How to earn money on etsy
February 14, by Stephanie 90 Comments. When I first heard about Etsy back in , the entrepreneur and the crafter in me got curious.
I wanted to try it, just an experiment. We were grateful for the success of my experiment when my Etsy income fed us during law school.
Do you have a handmade specialty? Do you make jewelry? Do you sew clothes? Are you a potter? Are you a carpenter? Do you paint portraits? Whatever your crafty or artsy skills are, there is a way to market it on Etsy. The possibilities really are endless. Sell something that you enjoy creating. If you can figure out how to ship it, then go right ahead and sell it.
Browse Etsy to get your wheels turning. The sky is the limit! You can sell digital creations on Etsy too, so patterns, photography, printables, web design and so many other ideas are fair game. You have complete control over the price of the item and the shipping charges.
You can decide where you are willing to ship. Many handmade items are made-to-order and production times vary, so you can specify in your listing how long it will be before the item is shipped.
We will talk about pricing in another post. Right now, just brainstorm all of the possibilities of what you could sell. Continue with the other 4 posts of the Earning on Etsy series where I will talk more about how to do market research, set up your shop, setting prices, marketing, and a whole slew of other tips and hints. I am writing an ebook full of tips and success stories from some Etsy sellers who have it all figured out.
Want to hear what successful Etsy sellers did and are doing to grow their shops? Learn their tips and tricks in my upcoming ebook. Sign up here to be the first to know when it's released and get a discount!
EARNING EXTRA , Earning on ETSY Series Tagged With: February 14, at Looks like this is going to be a great series! February 15, at I love your felt ornaments, especially the owl, fox and other animals! Did you design them yourself or do you use a pattern?
You are making me want to open my etsy shop up again! You were going to go to medical school while your husband is in residency and you have kids! Just thinking about that exhausts me! Beth Goodness Gracious Living says.
How do I boosts traffic without paying for the promotion? Feel free to check it out: Listing more items will give you more exposure. Even if the listings are essentially offering the same thing custom framing , you could feature a different photo in each one. A lot of people may never click on your listing to see all the other great examples you have. I would make them each a separate listing. Having more listings will also fill up your shop more, which is a good thing.
The time listed is a factor not the only one of course in how items show up in search results, so especially when your items are all very similar, it is better to have them spread out over time. We will be talking about some other tips in the series that should help too, including some ways to market without paying for ads. I have not paid for promotions on etsy or elsewhere either. February 10, at 5: At the moment, trying to fiure out what to call it! Also is it better to stick to one theme for instance vintage costume jewelry vs Vintge costume jewelry and handsewn crafts?
February 19, at As for the theme of your shop, if you think both types of items would appeal to a similar audience, you can keep them together.
January 15, at 9: Well, it also has to do with appeal of the product in the photos. Think of them as your first impression. Some of the pictures have a yellowish tint that dulls out the beautiful product you have.
Try shooting in a naturally well lit area, maybe in front of some windows with minimal things in the back ground. You want people to see your beautiful product as well, and the right picture could mean the difference between a sale. La Tejana Debt Free Tejana says. February 15, at 9: I am SO excited for this series!! Right now, I am in the collecting and making stage. Before I list any items, I want to make sure that I can consistently make quality products.
My parents who I live with are getting a bit antsy though. There are about wine bottles sitting in the garage right now and they are ready to get them out of there! Feel free to ask any questions as the series continues! I do like to crochet but I just struggle to find a project that would actually be profitable. Looking forward to following the series: I struggled with finding the right niche in the beginning. I hope to learn more about growing my hobby into a little business.
February 16, at I love the hand towels in your shop. February 17, at 4: February 20, at 7: I bought a domain name so I can eventually create an independent shop, but right now it links directly to my Etsy shop: February 22, at 8: Thanks for the correction on the vintage date. Your shop looks great! February 20, at 9: I have an Etsy store of my handmade earrings using Swarovski crystals and sterling silver.
Feel free to check it out if you like a little bling:. February 20, at Jackie your shop looks great! Your earrings are beautiful and the pictures are nice and clear. My suggestions would be to keep listing more new items. February 27, at 7: I hope you talk about how very important the photos are. February 28, at We will be talking about pricing soon, Bonnie. Hopefully that will help you to decide if an Etsy shop would work well for you. Yes, we will talk about the importance of having great photos.
