How to Sell on Etsy

Posted on October 5th, 2009 by Carmelia

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The website Etsy has become synonymous with personalized, unique and handmade crafts that range from sweaters, jewelry, candles and even crafting supplies. If you’re someone who loves to make things by hand, you can try your hand at opening an Etsy account to make a profit out of your wares. Here’s how.

Open an account at Etsy.com. The instructions on the website will guide you on how you can do this.
Etsy clearly states what you can and cannot sell on the site. Basically, you can sell handmade goods, crafting supplies and vintage items (items 20 years and older) that are in good condition. You cannot sell illegal items like drugs, and you cannot sell things that are made by someone other than you. If you think your crafts fall under the acceptable category, then go ahead in setting up your account.
Think of a good, memorable Etsy shop name. Make quick searches on the Etsy banner to see if your potential shop name’s already been taken.
Go about setting your shop’s profile page. You can customize its banner, your profile and even set your policies. Etsy makes its site user-friendly by taking all the HTML confusion and let you simply choose some options that you’d like to take.
Take good pictures of the items you have on sale. Having a camera that can take good macro or close-up pictures is always an advantage, since it will allow potential buyers to see the details of your work.
Once you’ve taken pictures of your products, take time to write a title and descriptions for each of them. Try to put a little personal anecdote about each product. Etsy values the personal way the items they’re selling are made, so it’s important that you reflect that too. Don’t forget to list what items you used in crafting your product, or the material of the product, if you’re selling something vintage.
Upload the pictures on Etsy and list your items on sale. To list an item on sale, look for the “Sale” link and click on it. Again, the website will guide you on how to do this correctly.
Once you’re done doing the details of your product, click on “Next”. Choose the category that best fits the nature of your product.
Type in the keywords. Making your keywords as varied as possible is important, to ensure that they always end up in the search results when users are looking for specific products.
The Etsy webpage will then lead you to an online form where you will need to decide on the acceptable payment and shipment schemes. If you’ve made a mistake when filling these out, don’t worry: Etsy will let you go back and fix your mistake.
Preview the item listing. If you’re satisfied with the result and checked for errors, you can then officially launch your product listing.
Be patient as you wait for buyers to express interest in your products.

In Etsy, it’s also important to participate in the community, so it’s highly recommended that you become an Etsy buyer yourself. You’ll be able to have a better view of how it is to be a buyer, and you’ll be able to touch base with other Etsy members as well.