This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase.
Ever wondered how to make money selling on Etsy? I know I have!
About seven years ago I remember catching the crafty bug and thought “Hey, maybe I could sell this on Etsy”. I was sure it was going to be a hit. I took a few poorly lit pictures on my phone, slapped a price on the page and thought the sales would start rolling in.
Did they?
Nope!
I’ve learned a lot about online marketing since then, and there is some serious strategy involved with making money selling on Etsy. So for this one, I am going to leave it to Stephanie the Etsy pro!
I was recently introduced to Stephanie and I was blown away when I found out she has made over six-figures in the last three years selling on Etsy. I begged her to share some of her tips for successfully starting an Etsy shop and she was kind enough to agree.
Table of Contents
Why Sell On The Etsy Platform?
Q. Why sell on Etsy?
A. What I love about Etsy is the ease of setup (even for a beginner) and the very targeted audience that Etsy provides. If you are a creator, Etsy in my opinion, is one of the best places to sell your handmade goods, supplies, vintage goods and digital items.
Etsy did a great job really fine-tuning its audience and keeping the platform true to Etsy’s core values. Etsy has a way of keeping the cheap, “mass- produced” items away from its platform while providing everything that the Etsy customer is looking for.
When comparing to to another platform such as Handmade by Amazon, I think Etsy is by far the leader in this space and Amazon has a lot of catching up to do.
How Much Money Can You Make Selling On Etsy?
Q. How much can you make?
A. I personally have made almost $170,000.00 with one shop in about 3 years. That being said, I also have several other shops which I had started at the same time, but had to limited my involvement with these because I had to set my focus on my main shop “Beaded Tassel Co.” The other shops still monetized, but not to the extreme that Beaded Tassel did.
For a person just starting out, the sky is the limit. There are many factors determining what a person may earn on Etsy, but the more involved you are with your shop, the more you will learn from your mistakes and ‘pivot’ direction which can enable you to earn more income.
How Do I Start Selling On Etsy?
Q. How do I get started?
A. This could be a whole blog post and course in itself, but the first step would be to figure out what you love to do and what you want to sell. Notice I mentioned “what you love to do”. Pick something you love because you may end up doing it every day for a long time.
Before you set up shop however, you must see if there is a demand for your type of product. Remember this; no demand=no sales. After you determine what you want to sell and have done your market research, you need to do the “tech”.
Sign up for Etsy, design, photograph and list your items, get your business name ( if you don’t have one), logo, banner etc. There are many tutorials about this and I have a new You Tube Channel (Business Chic Mama) that will be focusing on many aspects of Etsy to help new and seasoned sellers alike.
After all the “tech” is in place, you need to market your shop so buyers can find you. There are many ways to do this such as paid ads, email marketing, social media etc.
Which leads us to question number 4.
How Can I Find Customers For My Etsy Shop?
Q. How can I find customers?
A. One of the biggest mistakes I made when I started my Etsy shop, was that I didn’t collect emails. I urge any new shop owner to create an email list and send with each order a place for them to optin to your list.
You may offer them a discount when they subscribe or something of the sort. It is much easier to sell an existing customer a new item than to find a new customer from a cold audience. I personally only advertise about $2.00 per day and still have those incredible results, so paid advertising is not the only way to generate sales.
Other suggestions are; Facebook page/group, social media outlets, word of mouth and SEO (search engine optimization). Those are just to name a few. There are literally dozens of ways to gain customers. Be creative.
What Are The Best Tips For Starting An Etsy Shop?
Q. What are your tips for someone who wants to start an Etsy shop?
A. 1. Get past the fear. Many people don’t start their shop because of fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure etc. You will have failures in the beginning-it’s a given. The success stories are the ones who overcome their fears and move past them!
2. Don’t hold on to tight to the items that aren’t working. Constantly test new items that may work and ditch the ones that aren’t.
3. Listen to your customers! They will tell you what they want and need…your customers are always right (even when they are wrong).
4. Great presentation and packaging will take you far! In a crowded space such as Etsy, you need to OVER deliver. I personally give each customer a small extra gift with great packaging and it has served me very well.
5. Don’t give up before your breakthrough. Keep learning and growing with your shop-there will be a breakthrough some sooner, some later. But it will come.
Want to learn more?
Stephanie just released a course called, “What Should I Sell On Etsy?” where you can learn how to find your profitable niche. It’s already super affordable, but she was kind enough to give a coupon for $10 off making the course only $27! Use the coupon code blog10 at checkout.
Stephanie aka Business Chic Mama is a wife, mom, and an “obsessed entrepreneur”. She has had her own fashion design business for over 20 years with several of her own brands. Back in the beginning of 2016, she decided to open an Etsy shop in a completely new niche-jewelry making supplies. Little did she know that this “side-hustle” would turn into a hugely successful 6 figure shop within a few short years. She recently started blogging about it and coaching others to help inspire them to achieve the same success she did. Her passion for life, her family and helping others is what motivates her to bring her best to the table every day.
