how to sell on etsy successfully
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How to Sell on ETSY Successfully

10 Things You Should Never Do When Selling on ETSY

I know how overwhelming it is to start an online business. It takes a while to know your way around stuff. You are always wondering if you are doing things the right way. Well, don’t worry, like always I got your back. Let’s talk about how to sell on etsy successfully. I’m guessing that you would have already started your shop on etsy. But if you haven’t go check out my other post on Setting an ETSY Shop to get started.

Opening up a shop on platforms like ETSY seems like a piece of cake but what many of us don’t know is that there is a whole lot of process going behind the scenes that play its part in ranking your shop, selling your products, and directing potential customers towards your products.

Let’s start with a few things that you might be doing wrong if you aim to be successful on ETSY. Many of you might be doing a lot of these things but that’s okay! We all do it wrong in the beginning.

To learn more about how to sell on etsy successfully, let’s have a look at these 10 things you should NEVER do when selling on ETSY:

1. Dont' Join Like for Like Ladders

At some point or the other, we all have fallen into this scheme of like for like. This does sound fruitful apparently, but SPOILER ALERT: it doesn’t work.

If people visit your profile just for the sake of giving it a like, ETSY is going to view them as buyers who visited your shop but didn’t find anything good enough to purchase so they left! Doesn’t sound so good now, does it?

ETSY wants to earn money and these tactics are not giving it that.  As a result, your shop may end up getting tanked!

2. Don't Compare Yourself with Your Competitors

Looking at your competitors’ shops and wondering how come they got it all? If you do this, you are completely normal because everyone does it. But stop immediately! It’s not helping, it’s never gonna help, and it’s only going to lower your morale.

Your competitors might be selling the same products as you but what you don’t know is the time it took for them to get there, the strategies they follow, and their marketing budget! If you want to be selling on ETSY successfully, comparing your business with others’ will do you no good.

3. Don't Underprice Yourself

Even if you are selling your products for $1, there’s always gonna be someone who’s going to say ‘oh, that’s too expensive!’ So you can’t keep lowering your prices every time someone tells you that you overcharge. Price your items in accordance with the market trends and your product costs!

4. Always Stick to Your Policies

When you are making your place in the market, people often show leniency towards their policies which is a NO. You need to stick to your store policies if you want to sell on ETSY. For instance, if you have a no refund policy, you simply don’t ever entertain refunds!

5. Don't React to Negative Comments Right Away

I know how my blood boils when I come across a negative comment. Ashley after a complaint and Ashley two hours later are two different people. But remember, the way you respond to criticism is VERY important! NEVER act on your impulse and always wait till the sting goes away and then reply as calmly as you can!

6. Don't Participate in Buy in Groups

Participating in these groups is never a good idea. The probability of receiving anything at all is very low. And even if you do receive something, the quality might not be up to your expectations.

So instead of being disappointed in the end, it’s better to divert your attention towards the customers that are actually interested and know the value of your products!

7. Don't Act on the Demand of a Few Customers

If you restock your shop with items demanded by a few of your customers, you might end up not being able to sell them. You have to entertain the mass, not the few, so always conduct a poll or survey before launching a new edition to your collection!

8. Don't Write Impersonal Description

I cannot emphasize this enough, ALWAYS write a great and well-detailed description of your products. This is the first thing a customer sees when they click on your product. If the description is not good enough, they may not be intrigued to buy it. Describing all of your products in detail is one of the most successful tips on selling on ETSY.

9. Don't Use the Same Keywords for Every Item

It’s important to use keywords in the title of your items. If the keyword is good, the chances of your product being ranked at the top will be drastically increased. However, if you use the same keywords for every item, you will be competing with yourself only!

Instead, use different keywords for every item so you have an equal chance of ranking in every category!

10. And Lastly, Don't Give Up!

If you really wish to be successful on ETSY, don’t even think about giving up. There is a lot to learn and know before you can master ETSY so don’t be disappointed if you are not able to make a sale in even months after launching your shop!

It’s a long shot and you can’t become a millionaire overnight. Give things time, keep learning new tips and tricks and you will eventually become a top seller on ETSY!

If you had been doing any of this stuff, stop it immediately. And might I suggest, don’t act on everyone’s advice. Everyone has their own experiences and is entitled to their own opinion. What worked for them might not work for everyone so before you try and follow their steps, carry out your research. Find out if what they told you is actually effective or not.