It really is a big deal! I know I need to update some of my photos! February 27, at 8: I have to say that I never thought I would be able to make any money on etsy. I used it more of an outlet for my creativity and hoped that maybe I would be able to have it at least pay for itself. This has been the perfect opportunity for me to do something that I love while I still get to stay at home with my kiddos and keep them as my first priority. I get to use the extra money that I make to pay for their extra sports and piano lessons and maybe an extra pair of shoes for myself every once in awhile.
A couple of tips that I have to agree with you on is to keep posting new listings and items. Make your things as personalized and custom as possible but still being accessible. My mantra for my business is to make jewelry for people that is meaningful and affordable. It has been amazing the people that I have been able to touch. Here is a link to my shop if anyone has any tips for me.
I am always looking for new ideas! February 28, at 1: I really love your shop! I love all the personalization available. Thanks for sharing some great tips! I think having lots of items listed like you do really helps with exposure.
Pinning your listings is great too! February 27, at I see items with licenced fabric for sale. I worry about things I make and want to sell that may violate the copyright rules. Are those crafters just taking a chance or is ok to sell them. March 3, at 2: I think you would have to check the individual licensing agreement for the different fabrics. You would need to see if the license is just for personal use or if what you make from the fabric can be sold.
March 4, at 4: Going to read through all the posts! March 5, at 8: I also have an Etsy shop and have found that actively marketing through social media has increased my sales. It takes some work to sell on Etsy, but it can be worth it. I look forward to the rest of this series. March 6, at Great job branching out from Etsy and selling your things in other venues!
Your shop looks fun! November 13, at 5: Thank you so much for all this info! November 28, at 5: I think your shop is really nice! Here is my aunts: November 14, at 2: November 17, at 4: Thank you for the information. I have a shop on Etsy https: November 18, at 3: I have start a ship on Etsy for Wall paper, Wall Mural, Goden polka dots and other motivational wall paper.
November 22, at 6: I am looking to sell my handmade wax tarts online and trying to find the right place to sell them. Still debating on which place I should open up for selling my own website or Esty. I am such a newbie I have no clue what is the best deals out there. Thanks for all the information you are providing.. January 7, at 1: If you take a look at Part 4 , I talk more about the details of pricing.
February 18, at 8: How easy or difficult would it be to take everything off of eBay and start selling it on Etsy? I can give you one of my item numbers and then you can look and see what kind of things I have. You could try just moving some of your inventory over and see how it does! December 1, at 8: Stephanie- after reading all 5 of your Etsy articles I wanted to check out your Etsy shop, but found no easy way to do that.
Perhaps a new link for that would be something good to add. December 1, at December 9, at 3: Traffic to the site is very low and as we are around the holiday time we thought it would of been much higher.
January 2, at 5: December 31, at 9: How do you report for income taxes. Does esty provideo report of sales to give to tax preparation and I keep records of expenses? January 1, at 7: Etsy keeps track of your sales and the fees paid to Etsy. Since you can purchase and print your postage right from Etsy, all of the shipping costs will be right there in your Etsy bill, which is really convenient! You can easily download the. I have my own spreadsheet where I keep track of my Etsy business expenses.
January 2, at 3: January 4, at I think selling on Etsy works out really well. You always wait for payments to go through which is usually immediately anyway before you send the customer their item. January 3, at 8: You can find it at SimpleSensations. January 7, at 5: Let me be clearer, I love to make jewerly, stamp tshirts and a friend of mine wants to start selling bellydance outfits and we where thinking of share the same shop.
I am afraid this are to many ideas into a shop, what do you think? Setting up your own shop is easy enough. I walk you through the details in Part 3 of this series. I would recommend that you and your friend each have your own shop. Splitting up your profits, etc would get too complicated in my opinion.
How to Make Money Selling Crafts on Etsy - The Simple Dollar
January 11, at 9: Already saw all of this series. January 13, at Some items can be complementary and go well together. If your target audience is the same, then by all means put them together!
