The Etsy MEGA Thread... Best Practices, Use, Etc.

[soulprenuer]

Good Morning everyone,

While perusing the forum, I've seen a few smaller threads that mention Etsy but not a specific Etsy thread. I didn't know how many of you are selling on Etsy or use it at all. I thought this might be a good place to post any tips for Etsy for sellers and any other feedback that buyers can offer.

I personally do not have an Etsy shop but my mom does. I do all the backend stuff for her since she just figured out how to use email about 2 months ago. I take the photos, put up the listings, and do pretty much everything besides the actual sewing of the products. My mom only uses it as a hobby in conjunction with doing craft fairs around Christmas time so she isn't looking to sell a ton especially since she only can sew so much at one time but I figured they are people on here are do use Etsy as a business? Prints, digital downloads, pattterns, etc can all be scaleable and sold on Etsy so I just thought I would start a thread to learn more. Etsy also might be a good place to sell if you're just starting off and are flipping items as vintage items are pretty popular on Etsy.

Etsy is much like Amazon where you don't have control but you do have the ability of being a little bit more creative as compared to Amazon's storefront.

I've tried Etsy's version of PPC and haven't had a ton of luck with it. Has anyone tried their selling features for advertising or uses Pattern?

I know this thread is quite old but I thought i'd chime in! I do have an Etsy shop that I started in Fall 2021, and so far its been doing better than I thought, I have like 4 digital downloads up and I make like $300-450 a month, which makes me feel like it can be scaled if I put more time into it. There's a lot of research that goes into the process but its nice because after its up and running there is not that much maintenance after it goes live. Plus its a pretty low start-up cost for the digital download business.

Is anyone else doing digital downloads these days?

 

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[woken]

I know this thread is quite old but I thought i'd chime in! I do have an Etsy shop that I started in Fall 2021, and so far its been doing better than I thought, I have like 4 digital downloads up and I make like $300-450 a month, which makes me feel like it can be scaled if I put more time into it. There's a lot of research that goes into the process but its nice because after its up and running there is not that much maintenance after it goes live. Plus its a pretty low start-up cost for the digital download business.

Is anyone else doing digital downloads these days?

I’m a bit behind on finishing my digitals because I do them as a side side side project . I like to have 2-300 done so when I list them all, I have SEO working + Etsy’s new shop boost.

It can definitely be scaled up, but as we said before it violates CENts.

Save all work, add emails of customers to a list.

Once you put in the initial work into Etsy, the rest is just maintenance, even better with digitals.


Overall, this classifies as a good way of bootstrapping for other projects.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Dear Seller Community,

At Etsy, we're focused on building a marketplace that allows sellers like you to turn your creativity and passions into real, money-making businesses. Last year, active sellers increased their sales by 23% on average compared to 2019, and in 2021 alone, we showed more than 90 million active buyers worldwide that there's an alternative to big-box, automated shopping.

Together, we've made Etsy the global marketplace for unique and creative goods.

We plan to make significant investments in marketing, seller tools, and creating a world-class customer experience so we can continue this tremendous growth. To support this goal, on April 11 we will increase our current 5% transaction fee to 6.5%.

This change will allow us to make improvements in three key areas:

• Bringing more buyers to Etsy: Last year, we spent nearly $600 million on marketing. This year we'll be investing even more, including on TV commercials, influencers and tastemakers, billboards, podcast advertising, and email marketing that bring new buyers to Etsy.

• The support you need: We'll grow our support team by more than 20% this year so you can get help more quickly and easily, including faster email responses, expanded access to live chat, and prioritization of your most urgent requests.

• Keeping Etsy unique: We'll build on last year's roughly $40 million investment in the teams and technology that help make our marketplace a safe and secure destination for handmade, vintage, and special items. This year we'll expand our efforts to remove listings that don't meet our policies and help you resolve issues with buyers.

These are some of the great things we'll invest in to keep Etsy a beloved, trusted, and thriving marketplace. We don't take fee changes lightly, and we believe that these investments will enable Etsy, and our seller community, to continue to grow.