I understand it’s a lot to deal with. Been there, done that! But take my word for it, once you master these tips on selling on etsy, it’s going to be so much fun and you will soon realize that all this struggle was totally worth it!

how to sell on etsy successfully
tips selling on etsy
CategoriesBuilding A Business by

Tips Selling on ETSY for success in 2021

5 Things You Need to Know Before You Start Selling On ETSY

When I first got to know about ETSY, I was impressed as ETSY is among one of the very few platforms that promotes the hard work of artisans. If you too are looking to sell your handmade crafts, you should definitely consider ETSY. However, selling your products in the ever-so-competitive market is no piece of cake. So today here, I’m going to share some tips selling on etsy that you should know before starting! Let’s start with going over how to start selling on ETSY by setting up a shop:

 

How To Start Selling on ETSY

To start selling on ETSY, you will need to set up your shop by getting registered on the site. Good news: you can set up your shop on ETSY without paying a single penny! Although there’s a cost of selling on ETSY. You have to pay a small amount of $0.20 per listing to get started!

The following steps will walk you through the process of getting registered:

  • Visit ETSY’s homepage and click on the button that says ‘Sell on Etsy’. Once you are directed to the new page, click ‘Open your Etsy Shop’.
  • Choose your preferences. Such as, your location, the language in which you will describe your products, and the currency in which you’d like to trade.
  • Choose the name of your shop. It can be anything that comes into your mind but I say, go creative! Come up with something unique, short, eye-catching, and easy to pronounce. You should also ensure that the name of your shop resonates with your products!
  • Start listing your products. This is the step that matters the most so make sure you are doing it right! You need to be a lot patient with it because trust me, I know sometimes you would feel like smashing the screen of your computer!
  • In the next section, i’ll explain how to list your products on ETSY. But hold on! if you don’t find this information enough. Check out this post on setting an etsy shop!

Listing Products on ETSY

  • Upload several photos of each product from different angles.
  • Write a product description that is on point! Research relevant keywords and include them in the description as well as the available tags. Make sure to include common questions asked about your product and any allergy concerns. 
  • Include shipping fees. Don’t, I repeat, don’t just randomly enter any number. Write down a fully calculated amount so you don’t end up paying the shipping from your pocket. This is a mistake almost every newbie makes (myself included on several occasions)!
  • Select your payment method. I personally use either PayPal or ETSY Payments as I believe these methods are the easiest. This is the most preferred ones from sellers. Check out more on setting payments in my other post by clicking here.
  • Add your billing information and you’re all set!

 

5 Must Know Tips Selling on ETSY

  1. Well, for starters, you need to ensure that your product’s photographs are exceptional! People need to be attracted to your products when they view your shop. Make sure it’s clear what you are selling. Don’t make people guess. 
  2. I cannot emphasize this enough, LEARN SEO. Following the correct SEO technique and using the right keywords is the key to organically bring your products to the top and get more sales. Use tools to find keywords related to your business. ERANK is an incredible tool with a free plan!
  3. Don’t go blindly setting prices. Calculate your costs, include the shipping charges and the listing fee, and keep in mind that you will have to pay a 5% transaction fee upon each sale. Make sure you are earning a profit, but keep your profit margin low! [If you need help on pricing, check out our Cost Calculator too]
  4. Give your products a unique edge over your competitors. People need to see a reason to choose YOUR shop over the shop of your competitors.
  5. Market your products through digital media! Link your shop to your socials, introduce coupon codes, offer discounts, etc. Or, you can use paid promotions offered by ETSY to bring your listings to the top. Remember people buy from people so YOU are the face of your company.

I can go on and on about tips selling on etsy but I think if you have come this far, you should now have a pretty great idea about it yourself. These small tips will help you get started. Set up your shop on ETSY now and start selling, your experience will make you learn better!      

tips selling on etsy
benefits of llc vs sole proprietor
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Benefits of LLC vs Sole Proprietor

Benefits of Having an LLC vs Sole Proprietor as a Small Business!

As I’m always trying to find the topics that would help small business owners and flourish their businesses, I recently came across a social media debate on the benefits of LLC vs Sole Proprietor, which one of these is better for small business owners?  

Going through people’s opinions on this, I concluded it’s super important that someone finally addresses every aspect of this debate and pretty obviously, that someone is gonna be me! So, this is what we are gonna talk about today: the benefits of LLC vs Sole Proprietor!

 

First off, let’s just get to know about both of these terms separately:

What is LLC?

The acronym LLC stands for Limited Liability Company. It is a business structure designed for small business owners to offer them protection and prevent them from being held personally responsible for debts or liabilities.

Business owners choose LLC as it offers them several advantages, such as:

1. Limited Amount of Paperwork

For businesses that are running on small-scale, excessive paperwork and never-ending formalities are a nightmare! LLC offers less paperwork as well as fewer formalities. For instance, if you have started an LLC, you do not have to attend annual shareholder meetings.

2. Flexible Management

With LLC, owners are entitled to make all their decisions by themselves unlike in a corporate structure where a board of directors is needed to supervise all the important decisions and company policies.

