May 10th marked one year since I set up my Etsy shop February Stars Art. As I write this post (a month late!) I have surpassed 650 sales, which I am incredibly proud of and grateful for.
That said, Etsy has been a slow burn for me and it’s been a challenge to reach a place where I am receiving regular sales.
Today, I thought I’d share a few tips I’ve learned that have helped me to succeed on Etsy.
1. Just get started and know it’s okay to adapt as you go
The biggest piece of advice I would give to someone thinking of opening an Etsy shop is to simply start where you are with what you have!
I think people can place a lot of pressure on themselves to get things right straight out of the gate.
The reality for most people is that starting a new business is very much a learning curve. It’s likely you will make mistakes along the way.
Know that it’s okay to learn as you go and to adapt/make changes when you need to.
The most important thing is to simply get started. Don’t procrastinate because you are worried about everything being perfect.
2. Don’t get disheartened if you don’t sell items immediately
Setting up your shop on Etsy can feel nerve-wracking. You invest your time in creating products and setting everything up… then it’s a waiting game.
Some people will be very fortunate and make a sale quickly on Etsy. However, for others like me, it can be a slow burn.
Try not to get too disheartened if you aren’t making any sales right away. Give it time.
I did not make many sales during the first few months of my shop being open. In fact, I started 2020 with around 50 sales.
My 2020 goal for my shop was to hit 100 sales by the end of the year. Then things suddenly took off and here I now am at 650+ sales in June.
Give it time and keep working away on your shop even if the sales aren’t happening. Trust me that they will if you put the work in.
3. Read the Etsy Seller Handbook
I see so many courses and ebooks about selling on Etsy. While I am sure there are many great resources out there, don’t forget that Etsy gives you lots of helpful information in their seller handbook.
Read it, learn from it, and apply what it says. Pay particular attention to the getting found section.
My honest advice would be to hold off on paying for Etsy courses until you have a good number of listings in your shop and have applied the information from the seller handbook first.
You can do all the research and use all the tools (like Marmalead). But, if you only have a handful of listings in your shop the results are unlikely to be what you hope for.
4. Add new items to your shop regularly
Keep your shop fresh by adding new items regularly as the Etsy algorithm seems to like this. I now try to add at least one new item per week.
Id’ also recommend trying to get to 50 listings as quickly as you possibly can. And, the more the better.
One of the key turning points for my shop was simply having a larger inventory.
I started to get sales in dribs and drabs when I reached 40 listings. When I reached 50, sales started to become more regular.
It took me a long time to build my inventory but it’s definitely been one of the key factors in increasing my sales.
The more listings you have, the more likely it is you will be found.
5. Price your items to make a profit
Imposter syndrome is common in us creatives. Sometimes it is hard to believe that your items are worth what you need to charge from them.
However, it’s important to believe in yourself and know your worth!
Don’t fall into the trap of setting your prices too low in an attempt to get more sales (I’ve been there and it didn’t even work!).
If you are serious in setting your shop up as a business venture you need to ensure it is profitable.
6. Make your shop attractive to buyers
It can feel hard starting out when you have no sales or reviews to back you up as a new shop. It’s, therefore, important to fill out all of the sections of your shop that Etsy provides.
Add a logo and an attractive banner to your main shop page. Fill out your about page and shop policies. All of this will help your shop look legitimate.
I’d also recommend being present on social media and add links from your Etsy shop. Not only can this help with marketing your business but it also helps to show who you are.
All of which will help to give people the confidence to buy from you.
7. Include the right information in your listings
Good photos are a given as it is what will attract people to actually click on your listings. However, it’s also important to provide all the information your buyers will need within each listing.
Make sure your buyer knows exactly what they are buying: what are the materials, dimensions, and quality of your item?
What questions might buyers have about your product? Make sure to think about those questions and answer them within your listing.
There is so much competition on Etsy and if a buyer is left with a question about your product, they may simply move onto another listing rather than contacting you to ask.
If anything is of particular importance, I’d recommend adding the information to an image in addition to the item description. Often people will not read the description (especially since Etsy has a habit of hiding it/making it difficult to find!).
Also, make sure you are utilising all of the relevant attributes Etsy offers within listings.
8. Learn Etsy SEO
Etsy uses an algorithm for its search and its important to utilise Etsy SEO (search engine optimisation) to get found. One of the most important aspects of SEO is keywords.
Keywords are the words and phrases customers will be typing into search to find products. You want to optimise your listings for relevant keywords.
While you can use tools such as e-Rank and Marmalead to help you discover keywords, a good starting point is with Etsy itself (I’ve yet to pay for any keyword tools).
Etsy will tell you what is popular right now and if you start typing words into Etsy search, it will auto-populate suggestions. These suggestions are what customers are frequently using and make for a good starting point.
You can also check out the keywords your competitors are using by looking at their tags (but be aware not all of them will be helpful or result in high search results).
Pick a main relevant keyword and use it in your title, description and tags. Think about additional keywords or alternatives and use those too.
You want to use all 13 tags and know that the category and subcategories of your listing act as tags. So if your item is listed in the category jewellery, for example, there’s no need to add the tag “jewellery”.
Use as much variety as possible in your tags and don’t be repetitive. Long-tail keywords (phrases) are also better than singular words.
Try not to tinker with your SEO and give it time to see if it gets your results. However, if you aren’t getting any success don’t be afraid to change things up and try different keywords.
Just remember my point above the regarding inventory; the more listings you have the more likely you are to be found.
9. Use the Sell on Etsy app
Be sure to download the Sell on Etsy app as it will notify you whenever you receive a sale or message from a customer.
This means you can respond quickly with customer service (though do set yourself boundaries with regards to working hours). And, there’s nothing more exciting than hearing that Etsy cha-ching 🙂
10. Don’t have all your eggs in one basket
Etsy is a great place to start selling online and I would absolutely recommend it. However, it’s important to realise that you don’t own your space on Etsy– Etsy does.
Etsy can change their policies at any time. You are simply renting their space and you need to be able to adapt and go with the flow of their business model.
Not to mention at any point they could theoretically decide to close your shop. Which, if you only sell on Etsy, could leave you without a business overnight.
Once you have found your feet, I feel it’s important to expand beyond Etsy and build your business on other platforms.
This could be through alternative marketplaces like Folksy, Amazon or eBay. However, I’d also highly recommend creating your own e-commerce shop that you fully own and have control over.
This is where I am at now and I am in the planning stages of creating my own shop on my website.
