We’ve learned how to have a successful Etsy shop the hard way. Learn how to run your business successfully from our mistakes with these top 7 tips for selling on Etsy.
Hey, y’all! As a new, hungry Craftpreneur, it can be challenging to gain traction. However, new crafting businesses have a powerful tool that business in years past didn’t: Etsy.
With roughly 40 million active buyers, Etsy has become a behemoth in the Craftpreneur realm. And, since it’s so easy to set up a shop and start selling, it’s a great way to start out on your Craftpreneur journey (just ask the other 2.5 million sellers)!
While you may be tempted to think you can just set up shop, sit back, and watch the money pour in, I know from experience how false that vision is.
Etsy’s traffic DOES help, but it’s not going to pay your bills. Not without some seriously helpful tips in your back pocket, that is.
How to Sell on Etsy: Top 7 Tips for Selling on Etsy Successfully
Without taking the proper steps to help ensure you have a successful shop on Etsy, you are more likely to hear crickets than new sale alerts.
We have a successful Etsy shop – we’ve gotten about $600K in sales in 2020. That means we’ve had the chance to try, fail, learn, and finally…succeed. And through that experience, we’ve learned how to create a successful Etsy business.
Now, we’re sharing some of our top tips with you to help you avoid some of the mistakes that we made when we were just starting out.
Related Post: Etsy Seller Mistakes to Avoid
Choose Your Shop Name Carefully
Do you know how I came up with the name DecoExchange? It came from “deco” mesh and “exchanging” money for deco mesh. I thought it was cute, and I came up with it long before I knew anything about running an online business.
As it turns out, DecoExchange is a terrible name! We’ve worked hard to make it into something successful and it’s worked because of our hard work.
Y’all, your shop name is your brand, so you want it to be memorable enough that someone can type it into the search bar. So if you don’t have a shop name yet, put some serious thought into it before you choose one.
Related Post: How To Sell On Etsy: Easy To Follow Guide To Opening An Etsy Shop
Learn About Keywords and SEO
Etsy might bring in millions of buyers, but if they don’t see your items, you won’t sell anything. Building a successful Etsy shop means learning some SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Basically you need to know what to do in order for your products to pop up in product searches. That will bring potential customers to your shop where they can purchase your products.
The best way to do that is to think like a customer when you are setting up your store and listing your products. Make sure to use the same descriptive keywords that your potential customers would probably use to find your products.
If you have no idea what SEO is or how to use it, check out damonsbusinesscoaching.com where we walk you through every single step of the process and teach you everything you need to know about how to sell on Etsy.
Turn Customers into Loyal, Repeat Fans
Now, y’all, you need to know that it’s against Etsy’s Terms of Service to take your customers’ email addresses and add them to your own email list.
However, you do need to break the chain and get your Etsy customers into your own funnel so that they become loyal, repeat customers on your own site.
Because, if they go back to Etsy and search again, different sellers will pop up in the search results and you’ll miss out on the potential for creating raving fans for YOUR products.
Your goal is always to bring Etsy’s people to your store while still following Etsy’s Terms of Service.
Related Post: How to Promote Your Etsy Shop
Price Your Products the Same Everywhere You Sell Them
We’ve had several people ask us if we sell our products for more on Etsy than we do elsewhere. Presumably there are a couple of thoughts behind this question:
- A higher price would help cover Etsy’s fees.
- Doing that would encourage buyers to come and buy directly from your site.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: I am FIRMLY against doing that. No matter where you sell your products, price them to sell for the same amount on all sites and platforms.
Now, what I will say about that is to factor in those costs and fees so that you price your products appropriately no matter where they are listed.
Related Post: How to Price Handmade Items And Actually Make Money
Take Great Photos of Your Products
If you take a look around Etsy, you’ll probably notice fairly quickly that most of them are not professional photographers.
While you don’t need professional or expensive photography equipment to take good photos of your products, you do need to know a few tips in order to take quality photos.
Spend a little time learning the basics, and it’ll pay itself back in sales many times over.
Related Post: How to Take Great Product Photos for Selling on Etsy
Know What You Can and Can’t Sell
This is one of the most important tips for selling on Etsy that I can give you.
There are certain things you can sell and certain things you absolutely cannot sell on Etsy. You NEED to know which is which and whether your products are permitted. Check Etsy’s seller policy for more information.
Related Post: MMB Episode 28: Makers and Trademark Infringement
Done is Better Than Perfect
If you spend all your time trying to make something perfect (which you’re never going to achieve), you’ll miss out on potential sales, y’all! It’s much better to get your products out there and tweak later to improve them.
Parker’s strategy to simplify, implement, optimize (SIO) has really helped our business. Yes, we’ve made mistakes, but we’ve learned from them and improved what we’ve done.
And all along the way, we’ve made money selling our products rather than waiting for the presentation to be perfect.
Related Post: MMB Episode 20: Business Process of SIO
For the sake of length, that’s all the tips I have for you today, but these tips are like gold. Use them and they’ll help you build a successful Etsy shop. If you want to learn even more tips for selling on Etsy and having a profitable store, check out damonsbusinesscoaching.com.
This was some of the questions I had. Thank you so much. You have given so much information that will help me get started. Things to think about and do to keep it going once I am established. Being in the beauty business and the Art world I have learned a lot but not doing a business online.