3. Offers Owner Protection

One of the major advantages of LLC is that it offers the separation of business assets from the personal assets of the owner. In the case of debts and liabilities, the personal assets of the owners are always out of risk. If you own cars, houses, etc, this is important!

There are some more advantages of LLC, all concluding to the fact that LLC is one of the simplest business structures. Therefore, it is highly suitable for small businesses.

Coming onto the next one:

What is a Sole Proprietor?

One of the simplest structures followed for a business is the sole proprietorship. As it is the easiest business structure, it is the most common choice for small business owners. In a sole proprietorship, the business is owned by a single individual and there is no distinction between the personal and business debts and liabilities. People go for sole proprietorship because of certain advantages that it offers such as:

1. Low Cost

Setting up a business is expensive enough already. Sole proprietorship is preferred by small business owners as it is inexpensive and the easiest as well as the quickest method to get your business running.

2. More Freedom

Since you are the only owner of your business, you are free to make all of your decisions. You don’t need to consult anyone or take anyone else’s opinions, you may do whatever you believe is in the best interest of your business.

3. Reduced Formalities

As the owner and the business are not viewed as distinct from each other, the formalities of running the business are greatly reduced.

 

Looking at the advantages of both LLC and Sole Proprietor surely makes sole proprietorship look more appealing due to its informality. But let’s compare both of them in detail to know more!

Is LLC better than Sole Proprietorship?

Some of the major differences between LLC and Sole Proprietorship are as follows:

  1. LLC is a formal legal process whereas sole proprietorship does not require any formalities and is easier to form.
  2. In an LLC, the ownership of your business is shared with the members of the LLC whereas you are the only owner of your business in a sole proprietorship.
  3. In case of the business being sued, your personal assets are always safe with an LLC. However, if you are the sole proprietor, your personal assets are just as much at risk as your company.
  4. The taxation process in LLC is kind of flexible which is not the case in a sole proprietorship. If you go with an LLC, you may end up with some tax savings.

All things considered, I personally feel that if you compare the benefits of llc vs sole proprietor, LLC is a better option than sole proprietorship for small-scale businesses. Even though it involves comparatively more formalities, it also has greater advantages and fewer drawbacks. That is why I applied for my LLC when I first started my business back in 2018 (yes – AMCX Studio is an LLC!). All in all, it was a fairly easy process and the yearly fees are minimal when it comes to the protection that I am afforded each year. 

For more information, I would highly recommend that you check with your state requirements for your business. You can oftentimes find state funded business resource centers in your area with a quick google search. I hope this was enough to clear any doubts in your minds and get you thinking about setting your business in stone! Let me know what you prefer, LLC or Sole Proprietorship? You can also check out my other post on Starting a Crafts Business!

benefits of LLC vs Sole Proprietor
where to sell your crafts online
CategoriesBuilding A Business by

Where to sell your crafts online?

Have a Crafts Business? Find out Where to Sell Your Crafts Online?

In my opinion, nothing is cooler than owning a craft business! It’s definitely a skill not everyone possesses and your crafts are a product of your creativity and hard work. I have always been the one to encourage small businesses and appreciate the true art which is why I know there are many talented people out there who have literally zero ideas how valuable their crafts are. So today we’re gonna talk about where to sell your crafts online and make some good money out of it!

How to Sell Homemade Crafts Online?

The following are some authentic platforms where the chances of getting scammed are close to zero. Explore your options by going through this list below.

ETSY

My own experience with Etsy has me believing that Etsy is one of the best handmade craft websites. Why? Because the creators of this website have designed it especially for this purpose. It’s an e-commerce market place that exclusively deals with handmade and vintage. This means that the traffic on this website are people who know the value of your hard work so there are greater chances of you selling your crafts there!

 

In just the few years that I have sold on their platform, I have witnessed a lot of changes. While some of them seem to be a little weird, over all I genuinely believe that they have handmade sellers in mind. There is a lot of room for growth on their platform regardless of niche and it’s an excellent stepping stone if you plan on opening up your own website one day. The best part, it costs very little to start up and the Etsy community can be very helpful in understanding what to do next.

Amazon Handmade

Amazon handmade is a platform designed to support the work of local artists by giving them an opportunity to sell their handicrafts on the website. Like ETSY, you can only buy or sell handmade crafts from it but here’s what makes it a great option:

You know how we associate something with a brand name, we are quick to form our opinion about it like “Oh she’s carrying a Louis Vuitton handbag, it must be super expensive!” This is the type of credibility you need when you are selling handmade crafts online. 

 

As soon as someone sees your products on Amazon Handmade they will believe if it’s on Amazon, it must be as great as shown in the picture! Even though knowing your way around Amazon may take some time but it’s totally worth it keeping in mind the vast client base!

