Setting up an Etsy store is quick and straightforward. The more challenging aspect is standing out against the nine million active sellers in the Etsy marketplace. This article shares more than 30 actionable tips for selling on Etsy, the value behind each, and how to get started.
Tips for Getting Started on Etsy
While Etsy doesn’t require a business license to sell on the site, you still need to comply with any licensing, permit, sales tax, and regulatory requirements that apply—particularly in the state where your online small business is based. I also recommend you do the following first before opening up shop:
1. Determine if Etsy Is a Right Fit for Your Products
Knowing Etsy’s product policy will help protect you, your buyer, and the platform from legal issues, particularly regarding intellectual property. It also lets you understand the best way to categorize your products to make them more visible to potential buyers.
You can easily grab a copy of Etsy’s seller policy from the website. It covers the rights and obligations of Etsy sellers, including guidelines on what may be sold in each category, but you can get a quick overview below.
| What You Can Sell on Etsy | What You Can’t Sell on Etsy |
|---|---|
| Products you have created and have the rights to sell | Copyright material and handmade items that you didn’t make or design |
| Vintage items more than 20 years old | Weapons and explosives |
| Digital materials written or designed by you | Items that promote, support, or glorify hatred and violence |
| Products you created with a production partner | Items created from endangered or threatened animal species |
| Craft supplies | Alcohol, drugs, and tobacco products |
2. Identify Popular & Profitable Products to Sell on Etsy
The positioning of your product on Etsy depends not only on its popularity and demand but also on its profitability, ensuring it’s a viable option for you to sell. Check out Etsy’s annual reports and marketplace insights to help you identify trendy, popular, and evergreen products to sell.
Take these numbers, for example:
- According to Etsy’s 2023 Integrated Annual Report, the top six retail categories on the marketplace for last year were homewares and home furnishings, jewelry and personal accessories, apparel, craft supplies, paper and party supplies, and toys and games. These categories represented approximately $10 billion, or 87% of gross merchandise sales (GMS) in 2023.
- And according to a July 2024 Statista analysis, beads were among the most common items sold on Etsy. Etsy reported over 8 million listings featuring that item, and nearly 5.3 million listings for pendants. Beads also recorded the highest average click-through rate (CTR) among the selected items, at 102%.
You can also read our guide to the best-selling items on Etsy.
3. Understand Seller Fees
Etsy’s most common fees include a 20-cent listing fee, a 6.5% transaction fee per sale, and 3% plus a 25-cent payment processing fee per transaction. It also recently imposed a one-time $15 set-up fee for new sellers.
On top of these are conversion and ad fees, which can get away from even the most veteran Etsy seller. Ensure your profit margins can sustain Etsy’s transaction, listing, payment processing, and ad fees.
Read our Etsy Seller Fees guide to have an in-depth look at how Etsy fees work. To be successful on Etsy, always know how much you spend to use the platform to ensure you are operating within budget. Know when and how to pay account fees to keep your store in good standing and minimize overall costs.
Here are some tips to help lower your shop’s Etsy fees:
- Use the same currency for your product price and payment account to avoid conversion fees.
- If possible, find the most cost-effective shipping option for your products. Etsy charges a fixed percentage on your sales—including shipping.
- Remove slow-moving listings to avoid paying renewal listing fees for products that are not selling.
- Offer product variations instead of coming up with different products. For example, if you offer 100 different products, you need to create 100 product listings and incur $20 in listing fees. However, if you offer the same number of products (100 pieces) in 10 different styles, you only need to create 10 product listings and pay $2 in listing fees.
- Use product variations for bundles to save more on listing fees.
- Sync your Etsy shop to a free Square payments account to avoid Etsy’s Square Manual Transaction fee of 20 cents.
- Consider your target profit margin before opting in for Etsy ads.
4. Understand the Difference Between Copying & Inspiration
Contrary to popular belief, no rules specify what percentage of the original artwork must be changed to qualify for protection under the Fair Use Doctrine. There’s often a fine line between what’s copied and what’s inspired, and Etsy removes material subject to a complaint when given notice—making it vital to understand the difference before opening your Etsy store.
