How to Start Selling on Etsy: A Step-by-Step Guide for 2024

Follow these steps to get your Etsy shop off the ground and start making money on your wares.

1. Finalize your plans

Before you open up an Etsy store, you need to decide a few things, most importantly what you’re going to sell. According to Etsy’s guidelines, all items listed on the platform “must be handmade by you, vintage, or a craft supply,” but within those categories, you have hundreds of options.

Perennially popular items on Etsy include:

• Jewelry
• Vintage clothing and accessories
• Digital art or prints
• Handmade home decor, such as wall hangings or coasters
• Craft supplies, such as beads
• Leather goods
• Handbags and purses
• Custom-made notebooks
• Dog and cat collars and apparel
• Stickers
• Party decorations
• Bath products, such as bath bombs and soap
• Handmade cosmetics
• Wedding products, such as invitations, dresses, and bouquets

One relatively easy and popular option is selling printables on Etsy. Unlike physical products, printables have a relatively low production cost since they’re digital.

Coming up with a business plan

Once you pick something to sell, you need to ask yourself several other preparatory questions:

• How much will it cost you to find or create your sale items?
• How much do you need to charge to make a profit?
• Who’s your target audience?

You can finalize your understanding of these questions and tweak your plans as you go, but it helps to have a roadmap ahead of time.

2. Create an account

Once you’ve decided to move forward with Etsy and have an idea of what your shop will look like, it’s time to make your account. This step is easy.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Go to etsy.com/sell
• Click “Get started”
• Create an account using an email address and password

3. Set your shop preferences

Etsy will prompt you to choose the following settings for your shop:

• Language: What language will your listings display in? You could choose English, Spanish, or another language entirely. Just bear in mind that whatever you choose will be your shop’s default language, although you can add other languages later on if you want to expand your reach.
• Country: Select which country your shop is based in.
• Currency: Choose the currency you’ll use to price your items (e.g., USD, GBP, or EUR).

4. Name your shop

Now you can start to get creative and really let your brand shine by choosing your Etsy shop’s name. Don’t worry too much if you haven’t thought of the perfect name yet—you can change your shop’s name later on.

Your shop name must be 4–20 characters, and it can’t contain spaces or punctuation or currently be in use by another seller.

5. Upload products

Once you’re done with all of that, you’re all set—you can get down to business and populate your shop with your products. This will likely be the most time-consuming part of the process since you’ll need to create detail-packed listings for each item you want to sell.

Here are the components of each product listing:

• Photos and/or videos
• Listing details (e.g., item name, description, category, and tags)
• Price and quantity
• Variations (e.g., other colors, patterns, or sizes available)
• Personalization option (activate to allow requests for personalized features, like names or initials)
• Shipping details (including processing time estimates, item weight, and fees)
• Returns and exchanges policy (you can create your own or use Etsy’s default policy)

This is a crucial step since this information determines what potential buyers see about your product, how Etsy will display it to people it thinks might be interested, and how your product will be sold and shipped.

We recommend pausing at this stage and doing some low-key market research to make sure you’re setting yourself up for success. Look at successful competitors (people selling similar items) to see what style of images they use and how they describe their products.

6. Set your payment preferences

Decide where your profits will go, and enter your bank account information. You can also set whether you’re selling as an individual or a business for tax purposes (most Etsy sellers are categorized as individuals).

7. Set up billing

Next, set up your billing preferences for when customers start purchasing your items.

Most sellers use Etsy Payments, which will do most of the heavy lifting for your shop’s billing and funds distribution. This allows customers to pay with a method of their choice, like PayPal or a credit card.

When you’ve received a payment, Etsy will automatically deduct the applicable fees and then send the remaining balance to your attached bank account.

8. Customize your shop

With the logistics out of the way, you can hone in on your shop’s brand and start customizing your virtual storefront. Below are a few of your customization options:

• Adding a profile and banner picture
• Creating a seller’s profile that tells shop visitors more about you and your store
• Posting your shop’s policies

If design isn’t one of your skills, consider getting a graphic designer or digital artist to come up with a professional-looking banner for your digital storefront.