January 7, at 9: I used to have an etsy site I was mesh perspective. I am a mixed media artist. I make jewelry and gifts with a very distinct artistic flair and I work with many different mediums. January 7, at I had an etsy site. I make jewlery and other gift items. And therefore my views and sales were suffering. They were pretty non existent. I know I have a lot of talent. But etsy is so large they can afford to do things this way. Did you make sure your items were tagged well? Using good relevant tags helps buyers find your items when they search.
You can also read what I wrote in Part 5 of this series about marketing you shop. January 8, at Thank you so much for all the information. I opened my shop in and I am still having a difficult time trying to even get people to view my site. I would appreciate any recommendations you might have for site https: January 16, at 3: Thanks so much for this information. I had a small business making collages and I sold my inventory in a few shops and at art shows.
I had an Etsy shop and only sold one thing the entire year I had it. I had zero understanding of how to market myself. We adopted a child in and my biz has been on the back burner because I needed to be home with him.
Can I really make money on Etsy? Here's how to make money on Etsy
I really appreciate your blog. It is hard to believe I could make this work, but I am going to keep exploring and hoping! January 20, at 2: Good luck with all your efforts including being a Mom!!! January 20, at 4: January 31, at 3: February 11, at 9: Thank you for this! March 20, at 8: I have read your series and have found it extremely helpful.
I am wondering though do people start their etsy business on just a hobby they have or a business they have? I make wreaths and have considered starting a shop but right now this is just a hobby. I have done some research as you mention and find numerous etsy businesses for the same thing. Makes me wonder if it is possible to get traffic when there are so many out there doing the same thing. What are your thoughts? At what point does something like this go from just a hobby to a full business?
If you open an etsy site are you required to claim the business and earnings or is there a threshold? Just curious how that works. What about branding or copyrights? Would I need to register my name officially somewhere? April 8, at 8: This article is great! I know from personal experience how awesome selling on Etsy is!
April 8, at I did a ton of research before opening. In my research, I stumbled across this blog on Pinterest. I used the information I learned, to help set up my shop. I opened my shop in January of this year, and my shop is far from perfect, but I am very pleased with the amount of sales I am getting. I have had several people approach me about wanting to open a shop and I always refer them to this series.
Thank you for taking the time to share this information!! April 21, at 9: May 7, at 4: I have a shop on etsy and thinking about closing. I think maybe you are selling too many different things.
The best items by far are the painted crosses and the Delft inspired tiles. Lots of colours and choice. Your photos are ok but top notch photos really are what sells things to the customer. Think about how food is presented in food magazines and cookery books.
I think you could present the items in a much fresher, more professional way. May 26, at 6: I have had a Etsy shop for about 2 years now with my fiance. The thing is that yes we have had people view our items but never sold anything! I was so excited when we first made our Etsy shop thinking we would make some money and sell sell sell! If you have any tips please please please let me know as we would love it to work!
May 30, at Stephanie, thanks a lot for this blog and post!! I am really thinking to go into ETSY. My passion is photogrpahy but I would like to give it an exclusive and original touch… I have some ideas on mind!!! Your posts are helpful and encouraging. I hopefully find you one day in love also with my products! October 24, at It has helped me save for our first home, buy a car and bank most of my earnings into savings while my husband covers our base expenses.
October 27, at 3: This must be fate. I was just talking with a family friend yesterday, and she was telling me that I should use my creative skills to start my own business.
Especially, since I am looking to go back to work. I was just telling her there was a site called Etsy where you can sell products. Years ago, I use to paint on canvas, and decided to try painting with acrylic on fabric.
So, I hand painted a sweatshirt. When I would wear the sweatshirt, I would get a lot of people asking me where I purchased it. But, I never really considered trying to parlay it into a business. And… if this could actually become a business. So, I am really excited to hear all your ideas and feedback about selling on Etsy. Sandra from VintageOfOdds says.
10 Real Tips For Successfully Selling On Etsy | Handmadeology
March 12, at 9: So now that I got that out of the way, can I make money as you say people can? Or is this pretty much just for crafters? Please give me information for making some serious money on selling vintage items that has nothing to do with crafts.