Etsy offers the following guidelines on intellectual property rights:
- Never use the name of an artist who inspired your work, as the artist may claim that your sales are a result of their brand.
- Avoid tagging your items with a specific luxury brand to describe your product’s quality.
- Using the brand name in the title, tags, and description of vintage products is allowed, but avoid guessing if you’re unsure.
- Always check for copyright when using someone else’s photos, even if the product on the image is generic.
- Avoid purchasing licensed images from stores with a poor reputation.
- If you plan on selling branded items, consider investing in license fees. This is less expensive than paying thousands of dollars in damages or legal fees or having your inventory impounded.
5. Choose the Right Shop Name for Your Store
Your shop name will be your brand. A good name will help your store stand out from other shops and is memorable enough to type into the search bar. Etsy allows you to use 20 characters for your shop name, which is required when setting up your store. While you’re free to change your Etsy store name down the road, you wouldn’t want customers to forget your brand because of multiple name changes.
Ask these questions when deciding on your store name:
- What kind of feeling do you want your store name to convey?
- Did it evoke that same feeling when you mentioned your store name to friends and family?
- Is your store name easy to spell and read?
- Does the name look good on your business card?
- Does it have an alternative meaning in other languages?
- Have you tried to search for similar names on Google?
6. Research Successful Etsy Sellers
Explore existing Etsy shops so you can gain insights into successful store setups. You can either check out Etsy’s top sellers or search for shops that sell products in your niche. This research can provide valuable ideas for organizing and presenting your own store.
Etsy’s top sellers usually have a solid repeat customer base. Observe the following when you browse their Etsy shops:
- Products’ price ranges
- Shipping fees, particularly if they offer free shipping
- Implementation of tags, titles, and keywords
- Product photography
- Customer service reviews
- Social media channels (and if they are actively promoting on those channels)
- Usage of offsite ads for Etsy or ads for Etsy business
Doing your research will also help you know what works and what doesn’t, and help you cut potential losses (of both time and money) when it comes to product marketing.
Etsy Tips for Setting Up Your Shop
Setting up an Etsy shop is fully outlined in our step-by-step guide to selling on Etsy. After opening an account, you must set up your product listings, configure payment methods, and design your shop’s landing page. Here are some Etsy tips to consider when setting up your shop:
7. Write an Impressive About Page
Etsy is more than just a marketplace―it’s also a platform for creatives to showcase their art. However, as a seller, you must show buyers the value of your creations to convince them to buy. This includes both your technical qualifications and achievements, plus your inspiration. Your “About” page should focus on the person behind the designs.
Here are some guidelines for creating the ideal “About” page:
- Use a personal tone to connect with your reader easily.
- Talk about the inspiration behind your designs.
- Introduce any partners you work with to develop your products.
- Keep your paragraphs short.
- Include links to any publication that features you or your designs.
- Include links to your social media.
You have 5,000 characters to talk about your business, so go for a more personal approach when writing your story. Add inviting photos and videos to help shoppers visualize and connect with your store. Include a link to your blog, social media, or the landing page to opt-in to your email list.
8. Optimize Your Etsy Shop Profile
Your Etsy shop profile represents your overall brand and includes everything from your shop banner to your shop policies. A complete and well-thought-out shop profile with professional-looking photos and videos can quickly build trust with shoppers. So, before you open your Etsy store, you must put in as much effort to complete your shop profile as when you create your product listings.
Here are some additional tips for selling on Etsy to enhance your profile:
- Opt for a cover photo instead of a banner image. While it requires a bigger image (the ideal size is 3360 x 840 pixels), a cover photo is displayed on both desktop and mobile versions of your Etsy store.
- Shop banners don’t show up on mobile. They must be exactly 760 x 100 pixels and no larger than 2MB.
- Use a shop icon consistent with your business brand and logo.
