I use Etsy to sell my handmade crafts and have used them for many years. This platform is where I started out my business and where I was able to make my very first sale. I wanted to share with you a few things that I learned over the years while using this platform.

1. Be Patient

There are thousands of items on Etsy. You might think that your handmade items are going to go viral and that you are going to have a sale in the first 5 minutes of posting a product. But if you are just starting out – it may take some time for people to actually and find and visit your store. According to Statistica – there are over 4 million sellers on Etsy, selling products ranging from jewelry to clothing to candles, the products are endless. Be patient, that first visitor to your store will come soon and your first sale soon after.

2. Offering free shipping will put your items higher up in US searches.

There is a free shipping option in Etsy for sales over $35.00. If you choose to use this option, Etsy will put your products higher in the US search than those products that don’t offer the free shipping option. This will help your items be seen, but don’t forget! There are 4 million other sellers who are also offering free shipping for their items as well.

3. Fees

Who can talk about Etsy without talking about fees? If you are interested in selling on Etsy, you need to be aware of the numerous fees.

• Product Listing Fee:  $0.20 per item for 4 months
• Product Renewal Fee: $0.20 per item (this will automatically get charged to your account if your items are set to Auto-Renew
• Transaction Fee:  5% of your item cost
• Shipping Transaction Fee: 5% of your shipping costs
• Payment Processing Fees: 3% + $0.25 if your store accepts payments (pretty much any form will incur a payment processing fee) and it varies based on country
• Currency Conversion Fees: 2.5% if your items need a currency conversion
• Offsite Ads: 15% of your item cost

These fees can vary and increase over time. Tracking them are difficult but very important. These fees can definitely dig into your profits if you’re not aware.

4. “Risk-Free” Advertising

In 2020 Etsy came out with a Risk-Free Advertising service called Offsite Ads. This service advertises your products and charges the seller a fee only is a sale is made.

Sounds good right?

Well, I was automatically enrolled in this service so it came as a big surprise to me to see a big fee that I didn’t recognize. After doing some research, it led me to the offsite ads. If this service sounds like something you would be interested in. Perfect, you’re probably already enrolled. If you’re not interested then you have a choice. Be sure to weigh the pros and cons before deciding whether or not you want to participate. There will be more traffic being sent to your store, but if you make a sale you will incur a much heftier fee. Be sure to price your items accordingly so you can cover the costs of these ads.

5. Watermark your photos

This is one suggestion I always tell anyone who asks me about selling items on Etsy. In the beginning, I was naïve when posting pictures in my shop. I followed Etsy’s suggestions and used only high quality photos when posting items. I was taken totally by surprise to find my photos of my products being showcased in YouTube videos or websites. No credit or mention of my store at all. Just blatently using the photos as if it were their own. The stolen photos were everywhere! I began putting a little watermark of my logo on all my photos. I started making my image size lower. One funny one that made me laugh was a website that showed my photo in his gallery of live bonsai! I guess in a way that was kind of a compliment – considering the only bonsai I make are artificial ones!