Thank you for making Etsy a one-of-a-kind marketplace.

Apparently, Etsy didn't get the memo that you shouldn't make announcements when something really bad is happening in the world because it mentally associates you with the bad thing... Especially not announcements that you're increasing seller fees. Etsy is making "investments" so they're charging sellers more.

 

[becks22]

Lots of Etsy sellers are going on strike starting April 11th due to the increase in fees > Etsy sellers will go on strike in April and want customers to boycott

 

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[Nicole]

I'm not a seller on etsy, just an occasional buyer, and I have liked etsy so far when I'm looking for any kind of arts and crafts. I didn't know, until I read this thread, that etsy was yet another one of the businesses that had previously been privately owned, went public, and went downhill in a lot of ways after going public. I've seen this happen with a lot of other companies. It makes me wonder if anyone thinks of designing a company that they create with some kind of legal clause that says, 'This company can never be sold on the public market,' (I'm not sure how that would be phrased, legally) 'it can only be privately owned.' There would be some kind of clause that says that a public corporation cannot buy the goodwill of a private corporation, because it is not possible, based on thousands of examples, for a publicly owned company to behave the same way that the company behaved when it was privately owned. You shouldn't be allowed to legally buy the goodwill, the name and reputation, and act like you have the same identity, when so many examples have shown us that you never will have the same identity as the original corporation did, and the changes in the companies are non-trivial changes, major, substantial changes in what the company is, so that it's false advertising to claim that it's still the same company now. The absolute minimum is that it should be required to change the name of the company, when it buys all their assets. We're not etsy anymore, and we're not going to pretend that we are. We're not all-natural Breyers Ice Cream anymore, instead we are Chemicals-R-Us, and we're not gonna lie about it to you. And so on.

There should be some kind of statistic about how many privately owned companies exist, versus publicly traded companies that have stocks and shareholders. Is that number of private companies decreasing, statistically, compared to publicly traded companies nowadays?

How do you make arrangements to hand your 'kingdom' down to your 'heirs,' to make sure that your kingdom keeps the same spirit that you wanted it to have? Have you trained your replacement?

I just didn't realize until I read this thread that etsy was just another one of those companies, screwing things up from the sellers' point of view, behind the scenes, after going public.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Lots of Etsy sellers are going on strike starting April 11th due to the increase in fees > Etsy sellers will go on strike in April and want customers to boycott

I'm going on strike due lack of sales!

 

[Gannon]

I’m planning on selling digital products on Etsy soon. Once the products are uploaded, it seems like it will be fairly automated, passive source of income.

Is selling on Etsy considered a viable Fastlane approach? Or is it considered "hitchhiking", since it requires your business to rely on another company/platform? I’ve heard horror stories of Etsy shops getting taken down without notice, usually for copyright issues.

The same question could apply to selling products on Amazon and Ebay or owning a YouTube channel. These platforms can change their policies at any point, demonetize you, increase fees, remove your listings, ban you, etc. Does that mean I should avoid these platforms?

Would love to hear people’s thoughts, experiences, and advice for selling on Etsy.

Thanks!

 

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[woken]

Once the products are uploaded, it seems like it will be fairly automated, passive source of income.

Kind of.
Eventually you hit a ceiling and you start fluctuating there if no external effort is put into the shop.
It’s relatively easy to get it to a certain level with little effort. Lots of effort is required to get to the next level and I choose to just start another shop and take it to the same level.

If you can push through, congrats to you. I cannot, so I do what I can.

Is selling on Etsy considered a viable Fastlane approach?

I’m using Etsy to pay for my living expenses and bootstrap other ideas.
I have other sources of income too but I did rely on it for a while.
Not recommending you keep it as #1 since it violates cents.

I’ve heard horror stories of Etsy shops getting taken down without notice, usually for copyright issues.

I had shops taken down for copyright issues and also for nothing. It’s a casino sometimes.

The same question could apply to selling products on Amazon and Ebay or owning a YouTube channel. These platforms can change their policies at any point, demonetize you, increase fees, remove your listings, ban you, etc. Does that mean I should avoid these platforms?