- Research and use keywords for your shop title.
- Use brief, compelling copy for your shop announcement section to inform buyers of your promotions and discounts.
- Use the Shop Members section to introduce your team briefly.
Aside from reviewing your content before posting, you will also need to evaluate if the overall feel of your shop profile evokes the same emotions you want for your brand.
9. Keep Your Shop Policy Simple
Your shop policy sets the rules for transactions in your store. Customers often read this when they’re interested in a purchase and want to understand your payment and delivery methods. This is especially important for those buying personalized designs, as it informs them about their involvement in the design process and the expected timeline.
The key to a positive customer experience is keeping policies simple while being clear on the details. If you’re new to selling on Etsy, you can start with the basic shop policy, where you fill out a template that will toggle settings for options on returns and exchanges, payments, shipping, and additional information.
10. Add Multiple Payment Options
A 2022 PayPal study shows that 47% of shoppers have frequently abandoned a shopping cart because their preferred method wasn’t available. While online shopping is becoming the norm, some potential customers will still hesitate to share their credit card details online, no matter how secure your website is. You can easily avoid this lost opportunity by maximizing available payment options for your store.
While Etsy requires store owners to use Etsy Payments, you can still offer various payment options without opening multiple merchant services accounts. You can use Etsy Payments to accept credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
Provide the same options when you are selling in pop-ups or kiosks. Square has partnered with Etsy to provide sellers with a quick and secure way to complete in-person payments from their phone or tablet and sync their shop inventory. Go to the Shop Manager page, choose Square from the Add Channel options, follow the prompts, and you’re good to go. You also get a free card reader when you sign up with Square.
Create a free Square account to accept payments for your Etsy shop in person.
Tips for Optimizing for Search
The most challenging part of standing out in the Etsy marketplace is to get listed frequently in Etsy search results. Similar to how search engines work, Etsy pulls up the most relevant listings from keyword searches done by Etsy visitors and potential customers. So, it is important to be able to show up in relevant search results frequently and show on top, ideally. Read my tips below to optimize for search.
11. Optimize Product Listings
After setting up an Etsy shop, it’s crucial to optimize your product listings to ensure they rank well in the platform’s search results. Here are some Etsy shop tips that will ensure your products get the attention they deserve:
Active product listings have to meet certain requirements to be prioritized in search, namely:
- Have at least one listing image
- Its primary photo should be high-resolution (recommended width and height of 2000 pixels or more) of a single finished product (no collaged or stitched together images), clear, and well-lit
- Category listing is as specific as possible
- Product listing has a clear return policy, even if it’s “No returns”
High-quality product photos are key to driving sales. Listings with numerous, clear, and labeled images attract more customers by enabling them to better visualize the products. Additionally, photos are good for SEO—their alt-texts help in search indexing, boosting your store’s visibility in organic search rankings.
There are several ways to optimize product photos:
- Add another object to give buyers a point of reference for your product’s size.
- Use high-quality photos for your product images that are well-lit and at least 1,000 pixels wide.
- Check for copyright when using stock photos.
- Use all 10 photos showing varying angles of your product, with the best one as your thumbnail.
- Curate your photos into navigable sections with a cohesive look and descriptions.
- Edit your photos by cropping extra white space and use professional editing software instead of social media app filters.
- Make sure to capture the item’s condition when photographing vintage products.
- Leverage Etsy’s augmented reality (AR) feature for listings in the Paintings, Photography, and Prints categories. When browsing these items on the Etsy app, shoppers will notice a hexagonal icon on the top right of the listing photo. Tapping this icon activates a camera view, prompting the buyer to move their phone for enhanced imaging. Note that this feature is currently exclusive to the Etsy app for iPhone users.
- Avoid overly perfect, shadow-free photos against a pure white background, as they can give a mass-produced, generic appearance. Instead, opt for more natural, authentic-looking photos that highlight the handmade and unique qualities of your products.
