Marilyn Colwell

Selling on Etsy is a great way to bring in extra income while letting your creative side shine through. If you’re here, you’re probably interested in selling on Etsy or anxious to get started. Having sold with Etsy since 2015, I have faced many learning curves over the years. Probably more than I’d like to admit. Now, I’m sharing the simple things that add up to be big things when you’re selling with Etsy.

1. Clear knowledge on what you’ll be selling on Etsy.
   • This is a given. In order to sell on Etsy, you have to have some type of product or design service to offer. There are a vast variety of products on Etsy for shoppers to browse which is why it’s such a great place to sell and of course, shop! As a new seller, you’ll want to know your product and be prepared to lay out the details of it for consumers. NOW! Don’t be alarmed if you haven’t decided fully on what you want to offer. That’s okay! Brainstorm, what do you LOVE doing? What can you relate to? What is a product you enjoy using? You can sell physical products on Etsy as well as digital products. If you like designing but do not want to stock product, you can also look into print on demand companies. As you figure out exactly what you plan to offer, brainstorm these tips below as well.
   • Some key factors to keep in mind as you create item listings are:
     • – Who does your item appeal to?
     • – Is it a seasonal item or for a specific event? I.e. Christmas or a wedding or baby shower.
     • – What makes your product different than others on Etsy? Perhaps you use special materials, it’s entirely hand made, it can be personalized, customers can customize it to fit their exact needs.

These are just a few factors but they will also help you generate top performing keywords to use in listings that will help you be found in Etsy search.

2. Come up with your shop name.

Being honest, this one is something I’ve always struggled with. I’ve changed my shop name multiple times over the years but “Marilyn Colwell Design”, is probably here to stay. Your shop name can be just about anything but I recommend trying to come up with something that suits your product and resembles you + your brand. You also want it to be something customers can hopefully remember or that sticks out. Using your name or a variation of your name, is always a great option in my opinion and keeps it simple but almost a little sophisticated at the same time. It also leaves some wiggle room if you want to offer a variety of products or even change things out from time to time.

Keep in mind other social media channels as well. Cross posting is a great way to get your items in front of a larger audience. It’s easier for people to find you if your name is the same across Etsy, Pinterest, Instagram and so on. Of course, this isn’t always possible but if it’s something you want to do, I recommend checking other social channels before finalizing your name on any one of them!

3. Pricing.

I’ve touched base on pricing in a previous post so you might be familiar with my rule of thumb. A simple key to pricing your products is your total expenses x 3. It’s also important to keep in mind Etsy’s 6.5% fee plus .20 cent listing fees. You should also take note to reevaluate your pricing periodically. Etsy fees change from time to time, shipping rates adjust throughout the year and of course in todays world, prices on everything else fluctuate constantly.

I have many times, overlooked price changes or fee changes and then when I take the time to look at things I realize how poorly it impacted my actual revenue on Etsy.

Free shipping is a big thing in todays world. Be honest, we are all guilty of going to check out and realizing shipping is more than we thought so we add more to our cart to get it free or we abandon ship all together. Etsy loves free shipping and loves for sellers to offer it. It actually will help boost your listings in search as well. For some people, free shipping is great and easy to actor in to the total product cost but in some cases, it may not be worth it. It’s tricky for me shipping doormats because in some cases shipping is about $9 but in others, it’s almost $30. The median is great but sometimes it just feels like a loss. It’s something I go back and forth with from time to time but again, you have to factor the median cost into your total product price!

4. Tips for creating listings.

Now back when you started reading this post I mentioned to think about some key factors in reference to what you’ll be selling. When you create a listing on Etsy, you’ll be able to add so many details to help shoppers not only find your items but be well informed when they make their purchase.

First things first, your pictures! This is probably the MOST important part of your listings. PICTURES! Light, natural, clear photos. Nothing cluttered in the background, not blurry, not dark. If you’re not the best photographer, you can actually purchase a variety of mock up photos on Etsy and use adobe photoshop to add your design! There are other apps out there to use, thats just the one I have experience with. I used to take my own mock up photos but lately I’ve just purchased them to use. It’s quick and simple when I’m low on time. I also edit my photos in Adobe Lightroom if need be!

The next thing is your Title. It’s important to not get fancy here believe it or not but use keywords + detailed phrases. You want to use this section to tell people what your product is, who it might appeal to, what it might be used for and so on.

For example, if I am listing one of my best selling doormats that reads “Happy Holidays” my title is going to look something like this:

Happy Holidays Coir Doormat Welcome mat Christmas decor holiday decor Front porch Entryway Under 50 …and so on.

As of right now, that is a great way to log keywords into your listing and help your products be found in a variety of ways. I say as of now because much like any other platform, Etsy does change things up from time to time.

In between your title and product description, you’ll have a section where you can categorize your product, add specifics I.e. is it a product just for Christmas? Just for a wedding? Just for a baby shower? If not, thats okay! But if your product does appeal to something SPECIFIC, the attributions are a great tool to use.

Your product description is of course, vital. I use my product description to state again what my product is I.e. “Happy Holidays hand painted coir doormat”, what exactly customers will receive (note this ESPECIALLY if you use props in your photos!), my shipping methods, item dimensions and a copyright disclosure. I will add my Etsy shop here for you to look at if you need some inspiration for your listings! Keep in mind, I do periodically make changes and adjust things as I feel necessary! Remember, make it your own!

Shipping methods are fairly self explanatory. You can set up shipping profiles to easily organize your listings and have their dimensions + weight plugged in so you’re ready to go when its time to ship an order. You can also choose how you’ll ship and what methods you will offer!

Tags are one of the next things you’ll come up on and this will allow you to yet again use those keywords from your title but also add a few more if you can fit them. Remember, detail is key here. Can your product be used as a birthday gift? Christmas gift? Mothers day? Does it appeal to college grads? Teachers? Nurses? Is it a housewarming gift? Something for a new parent? These are all GREAT places to start when looking for strong keywords.

There are great resources for keywords and listing edits as well, I’ll be completing a blog post for that one soon and you won’t want to miss it! So be sure you’re subscribed for updates!

5. YOUR WHY.

My friend. We ALL want to make extra money. But I have sad news for you, believe it or not, no amount of money or extra money is going to buy you happiness. Selling on Etsy is great but there are plenty of days and moments you’ll be absolutely over it. Over a rude customer, over dealing with USPS, over Etsy increasing fees or expecting something more from you.

You can have the perfect photos, you can also have the best keywords, you can have a successful shop! If you do not have your why figured out, it will not last. So I challenge you, as you’re working on getting started or even just fine tuning the shop you have, write down your why. Write down the reason you want to sell on Etsy. Maybe it’s to have a creative outlet, to inspire people, to share your story, maybe its to earn extra money for something personal. Having a reason and something to push you and keep you going, is absolutely necessary.

So write it down and hang it somewhere you can always see it. When things get tough or exhausting, remember your reasonings. Share it with customers, share it with family and friends. Always go back to your “why” so that you do not lose sight of why you’re doing this.

I hope these little tips have helped in even the smallest of ways. I’m so excited for you, friend! I believe in you and once you get started, you realize just how easy it really is!

With love,

MC