If you have never heard about Etsy, it is an internet marketplace designed specifically for unique items. This can be just about something, from greeting cards and candles to tub bombs, clothes, and jewelry, as long as your things are handwoven, vintage, or craft provided.
Etsy reportedly has over four million active sellers and over eighty million active consumers, therefore there is undoubtedly an associate degree audience out there if you can make something that people will want to buy. If you have the proper product and use the business executive tips below, you can make money from Etsy within days.
How To Make Money On Etsy?
How to make money on Etsy? Some people make a side income of £20 – £30 a month, and others earn enough to quit their jobs and sell on Etsy full time.
It is not likely you will become a millionaire from selling on Etsy, but if you follow a few simple rules, you could easily make a decent little side income while you study, all while doing something you actually enjoy.
How To Sell On Etsy and Make Money From Etsy?
Selection Of Products To Sell
This could be the start of a whole new business. It does not even need to be a physical item as plenty of Etsy stores sell their designs for people to print at home, or create imagery for people to use on their websites and social media.
If you are really struggling with ideas of what to sell on Etsy to make money, why not take a look at the site to see what others are doing?
See this as an opportunity for inspiration, but make sure you do not copy someone another idea. If you are really switched on, this is the best stage to create or order a prototype or test your product. It will allow you to see what it will look like, make it easier to take product photos, and also test out the build quality.
Selection Of Name and Logo
Do not think too hard about the name of your Etsy shop. It will not have much of an impact on your sales and you also get one chance to rename it. Think of something simple and try not to become clever. Also, try to search your name to make sure it is not clash with anything else.
Once you have decided on your name, you can easily make yourself a custom logo using Canva, it is an online program that is a lot like Photoshop but much, much easier, and it is free to use. If you are not comfortable designing the logo yourself, you could use a site like Fiverr to hire someone to help you with it.
Create Images Of Your Items
This is more important on Etsy than it is on eBay and Amazon, your product has never been seen before and a great photo can really make the difference here, even more than your shop name and logo. If you have ordered a test product, this should be quite easy.
Take a look at what other stores with similar products are doing, choose the style you like the most, and then work on making yours similar.
Saving Of Money
While we recommend starting with a Standard free account, you may want to consider investing in an Etsy Plus account for around £7.40 a month. This gives you access to features like bonus advertising credits and shop customization tools to help you stand out among other stores.
Etsy is quite a competitive market so getting yourself seen at the start can be tough. But, if you are not confident you would make the money back with profit after paying the monthly fees, stick to a free standard account. If you are quite sharp with social media, this would be a great way to promote your store online for free.
While we are on the subject of money, you need to think about the cost of your item. Spend some time to work out the cost of making the product and then come up with a sales price. Make sure you are charging enough to cover your costs and make a profit but do not get greedy. If you are overcharging, there will be someone else out there who will undercut you and take all of your business.
Create Delivery Plan
It might be easiest to use the Post Office, but if your items are very big or heavy, a courier company might be a better option. Make sure you know the cost before going ahead, too. There Is nothing worse than charging £2.99 for delivery and having to pay £4.99 yourself when it comes to it.
It is important not to overcomplicate things when it comes to setting up your Etsy store. The best thing you can do is just get started.
If you spend too long focusing on getting everything perfect, you might never end up launching your store. And once you have something up on the site, you can always make improvements.
Cost To Sell On Etsy?
Etsy fees are relatively complicated compared to some other selling sites. Three different types of fees apply each time someone buys something from your shop:
A listing fee – You can set up your items to auto-renew if you have more than one available and you will be charged as soon as an item sells to keep it alive.
A Transaction fee – Etsy will charge you 5% of the sale price when you make a sale.
Payment processing fee – This is + 4% of the entire payment.
Offsite Ads Fee – If you allow Etsy to advertise your listings, you will be charged 15% on sales made from an ad. You can choose not to have your products advertised.
Etsy Plus
Etsy has also introduced a Plus subscription which costs more money but gives you access to more perks and features. For £7.40 a month you get access to more features including:
- More shop customization
- 50% off a custom .com address, or a free .store address for a year
- 15 listing credits and £3.70 in credit for Etsy Ads each month
- Option to let shoppers know when your products are back in stock.
Is Etsy Plus Worth It?
