How to sell your work on Etsy.

If you are a creative person and are good at painting, knitting, crochet, sculpting, sewing, or making pretty or useful things, you could become an Etsy seller. For all, you creative entrepreneurs out there selling art couldn’t be easier. It is free and easy to set up your own online shop and you can have your own business selling your art on Etsy in a matter of minutes. More and more people are shopping online for unique gifts and art pieces for their homes and Etsy is an ideal e-commerce platform for them to do this.

You will first have to set up an Etsy account, you will be asked to choose a shop name and then you will need to set up your bank account details so you can get paid. It would be useful to download the Etsy app onto your phone so you can get updates while you are on the move and make sure you don’t miss a sale.

You are ready to start listing your work. Etsy sellers are charged 14p per month listing fees for each listing you have and Etsy will take a 5% plus 20p cut on the sale of your products.

In order to have a successful Etsy shop, there are a few things that it would be wise to consider.

Think about your Etsy keywords, make sure you use as many as you can that are relevant to your work. These will determine how many potential customers will find your artwork in an Etsy search so you need to give yourself the best chance possible. Your potential customers will type a search into Etsy’s search bar and Etsy will products that match their search their way, the more keywords that you can fit into your products the better the chance of your work being seen.

It would be useful to have a good camera to take some great photos of your artwork. You will get more sales if you have high-quality photos taken in natural light of the products you have for sale. Great images will equate to more buyers.

Work out how much you want to charge for each item making sure you take into account your Etsy fees.

Work out what your shipping costs would be and be clear about where you are willing to ship your work. Remember to work out how much overseas shipping will cost if you are going to ship abroad.

Think about your packing materials and take into account how much they will cost you. Bubble wrap is great for keeping your items safe in transit but is not very environmentally friendly, you could instead use corrugated wrapping paper to wrap your products. Not only is it better for the environment but it also works out cheaper.

If you do decide to go down the eco route make sure you tell your customers, being environmentally conscious will certainly not harm your sales but could make the difference to potential customers between buying from you or from someone else.

Be clear about your shop policies, Etsy requires you to have a returns policy before you start selling.

Now you are ready to decide what you are going to start selling. Here are a few of my favourite fun and unique items that you can purchase on Etsy for some inspiration.

Crochet/knitted items.

There is a multitude of hats, headbands, blankets, and bags for sale on Etsy, and there is always room for more. Not everyone can do what you can do and people are willing to pay for great quality handmade goods. There will always be a market for handmade products so you might as well give it a go. You can always look on Pinterest for great tips and inspiration.

Original artwork.

If you are a good artist, crafter, or digital artist, you might like to sell your art on Etsy. Original works are always very popular with buyers for their own homes and as gifts. Take a look at other artists’ artwork on Etsy for ideas about what sells, personalised pictures or animal portraits might be a good thing to get into as art buyers are always willing to pay a bit extra for anything unique to them.

Customized Items.

If you have an embroidery machine, transfer printer, or enjoy bedazzling you could customize clothing and baby items and sell them in your Etsy shop. People are always willing to pay a bit extra for something personalized and it makes sense that they will come to Etsy looking for them. There are all sorts of things that you could personalize that would sell well in your online store. Think weddings, birthdays and baby gifts for some ideas.

Homemade candles and wax melts.

People always like unique and handmade items, and candles are big business and are really very simple to make. All you need to get started is a pot, wax, a wick, and some essential oils. You can make something unique and really beautiful in a very short space of time and sell for a decent profit. Candle making is simple and rewarding to make and people always appreciate all-natural handmade products. There are lots of ideas to inspire you on YouTube and Pinterest for beautiful-smelling candles and wax melts.

Jewellery.

Making your own jewellery is an art and can take a bit of skill, but if you have a jewellery-making talent, people are always on the lookout for a one-off piece. I particularly love sea glass pendants and natural amber jewellery as you know that each item is entirely unique to you.

Selling your jewellery in your Etsy shop is a good way of cashing in on your unique talents.

Sell craft supplies.

Selling art is not the only way to make a business on Etsy, you could start selling craft supplies. Craft supplies are a sales category of their own on Etsy you may want to sell them to compliment your own artwork or on their own. Suppliers make up 12% of sellers on Etsy and you may find that other sellers on Etsy will buy from you if your products are of good quality and your prices are reasonable.

Christmas decorations. 

All things Christmas really are my favourite when it comes to crafting! You can cover so many things from unique Christmas tree baubles and wreaths to table dressings, unique Christmas gifts are always well sought after. You can let your imagination go wild, there is never a better time to go large! Artists can sell their Christmas art all year round in their Etsy shop but it would help your business to have items that are not specific to one time of year otherwise you may find that your sales are mostly seasonal.

Go vintage.

You can sell vintage items on Etsy. You may be surprised to know that anything older than twenty years can be classed as vintage! Vintage goods can be anything from clothing, homeware to furniture. If you have an interest in old things, can recognise a bargain or have a knack for knowing the value of things this may be a good business venture for you.

Advertising your Etsy shop.

Once your shop is up and running you are going to need to advertise. It would not be a bad idea to advertise yourself and your products on your social media accounts as the word of mouth of your friends can really give your Etsy shop a good kickstart and if they like your products they are more likely to come back to you. To advertise your shop on social media, you can create a hyperlink directly to it by typing in https://shopname.etsy.com or https://www.etsy.com/shop/shopname. You can create a business Facebook page open to the public to advertise your products that can send your customers straight to your Etsy shop the same applies to Instagram. I would say that it is also worth advertising your work on a business Pinterest account. You can showcase your work and link directly to your Etsy shop.

Etsy will actually advertise on Google, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bing for you with their new offsite ads campaign, you will automatically be included but if your revenue is lower than $10 000 you can opt-out if you want to but you will only pay Etsy a percentage of the sales that are generated from the ad campaign so you can’t really lose. If your product is featured in an ad campaign and your item sells within 30 days as a result of this you will pay 15% of the sale to Etsy or 12% if are making more than $10 000 a year, this is on top of your usual Etsy fees. This may sound a lot but if you feature in an Etsy campaign it could generate you a lot more sales than you may normally get so it is probably still worth your while.

Depending on your needs and the size of your online shop you may want to start your own website to tell people a little more about yourself and to share your art online, you can direct people to Etsy or sell directly from your site and cut out the middle man. If you are interested in building your own website you can check out our Build a Website guide here.

Support and training.

Once you have set up your shop it is important to know that you are not on your own wondering what to do next. Etsy offers a great deal of additional support to its sellers, the seller’s handbook is full of valuable tips and ideas on making the most of your business and there is a sellers forum for the Etsy community that offers everything from podcasts to exciting articles relevant to running an online business. You can also join their discussion forum, where you can get the answers to any appropriate questions you may have and gain from or offer support to other members of the Etsy community.

To start your own Etsy shop, click on the image below.