What I learned in my first year of selling my art on Etsy
I got laid off from my full time job end of September 2023 and that became a push for me to focus on my art career. I had recently and clumsily started my website with no clear idea of a business plan, and a little over year later I am still more or less clumsily and stubbornly pursuing an art career I can financially depend on. And while I am far from that goal I have learned a lot, and I am collecting and sharing my thoughts here.
Around January of 2024 I decided to put my primary focus for selling my art into Etsy based on the fact that I had no social media following or fan base to provide sales, apart from my Pinterest, which at the time had less than 10,000 monthly views. Etsy is a huge marketplace that has a lot of pros and cons, here are a few of them:
Pros:
-Huge customer base. This is the biggest one for me. I can guarantee that the majority of my sales come from Etsy buyers who are already on the site looking for the product they want. Or maybe they are googling and coming in from that way, but I know for myself that I feel much more comfortable buying from an unknown source if it is part of a bigger trusted source that has certain assurances (i.e. Etsy ensures a buyer won’t be scammed out of their money).
-Free to set up and $0.20 listing fees. This means you can list 100 items in your Etsy shop for only $20!. Very low start up costs, and since I work on a print by order basis I could start my shop spending only dollars.
-Easy and Intuitive online user interface. Also tons and tons of information and ‘how to” guides for Etsy online. No programing required.
-Shipping all in the shop manager. They make purchasing shipping labels super easy and you don’t have to calculate anything yourself.
Cons:
-It is saturated. I don’t like perpetuating the idea that there isn’t any room for new people, because that is absolutely not true! But that is to say that there are a lot of sellers on Etsy, and you will more than likely have competition for whatever you are selling, but I don’t see that as a bad thing! The fact that there are people selling similar things to me, and successfully, only shows me that there is a market for the things I produce, and I use my competition as inspiration and take notes on how they present their items and try to incorporate those ideas into my shop.
-Fees: While the start up costs are minimal, there are fees with every sale you make which is totally fair and understandable. But depending on your how much you sale your item for, along with the sales and ads you are enviably running, these fees can really eat into your profit. Take for instance the sale of one sticker. If the sticker sales for $3.50 with free shipping, but you are running a 25% sale, that cuts it to $2.63. Then there is a 6.5% transaction fee and 3% payment processing fee. And then you also have to pay another $0.20 for relisting, and I still have to pay for shipping. This ultimately leaves me with roughly $1.50 which isn’t including material cost. The obvious answer is sell more expensive items and have the customers pay for shipping, but that is easier said than done.
Strict Rules in terms of replying to customers within 24 hours- I have seen other shop owners online complain about this rule, and specifically have had their shops shut down by Etsy for not promptly replying to a possible customer within 24 hours. The results can be heartbreaking, I have achieved star seller status twice during my first year, but lost status the following month both times by not adhering to this rule. My first offense was particularly comical because I didn’t respond to another seller who sold me something! But hey lesson learned, no matter who messages you, unless you think its spam, respond within 24 hours!
Shows customers similar things from other shops: This one is a common complaint I have seen on different Etsy lists, and as a shopper I have to admit I love this feature. If you are confident and do your own thing, this shouldn’t prevent you from selling, and definitely isn’t worth worry a lot about.
Drop shipping and AI are muddying the water: I think (or more likely hope) that this effects illustration artists less than other sellers, but regardless of the category drop shipping and AI are everywhere now and not only does that mean more competition, but also faster competition. While I am making everything from my own creativity and time, people who use AI and drop shipping are able to do things in minutes that might take me hours. However, when it comes down to it, I really believe that people want an authentic experience while shopping online (especially from Etsy) and ultimately I think the fact that I make everything by hand on my own gives my shop some credibility that drop shipping shops lack.
Despite these known cons, I decided to try my hand at it in January of 2024 and it has happily resulted in over 250 sales,84 reviews averaging 4.8 stars in my first year on Etsy.
