How to Start Selling on Etsy

Etsy is a great platform to sell on even if you aren’t creative! I love selling on Etsy because the market of buyers is unlike any other selling platform. Can you create something? Are you a designer? Or are you a pro reseller? Continue reading to learn all about how to start selling on Etsy.

• 10 Steps to start selling on Etsy
• How much does it cost to list on Etsy?
• How the payments work
• Steps to setting up an Etsy shop
• How to create a listing
• Take pictures that make the sale
• How to increase sales

What is Etsy?

Etsy is a selling platform where you can buy and sell homemade products and vintage clothing. On Etsy, you’ll find a community of makers, small-business owners, and shoppers who all share a passion for unique and rare finds. 

There are four main categories you can sell on Etsy:

• Homemade goods
• Vintage items (20 years or older)
• Craft supplies
• Digital Downloads

How much does it cost to list on Etsy?

Joining and starting a shop on Etsy is free. Etsy charges a $0.20 listing fee. Listings are active for four months, or until they sell. Then there is a 5% transaction fee and a 3% + $0.25 payment processing fee.

There are three basic selling fees:

1. Listing fee ($0.20 for 4 months)
2. Transaction fee (5%)
3. Payment processing fee (3% + $0.25)

How the payments work

With Etsy Payments, you can accept payments from a couple ways. The payment methods includes credit and debit cards, PayPal, Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and Etsy Gift Cards. The money from your sales are deposited directly to your bank account, no matter how the buyer pays.

How do I set up an Etsy shop?

It’s easy to set up a shop on Etsy. It’s free and easy to start a shop and you can change the name later if you want. Below are the steps to start your store.

1. Go to Etsy.com. Click Sell on Etsy > Open your Etsy Shop
2. Set your shop location and currency
3. Choose a shop name
4. Create a listing
5. Set a payment method (how you want to be paid)
6. Set a billing method (how you want to pay your Etsy fees)

Once you’ve signed up to sell on Etsy, there are a few steps you need to take to complete your shop set up and prepare to start selling items. You need to consider things like production time, policies, and your plan for shipping. When filling out your information, remember this is your new small business.

Key shop elements:

• Banner and shop logo | Upload clear photos that represent the style of your brand and make a strong first impression on shoppers. 
• Shop announcement | Share a brief welcome message with shoppers. 
• About section | Upload videos or photos and share the story behind your products, why you created your business, and what your vision is for your brand.
• Shop members | Introduce any other members of your team or people you collaborate with. (Some sellers add their dog or cat as a member just to be cute!)
• Shop policies | Outline all your policies for shipping, returns, exchanges, payments, custom items, or any other guidelines that are important for shoppers to know before they make a purchase.

Add Your Profile | This will include a short bio about you with a photo. This will let visitors know who you are. Try to be yourself in your profile. You can use this opportunity to create a personal connection with your customers and don’t forget to soft sale your product.

Add Your Shop Policies | This section includes FAQs that customers may ask about the product. You can also add processing and shipping times so your customers can have an idea of how long it will take to get their product. Return policies are also in this section.

Add Photos | When listing an item, you should have no less than five photos for each item. Make sure you take the pictures from different angles so buyers can have an idea of what your product looks like. The pictures should be high quality and shot with a nice background. Etsy buyers like pictures taken the way the item will be used/ worn.

Add A Store Bio | This is the section that allows you to talk more about your shop and who you are. Etsy gives sellers 5,000 characters to write your biography. Remember to write with passion and try to create a connection with your potential customers. Be yourself. You can also show them how you create your products by inserting photos or videos of your workspace or office.

Choosing a name

Coming up with a shop name worries many people and that is what stops them from opening one. My advice? Think about it for three days, looking up ideas and writing down what you like. You can change your shop name up to five times, so don’t stress about it too much. Shop names can be up to 20 characters long, and they can’t have spaces or punctuation. You may want to capitalize letters in your shop name to distinguish separate words.

The name you choose becomes part of your shop URL : https://www.etsy.com/shop/shopname and shopname.etsy.com

Add listings to your shop

Once you’ve completed all your shop sections, you are ready to start adding products to your Etsy shop. Below are a few things to do when you set up your product listings.

Adjust thumbnails | Thumbnails are the first pictures a buyer sees when they search or stumble upon your product. These show the buyer the look and feel of your shop, so make sure they are consistent and match your brand.

Listing information | Your product description should have titles and a description that describes what it is in detail. Many sellers have a few titles like: How to order, What you will receive, FAQ, and any additional information for the product you’re selling.

Use the tags | Make use of the 13 tags available for each product. Buyers will find your products based on keywords, so make sure these keywords match what is in your tags. To find ideas for your tags, you can start to type in what you are selling and what comes up to search for is what you should use as tags.

Enter inventory quantity and price |  Add the price for each item and make sure you factor all the costs into your sale price. Include the quantity in stock, and if there are product variants such as size, color, and material.

Set the shipping fee | This is where you include shipping fees, country of origin, processing time, weight, and size. You can always update this information later if needed.

Use Etsy’s Marketing Tools | This allows you to reach out to a wider audience through social media. Etsy has made this easy to do with a new marketing tool to let sellers share their products on social platforms like Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

How to take great pictures that make the sale

On Etsy, the cuter the picture the better chance of selling. You can look at items similar to the one you’re going to sell and see how they design their pictures. For example, if you will be selling vintage clothing, some sellers hang their clothes for a clean look, or they design a cute flat lay, or they have a model.

How to increase sales

I always get questions about how to increase sales once someone starts selling. Etsy is just like other platforms, you have to list! If you don’t list you don’t last. So the ultimate way to sell more on Etsy is to list items every week. I would try to start with 50 listings in your shop. Then set your goal at 100. Here are a few ways to optimize your Etsy shop and attract more sales.

Offer free shipping | Buyers love free shipping. Many buyers actually sort their search with the free shipping option. I always factor in the cost of shipping in the price of the product. For example: instead of $19.99 with $5 shipping, I would do $24.99 with free shipping. The cost of shipping you might accidentally have undercharged is most likely nothing compared to the sales you will be driving in.

Always have a sale going | Another way to boost your revenue is to run a sale. There are a few different options for running a sale. You can set up a sale based on a percentage off based on quantity, amount, or apply it to specific products. You can also send offers to likers. I always get notifications that something I liked is now 10% off just for me.

Etsy encouragement

Don’t give up. Sometimes you will get upset because you keep paying listing fees but your items arent selling or an angry buyer wants to return an item, or you may not make as much as you wanted on an item that sold. The more you sell, the more you figure out what works for you. 

Just a few Etsy tips:

• If you are going to sell vintage clothes, don’t invest too much on each item because you make money at the buy.
• Always have a “Buy two, get one free” or a similar sale going.
• Keep your inventory organized as you create and list. This is key to selling on Etsy. Check it out: How to Organize your eBay Inventory
• Ship items that sell every night. Don’t put it off until the morning. Then set up a pick up on usps.com so you don’t have to leave your house.
• Retake your pictures and change up your title if your items are not selling. Check it out: How to Take Good Pictures

One thing to remember: if you don’t list, you don’t last. The more you list on Etsy = the more you sell = the more you make. So don’t give up!