start an etsy shop, selling on etsy

Start Selling on Etsy

On Etsy you can sell handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. These items fall under a wide range of categories, including jewelry, bags, clothing, home decor, religious items, furniture, toys, art, as well as craft supplies and tools. The platform hosts 6.2 million active sellers and Etsy attracts approximately 400 million visitors every month. It costs almost nothing to start an Etsy shop, so what is stopping you?

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclaimer for more info.

Start your own Etsy Shop

 Do you, like me, dream of starting your own business and being creative? Then opening your own Etsy Shop might be something for you. I saw so many success stories around me that I decided to try it too. I have taken several courses before starting my own Etsy Shop, so I knew I will had the best shot to success. Are you curious about the steps I took? Then read on!  

Preparation Before You Start an Etsy Shop

Setting up a successful Etsy Shop requires proper preparation. Before you start, there are a few important steps you need to take to ensure you have the right foundation for your Etsy Shop. You can’t just open an Etsy Shop out of the blue, with only 2 products in it. You will understand that this will never be a huge success, right?

One of the first things you need to think about is what niche you are going to choose. It is smart to choose a niche that you are passionate about and have expertise in, so that you can stay motivated and offer unique products, that people actually want to buy. Do some research on popular niches on Etsy and see if there is a place for your products.

In addition, it is crucial to analyze your competitors and understand what they are doing well and where there are areas for improvement. This will give you insight into how you can differentiate yourself. Take the time to study the best sellers in your chosen niche and learn from their success. What keywords do they use, what products do they have, what prices do they charge. I started with a shop for my own self-made clothing, and now also have a shop for digital products. Very different, but very nice. So I look at what is useful for both to tackle this as best as possible. I’ll share more about my own shops and sales later in this blog, so if you’re interested, keep reading!

Another important step in preparation is to think about a business plan. So think about what you want to achieve with your Etsy shop because having a clear plan will help you stay focused and achieve your goals. My goal is to eventually make around €1,000 per month with my Etsy shop, so that I am less dependent on the salary from my job. More would be better, of course, but it needs to be doable for me, not set the bar too high in the beginning. If I find something that works really well, I would love it to grow to 10x that amount, or more. But as always: you start at the bottom, with zero, and I was very happy with my first $100!! How would your first $100 in sales feel for you? It’s enough to make a little happy dance, right?

Researching and choosing a niche

Now that you’ve made the necessary preparations, it’s time to focus on choosing the right niche for your Etsy store.

I mentioned above that it’s smart to consider your passions and interests. Running an Etsy shop requires dedication and hard work (especially in the beginning), so it’s important to choose something that you’re passionate about. This will help you stay motivated even when things get tough or don’t go as quickly as you’d hoped.

In addition, it is important to look at the demand and competition in your chosen niche. You want to make sure that there is sufficient demand for your products, but at the same time, you do not want to compete with hundreds of other sellers. Try to find a balance between demand and competition, so that you have a good chance of being successful. It is therefore important to do good research on keywords and how high the search volume is for them.

Finally, it is important to understand your target audience and what they want. Do some market research and try to understand what your potential customers are looking for. This will help you choose products that will match their needs and wants. You can also analyze top sellers on Etsy. This will help you when you start your own Etsy Shop. What do they sell, which products get great reviews, and how many items do they have in their shop? All things considered, ask yourself: from what shop would you buy? Use all this information to create your own perfect and unique shop!

If you need help finding your niche, you can use this free eBook I made.

Making products

Before you can start your Etsy Shop, it is important to first create a lot of products. If you open your shop with just 2 products, it will not go well (trust me, been there, done that).

I have been creating a number of clothing items and digital products lately for my own two Etsy shops. The fashion shop takes a lot of my time, and it’s not going that fast. The digital products (things like planners, e-book templates, reels, content, email marketing, etc.) that I sell all have Master Resell Rights (MRR) which means that you can resell them and keep all the profits. I can add one digital product to my shop every week, but for my clothing shop, it’s just one every few months. They are easier to create, and sometimes I buy new items and resell them. It’s much easier.

