comes down to keywords.

What kinds of things are people looking for on Etsy? Try to understand the major product categories in which you operate and use unique keywords to distinguish yourself from the competition. Use as many valuable keywords as you can to ensure that people’s searches are matched with your items and that your company is prominently displayed in search results.
If you are having difficulty coming up with keywords for your product and business, consider using a program such as erank.com to analyze and improve your Etsy keywords. You may also use some of the most excellent SEO tools available on the market to understand what people are actively searching for in your specific industry.

3. Optimize Your Pricing

The amount of money you make on Etsy is directly proportional to how much you charge for your products. When it comes to setting the proper pricing for your goods, it’s often tough because undercutting the competition might result in a price war, while selling too much can result in no sales.

Find solutions to reduce your manufacturing expenses to increase your profit margin: test, test, etc. You can adjust your pricing regularly to consider economic considerations such as the cost of raw materials and your competitors’ pricing strategies.

4. Keep Good Financial Records

Correct bookkeeping will assist you in understanding the direction in which your Etsy shop and business are moving. It can also help you set goals and determine whether your business is making a profit or losing money. The more precise your understanding of the numbers, the better informed your selections would be.

Maintaining control of your finances with the help of business accounting software will let you devote your time and energy to growing and running your Etsy business.

5. Study the Data

Make use of analytical tools to assist you in keeping track of the progress of your Etsy venture. Some products may perform better than others, and you may need to discontinue non-performing products while increasing the number of successful outcomes.

6. There’s A Big Difference Between Copying And Using Others’ Listings As Inspiration

Taking inspiration from other designers can be a terrific approach to improving your craft and honing your talents without reinventing the wheel every time you create something. Selling duplicates of other people’s work is not a brilliant idea, and it could result in your Etsy shop being closed down very fast.

Copying is prohibited per the Etsy Terms of Service. However, inspiration is permitted. If you’re utilizing a photograph of someone else’s original work as a guide, make your design that is distinct from the original piece. Don’t claim to be the author of the actual item if you don’t have any unique ideas.

7. Take Your Time When Choosing The Right Product Shop Name

Because it is the first thing that people see when searching for your products on the internet, it may be an excellent method to pique their interest in what you offer. In addition, if someone is exceptionally adept at remembering names, they may return at a later date as well. So come up with something memorable but not nasty or obnoxious.

When coming up with a name for your shop, it may be helpful to brainstorm a list of terms that represent your style or the type of products you sell. Try to strike a mix between something brief and easy to remember while still being descriptive so that you can quickly build on what customers see when they see your shop name.

For example, the name “YourName” Work Studio conveys information about the type of art that may be found there without being overly lengthy. Create a shorter version of your store’s name as a shop tagline if your store’s term is longer and appears to be more appropriate for its products but is difficult for customers to remember. For example, the title Painting With Light hints at the nature of the product while also providing consumers an idea of what to expect from your Etsy shop.

8. Take Payments In Different Ways In Your Etsy Shop

Etsy’s Direct Checkout system allows your customers to pay without requiring an Etsy account quickly and safely. It collects payments through Etsy’s approach, which has been proved to increase the likelihood of shoppers purchasing from you because there are no external considerations involved.

Remember to accept credit card payments as well – not everyone likes to pay online with a particular method, so it’s still a good idea to offer a variety of payment alternatives on your Etsy shop. All of this adds up to more money in your bank account in the long run.

9. Set Up A Database To Track Your Products

A database can assist you in keeping track of your inventory, ensuring that everything is labeled accurately on the listings page, and maintain your website’s overall appearance. While out and about doing other things during the day, there are also apps available for most mobile phones that allow you to do all of this whenever inspiration strikes.

On the other hand, Databases are more than simply an organizational tool for severe crafters and artists; they can also be used to make mock-ups of items before they are made, ensuring that everything will appear precisely how you want it to in time for its photograph. Some of the more complex database programs even allow you to enter information such as prices, average processing times, and shipping costs so that your Etsy shop may be automatically updated.

10. Start Collecting Email Addresses

Remember that just because you put your Etsy shop online does not mean sales will start pouring in. Although customers may think the things you’re giving are excellent, it’s possible that they will not purchase from you until a few days or weeks later. Having a mailing list in place helps keep potential consumers informed of your existence while also allowing you to establish customer relationships to increase future sales opportunities.

Offer freebies such as templates, tutorials, and even templates of your Etsy listings to entice subscribers to your mailing list. It may be beneficial to conduct a promotional period during which individuals can receive something of reasonable value for free in exchange for their email address. Still, you must ensure that you have the resources available to continue doing so during the offer.
It’s also possible to establish a newsletter that you can send to your subscribers, informing them of new items in your Etsy shop and any other updates, such as blog posts on your website. Some people even enjoy creating fun-themed emails now and again, so be imaginative when going through the procedure.

Conclusion

Remember that the most successful Etsy shop owners began with a small inventory and expanded over time. The most difficult challenge to overcome while selling on Etsy is the initial reluctance to start. Having a large crew isn’t necessary; 79 percent of businesses on Etsy are run by single individuals, with 97 percent of firms operating from home.
Because Etsy has millions of prospective buyers and the opportunity to allow you to share your unique products with the world, why not follow my guidance on how to sell on Etsy and get started right away?