Categories on Etsy help match your products with the right buyers, and choosing the most specific subcategory for your product can significantly enhance its search visibility.
Attributes, on the other hand, are detailed characteristics of your item—like color, use, occasion, earring location, collar style, or neckline. They are selected after you choose your item’s category and are crucial for accurately describing your listing, aiding buyers in understanding the look, feel, and use of the item.
The most basic strategy for identifying your product’s best category and attribute is to conduct test searches. List all possible types and features and enter the words in the search bar. Check the search results and confirm which keywords came up with products similar to yours. The left side of the page will give you all the relevant categories and subcategories, so feel free to explore refined results to find more matches for your product.
Check the search results for the keywords you target to see relevant categories.
The product description is integral to your listing. It details your product’s measurements, condition, color, age, and the different uses of the item. Besides the images, buyers rely on the information you include in this section to make their buying decisions, so you need to ensure that it’s descriptive and well-written.
Here are some ideas for writing product descriptions that sell:
- Use keywords similar to your tags and attributes
- Specify who the product is best for
- Mention unique materials or techniques that buyers should know
- Include the age or year for vintage product descriptions
- Mention the style and relevant solution-oriented phrases
- Specify the dimensions of both the product and the size of the package when shipped
- Specify estimated production time and shipping
- Include information on how to purchase the product
- Name of your production partner, if any
It’s essential to keep the language of your product description short and simple. Use paragraph breaks when necessary to make it easy to understand. Repeat any promotions or discounts applied to the listing when available.
12. Have a Shop Icon
Having a fully set up shop boosts buyer trust. If you opt not to upload a mini banner to your Etsy store, your shop icon will be the most prominent branding on your shop homepage. At the minimum, your shop should have a shop icon—this action moves your listings higher on the page.
This is important because not having a shop icon may impact your visibility in Etsy search.
To edit or add a shop icon, go to your Shop Manager, select the pencil icon next to your shop name under Sales Channels, click on the camera on your shop icon, and upload your selected file.
Ensure you have a shop icon that represents your business and products well. It should look good in both big and small sizes, have easy-to-read text (shorter is better), use simple graphics, and avoid busy backgrounds.
13. Provide Consistent Stellar Customer Service
Etsy has minimum customer service standards that you must meet as an Etsy seller. The minimums revolve around key areas such as message response rate, on-time shipping and tracking, average review rating, and case rate.
At a minimum, you have to:
- Respond to buyer messages in a timely manner
- Ship orders on time and with tracking
- Maintain a positive review score
- Avoid a high number of cases
Meeting these standards can help you avoid lower visibility in Etsy search.
Become an Etsy Star Seller
Etsy sellers with a proven record of providing excellent customer service can be Star Sellers. As an Etsy Star Seller, you get a Star Seller badge to display and have a chance to be featured in Etsy’s marketing to buyers. Star Sellers generally get more sales and listing views than similar non-Star Sellers.
To be eligible, your shop must meet certain criteria based on your data from the last three months. These requirements include:
- Message response rate: 95%+ of first messages in a thread are responded to within 24 hours.
- On-time shipping and tracking: 95%+ of orders ship on time with tracking or a shipping label purchased on Etsy
- Ratings average: Your average rating is 4.8 or higher.
- Minimum of five orders and $300 in sales during the three-month review period. (You must be on Etsy’s platform for 90 days after your first sale.)
Etsy sellers’ statuses are reviewed every first of each month, and the review period for Star Seller will look at the last three months of data prior to the review date.
Etsy Selling Tips for Growing Sales
Creating repeat buyers is critical to ensure a steady stream and even growth of sales. A 2023 eRank survey showed that product quality (65.6%), free (43.5%) and fast (29.9%) shipping, and seller responsiveness (20%) make customers want to buy again from an Etsy shop. More than 15% said giving out a coupon code would entice them to buy from the same shop again. Here are some growth tips for selling on Etsy:
14. Offer Competitive Shipping
Shipping cost is among the top considerations for online buyers. Etsy sellers quickly learn that most customers are attracted to free shipping, so much so that including this in your profile gives your store a significant SEO boost.