No, it means you should build a list of customers that you have access to off their platform.

Would love to hear people’s thoughts, experiences, and advice for selling on Etsy.

Have you read this thread?

 

[Gannon]

Kind of.
Eventually you hit a ceiling and you start fluctuating there if no external effort is put into the shop.
It’s relatively easy to get it to a certain level with little effort. Lots of effort is required to get to the next level and I choose to just start another shop and take it to the same level.

If you can push through, congrats to you. I cannot, so I do what I can.

I’m using Etsy to pay for my living expenses and bootstrap other ideas.
I have other sources of income too but I did rely on it for a while.
Not recommending you keep it as #1 since it violates cents.


I had shops taken down for copyright issues and also for nothing. It’s a casino sometimes.


No, it means you should build a list of customers that you have access to off their platform.


Have you read this thread?

After uploading ~30 listings in the first 1-2 weeks, I plan on adding listings to the shop periodically, (5-10 new listings a month). What kind of ceiling are you referring to? What do you consider to be "the next level" and what kind of effort is required to get there?

That's pretty awesome that you can pay your living expenses with Etsy. I'd love to have the freedom to be able to leave my job and pursue other avenues of making money.

What would I do with the list of customers? I'm not sure how likely they would need to buy from me again, after their initial purchase...

I suppose I could also make my own shop site via Shopify, to be less reliant on Etsy. Though, generating my own website traffic would be a whole other challenge/expense.

Thanks for your help!

 

[woken]

After uploading ~30 listings in the first 1-2 weeks, I plan on adding listings to the shop periodically, (5-10 new listings a month).

30 listings is enough for seo to start generating views and sales. 100 is the sweet spot but the way you said( adding some every week) works best.

What kind of ceiling are you referring to?

Your maximum revenue on Etsy without any external marketing.
You’ll find it soon enough.

What do you consider to be "the next level" and what kind of effort is required to get there?

Above your maximum revenue on Etsy. That requires extra ads, etc. Figuring out which one works best, making them profitable - is where most entrepreneurs fail if they managed to create their products.

 

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[Gannon]

30 listings is enough for seo to start generating views and sales. 100 is the sweet spot but the way you said( adding some every week) works best.

Your maximum revenue on Etsy without any external marketing.
You’ll find it soon enough.

Above your maximum revenue on Etsy. That requires extra ads, etc. Figuring out which one works best, making them profitable - is where most entrepreneurs fail if they managed to create their products.

Wouldn't increasing the amount of listings (150+) and adding multiple niches increase the ceiling for a shop? I'm also thinking of opening multiple shops for different types of products.

Has the revenue from your shop been fairly consistent? It sounds like it's enough to live off at least?

 

[woken]

Wouldn't increasing the amount of listings (150+) and adding multiple niches increase the ceiling for a shop?

Not in my experience. You will have 2-3 bestsellers that will make most of your revenue.

Multiple niches = all come down when shop is closed if something goes wrong.

Has the revenue from your shop been fairly consistent?

Like i said, it fluctuates. Once my top has been hit, it never went under £1.5k/ month.
Couple hours here and there, usually between £2-3k/month/ shop.


You can have one shop and be there full time trying to make a brand and everything that you have no control over, or use it as you should and do multiple ones with the least effort possible and use the funds to create a business that respects cents.

Personally, I like doing as little as possible for as much as possible on Etsy.

My best shop had 1500 orders within the first month after it was taken down Lots changed over the years since then, but Etsy still works.

 

[Gannon]

Not in my experience. You will have 2-3 bestsellers that will make most of your revenue.

Multiple niches = all come down when shop is closed if something goes wrong.


Like i said, it fluctuates. Once my top has been hit, it never went under £1.5k/ month.
Couple hours here and there, usually between £2-3k/month/ shop.


You can have one shop and be there full time trying to make a brand and everything that you have no control over, or use it as you should and do multiple ones with the least effort possible and use the funds to create a business that respects cents.