Here are my top 17 top tips I have learned from selling on Etsy:
(1) To get first sales, recruit friends and family. This is an obvious one that is probably on every Etsy tip list, but that’s because it is necessary. If you were searching on Etsy looking for art or a birthday card are you more likely to buy from a shop that has no sales and no reviews, or a shop with hundreds of sales? Unless you have a magic product, a huge social media following, or run crazy ads and sales you probably won’t get many strangers buying your things at first. After asking my fiancé and friend to order a few things (and I maybe ordered something myself) I got my first organic sale! It was the best feeling ever. I kept at it, my friends and family bought a few more things, and from there I got more and more organic sales.
(2) Study successful shops you admire. Another pretty obvious one, but while I was first setting up my shop I looked at artists and shops that I admire to look at elements of their Etsy shop to get inspiration. I looked at artist’s shops like Sabina Fenn, Katie Daisy, Cat Coq, female artists who paint in bright, bold colors and paint travel and floral art. I also looked at people who sold greeting cards that I admired, like the shops of PhoebeAndJune and ByBeckyAmelia. I studied the words and phrases they used in titles, how they styled their posting photos, and what they Etsy banners and logos looked like to get inspiration.
(3) Borrow keywords and ideas from other listings using plugins. There are different websites and plug ins that are compatible with Etsy that will give you insight into trending sales and keywords. One I like to use is Alura, and this has a plug-in that allows me to view the rating and keywords of any listing on Etsy. Below is a report of one of my Etsy listings, a watercolor flower sticker pack. You can see how many times the item is sold, how many days the listing has been up, and what keywords are used. This is so helpful when posting a new product! I go to the Etsy marketplace and type in what I am thinking of titling my listing and I see what comes up. I look at listings that I admire, that sell well, or importantly look like what I will be posting, and take note of their titles, the keywords they use, and what their images look like. A lot like the tip above, borrow from successful listings and products, just make sure to make it your own and don’t copy exactly.
(4) Run Etsy ads and sales. At the beginning of opening your Etsy shop running both ads and sales is imperative. Etsy makes this very easy within the UI, under marketing there are options for sales and discounts as well as advertising. For running an Etsy advertising campaign you choose total amount you want to spend per day (minimum $1, maximum $100) and you choose which items to be included in that campaign. I have played with the amount I run for ads a lot, but have been at $5 a day for the past 3 months, and currently have 55 of my 83 listing included in ads and have been found $5 to be a happy middle ground where I get sales but am not spending all my money on advertising.
(5) Have 10 high quality images and a video showing product. I am guessing this is on every list for starting an Etsy or online shop, and that is because of how important it is. Invest time and effort into getting high quality pictures for your products. Etsy also seems to give priority to listings that have 10 photos and a video. Its good to photograph your products in natural light if possible and from different angles. I use my phone camera and it works well enough. At first all that matters is getting up the listings with whatever pictures you have, you can always replace with better pictures when you have them.
(6) Provide cute and personal packaging and include freebies. This is a big deal for Etsy versus other big retail shops, and I imagine that is because on Etsy you are buying from an individual and you want that personal touch. I have seen people get less than 5-star reviews for their packaging alone. I have a custom stamp that says “handmade by Katie Watters” and I stamp that on the envelopes and packaging, I include a hand written note thanking the buyer, and I ALWAYS give a few freebies with the order, usually a few stickers. You can also see that on my note cards, I have included a cute border of my own art for personalization, as well as a code buyers can use to get 15% off their next order. I also put a “thank you” and a “fragile” sticker on the outside packaging to again show you care about your customers. Just a little effort in packaging goes a long way and I have gotten several reviews complimenting me on my packaging.
For my packaging I include a hand written personal note thanking the buyer and include some freebies (usually stickers)
(7) Message buyers after purchase to say thank you- When you are getting your shop off the ground personal touches will go a long way. For my first hundred orders, give or take, I would message the buyer on Etsy thanking them for their purchase and telling them “Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.” Obviously this isn’t sustainable forever but when trying to build your shop, get return customers, and importantly, get good reviews, sending a message letting know the buyer that you have received their order and are taking good care of it are incredibly important and super helpful.
