Are you ready to set up an Etsy Shop? With this 6 step guide you will learn how to sell on Etsy Successfully!

If you have been wanting to open an Etsy Shop but are overwhelmed by the process, I’m going to break it down into six simple tasks. By following the six steps below on how to sell on Etsy successfully as well as the Etsy tips and tricks provided, you are that much closer to setting up an Etsy shop and making your first sale!

We will be setting up the Etsy seller account in Step 6, but feel free to start exploring the Etsy Seller platform now!

1. What are you selling?

First, brainstorm some Etsy shop ideas. Chances are you have an idea for your Etsy Shop, but be sure it is something you truly enjoy making! When you open your shop it’s important to focus on one category and not branch out into different categories. For example, if you love to make candles, list products within the category of candles and don’t start adding handmade mugs to your shop. Let your audience have a clear understanding of what your shop is about.

2. Plan out products and build inventory.

Before opening an Etsy Shop, it’s important to have a few products lined up so that your shop doesn’t look empty. Some shop owners recommend having three different products before opening and others will say fill a whole page with products.

I believe it’s important to launch your business so a minimum of three products is a great starting point. By having at least three products you will get more reach on Etsy as compared to having only one listing. This will also give your customers a few products to browse in your shop. Also start thinking about having enough inventory of each product you are selling. By having 5 – 10 units of each product in your shop you won’t run out of your current offerings as your making new products.

There is a science to picking the right colors if you want your products to sell! Check out the article on using Pantone trends to choose the right colors.

3. Stock up on materials and shipping supplies.

Next, head over to the craft store and buy enough material to make 5 -10 units of each product. Be sure to write down the cost and save the receipts. This will help you down the road with pricing the product, shopping around for cheaper materials and they are handy for tax time.

After the craft store, head over to your shipping store and pickup boxes, bubble wrap, tape, pens and any other shipping materials you may need. This is also a good time to start thinking about whether you would like to do flat rate shipping with USPS or buy boxes and ship with another shipping company. Start calculating shipping expenses now so you know which shipping company will work best for you.

At this point I recommend setting up a business planning binder to keep all of your costs organized.

4. Pricing your items.

Consider these questions: how much did the materials cost to build your product? How long did it take you to make the item? How much do you want to get paid per hour? Create a price that will pay for the products and pay you what you’re worth per hour.

For my math friends:

Materials for one item + (time to make one item x how much you want to make per hour) = price

Example: Homemade wreath

$10                +      (1 hour x $15 per hour)      =      $25

materials      +      (time    x  hourly wage)      =      price

This is only one way to consider how to price products when starting out and by no means is it the only way. If anything, this formula should be a minimum to be worth your time and a great Etsy tip for beginners.

When I started out on Etsy, my basic rate for custom orders was $8 per page. When I reflect on my pricing this was a bargain but at the time I was building my customer base. I also chose $8 per page because designing one custom page took about an hour. After building my customer base, my custom requests became more intricate and it was taking much longer than one hour per page. At one point, I calculated that I was making $4 per hour on large projects. It was costing my sanity!

Once you reach insanity, you are at the tipping point. In the beginning when you are starting out it’s ok to play with pricing, but make sure at the very least you are not losing out on materials and your time! Once you reach the tipping point and have an established customer base, it’s ok to increase the prices. Some customers might not like the price increase, but I promise as long as you are producing quality work, those customers will come back!

Other Etsy tips for beginners:

Selling on Etsy Fees – Sales Fees: 25 cents per transaction plus 3% of sale. Listing Fees: 20 cents per new listing.

Selling on Etsy taxes – Tax can be added in based on your state of residence. In my former Etsy shop, I included taxes into the price. For U.S. shops, once you reach a $20,000 revenue threshold Etsy will send a 1099-K. If you sell digital items oversees, a VAT is collected. VAT is an overseas tax that is taken care of by Etsy. VAT will not be considered part of your profit and should not be itemized when doing yearly taxes.

5. Prep your listings.

There are four areas to consider from the beginning to increase Etsy sales and increase Etsy traffic for the long run:

1. Quality pictures. Be sure your pictures are clear, in natural light and with a solid background.

2. Title. Look at what top selling competitors use to title their listings. Note that broad keywords are used to reach a larger audience. For example, if the color of your product is crimson, use the keyword orange rather than crimson. Having a clear, direct title is a free way to get noticed on Etsy.

3. Description. In the description write everything that comes to mind about the product even if it seems obvious. Pretend you are trying to describe this product to an alien. Clearly state what the product is, dimensions, weight, color and any additional important descriptors. Also discuss your shop policies, shipping, tracking and how to return an item.

4. Tags. The keywords in the tags category are how customers in the Etsy search engine are going to find your items. Again, look at the tags that the most successful sellers on Etsy use. You can find tags at the bottom of a product page. Some of the keywords in the tags might not be grammatically correct. Keep in mind that the keywords reflect how the customer types when looking for products. As you are getting sales on Etsy, continue to refine tags. This is an easy way to get more views on Etsy for free.

6. Set up an Etsy seller account.

If you are new to Etsy, be sure you are setting up a seller account and not just a buyer account. Go through the steps of inputting your address and payment information. Etsy will charge you fees once per month and will deposit your earnings every Monday. What’s great about Etsy is that they have their own checkout platform, so there is no need to set up a Paypal account. Also, be sure to set up shipping information that you brainstormed in Step 3.

Once your shop is set up, navigate over to Shop Manager > Listings. On the top right click + Add Listing. Add all the information you prepped in Step 5. Review everything to make sure you have images, titles, descriptions and tags. Verify there are no spelling errors. Once done, click Publish in the lower right corner. Congratulations you just posted your first listing!

Note: as you start gaining Etsy sales statistics, you can go back into your listing and edit the title, tags and description as many times as you want using customer keywords! Every time you edit a listing and republish Etsy will not charge you an additional fee. Also, anytime a potential customer asks me a question about a product I incorporate my response into information into my description.

Let me know in the comments below if you have set up your shop!