Personally, I like doing as little as possible for as much as possible on Etsy.

My best shop had 1500 orders within the first month after it was taken down Lots changed over the years since then, but Etsy still works.

Yeah, once it's up and running, I hope to only put 1-2 hours a week into it. I see it as entrepreneurship with training wheels on, and a nice source of passive income that make me less reliant on my day job. I'm hoping it will give me freedom to explore other business ventures.

Can I ask what kind of business you have that respects cents? Is it related to your Etsy shops at all?

 

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[woken]

Can I ask what kind of business you have that respects cents? Is it related to your Etsy shops at all?

I don’t.

Listen, I don’t want to make it sound like I have it all figured out. I’m a mess. I could go 10x on what I do on Etsy and make lots more. But I’m stupid. Contrary to what MJ says, I’m still looking for unicorns and sexy businesses. Something that I’m proud of providing. Something that just works.
I’m looking for something that is a productocracy.

I’m aware of that and of the fact that it holds me back.

Get into Etsy. Make the shop, make it look good. I can give tips for Seo and whatever you need.
At the end of the day, if the product is good you don’t need much but a little push.

Pay attention to what you’re doing for your Etsy shop now. Chances are you’ll get banned someday OR would like to start another one in a different niche and by repeating the same thing you’ll end up in the same situation as for the first one.

You don’t need the money from these shops. Save all funds. I really mean ALL OF IT.

After you dig some more and find a business that respects cents, you’ll have the money to fund your idea.

The reason why I keep saying don’t rely on etsy is because they can shut you down one day out of the blue. Poof. No more income/ business.

What do you do then?

 

[Gannon]

I don’t.

Listen, I don’t want to make it sound like I have it all figured out. I’m a mess. I could go 10x on what I do on Etsy and make lots more. But I’m stupid. Contrary to what MJ says, I’m still looking for unicorns and sexy businesses. Something that I’m proud of providing. Something that just works.
I’m looking for something that is a productocracy.

I’m aware of that and of the fact that it holds me back.

Get into Etsy. Make the shop, make it look good. I can give tips for Seo and whatever you need.
At the end of the day, if the product is good you don’t need much but a little push.

Pay attention to what you’re doing for your Etsy shop now. Chances are you’ll get banned someday OR would like to start another one in a different niche and by repeating the same thing you’ll end up in the same situation as for the first one.

You don’t need the money from these shops. Save all funds. I really mean ALL OF IT.

After you dig some more and find a business that respects cents, you’ll have the money to fund your idea.

The reason why I keep saying don’t rely on etsy is because they can shut you down one day out of the blue. Poof. No more income/ business.

What do you do then?

Thanks for your honesty. I totally get where you're coming from. It sounds like you're Etsy shops are quite successful, despite Etsy's shortcomings. Did getting banned kill your momentum after you got your shop back up?

I'll try my hand at Etsy and see where it gets me. But like you said, I don't want to rely on Etsy as a primary form of income. If nothing else, it will at least help me learn and grow until I land on a more solid business plan.

Do you use tools like eRank for SEO? Or do you just use SEO that your competition is using?

I really appreciate your input! Also open to chat in DMs or whatnot if that's easier.

 

[woken]

Do you use tools like eRank for SEO? Or do you just use SEO that your competition is using?

I have an innate ability for Etsy SEO

I’m kidding.

I tried erank, but couldn’t understand much. Marmelade something as well, the same.

You just need to make sure your item “ black bottle” has that term in the title, description and tags. ( this is where those services come in to check how many searches they have, but whatever terms I use i’m pretty confident they’re searched for)

Did getting banned kill your momentum after you got your shop back up?

It did. You lose all orders/ reviews etc.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

What are your thoughts on Etsy titles? Long? Short? What's working today?

 

[woken]

What are your thoughts on Etsy titles? Long? Short? What's working today?

long, robot-type style SEO.

Title must also be found in the description and tags. Most don’t bother with including the title words in the copy per se; personally i just copy the title and paste it as first line.