 

Facebook

Facebook is the ideal place if you are looking to sell your handmade crafts casually and gain local support. There are hundreds of buying and selling groups on the platform through which you can market your products easily, without paying a single penny! Always remember to meet up in a public place and have cash and business cards ready.

 

Mobile Applications

The key to maximize your sales is to ensure you are selling to the right audience! You may be selling diamonds at the cheapest rates but if your audience is unaware of its worth, you can do all you can and still end up with zero sales by the end of the month. If your focus on who to sell is clear, the answer to where to sell your crafts becomes pretty clear! 

 

Apart from ETSY and Amazon Handmade, one of your best shots at selling your crafts online is through mobile applications like Let Go, Offer Up, and PoshMark.

Local Markets

If online is not working out for you, you can always sell your art in the local markets. Flea and artisan markets might be one of your best options to sell your handmade crafts! You will often find your local markets hosting meet-ups every weekend or once a month.

 

So, today we have learned that the creativity you show in your free time is actually worth a lot of money. All you need is to showcase your product to the right audience and you will see the appreciation you get. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, isn’t that what they say?

 

Let me know your experiences if you have previously tried to sell on any of these platforms and what your favorite marketplace is for handmade items.

You can also add these great Decal Care Cards for your customers to help them learn how to apply vinyl decals and not ruin them!

handmade crafts websites
ETSY Best seller badge tips by Ashley
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ETSY Best seller badge; How to Get One?

ETSY Best Seller Badge: Top tips to get in the ETSY best seller listing

Being a freelancer, I follow several freelancing groups on social media. So just last night as I was scrolling through Facebook, I saw a post on one of these groups in which the person had asked about ETSY best seller badge. Going through my comments, made me realize how many people are unaware of what it actually means and how one can achieve it. I am guessing I don’t need a further introduction to this post so let’s just get right into it by addressing the most important part first.

But before we get into this, i’d like to address my new bestie’s who’re still wondering what is ETSY and how to setup a shop on etsy. So if you’re a complete beginner, don’t worry i’ve got your back. Check out my previous post to learn everything about etsy and starting your new business.

What does the ETSY Best Seller Badge Mean?

After reading the comments on the post and conducting short research of my own, I have come to a conclusion that a lot of people misunderstand the seller badge to be a representation of how well they are performing. Instead, this badge is only awarded to items that are sold the most in the least number of days.

For instance, if you sell handmade jewellery and you sold 10 pieces of a specific necklace within a day, you may be able to achieve the ETSY best seller badge. However, the minute someone sells 11 pieces of a similar necklace, your badge will instantly vanish and they will be the new owner of it!

Now that you have hopefully understood what the ETSY best seller badge means, let’s move on to understanding the ETSY best seller badge criteria. Knowing so might help you get one for yourself! 

Tips on Gaining the Best Seller Badge on ETSY

Understandably so, selling a maximum number of pieces in a limited time frame is no piece of cake. It’s a combination of extreme hard work, research, and effort. Following are some tips that you should keep in mind when aiming to gain the best seller badge:

1.       Offer something with a unique touch.

2.       Ensure that you have a happy customer base.

3.       Ask your satisfied customers to leave a good review.

4.       Add attractive photos of the products.

5.       Focus on all your products otherwise the badge won’t last long!

ETSY's Rating Criteria

The evaluation of sellers on ETSY is done by counting on two key factors;

1.       The number of complaints against your shop

2.       The number of reviews that have less than 3 stars

If you’re wondering where to find more details on etsy seller badges and ratings. Head over to this link. You can read more about selling on ESTY with this seller handbook. Although there aren’t any precise instructions on how you can achieve the best seller. Therefore, instead of concentrating on earning the best seller badge, I would advise all the ETSY sellers out there to focus on maximizing your sales and keeping your customers happy. Because from what we have learned today, earning a best seller badge on ETSY is not an evidence of how well you perform so even if you are not a badge holder, you still are a star!

etsy best seller badge tips
small business tips and advice
CategoriesBuilding A Business by

1 Thing You Need For Your Small Business

Small Business Tips and Advice - All About That Money

Wanting to open a business is just the beginning of your journey. Between deciding on products, where to sell, who your suppliers will be, your mind can be buzzing! Getting paid sounds simple and the easiest solution would be to dump those funds right into your own personal checking account. I mean it’s YOUR money, you worked for it, so why not? As an entrepreneur if you take small business tips and advice from me, let it be this one – open a business bank account! 

 

Keeping your business money separate from your personal money is going to help you keep your taxes somewhat square when it comes time to file them at the start of the year. But opening a bank account won’t help if you don’t keep your purchases separate as well. What should you separate though? The short answer to that is everything.