However, sellers will always have to deal with shipping fees unless their products are digital. So, while this strategy is not for everyone, there are ways to stay competitive:
- Set a minimum order quantity for free shipping.
- Include the average shipping cost in your upfront listing price.
- Incorporate free shipping based on the minimum, maximum, or average shipping distance.
- Find ways to save on packaging costs without sacrificing the quality and safety of the products.
- Etsy also offers a smart pricing tool to help you plan how to recover shipping costs.
Learn ways to offer free shipping without hurting your bottom line.
15. Adopt an Effective Product Pricing Strategy
Product pricing is one of the most important decisions a seller must make for their business. Determining a competitive price while keeping your business profitable requires developing a strategy that can only be learned over time. This can be particularly challenging to Etsy sellers as creative products, by nature, are almost always unique in that the cost of materials and labor are never the same.
Etsy’s seller handbook offers a helpful pricing worksheet and valuable ideas for developing a pricing strategy:
- Make sure your price covers the cost of materials and labor
- Make sure to account for overhead costs like shipping, marketing, ads, and promotions when computing for-profit goals
- Do research on competitor pricing
- Consider your target audience
- Consider the cost of shipping, which is based on the dimensional weight of the package
While researching competitor prices is helpful, it’s also important to note that having the lowest price is not always the best. Most veteran Etsy sellers will tell you that customers are willing to pay more for better-quality products.
Learn more pricing strategies to implement in your product listings.
16. Get Creative in Your Product Packaging
Another top Etsy tip is to personalize your packages to help you stand out from larger brands. Small, thoughtful touches—like including a thank-you card or a small gift in orders—resonate very well with shoppers. These gestures can encourage customers to leave positive reviews for your Etsy shop.
Also, remember that Etsy is a marketplace for artisans, so packaging needs to be part of the creative process to strengthen brand recognition.
Lastly, creative product packaging is a potential marketing tool, with the unboxing videos people see on social media, especially Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Learn more:
17. Utilize Etsy Shop’s Announcement Section
Your Etsy shop announcement is at the top of your shop under the main header. It actually is counted toward your SEO, so it should contain shop-related keywords because the first few lines are searchable in Google.
Keep your announcement bar always updated. Your Etsy shop announcement is a way to communicate the main points to your customers quickly and a good opportunity to advertise your offerings.
Some ways to use your announcement section are to notify of big changes in the shop, such as a change to postal fees, product restocks, holiday schedule, and more.
18. Entice Customers With Etsy Updates
The Etsy Updates feed shares shop notifications to people who have followed your shop or favorited your items. They see the Updates feed by clicking the bell icon in the Etsy navigation bar on Etsy.com or in the Etsy app. Although Etsy Updates is not a new feature, it was recently enhanced and improved for sellers.
You can use this feature to amplify your marketing efforts. The Updates feed notifies customers every time you:
- Run a sale
- Send a coupon
- Add new items
- Restock items
19. Get Involved With Video
Etsy’s Explore feature lets sellers upload videos through the Etsy Seller app. Explore videos can be anywhere from two seconds to three minutes long and include sound. Etsy wants sellers to use videos to connect with shoppers and tell their shops’ stories.
Use our guide to creating product videos at home to shoot a sales-boosting video for Etsy. Here are some ideas for videos you can make:
- Product demo and showcase: Show off your product’s details. A product demo, which shows your product in action, can show how a buyer can use it.
- Seller creative process: Give shoppers a behind-the-scenes look at how you create or develop products.
- Fulfilling orders: Let your buyers see what goes on behind the scenes when you pack and ship sold items.
- How-to tutorial: A project inspiration reel or instructions on how you make your crafts can help them learn how to do it themselves.
20. Explore Multichannel Sales
Special events and holidays are an excellent opportunity to maximize sales by expanding into new markets and categories. These periods are ideal for tapping into the demand for unique gifts, offering a way to quickly increase revenue. Additionally, it’s a great time to attract wholesale and international buyers, providing a substantial uplift to your business.
