You’re ready to sell on Etsy! Congratulations! Thousands of other had the same thought and took no action, but not you! That my friend makes you special. You are a going to make things happen!
Making the decision to go into business for yourself can sometimes be stressful and there’s a lot of uncertainty about what to do. Who do you talk to? If you’re like most people who don’t have a cadre of Entrepreneurs that you can turn to with all your questions.
No worries! I’ve got your back.
I’ve been selling on Etsy for awhile now. I started to sell on Etsy in 2016 and quickly fell flat on my face, but I dusted myself off, learned from my mistakes and now according to my eRank stats I’ve sold more than 83% of the other shops on Etsy. Now, I’m here to share with you what I’ve learned. Check out the 5 Things I Wish I’d known Before I started my Etsy Shop here!
Why did I choose Etsy
Why choose this platform over another to sell? For me it was simple, they have a built in audience looking for what I’m selling. There are plenty of other selling platforms out there so you will have to weigh your options and decide for yourself if this is best for you. For me the price and audience was right.
How do beginners sell on Etsy?
So let’s assume you are an absolute beginner and build from there. There are a few things to take into consideration before you open your shop.
Time will be a huge factor in running your Etsy shop so you want to get your ducks in a row to maximize the time you have available to created products, create listings, promote, pack and ship your Etsy products.
I’m going to assume you already know what you’re going to sell. Etsy only allows two categories for selling 1) Handmade which is their largest market share and 2) vintage which is the category I fall into.
If you’re selling handmade you will have to figure out if you want to created products and list them for sale or if you want to take custom orders which you create after someone places an order. Personally, I would make and then sell because I would be stressed out if an order came in and my daughter got sick or some other life issue got in the way of completing the order on time, but your tolerance is your own so you have to make this decision.
Either way you need to be ready to get your inventory packed and out the door as soon as possible.
If you’re selling vintage you need to be sure you have enough inventory to keep your shop active. Also make sure you know what you have to sell. I’ve seen many listings with inaccurate descriptions.
Also, make sure you have boxes, envelopes, bubble wrap, packing tape of a sufficient size for what you are selling. Believe it or not people forget that when they list a 2 foot long art deco lamp that they will need to have a box to ship it in once a buyer click the button.
Once you’re prepped and you know what you’re selling and how then it’s time to open your shop.
Naming Your Etsy Shop
First thing you need to do is think of a name for your Etsy shop. If you’re thinking No problem! I have a local business and my name is (FILL IN THE BLANK). You might be disappointed to learn that someone already has your business name on Etsy. I know I was!
There are 2.5 million shops on Etsy, so unless your store name is something super unique, it’s probably been taken. Do an Etsy shop search for your name and see what comes up. You might have to tweak the name of your shop so you can get a shop name close to your business name. For instance Peony Lane was already take on Etsy so I had to go with PLaneDesigns. It was until someone asked why I named my shop Plane Designs did I realize my mistake. That’s something I have to cope with but you will think through your name better than I did.
Setting Up A Brand New Shop
To set up a brand new Etsy shop you need to use a computer or request the desktop site on your table or phone. I know I wish I could do it on an app to but all times after that you can use the app. If you haven’t yet set up your shop click this link and get started. Follow the steps they will walk you through. You will need to have your bank account information ready in order to set up a shop.
How Much Does it cost to sell on Etsy
Let’s get right to the money! To post a listing it costs 20 cents. Yep. Not bad! But they also charge 3% plus 25 cents when an items sells.
WAIT! That’s not it. If you allow Etsy to do off-site advertise for you they will charges you 15% of each sale they bring you, but you can opt out of this.
What’s the Difference between a shop title and a Shop Name?
Good questions! A shop title is a quick description of what you do. It appears under you shop name. For instance mine is Peony Lane Designs Unique & Interesting Vintage. You do not have to repeat your shop name but remember my shop name doesn’t have my business name so I repeated it. You want to give a visitor an idea of what your shop is about. High Quality Handmade (Fill in the Blank), Treasure from the past, Wood Placement and Cutting Boards – You get what I’m saying here.
How do I Make An Etsy Shop Announcement? What Should I Put in My Etsy Shop Announcement
A shop announcement appears at the top of your shop and tells people what’s happening in your shop. I let people know when I’m acquiring new product and when I’m not. I will let them know if any policies have changed, etc. anything you think they should know or might be interested in knowing. Or you can just say hi I’m glad you’re here.
How Do I write and Etsy Product Description?
Okay, now we’re into the meat and potatoes of a shop. When you fill our item listing you want repeat your key product description as our first like. The reason is Etsy doesn’t scan the description for key words to rank but Google does!
After that you want to add all relevant information about the product. Call out anything the customer should be aware of like defects (I’m thinking of vintage here), sizing, etc.
I fully believe you want to interject a little personality into your description. That’s up to you though. You can keep it to the point if you wish.
Lastly I always call out any policies buyers need to be aware of such as No Returns. Anything you want to be sure to call the buyers attention to before they click the buy button.
Do I need to have all 10 photos?
Yes! Use every inch of space that Etsy provides. That means tags, photos, materials, occasions – fill in every section as thoroughly as you can. Including your shop policies! Don’t skimp at all.
Take photos from every angle on a piece. Top, bottom and all the sides. I even include measurement photos in mine to give the buyer a good idea of what they’re getting.
How do I get more traffic to my Etsy Shop
When you sell on Etsy you need to do shop promotion. That doesn’t mean you have to spend money on advertisements. You should however make sure you create Pinterest Pins (I get a ton of traffic from Pinterest) and share your new listings on your social media.
Use relevant hashtags and make sure your listings are optimized for search engine optimization (SEO) – Read my post about Etsy SEO HERE. I have a post on promoting your Etsy shop on and offline HERE if you want more information on generating more traffic.
One of best methods I know for driving traffic is posting every day. I posted every day for a month if you’re interested in the results you can watch the video below. Also don’t miss my post on how to earn a 5 star Etsy rating!
I wish you all luck as you get ready to sell on Etsy and I hope your shop blows up and out paces mine! If there is any questions you still have comment down below and I’ll see what I can do about answering it.
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