 

small business account

Opening and using separate accounts will help you keep track of your income across various selling platforms and your expenses from various sites. It will help define YOUR business and you can, at a glance, see where your money is coming and going. I also suggest applying for and opening a business credit card. When shopping for a credit card, try to find one that has awesome perks like cash-back which will help offset the costs of running a business. I love American Express Business Credit Card account.  I also have a Paypal business account with a credit card (mostly because If I don’t have my main card on hand, I can use that on most sites to check out. They also offer 6 months no intrest if the purchase is large enough so that’s a big bonus for me. *Disclaimer – PLEASE use credit cards responsibly!

 

Where Can You Get A Free Account for a Small Business

small business tips and advice

I shopped around for my accounts for a while before I found mine. I noticed that a lot of banks want to charge you a monthly fee for a business account. Just starting out, I did NOT want to pay for a monthly fee. While I can appreciate “that’s the cost of running a business”, that’s not something that I wanted to take on at the time. I finally found that Ameris Banking offered FREE business checking accounts. I did have to deposit I believe 100 to open the account, but the fact that it was free was fantastic. 

One thing to keep in mind that FREE does have restrictions. You are limited to your monthly transactions but you have over 1,000 transactions available. As long as you are not swiping hundreds of time a day, you should be okay with their free account. This could ultimately help your small business however, there are certain pros and cons to it. Read further to learn about them.

 

PROS

[ ] Free Bank account 

[ ] Friendly customer service 

[ ] Debit card and credit cards available 

[ ] Popcorn and lemonade in the lobby (as told by my son)

 

CONS

CONS 

[ ] Website isn’t the “coolest” 

[ ] Limited monthly transactions 

[ ] Minimum required to open account.

small business tips and advice
commercial use svg files
CategoriesBuilding A Business by

Commercial VS Personal Use

What's the difference between Commercial VS Personal Use

If you have been around the crafting world for a minute, you may have come across the terms personal and commercial use in the crafting groups. Some files, fonts, and mockups come with commercial while others come with personal only. While they may seem pretty straightforward, I want to take a moment and really elaborate on why this is important to know and why you should spring for commercial use when you can.

 

Personal use, as the name states, is created for you to use personally. You can make yourself a shirt, sign, or decal with the files. You are not selling the end physical product and there is NO money exchanged once the project is done. Commercial use means that you have the ability to create an end physical product in exchange for money. This means you can sell at the local flea market, you can put your items on Etsy, you can use those stock photos in your business social media accounts to drive traffic to your business. Anything that will even fit your business at the end of the day, the commercial use will save you!

commercial use svg files

Picture this!

So why should you look out for a commercial use license as opposed to personal? GROWTH. If you begin your crafting journey by only collecting personal use files, you could be limiting yourself later. Picture this, one crafty christmas, you have DIY-ed everyones holiday gifts. The hoodie you gave to your Aunt Carol gets some serious attention at her book club and now everyone there NEEDS it, but the file was personal use. Technically (legally and morally) you can not sell the hoodie because DigitalSuzieQ only gave you a personal license and yes “accepting donations” counts as making money – don’t bring that bad crafting karma on you.

 

What can you do in this scenario? Well, you’ll have to check the design site to see if they have the ability to purchase the commercial use file. Oftentimes they will (probably for around $3) but they might not – or worse you don’t remember who you got it from! [Check out this FREE gift to help you keep track of all your downloads] 

 

What if we had Commercial Use?

Now play that same scenario but this time, your amazing digital collection is nothing BUT commercial use files. You can immediately start selling to your heart content and stack that money with Carol’s book club. So while this scenario is a little silly, it does happen! A simple post of “check out what I did this weekend!” can blow up to having 20 orders and now everyone is looking at you wanting to know if you can make that but add sparkles. 

 

Even if you start with the thought of just making for yourself, you never know what might change. Take our recent pandemic for example, when the world shut down, some turned their hobby into a serious business! So while you may not think you need it right now, if you can help it, find those files with commercial use. Your future self will thank you. 

 

Disclaimer – Now I feel silly bringing this up, but I do want to clear up a common misunderstanding about commercial use license. Commercial use does not give you permission to resell the design itself. You can not profit on the design in this way. Even giving away a freebie you can not do that. The design, when you download it, is for you and you alone. You can not share that. You can create physical products but you can not sell the file itself. You may think it’s not a big deal, but as a designer myself, I have to say, please – support our designer besties. They put their effort into the design that they are selling for 3 dollars. If someone you know wants the design, direct them to the site to download from the original party. Even free files, direct them to the right spots.

 

I hope this helps in clearing up the difference between commercial use and personal use. You can find sites here that offer commercial use even FREE commercial use files!

