Learn everything you need to know to create your own Etsy shop and start selling today.
So you want to learn how to sell on Etsy but don’t know where to start? You’ve come to the right place.
With over 96 million active buyers worldwide, Etsy is one of the biggest online marketplaces in the world. It’s the place to be if you’re a creative entrepreneur with a product to sell.
Keep reading to learn everything you need to know to create your own Etsy shop and start selling today.
Bonus: Learn how to sell more products on social media with our free Social Commerce 101 guide. Delight your customers and improve conversion rates.
First things first. Head on over to Etsy.com/sell and click “Get Started”.
Enter your email address and follow the prompts.
You’ve registered your free account — awesome! Now select your shop language, country, and currency.
Source: Etsy
Choose a shop name. This part can be tricky, especially if you’re starting from scratch. Here are a few tips to help get those wheels turning:
Keep in mind: You can change your shop name as many times as you want before launch. But if you want to change it after, you can only do it once. Choose wisely!
Once you’ve set up your shop, it’s time to add your product listings.
For each item, you can add up to 10 photos. And if you really want to level up, you can upload a 5-15 second video.
Source: Etsy
Here you’ll include details for your listing, assign it a category, and add your inventory with product descriptions, pricing, and shipping information. You can also decide whether you want to use Etsy ads to market your shop.
Once you’ve added in all the details for your item, you can hit “Publish” or “Save as Draft” and come back to it later.
One of the reasons you want to start selling on Etsy is to make some extra cash, right?
Once you’ve set up your product listings, you’ll need to let Etsy know how you want to get paid. Add in your personal information, and address, and connect your bank account. Easy peasy!
Source: Etsy
You have two options when it comes to shipping:
So, say you have an item that doesn’t cost a lot to ship, and you can offer free shipping on that one item. But if your shop preferences are to have your customer pay for shipping on the more expensive items in your store, you can do that, too!
Etsy Payments is the simplest way to handle billing for both you and your buyers.
When enrolled, customers can choose from various payment options (like credit card, debit, or Apple Pay) and pay in their local currency.
If you have an existing ecommerce website for your business, we have some great news!
Etsy works with many ecommerce platforms like Shopify, Magendo, and WooCommerce, so you can connect your existing site to your Etsy storefront.
So, if you’re selling a product on Shopify but also want to become an Etsy seller, you can do that by using the handy Shopify integration!
And with the help of the Heyday Shopify integration, you can also easily manage customer support all within your Shopify store.
Heyday is a conversational AI chatbot that can make sure your customers feel supported 24/7 without adding extra work to your plate.
Source: Heyday
Try a free 14-day Heyday trial
This conversational AI chatbot integrates with all your apps – from Shopify to Instagram to Facebook messenger. It makes it easy to support customers and helps take the stress out of online sales.
Here are just some of the benefits of Heyday:
Now, the fun part: dressing up your Etsy storefront with colors, fonts, beautiful product photography, and more.
Remember: Your Etsy storefront is your customer’s first impression. Take some time to figure out what visual story you want to tell.
You did it! You’ve set up your Etsy store and now you’re ready to go live. But first…
Etsy may give you the tools to set up shop, but sharing your beautiful new storefront with the world is a whole other ballgame. It’s time to put your marketing hat on.
Sharing your shop on social is a great way to promote your products and attract potential customers.
Selling on Instagram, for example, can help you reach your target consumer and drive more sales. In 2021, there were 1.21 billion monthly active users on the platform.
Source: Etsy
Marketing and selling on Pinterest is another great way to add to your marketing strategy. Not only is it the 14th largest social network in the world with 459 million active users each month, but shopping engagement continues to grow each year.
Need a tool to manage it all? Hootsuite makes it easy to manage your social presence, saving you time so you can focus on other areas of your business. Use it to schedule and publish posts, engage with your audience, and measure results — all from one dashboard.
While creating your Etsy shop is free, there are certain fees you should be aware of as a seller.
Etsy charges a listing fee of $0.20 USD for each item that you list.
Listings expire after four months and will auto-renew at $0.20 USD per item unless you choose not to use automatic renewals.
Etsy collects a transaction fee of 6.5% of the total order amount anytime a customer purchases an item from your store.
This Etsy fee applies to the total cost of the item (shipping and gift wrap included, if you charge for that). The transaction fee amount will show up automatically in your Payment account.
If you choose to take advantage of Etsy’s advertising services to promote your store, extra fees will apply.
This fee is a set rate plus a percent of the total sale price of your product and varies by country.
