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How To Be A Successful Etsy Seller

Let me start off by saying i’ve gone back and forth about writing this post for 3 years now, not because I don’t want to share my secrets to making money on Etsy, but because of all of that awkward money talk. I originally started this blog solely to share information about the various ways I make money online, but I quickly discovered I preferred to write about other topics like my family’s travels and our forever home renovation. So, this post is loooong overdue, and for that i’m sorry! Let’s jump right into how I made over $100,000 in my first year of selling on Etsy, including my tips to get started, what to sell on Etsy and that big ole’ photo proof of my income.

Here’s how it all began, my story is probably incredibly similar to a lot of yours who may be reading this post ready to take the leap and open up an Etsy shop. I was a new mother and was absolutely dreading going back to my full time job as a registered nurse. Despite loving my job as a nurse it just wasn’t compatible with the life I wanted to live. Basically I knew I wanted the freedom to work from home and make my own hours all while spending time with my son. It was December 2013 and I knew financially I needed to go back to work as a nurse. I had seen various people making hand stamped jewelry at craft shows I went to and heard them talking about how much money they were making on Etsy and I just knew I had to give it a try. That night I purchased this kit for hand stamping and got right to work making some of my own jewelry for the first time. I was terrible (awful!) at it in the beginning, but as the days went on I made huge progress and felt comfortable enough to open an Etsy shop with the hopes of officially starting to sell items in it within a few months.

It was that decision to open my first Etsy shop that completely changed my life. I spent all of that January and February staying up late and researching Etsy SEO (hint, it’s entirely different from Google SEO if you’re familiar with that) and learning how to sell on Etsy.. I found 100% of the information to get started in the Etsy Sellers Handbook and within the Etsy seller forums. I slowly added a few products to my shop and by mid- March my shop was open for business! I made a few sales and quickly realized I was not at all prepared for shipping and branding (big mistake!). I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I shipped my first wrap bracelet order in a regular letter sized envelope with a forever stamp. I had used my Cricut machine to cut a few strangely shaped pieces of card stock to wrap my bracelets around, but I had no real concept of branding. Nevertheless, I continued to make a few sales and felt pretty good about the money I was starting to make.

Later that month (March still) I received a convo on Etsy from a church that wanted to purchase several hundred bracelets from me. I was so excited, it was my first big sale and it was $3,300! That was more money than I made working as a nurse full time! I couldn’t believe it. As the days kept going on I continued to add more and more jewelry items to my shop. I was adding products that were sure to appeal to all sorts of people and occasions. I was making jewelry for police and firefighter wives, deployment jewelry, mother’s day, graduation and teacher gifts to name a few. I believe it was due to my understanding of Etsy SEO and the variety of products I was offering that my revenue continued to grow. I had my first 5 figure month in May, which was only my 3rd month of selling on Etsy!

By this time I had figured out I needed to hire someone to create a logo for me and get official business cards. When this happened I also created my Facebook page and Instagram page for B.Stamped® which helped bring in new customers.

As the summer went on I continued to sell well and realized this shop was in fact my new full time job. I reinvested a very small portion of my income back into the business and what I did reinvest I chose to spend it on new font sets, updated packaging, a Dymo label printer (you’ll thank me later for telling you about that one!) and a Macbook. All of these investments made running my business more efficient, which left me with more time to create new products and increase revenue.

By the time November and December rolled around the holiday season kept me busy 24/7 and before I knew it it had been 1 year since I first opened my Etsy shop and I had made over $120,000! See the photo below, but note that the figure below doesn’t include the amount of revenue generated from shipping (Etsy doesn’t display reports that include both figures). I made over $33,000 just through shipping. During that first year I charged $3.99, plus $1.00 per additional item for shipping within the United States. At that time shipping prices for 1-3 ounce packages were only $1.63, so I made a large portion of income just from my shipping prices. Sadly, in 2019 the shipping prices have now doubled for a 1-3 ounce package and the percent of income I make from shipping is far less. Editing this in because I’m receiving a lot of questions about how i offset the higher shipping costs.  BUY IN BULK!  Even if you’re just starting out, you can buy these bubble mailers for less than a meal out and you’ll get 500.  They are great quality too (they are what I use.  Make sure you print your shipping labels through Etsy as well to take advantage of their discounted shipping prices.

So! Now you know my story and you’re probably thinking there is no way this can happen to you, but i’m here to tell you that if I can do it so can you. It’s easy to think that you can’t have the same success as others, in fact there are over 2 million shops on Etsy and many of them DO fail, but that is because they never did any SEO research, didn’t add any listings or got shut down for selling trademarked and copyrighted material. The only fact that matters is that those who work hard to be successful will be successful on Etsy. I’ll go ahead and break down exactly how to start an Etsy shop.