What is commercial use SVG
CategoriesBuilding A Business by

STARTING A CRAFT BUSINESS

Ready to make money? Follow these tips if you are STARTING A CRAFT BUSINESS!

With a craft machine, it is so easy to go from crafter to boss babe (or dude!). There are a few things though that you will want to be aware of when starting a craft business. In this article, we are going to go over all of those to get you ready for the shift from weekend creator to full-time hustle!

1. Shift Your Mindset

Yep, that’s right, you need to SHIFT your mindset to start your business. You are no longer going to treat this as a hobby but as a business. You have to be ready to put in serious work to grow this into something that will create income for you. There will be late nights ahead, you will need to have money invested, and you might even need more Starbucks (is this a punishment though?) but the end results will be worth the time you have to put into creating your business. You need to consider your time VALUABLE. Set a plan – even a loose one – of what you want your business to be. You don’t have to realistic right now, just jot down where you picture yourself. You can no longer focus on things that do not serve you and your end goals.

2. Know Your Suppliers

In order to run your business, no matter how big or small, you need supplies! By doing a little bit of research ahead of time you can find out who has decent prices and how many of each unit you need to order to get those prices. While your local craft store may be convenient, oftentimes you are paying for that convenience. 😉 Take into consideration the costs of shipping and their shipping frames when picking your supplier. Have a few of them at the ready to give you the best prices. Check out some of my favorites and our besties lists here.

3. Understand Licensing

Not all designs are created equal – even if they are FREE. if you are selling your finished projects, you want to make sure you have the proper license. 😉 Most often you will see sites refer to their license as personal or commercial use. Personal use, as the name suggests, is personal. It’s just for you to make and use within your home. You’re not making money for your brand/business in any way. Commercial use allows you to make and sell end products. Most often those end products will be physical, however, you are also able to create digital files as well. If you are looking for sites with commercial use be sure to check the link here and also peep these FREE commercial use sites.

4. Research The Market

I am all for jumping in head first because I get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things that you “should” plan, getting together the PERFECT plan, and ultimately I never finish. If you are like that – *hugs* I am so sorry! With that said, there is something in doing a bit of research before you open shop. (Even after opening up shop, you will want to keep an eye out for trends!) When you think of what you want to sell, take a minute to just consider your prices, what options you will offer to your customers, and if you will take on custom orders. By doing a quick Google search or even peeping at other Etsy shops, you can get an idea of the market prices for items similar to yours. Don’t undercut yourself!

5. Crunch The Numbers

A business won’t succeed if you don’t understand where your money is going. One big thing that you have to know is how much your materials cost!? If you haven’t taken a minute to find your suppliers, seriously, do this now! How much time does it take to create your designs? What do you want to make an hour? Are you spending money on marketing? What are your listing fees on your platform?

For help in understanding what your project costs, you can check out this cool spreadsheet I made to help you break it all down.

6. Making Products

It should go without saying that we need to create our products! I mean, we are here to make money. Creating products will allow you to gain basic vinyl skills that will help you grow your business and create your crafts like knowing how to weed designs, press shirts, and apply decals. These skills and processes will change over time as you find out what works best for you. 

 

Remember practice makes perfect! If you are wanting to make cool glitter tumblers, be sure to visit your local dollar tree and pick up some cheap cups to practice on before committing yourself to that order. By making some products, you can also get an idea of how much time and materials it takes to make your products is. (Now, as time goes on, you will get faster at your craft and supplies have the potential to go down in price – so this might change later.)  With that said, you DO NOT have to create a product for every design you plan to offer. You can, in fact, use mockups to stage products and get insight into a product line before you commit time and money (check out this video here). 

7. Set Up Shop

So you know your numbers, you have your products, and you are ready to get that money but where do you sell? There are so many amazing places that you can sell your handmade items on. When starting a craft business, the most affordable option is; social media! Facebook and Instagram have made it possible to grow as a craft business with the use of swip swap groups and FB pages. By posting finished products or mockups in groups, you can get orders through DMs. Be sure to use payment centers like Paypal for business purposes (it protects you and the buyer). Wanting to go a step further? Check out local craft fairs and flea markets. You can rent out booths for relatively cheap for a weekend. 