Pop-up shops are becoming a major retail trend, increasingly adopted by both small businesses and large retailers as a key part of their retail strategies. Explore pop-up shop ideas.
Significant challenges of multichannel sales include maintaining inventory records and accepting payments. If you need to set up an in-person sales channel when attending local events like fairs and trade shows, Etsy has a partnership with Square so you can automatically sync your store’s inventory while accepting payments through the mobile POS app.
21. Engage Your Customers
Engaging with customers both before and after sales is a highly effective marketing strategy. Activities like building a mailing list, developing a customer service process, and interacting on social media offer numerous ways—both free and paid—to enhance sales by fostering relationships with your audience.
The first step in a customer engagement strategy is to know your audience and where to find them (creating a shopper profile is a good starting point). Once you’ve succeeded in connecting with your target customers, these tips will help you maintain a solid relationship with them:
- Send your newsletter at regular intervals
- Develop a cart abandonment recovery email strategy
- Advertise your blog, website, and social media in your “About Me” section
- Interact with your followers on social media
- Use Etsy’s saved reply tool to save pre-written customer service messages
- Set up a “thank you” message under Settings > Info & Appearance tab that will be sent to each customer post-purchase
While paid marketing strategies are highly effective, the steps above are easy and actionable selling on Etsy tips, even for new sellers.
22. Identify Your Top Traffic Sources
Once you’ve spent some time selling on Etsy, you need to develop a way to evaluate how your store is performing. These metrics will guide you in adjusting your strategy to improve your sales. Analyzing your top traffic sources will let you know where your potential buyers are coming from and identify which of your marketing and advertising efforts are paying off.
Here’s how to do it:
- Go to Your Shop > Shop Stats
- Look at your Traffic Sources
- Note your list of referrer websites (websites that have successfully redirected customers to your store)
- Get regular reports and compare before and after stats
- Join Etsy’s Shop Dashboard prototype team for tools to interpret your old and new traffic reports
Some marketing and ad strategies cost money that can eat into your bottom line. You’ll be able to plan your budget wisely when you understand which strategy works for you.
Take the time to learn more about retail analytics. It will help you make strategic decisions to drive more sales to your Etsy shop.
23. Improve Low-performing Listings
Low-performing products don’t stand out, which is why they’re easy to overlook. They don’t get featured regularly, costing Etsy sellers renewal listing fees every four months. This can quickly add up if your store has hundreds of listings. However, these low performers are often easy to improve.
Etsy’s Shop Stats feature is the quickest way to uncover low-performing listings:
- Look at the traffic you’ve received in the last 30 days and scroll down to Pages Viewed to know which of your shop’s pages are getting the most and the least traffic.
- Click on the arrows under Pages Viewed until you get to listings that register a minimal amount of traffic.
- Click on a listing to open a Listing Page View that offers a breakdown of traffic for that specific listing.
Once you’ve identified your low performers, evaluate the page and find areas that may need improvement. You might have to update keywords, improve images, change categories, or rewrite your description to increase page views.
24. Capture Your Customers’ Email
Email marketing plays a significant role in online sales, with an average return on investment of $36 for every dollar spent. This is why every business owner must have a strategy for building their mailing list from the start.
However, this can prove tricky for Etsy sellers since adding the email addresses of people who bought from their store is against Etsy’s Terms of Use. The best option would be to create an opt-in form outside Etsy and advertise.
You can take several steps to build your mailing list while complying with Etsy’s seller policy:
- Create an account with an email service provider like Constant Contact or Mailchimp to create a landing page for your opt-in form.
- Include the link to your landing page on your Etsy shop’s profile, about page, listing descriptions, and thank you messages for recent buyers.
- Include the link on your shop banner, email signatures, and business cards.
Having this strategy in place from the start is essential because you can’t send this link through Etsy Conversations or to any of your old customers without violating Etsy’s Terms of Use (always double-check guidelines as they can change at any time).
