Etsy is an online global craft marketplace where individuals list and sell everything from antiques to handmade goods.
Sellers can list handmade products, vintage items more than twenty years old, and craft supplies. Limiting what may be sold makes it a good place for those specific things, and it makes it easier for customers to know what they are getting.
Getting started
Opening a shop is straightforward: an account, a shop name, and at least one listing. There are listing fees and a commission on sales, so work those into your prices before you set them.
The shop name matters more than people expect – it is hard to change later once people have found you by it.
Photographs are the whole thing
On a marketplace, buyers cannot handle what you are selling. The photographs are the product as far as they are concerned.
Use natural light, never a flash. Photograph against a plain background. Include several angles, a close-up of the texture, and at least one shot showing scale – something recognisable next to the item, or the item being worn or used.
A well-made item with poor photographs will not sell. A modest item with excellent photographs often will. This is unfair and it is how it works.
Titles and tags
Buyers find things by searching, so use the words they would use.
“Crocheted baby blanket in cream cotton, christening gift” describes what someone is actually looking for. “Handmade with love” describes nothing anyone searches for.
Be specific about material, colour, size and occasion. Specificity brings fewer visitors and far more buyers.
Descriptions
Materials, exact dimensions, care instructions, and how long a made-to-order item takes.
Answer the questions a buyer would ask, because most will not ask – they will simply leave. Being clear about turnaround time in particular prevents most of the problems that arise later.
Pricing
Work out materials, your time at a rate you would accept, Etsy’s fees, payment processing and postage. Add them up.
The number will be higher than similar listings. That is because a lot of sellers are pricing at a loss without realising it. Do not join them – competing on price against people who are not counting their own time is not a competition worth entering.
Standing out
The hard truth is that Etsy is crowded, and a general handmade shop disappears.
A narrow specialism does much better. Being the person who makes one particular thing well means you come up for the searches that matter and you get remembered.
Beyond the platform
Etsy owns the relationship with your customer. Collect email addresses where you legitimately can, and build somewhere of your own over time, so a change to the platform’s rules does not take your business with it.