 

There are other platforms like Etsy (afl) and Amazon handmade.  I love my Etsy shop and it now makes up over half of my monthly income! I do have an Amazon handmade shop, however, it is NOT user-friendly (for me at least) so I haven’t been able to sell on there to give my opinion on their platform.  If you are interested in reading my take on Etsy, you can visit the link to learn more. If you are seeking to drive your traffic and do it “your way”, you can also set up your own website. I happen to run my own site(s) that I sell on through WordPress but you can use Shopify for an easier setup. Each platform has its own set of fees so when deciding where to sell, be aware of those numbers.T

8. Time To Shine!

You may have heard the saying if you build it they will come but don’t be silly! We are not sitting around waiting for success to come to us – we are goal getting besties and we are here to shine. You are your biggest advocate for your business. No one will hustle for you more than you. Don’t let a day go by without a post on social media. You don’t want to create SELL SELL SELL posts, but keep engaged with your audience is important. Social media can be one of the BIGGEST drivers of traffic. Think about where your target market hangs out and make sure you show up. The latest fun spot to be is TikTok and if you are not already following me, why not?! Don’t forget to share this with your people around. Maybe someone known out there might be looking for starting a craft business. 

how to set up an etsy shop
CategoriesBuilding A Business by

How to Set Up Payments on ETSY Shop!

How to Set up An ETSY Shop (2nd Part)

In our last blog, we went over how to set up an ETSY shop and our first listing. In Part 2, we are jumping into finishing up the shop and getting paid! If you haven’t read it first, I would reccomend going back and checking that out. Don’t forget you can get 40 free listings by clicking here! 

What Type Of Seller Are You?

It’s time to distinguish who you are a seller. More than likely you are one person creating an Etsy shop so you would select Individual or sole priorietorship. For the purposes of this blog, that just means that it you are the sole owner of the shop. Now there are many ways that you can see your shop and establish it in the eyes of the goverment, but I won’t get into that here. If you have registered as a corporation, you will need to make sure that you select incorporated business. 

how to setup an etsy shop

About You

In the next part, we will input who we are. Fill this information out accordingly. 

Banking

Here you will choose where you bank is located and your account information. I reccomend that you open a seperate account for your business. You can find free business checking accounts with banks like Ameris and sometimes credit unions. This isn’t a requirement, but it will help you keep your expenses seperate through out the year making tax time easier. 

Credit Card

On the next page you will be adding in your credit card information. This is for Etsy billing purposes. The age ole’ quote, it takes money to make money is ever so true. Etsy has fees which I will outline in another blog but you will need to have a card on file to take care of these. Now typically, it won’t be a big deal, especially if you use the 40 free listings, you start off in a good spot as each listing will cost you 20 cents. However, if you’re items are selling, Etsy will take their fees out of your earnings to make things easier. Afer you save your card on file, you can now open you shop!

 

Welcome to Etsy!

Congrats! You have succesfully finished setting up an etsy shop but the work doesn’t stop there! Stay tuned as we go over additional things you can do in your shop make it pop allowing you to stand out as an Etsy shop owner. I am so excited for your journey bestie, I know you will do amazing things. 

setting up an etsy shop
CategoriesBuilding A Business by

Setting Up An Etsy Shop to Sell your crafts online

Need to sell your crafts online? Let's Learn Setting Up An ETSY Shop

I am so glad to see you taking the leap into becoming your own boss and creating financial freedom. If you are still on the fence, check out my last post here. Setting up an Etsy shop as a whole is pretty straight forward. There are some things that we are going to touch on that will help you build your dream shop. But let’s start with the basics – opening the doors. 

 

If you haven’t already, use my personal afl link to get your first 40 listings for FREE! Once you click it, follow the onscreen prompts until. you get to the “Shop preferences page as shown below.  

How To Set Up An Etsy Shop

Shop Preferences

This is the easiest section to fill out as this is all about YOUR preferences when it comes to viewing your shop. All you have to do is select your language, country, and the currency you are pricing your items at. The last question has no impact on your shop, Etsy is just interested in knowing who is signing up for their site.  

how to set up an etsy shop

Naming
Your Shop

This might be one of the hardest things for any crafter just starting out to decide on. Don’t worry though, if you HATE what you pick, you are able to change it one time without any reviews from Etsy. A third time requires Etsy approval. When it comes to picking your name, you want to have something that can grow with you. I would avoid “DogShirts4Life” unless you are certain that you will always sell dog shirts.

Creating a Listing

It’s time to create our first listing! By taping the “+” box, it will bring you up to the listing pages. We will go over each of those sections together.

Adding
Your
Listing
Photos

The first thing you will do each time you create a listing is to add photos. Etsy allows you to add up to 10 photos, with the first one being what your customers will see in the searches. Make sure your first photo is impactful! I know you should never judge a book by the cover, but with online shopping, it’s important that we put our best face first. While you don’t have to have 10 photos for a great listing, the more you can have, the better for you. Taking multiple photos of your product from different angles and props for size references can help your potential customer understand what they are looking at. 

 

Protip – You can even add photos of your policies, an “About the maker” photo, coupon code announcements for building an email list, or sizing information. 