If your Etsy store offers international shipping, you’ll want to be aware of import taxes, customs duties, and/or any other fees imposed by other countries.
In most cases, the buyer is responsible for customs duties. And if you’re a VAT-registered seller, you may need to charge VAT on the items you sell.
One of the easiest ways to sell your products on Etsy is with scroll-stopping photography. In fact, good product photography is critical to your success on the platform.
According to Etsy’s customer research, it’s product photos that make customers decide whether they’re going to buy. And in most cases, the quality of your images is more important than shipping costs, reviews, and even the price of the item itself!
Caption: According to Etsy’s buyer surveys, 90% of customers said the quality of the photos was “extremely important” or “very important” to a purchase decision.
Source: Etsy
If going pro isn’t in the budget, don’t stress. There are plenty of resources out there to help take your product photography to the next level.
For tips on lighting, shooting, editing, and more check out Etsy’s Guide to Product Photography.
Another must-have for a successful Etsy shop is a strong visual brand. After all, your storefront is often your customer’s first impression.
If graphic design isn’t your strong suit, there are plenty of free online tools (like Canva) that can help.
If you’re a Hootsuite user, check out the Canva for Hootsuite integration. It allows you to create engaging visual content directly from your Hootsuite dashboard.
Like Google, Etsy has its own search algorithm. Whenever a buyer searches for an item, its mission is to serve up what’s relevant.
Whether you sell handmade goods, vintage items or craft supplies, it’s best to be forward about it and embrace those keywords.
Here are a few ways to optimize your Etsy shop for search and increase your chances of ranking high:
Which brings me to my next point…
According to Etsy’s 2021 Global Seller Census, 84% of its sellers are solo entrepreneurs who run their businesses out of their homes.
The reality is that every shop owner has a story to tell. Sharing that story and highlighting what makes you unique is key to standing out in a crowded marketplace.
If writing about the person behind your business makes you cringe a little, we get it. It’s not always easy to talk about yourself! But this is your chance to build a connection with your customers and help them learn a bit more about you and your business.
If you’re struggling to figure out what to include on your “About Me” page, try checking a few of these boxes:
Gift guide collections are a valuable addition to any shop. They help showcase certain products, inspire your buyers, and stay top of mind for holidays and milestones — like birthdays, weddings, or baby showers.
You can create a gift guide collection by using Sections on Etsy to organize item listings in your shop. Sections show up as links in the left sidebar of your shop and you can use them to group item listings in a whole bunch of ways.
Share, share, share! It’s the best way to build with potential buyers and build a loyal following. You can even use tools built into the Etsy platform to help with that!
There are six types of posts you can create and share from Etsy:
There’s no worse feeling than browsing your favorite online store only to find out they’re all out of your size in that cool new romper you wanted.
Make your customer experience a great one by keeping inventory stocked as best as you can. Of course, things happen, materials run out, and as a solopreneur, you can only do so much. So be sure to give yourself plenty of grace, too!
Sending a thank you note after a customer purchases from your store is a great way to let them know you appreciate them. It’s added touches like this that can help build a tried and true following of buyers that keep coming back for more.
Stumped on what to include in your message? Here are a few ideas:
There are many ways to encourage your buyers to snap a photo of their purchase and leave a review. Here are a few places to start:
Remember: It’s the little things!
The key to the social media game is consistency. You need to show up in order to attract and keep followers, and better yet, convert them into buyers.
Here are a few ways to use social media content creation to promote your store:
Remember: Be consistent. Don’t go months without posting and expect your audience to stick around!
Etsy allows products to be sold that are handmade, vintage, or craft supplies.
Visit Etsy’s website for more details on what you can and cannot sell.
Yes! Etsy is one of the biggest online marketplaces in the world with over 96 million active buyers worldwide.
It’s a great place to start if you’re a beginner wanting to dip your toes in the online selling world but is also great for seasoned business owners.
Etsy integrates with other ecommerce so you don’t have to choose one or the other. For example, you can get the best of both worlds by integrating your Shopify store with Etsy.
Etsy even provides marketing and advertising services to help you promote your product and increase sales.
Setting up an Etsy storefront is simple:
It costs zero dollars to open an Etsy shop, but, there are three important fees to note:
It depends! You have the option to pay for shipping or have your customer pay in addition to the item cost.
You can also select your shipping preferences on an individual product basis or apply your shipping settings to your entire store.
Engage with shoppers on your website and social media and turn customer conversations into sales with Heyday, our dedicated conversational AI chatbot for social commerce retailers. Deliver 5-star customer experiences — at scale.
Try a free 14-day Heyday trial
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