(8) Avoid vacation mode if possible- This advice comes from personal experience. During the first few months of 2024 my Etsy shop was picking up steam and I was starting to get regular orders. In the lead up to Mother’s day my shop was doing very well, and I had two Mother’s day cards that were selling particularly well and I had just hit 100 sales. Then in late April, I went on a two and a half week vacation, so I felt I had no choice but to put my shop on vacation mode. I had read online that this could effect the traffic to your shop, and that once coming back from vacation mode it still took a while for your listings to show up in searches, almost like Etsy was punishing you for taking a break, and that is exactly what happened to me. After returning from vacation and immediately taking my shop off vacation mode my traffic never returned to pre-vacation numbers and it took MONTHS to start get regular orders again.
(9) Be incredibly clear in your description- Have you ever heard the term “CYA” or “cover your ass?” This is a term I picked up in the restaurant industry but I feel like it works in so many situations. Another way to say ‘CYA’ would be ‘better safe than sorry’. It is much better to be completely upfront about your product (and its possible downfalls) so that the customer isn’t surprised, or if they are you can at least point back to the listing where you previously stated it. For example I sell waterproof vinyl stickers for water bottles etc. In my description I say “Weatherproof stickers do well with handwashing, but do not take dishwasher well.” So that if my customer complains the sticker isn’t waterproof, I can point to that disclaimer.
For shipping cards and stickers I also include the disclaimer “To save on costs and and keep prices low for customers, stickers are sent in large kraft brown envelopes, with cardboard stock to prevent bending. Stickers are sent via USPS ground mail and is not tracked. I am not responsible for USPS shipping delays.” I am still happy to work with my customers when their packages get lost in the mail and have refunded some orders because of it, but I still feel comfortable knowing that I laid out how the package will arrive in the details.
(10) Free shipping with increase your sales- Etsy is very big on free shipping and definitely promotes listings that include free shipping over shipping charges. I have played around with this a lot, and I can say for sure that people are MUCH more likely to buy things if they don’t have to pay for shipping, blame Amazon for that one ladies and gentlemen! Because of this it is crucial that you get shipping costs down, or to include shipping prices in your listing cost. It costs me $0.69 to send my stickers in a regular envelope (under 1 ounce) and $0.97 to send a greeting card. I was originally using rigid mailers to send my greeting cards but that cost several dollars making my profit basically negative. Now I am very happy with my shipping method, and as pointed out in tip 9, as long as you are clear that that is how the listing will be shipped there should be no problem with it!
(11) Make a slide and video about you the artist, or specifics on certain products. This tip relates back to tip #5-making sure you use all allotted photos for each listing and include a video. To be honest I don’t have 10 images of any of my listings on Etsy, and that is because I use some of the photo slots for advertising or big picture descriptions. I also made a video introducing myself and my art, so if I didn’t have a video for a particular listing, I could put the video of myself and my shop. This is a great and easy way for customers to know who they are purchasing from and feel more confident about the purchase. In pretty much every Etsy post I have I include a slide about myself and my art, a slide about the product, and a slide with customer reviews (see next tip).
(12) Make slide with customer reviews. Understandably customer reviews are critical for the success of your Etsy shop. When first starting out customer reviews are gonna be crucial. If your first few orders are from family and friends, this shouldn’t be too hard. (I even wrote some of my own first reviews for my friends and family, which is cheeky, but hey you gotta do what you gotta do.) If your first few orders aren’t from friends and family, you can also let the buyer know that reviews are incredibly appreciated in the message you send them after their order (see tip #7). I never did this but it is a common practice to say something along the lines of “and if you like the product I would really appreciate a review because they help my shop and listings immensely.” And what’s the worst that could happen, they don’t leave a review?
Once you get those first few reviews make a slide showing those reviews and include it in your listing photos. This again gives the buyer insurance on who you are and your intentions as a seller, and showing that no only you but others think your products are fabulous! I include this slide automatically in every new listing along with the slide about myself and a slide about how the product is made (stickers vs prints vs cards).