It's All In The Details

Now that we have our listing photos out of the way, you need to fill out the details that will help your potential customers find you. Etsy’s search allows customers to sort by materials, categories like household decor, party, and bumper stickers. Filling out as much of this information as possible will help the customer find exactly what they are looking for – your product!

 Listing Title – This is what Etsy will display to the customers so make sure it descriptive of what you are selling. If you are an artist that paints cows and your latest painting you want to call it “Pasture Attitude”. As cute as that name is, your potential customer won’t be searching for that. Instead trying a title like “Cow in Pasture Decor | Cow Wall Art ” will put you into search results that your customers are typing in. 

 

About This Listing – Here you will select from the dropdown menu who made it, what the item is, and when was it made. There are several options for each one, so be sure to select the best ones for your product.

 

Category – Etsy allows a wide variety of sellers and products. To browse the options, start typing out what your item is and different suggestions will begin to populate under the box. Take for example our painting earlier, typing “painting” pulls up options like art and collectibles, home decor, and painting kits. By clicking on a suggestion, the space under the box will fill with key terms that Etsy is going to assign to your listing. Be sure to review the terms and if they don’t fit, pick another category by typing in the box again. 

 

Depending on what you select, each category will pull up additional listing specs like the season, holiday, size, etc. 

 

Renew – Every listing has a virtual shelf-life. Typically that shelf-life is 4 months from the day you post it or until it sells. By selecting automatically, your listing will renew after every sale (until completely sold out) or after its expiration date.

 

Type – Here you will choose if you are selling physical or digital products. A physical product is going to be one that you physically ship to a customer and a digital one they will download on their own. 

The meat and potatoes!

While every part of the listing is important, if I had to put it into terms of food, THIS is the meat and potatoes of your listing! 

Description – Add all of your information here. THIS is where you really sell your product and yourself as an artist! Start by describing your piece. What makes it special? What is the size? What material did you use? Why should they buy from you? You can include breaks in your description to include special care information or even links to other products in YOUR shop that are similar in nature. If you have any hidden coupons like buy 3 shirts, get 1 free with code “341shirts” or even free shipping on orders over $50,  this can help you convert to higher sales and can help fill your description with vital information.

Protip – The use of CAPS for titles, formating like — this — and even emojis is encouraged! Now don’t make it look like a 9th graders phone, however, using emojis can help bullet point and draw the customer’s eye to important information. 

Sections – Sections are a useful tool in keeping your shop organized. You can create categories like “Men’s Shirts” “Women’s Shirts” “Seasonal Signs” “Car Decals” and more. You are given 20 categories so give yourself time to think about what groups you should create to help your customers search within your shop. 

Tags – This is where Etsy SEO comes into place. SEO is search engine optimization. What you type in here will tell Etsy’s search bots how you want to show up in search results. Avoid using short terms like “gift” or “painting” as these won’t put you high in the search results. Using long-tail words (what customers are typing in) will help make sure you land where you need to be. Think again about what your customers will be looking for to find your sign. Terms like “Funny Bathroom Decor” “Bathroom Wordsearch sign” “Cute Bathroom Signs”  even “Gifts for new home” can prove to be helpful. If your term is too long, you can fill it out like funny bathroom, bathroom decor putting your terms together. 

 

Protip SEO is a HUGE part of Etsy and to help you better understand it, I recommend checking out eRank. Anthony Wolf, the creator, built the platform with Etsy businesses in mind!

 

Materials  – As the name suggests, this is where you include the material you used for your item if you want. This helps your customers know what they can expect. Some customers have allergies to certain fabrics or metals so this information can help prevent future problems for both the customer and you. These terms can also help with the search so it’s good to add them!

Inventory
and
Pricing

So are you ready to talk numbers? Here you will set the price of your product as well as how many you are selling. You can assign a SKU to the item to help you track inventory if you are producing and storing your products. You can also create variations that will allow you set different price points for each. For example, you sell a decal in different sizes – 3 inch all the way to 20 inches. When you add variations you can make sure that you adjust the prices for each of those sizes.  If you take personalizations on items, you are able to set that upo as well. Be sure to ask for any information that you will need for your customers. 

Shipping

We have finally made it to the end of the line – shipping. Here you are able to select a flat fee OR use Etsy’s built in calculated shipping. You can also let your customers know the processing time (from the date they order, how long it will take you to dispatch the item). After you fill this information out, you can save what is called a shipping profile which will allow you to select these setting in the future for a faster listing process. 

We are done...for now

Opening An Etsy Shop – Part 2 After filling out all of this information, you can hit that save button at the bottom of the screen! Congrats bestie, you have just create your first listing and are one more step closer to opening your doors. Are you ready to move ahead? Check out Part 2 of Setting up an Etsy shop here. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the group, I would be more than happy to help.