Etsy sellers have different opinions on this. Some feel that the money you earn back in the form of listing credits and advertisements each month makes the Plus subscription a pretty good deal.
Others feel like the discounts on things like marketing materials and personalized domain names still do not get you the best price available, so they are not worth paying for.
Pros Of Selling On Etsy
Here are the main pros of selling on Etsy:
Audience
Etsy is not the biggest or the most well-known selling site out there, but if your product is homemade, it could be one of the most profitable for you.
Etsy has over other selling sites like eBay or Gumtree is that buyers are much more focused on the quality and uniqueness of each individual listing, rather than price or location.
Whereas eBay or Amazon customers might type in a search term and list everything from the lowest to the highest price, an Etsy buyer would not expect their search to result in a page full of identical products.
This makes it a lot easier to be noticed if you have created something one of a kind, regardless of the cost.
Features
When you start selling on Etsy, you have to create a shop, and you are encouraged to add a logo, a banner, and a description with social media links that will help a visitor find out a bit more about you. eBay seller pages tend to be quite plain and anonymous, but there are so many ways to add a personal touch on Etsy.
The best Etsy businesses use all of these features to create their own memorable brand that people will search out by name. If you want your own .com address to link directly to your shop you can set one directly through Etsy.
Etsy has options to allow you to sell personalized items more easily, and as custom orders might take you a bit longer to create, you can charge more for them. There is also the opportunity to create coupon codes to encourage customer loyalty or reward your fans on social media. You can also close your shop if you need a break, which can be a really useful feature to reassure loyal customers when they come back and see an empty shop.
International Opportunities
We have talked to several Etsy sellers in the UK, and they all told us that a surprising percentage of their orders come from overseas, especially in Australia and the US.
Because each item is specially made, people are less concerned with receiving their shopping quickly. This means there are even more potential customers out there for you.
Cons Of Selling On Etsy
Here are some drawbacks of selling on Etsy:
Fees and Payments
You can choose to receive your payments monthly, weekly, fortnightly, or daily. But once they are paid, according to our Etsy seller insiders, it can take about three days for the money to hit your bank. This is not ideal when you might need to pay for postage before then.
It can also be hard to keep track of all the listing fees, commission, and payment charges once your shop is up and running, and they get charged in a big chunk once a month.
Remember to set money aside to pay them, and do not treat everything you are getting paid from Etsy as profit.
Primarily US Website
There is a disadvantage for UK sellers compared to those based in America, whether that is because of the increased shipping time, that prices will show up as $6.80 for a US buyer instead of £5.
In Complete Control
Having a store on Etsy is not the same as creating your own website. You do not have complete control over every aspect of the design, and it is not as easy to develop your own personal brand. Etsy can technically kick you off the site at any time.
Keep in mind that if you do want to turn your Etsy store into a fully-fledged business, it is often considered more professional to have your own website. An Etsy store is a great way to start your business, but if things take off you might want to migrate to an independent platform.
What To Sell On Etsy And Make Money From Etsy
Here are some examples of the best things to sell on Etsy to make money:
- Stickers
- Personalized bottles, glasses, and T-shirts
- Notebooks
- Jewelry
- Art prints
- Knitting patterns
- Greetings cards
- Clip art
- Enamel pins.
But people are selling all sorts of amazing handmade goods on Etsy. We have seen successful shops selling everything from nail polish to food, so do not be limited to only what is most popular.
Etsy Alternatives
Etsy is not the only place to sell vintage and handmade items online here are the best alternative selling sites:
You have almost certainly heard of eBay, and plenty of people use it to sell the same sort of items you would expect to sell on Etsy. If you can keep costs low enough to be competitive and want to sell items quickly, eBay could be the site for you.
Folksy is a handmade-only site that is just for UK sellers. Want to stop paying commissions? Shopify allows you to create an online store, with no listing fees or commission per month. Depending on your volumes this could be a cheaper option.
Selling clothes on Etsy? If your Etsy business idea is fashion-related, there are loads of sites out there for selling clothes online, like Depop and Vinted.
Ready to invest in your business? Not on the High Street is a UK-based site with Etsy-like products and a trusted reputation. Anyway, you need to apply to sell your items on NOTHS, and according to online forums, this is not easy to do.
If you are accepted as a seller, you can expect to be charged a joining fee of £199. If you feel confident you would sell more through not on the High Street, it could make the fees well worth it.