April 2, at 2: Howdy very cool website!! May 19, at 3: Is it okay to sell jewelries on Etsy that you have not made but you bought them for a good price and would love to resell them? May 24, at Etsy is just for handmade items, vintage items, and supplies.
You could sell on ebay though. January 5, at 3: Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I just finished my 1st year on Etsy selling organic salve and skin products. Just now running numbers and optimistic. I still dont have business cards and or have my products up on my own website.
January 11, at 6: This is the first of a 5 part series about how to make money on Etsy. Learn about what to sell, how much it costs, and Etsy vs selling on your own website. You can even get your first 40 listings FREE! She was more detailed in the specifics costs and than other blogs I visited. Have you ever thought about opening up your own Etsy shop? There are online outlets you can sell such items from, like Etsy and Amazon […].
Your email address will not be published. If A New Comment Is Posted: Do not send any comments to my email Send email notification ONLY when someone replies to MY comment Send email notification for ALL new comments on this post. Six Figures Under Personal Finance Made Public. Of course you can! Get ready to learn how in my Earning on Etsy series! What should I sell on Etsy? How much does it cost to sell on Etsy? Each listing can include 5 photos and lasts 4 months or until the item sells.
If you have more of the same item available, you can set your listing to renew automatically when an item sells. If you havent opened an Etsy shop yet, you can get your first 40 listings free. When a listing sells, you are charged 3. This is added to your monthly bill. You can determine the methods of payment you will accept.
Paypal used to be the primary form of payment, but now Etsy has their own payment system, Direct Checkout, that also accepts credit and debit cards. You can also allow customers to send personal checks or money orders. Paypal takes the fees out and adds the remainder to your Paypal balance, which transfers easily to your regular checking or savings account.
Etsy takes out the Direct Checkout fees before making the remainder available in your Shop Payment Account. Deposits are made weekly into a bank account of your choice.
You will not get anywhere near that on your own site. People looking to buy and willing to pay for handmade start searching on Etsy.
Etsy listings show up high in Google ranks. And even if your site grows amazingly, you will miss out on customers who are searching directly on Etsy. Another thing Etsy really has going for it is trust. You can read reviews on the products and services of a specific seller.
When I buy from a random website I am always afraid it might be some fly-by-night operation that has no reason not to just take my money and run. You would have to do a lot of design and coding to get something that looks as nice and works as well as Etsy. You really can make money on Etsy.
More in the Earning on Etsy Series Part 2: Market Research Part 3: Setting up your Shop Part 4: Tax Notes for Etsy Shop or Small Business Upcoming Ebook I am writing an ebook full of tips and success stories from some Etsy sellers who have it all figured out. Be the first to know! Now check your email to confirm your subscription. There was an error submitting your subscription. We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.
Comments Katy says February 14, at Thanks for sharing your site Beth! Is it better to list lets say items all at once or list 20 items wee for 5 weeks? LOL Also is it better to stick to one theme for instance vintage costume jewelry vs Vintge costume jewelry and handsewn crafts? Feel free to check it out if you like a little bling: Also, I would really appreciate any critiques or tips you may have on my Etsy shop!
I have start a ship on Etsy for Wall paper, Wall Mural, Goden polka dots and other motivational wall paper https: Look forward to purchasing the ebook.
Best of luck with your shop! Your things are super cute! I truly appreciate your series and what I have learned so far. Hi; enjoyed your article on etsy part 1, have you done part 2 and etc or not. Thank you Beth https: Thank you, Sandra from VintageOfOdds. Just came across this blog post. Are the Etsy fees still current? Trackbacks Thrifty Thursday Link Party Link Up Your Budget Friendly Blog Posts says: February 27, at 6: Make Money Blogging Guide - CKD reset theme says: December 9, at Stay at Home Jobs for Stay at Home Moms A modern mommy's guide to managing money says: March 24, at 7: July 8, at 5: The Wednesday Roundup Week A Link Party says: August 6, at August 27, at 4: What I'm Reading This Week 38 - says: January 30, at 2: Four Ways To Get Money And Get Back On Your Feet Again says: September 22, at Running an Etsy Shop — Professional Practice says: April 24, at 1: Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.
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