Reasons to choose Etsy

1. Built in traffic. Etsy has hundreds of millions of customers each year and anyone who is on Etsy has the potential to be your customer. In my Etsy shop most of my sales come directly from Etsy search traffic (this is why it’s important to research Etsy SEO). I spend my time getting customers from social media and my email list to shop in my shopify store and rely on Etsy search traffic for my Etsy shop.

2. You’re more likely to be found by magazines and other large publications. Thanks to Etsy I had my pregnancy announcement fishing lures featured on Baby Center and my best friend wrap bracelet featured on Buzz Feed. I’ve also had several of my products featured in Etsy newsletters and on the home page. Along with those features came huge increases in sales. Editors of magazine and blogs are constantly searching Etsy for unique and popular items to feature.

3. Low startup costs. Etsy is a very low cost platform to sell on. When you use this link to open up your Etsy shop you’ll receive 40 free listings! After that it costs 20 cents for each new item you list. You don’t pay anything else until you sell an item (Etsy’s fees are on par with other sites and far lower than Amazon Handmade) or decide to invest money in promoted listings on Etsy.

Tips for Selling on Etsy

1. Research Etsy SEO. As I mentioned above this can be done by thoroughly reading the Etsy seller handbook. Your tags and titles are the most important aspects of your listing because they are what will get customers eyes on your shop.

2. Good Photography is a must! Once you’ve been found on Etsy you need to have great photography that is bright, in focus and showcases your item really well so you can stand out from the hundreds of listings you’re competing with. The more photos the better. To be completely honest here, about half of my listings have been updated with high quality photography and the rest are still stuck in the times of when I first opened and did not have as good of photography skills. This is an ongoing task I plan to work on to keep my shop fresh. Here is a link to the camera I use and the lens I use for my photos. If those are out of your budget here is a great, budget friendly camera kit that produces high quality photos.

3. Branding. Start your business as if you already know it will be a success! Get your logo and business cards as well as all of your packaging ready before you make your first sale. As you can see my shop, B.Stamped® is bright and airy, but my newest shop is focused on travel and nature (two of my favorite things! This is my ‘passion’ shop) inspired items so the photography and color scheme reflects that.

4. Add products that appeal to various situations and holidays. If you have a really niche shop you will limit your customer base which isn’t necessarily a bad thing at all as you’re more likely to become the ‘go to’ shop for fishing lures or custom coasters or high end handmade bags or whatever your niche is. However in my personal experience i’ve had a lot of success selling items for a huge audience, meaning multiple products for different occasions and personal situations. In B.Stamped® I sell jewelry for moms, personalized fishing lures for Dad and Grandpa, teacher gifts, deployment jewelry, gifts for police and firefighter wives etc… Basically if you need a gift or an item for yourself for a special occasion you can count on B.Stamped® to have something for you. This has really allowed me to increase my revenue and allows for year round selling. If you sell only Christmas ornaments you can be almost certain your shop will be quiet from January to October. Think about what will work best for your own shop and customer demographic.

5. Answer Etsy convos promptly. I’ve learned throughout the years that my sales conversion rate is much higher if I can answer a convo immediately. Every minute that passes by is an opportunity for your potential customer to rethink their purchase or find another shop to purchase from. My customers have come to expect prompt and friendly customer service from B.Stamped® and this helps lead to repeat customers. For when you’re away from your computer on your phone you can answer convos immediately on the Ety seller app.

6. Pin. Pin. Pin! If you need a boost of traffic to your Etsy shop use Pinterest to its full potential with Tailwind.  Tailwind is an online program that does all of your pinning for you.  I used to pin for my Etsy shop, but now I send my Pinterest traffic to my shopify store and receive thousands of views from Pinterest each month.  Tailwind has been a lifesaver because it pins for you, so you can spend your valuable time creating new products and working on Etsy SEO.  Clicking here will get you a free 1 month trial of Tailwind (trust me it’ll be life changing and you’ll regret not using it sooner!)

What to sell on Etsy

You might be tempted to copy my business model, and for that I can’t blame you- after all I just told you how much money I make! However, the jewelry market has become much more difficult to break into on Etsy due to the influx of Chinese made jewelry that is allowed to be sold on the platform.  Do you own a Cricut?  Try selling some of your shirts, signs or cups on there!  Are you a painter?  Handmade paintings are a unique way to break into Etsy.  Think outside the box!

Quick legal note- B.Stamped ® is a registered trademark owned by B.Stamped LLC. All designs are protected by copyright law. Any attempt to recreate designs will result in legal action.

You’re now likely wondering how my business is doing today. It has continued to thrive over the years and provide a very sustainable source of income for my family. I’ve continued to have so much success with Etsy that we’ve opened two other shops on Etsy. I also sell my main store items, B.Stamped®, on Amazon handmade and my own personal website hosted through Shopify all of which have increased my revenue.

I hope you’ve found this post helpful and inspiring! Don’t forget to open your Etsy shop using this link to get your first 40 listings FREE! Please leave a comment if you have any questions, i’m happy to help you get started selling on Etsy!

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