9. Start selling

At this point, you’ve done it: You’ve successfully set up an Etsy store and are now ready to sell your goods. You can go back and finalize any product listings you saved as drafts or make other amendments then get to finding lucky buyers and raking in profits.

10. Advertise your shop

Even though your shop is up and running, your work isn’t complete yet. You still need to advertise your Etsy shop to really get things moving.

While Etsy will show your products to shoppers according to its algorithms, you’ll need to get the word out to see much traffic growth, especially when you’re just starting out.

Here are a few options to incorporate into your Etsy advertising strategy:

• Etsy Ads: Setting up Etsy Ads will make Etsy favor your products in the search results. You can set your daily advertising budget to match your needs.
• Social media: This is a tried-and-true marketing outlet. Advertise your shop on social media to see major returns. Create accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to round out your shop’s image and get attention from potential buyers. Make sure you link your social accounts with your Etsy account.
• Reviews: A big part of getting traction on Etsy and locking in new buyers is having stellar reviews. Include notes with your products or on your sales pages requesting that satisfied customers take the time to leave you a review.

The cost of selling on Etsy varies based on each listing and your membership plan. If you have a free plan, there are only three costs you’ll need to worry about:

• $0.20 listing fee
• 6.5% transaction fee
• 3% + $0.25 payment processing fee

Accounting for these fees, each sale you make will cost $0.45 + 9.5% of the sale amount.

However, selling on Etsy may cost you more if you choose to take advantage of these paid features:

• Etsy Plus: If you want to upgrade your Etsy seller’s subscription, Etsy Plus is the only available paid plan and will cost you $10 per month. For your money, you’ll get several discounts and credits that you can use to purchase advanced features (such as ads and a custom web address), more customization options, and other perks.
• Offsite advertising fee: If you partner with Etsy to advertise your wares across the web, Etsy will take a 15% commission from each sale made through an ad.
• Etsy Ads: The cost of participating in Etsy Advertising will be based on the budget you set.

Setting up your shop is the biggest step in getting your Etsy business off the ground, but it isn’t the only step. To see true success on Etsy, take some of these extra measures.

Find a niche

Etsy is a competitive marketplace with over 7 million active sellers on the platform. To stand out from the crowd, refine your niche and post products that are unique to that niche.

While you should absolutely do market research on your possible wares, make sure you also choose to make and sell products you’re knowledgeable and passionate about since this will shine through in your work.

Personalize your store

Customers respond to an experience that feels unique and authentic. Consider taking these measures to make your store more personalized:

• Set a great profile and banner image that represents your shop well.
• Share your story, elaborate on your store and its products, and make yourself relatable by taking the time to craft a great “about me” page.
• Expand your brand on social media. Link to social media accounts that offer a glimpse into who you are (e.g., where you post pictures of your pets).

Take high-quality photos and videos

According to Etsy, 90% of buyers are influenced most by a product’s images. 1 Buying a decent camera and editing software (or hiring a photographer) may be a worthwhile investment for your shop.

For each listing, make sure you include multiple photos that showcase various angles and features. Include size references (like a US quarter) in photos of items where the size isn’t immediately clear.

Use sales and coupons

Etsy allows you to create coupons, sales, and individual deals that you can send to possible buyers. As a young shop, you should take advantage of these marketing tactics to incentivize new customers.

Even after you’re established, sending deals to likely buyers is a great way to move stubborn products or let your audience know about new listings.

Send thank you notes

Show your customers how much their business means to you by sending a quick thank you note after each sale.

You can start by emailing them an initial note thanking them for their purchase and giving them a shipping estimate. Next, you can include a handwritten note with their delivery to really personalize the experience. Remember, don’t be afraid to ask for feedback and reviews.