Read more about our email marketing tips for retailers.
25. Plan Your Product Releases
Etsy is an ideal place for shoppers seeking gifts for special occasions. Knowing specific holidays, events, and trends throughout the year can help you plan your product launches accordingly.
Aside from the most celebrated holidays (like Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Christmas), other events and seasonal trends also drive consumer interest and can boost sales. Some key occasions to consider when planning your product releases are:
- Tax Return season
- Super Bowl Sunday
- Spring Break
- Graduation season
- Wedding season (late Spring/early Summer)
- Summer vacations
- Back to School season
- Small Business Saturday
- Black Friday
- Cyber Monday
- Cultural Festivals (like Diwali and Chinese New Year)
Use our retail marketing calendar and free template to plan all your events accordingly.
Etsy Tips for Marketing Your Shop During Holiday Season
Shoppers spend billions on Etsy during the holiday season (from October to December). Aside from this potential sales increase, you can extend your business growth easily past the holiday season. Here are some Etsy tips on how to make sure you maximize the holiday opportunities:
26. Look at Holiday Trends
Etsy publishes a holiday trend insight report each season. It is a good way to know the market’s demands and plan your product releases. Consider how to add some popular items or your version of them to your inventory.
27. Participate in Etsy-wide Sale Events
Participating in Etsy-wide sales events during the busiest season can help attract motivated holiday shoppers visiting Etsy. Keep yourself updated on the dates of these sitewide events through the Etsy seller forum and learn how to take part in Etsy’s sales events. During last year’s Etsy Cyber event, participating listings sold at a higher rate than those not on sale.
To reach as many potential customers as possible, share your shop’s sale details on social media and other marketing channels, such as your blog or newsletter.
28. Start Early
Since Etsy is known for personalized products, stock up early to allow time for customization requests. Launch your holiday products well before the season and maintain inventory through Cyber Week and into December. This strategy ensures you capture early birds, peak-season shoppers, and last-minute buyers alike.
Additionally, an early start allows you to adjust your inventory and marketing strategies based on initial customer feedback and trends.
29. Cater to Last-minute Shoppers
For last-minute shoppers, offer digital downloads for printables, fast turnaround times, ready-to-ship items, and expedited shipping options. You can also highlight gift cards or e-gift options, which are perfect for those making very last-minute purchases. Emphasize these options in your shop’s announcements and marketing materials to attract customers who need quick solutions.
30. Get a Head Start for Next Year
To keep your shop’s momentum going after the holiday rush, stay ahead by identifying emerging trends for the early part of the new year. Focus on areas like wellness and fitness, which often gain traction, and cater to self-gifting buyers who shift their attention to these themes in January. This proactive approach helps you align your offerings with customer interests right from the year’s start.
Etsy publishes an early trends report right after the Etsy Cyber event to help you plan and prepare for the following year.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Click on the tabs below to get the answers to the most often asked questions about selling on Etsy.
Etsy charges the following fees per successful sale transaction—20 cents listing fee, $6.50 transaction fee (6.5% from each sale—item price + shipping fee), and $3.25 as payment processing fee (3% + $0.25).
Etsy recorded $13.2 billion of gross merchandise sales in 2023, but profits among sellers have not been disclosed. However, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average income for craft and fine artists in 2023 was $52,910 per year, or $25.44 per hour.
According to the Etsy annual report, the top six retail categories on the marketplace for 2023 were homewares and home furnishings, jewelry and personal accessories, apparel, craft supplies, paper and party supplies, and toys and games. So, products belonging to those categories are profitable item ideas.
Bottom Line
Selling on Etsy is an excellent way for entrepreneurs to find a sizable market without spending a lot of upfront capital. It continues to grow as one of the most popular retail platforms for small business owners starting a retail business. Leverage this unique marketplace to enhance visibility and grow your business by following our tips for selling on Etsy to boost sales and strengthen your brand.