I now have a full shop where my customers can download the ready-made digital products, and then customize them to their own taste via their Canva account. Ideal! This saves you so much time! I also regularly buy new digital products, so that I can learn the new information, and then resell it to my customers.

I prefer selling digital items, because you don’t have to have inventory, don’t have to pack it, don’t have to ship it the same day. Digital items can be downloaded right after the sale, I don’t have to do anything anymore! I can sell in my sleep this way 😉

What would you like to sell? Self-made soap? Puzzles? Gifts? Or rather digital items, like printable item or stickers? 

Setting up an Etsy Shop

Now that you’ve chosen your niche, it’s time to set up your Etsy Shop.

First of all, you need to come up with a catchy name for your store. Choose something that will catch people’s attention and reflect your brand. Make sure the name is also easy to remember and spell. It can be smart to include your keyword in the title of your store as well.

Next, you’ll need to fill out your store information. This is a description of your store and your mission, as well as contact information and shipping information. Make sure to be clear and concise in your description and to highlight the benefits of your products.

In addition, you should also pay attention to the design of your store. Choose an attractive theme that suits your brand and products. Also, add a professional-looking logo to give your store a nice look.

Create engaging product listings

Now that your store is set up, it’s time to create attractive product listings. Start by taking beautiful and professional photos of your products. Better to have too many photos than too few. A video would be great too! In addition, it is important to write a detailed product description. Provide specific information about the product, such as instructions for use. Also, use keywords that are relevant to your product to increase your findability.

Another way to make your product listings more attractive is to add customer reviews. This helps potential customers gain confidence in your products and increases the likelihood of them making a purchase.

Optimizing Product Listings for Search Engines

To ensure that your products are found in search engines, it is important to optimize your product listings for SEO. It’s best to start by researching relevant keywords for your products. Use tools like Answer The Public and Ubersuggest to find keywords that are relevant to your niche and products.

Add these keywords to your product titles, descriptions, and tags. Make sure to include keywords naturally so your product listings don’t come across as spammy. Additionally, it’s important to regularly update and optimize your product listings. Keep track of which keywords are performing well and adjust your listings to rank better.

It is a good idea to add new products regularly, say 1 per week, so Etsy knows you have an active shop and exposes your products to more people. You can draft multiple products and publish them later, so this is a good way to work and plan ahead. 

Let me know what shop you will start, so I can follow and like you! I love to get to know and support fellow shop owners on Etsy!

My Etsy Shops

I promised to tell you more about my shops, so here they are! Firstly, my fashion shop New Angels. I create clothing for women, with unique designs and extraordinary fabrics, like 100% hemp fabric. Also organic cotton, bamboo, Ramie, Tencel, and Modal. Absolutely plastic-free, zero waste, animal-friendly (vegan proof), and very sustainable. I sell to people all over the world, and that’s what makes Etsy my nr. 1 place to sell my clothing. And of course, I love love love the reviews I get, all 5-star reviews from women who love my designs! You can check out my New Angels shop here.

The clothes are quite expensive so I don’t sell a lot, but that’s okay. I tried running ads on Etsy, but that didn’t seem to work so well. Now I sometimes have a sale, and that does work great. 

Secondly, my digital shop! Overall totally different, but love this one too! My digital guides sell like crazy, with ups and downs. Sometimes a few a day, sometimes a few a week. But there is always activity there. All the digital items I sell are to learn from, and you can also resell them if you want. Edit them in Canva (a free app) to your liking and then resell them, and keep 100% of the profit. The Master Resell Rights (MRR) industry is booming right now, so I had to get in and get a piece of that action! You can find my digital Bosslady shop here.

If you don’t know where to start, you can start by using my products and reselling them in your own shop. With a new cover, and your personal addition you might be able to sell it even more than I do! You can also learn a lot from most eBooks and guides. It’s worth it to check it out. Let me know what you think!

Much love, Ingrid

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