Make a slide with your first few (positive) reviews and add it to your listing images.
(13) Have consistency among shop items. On top of the importance of having high quality photos of your listings, it is important to create a look, or a brand, so that over time people will recognize your art as well as your style. While most of the time buyers will be searching for individual items and scrolling through similar listings from different shops, it is important to create a cohesive look among your products and shop. Below is a screen shot of some of my listings from my shop and you can see that most listings show a photo of my holding the product, most of time outside in natural lighting. This creates a theme or an easily recognizable motif for my shop and listings.
Create cohesion among your shop by having similar looking listings, I hold my products with an outside background in most my listings to create a recognizable brand.
(14) Create an attractive banner and logo. Shop continuity and branding is key for setting up long term success and creating a cohesive logo and banner for your shop is super important for establishing a style for your shop. I am going for a clean, colorful and inviting look that showcases my artwork, as that is the crux of my business. I used canva and photoshop to create my logo and banner respectively.
I used a mix of Canva and Photoshop to create a Etsy logo and banner to showcase my art.
(15) Use all word allowances completely, thinking about buyer when writing titles, descriptions, and key words. You are allowed 140 characters in your title, and 250 characters for alt text for listing photos, use every character possible. Using your full character limit increases your chances of hitting on key words or phrases that shoppers are searching for. Use plugins like Alura (see Tip #3) to learn what other successful posts are using as keywords and include those in the titles and picture descriptions. The Etsy search bar is another good way to get an idea of what people are searching for. Once you start typing in the search bar Etsy will auto-populate with suggestions of commonly searched terms. As you can see below, by typing sticker in the search bar Etsy provided me with 5 suggestions. Use any of these that may apply to your listing like ‘stickers pack’ in either your listing title or photo alt text (or both) to increase your chances of appearing higher in the search.
Etsy will auto-populate in the search bar giving you ideas of listing and photo descriptions for key words and SEO.
(16) You get back what you put in. I read a post from an Etsy seller saying something to the effect of ‘I can’t control when people buy my things, so I focus on the things I can control. Listing more items, improving my existing listings, etc.’ I have definitely noticed that the more time I put into my Etsy shop, the more sales I receive.
I have also seen advice to post listings once a day rather than all in one day, and I think this advice might speak to the fact that Etsy likes it if you interact with it daily. Like all other online social media sites (Instagram, Pinterest, even DuoLingo) Etsy likes to you to be active everyday, and by listing or re-listing something everyday and spending that $.2o, you are doing what Etsy wants, making it more money, and ultimately I think this pays off for the shop owner.
(17) Buy or make an Excel sheet to track you sales and purchases. As an artist the last thing you generally want to think about is finances, but they are a hard reality. A lot of people on Etsy have done a lot of the hard work for you by creating Excel sheets to track your business finances. I choose “Etsy Seller Bookkeeping Spreadsheet Small Business Planner Income Expense Profit Tracker Google Sheets Excel Accounting Template Tax Tracker” for under $20. This excel sheet is an instant download after purchase and makes keeping track of your finances super simple and straightforward. You can break your finances down monthly, quarterly or annually and you can see trends in terms of where your money is coming from and also where its going (marketing, shipping, fees, etc). I cannot recommend this step enough! As I get ready for my first tax year as a small business owner I am scared shitless, but knowing I at least have all my finances accounted for in one place gives me a little reassurance.
If you made it this far I commend you, this is a long article. Overall, I am very, very proud of my performance on Etsy this past year as someone who started out with no real social media following, nor did I focus on that as my main means of getting customers. I really think that with Etsy it is still possible for everyone to find their own space and be successful, we all have our own unique style and perspective. As we start 2025 and you consider opening an Etsy shop to sell your art, I say go for it! It is always better to start sooner than later, and there is still a very low entry cost to start selling on Etsy ($0.20 listing fee for each item) so why not give it a shot, what’s the worst that could happen?
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