How To Make Money On Etsy 2023: The Guide For Money From Home

Millions of people have already started their own businesses by selling things on Etsy.

It’s an excellent platform for creative entrepreneurs who want to sell their products to the world. And it’s not just limited to handmade items – you can also sell vintage items and craft supplies on Etsy.

But how do you start, make good sales, and grow a successful business?

That’s where this post comes in. We’ll give you tips we’ve learned from running our Etsy shop that you need to know about how to make money on Etsy.

Key Takeaways

Built-In Customer Base: A huge bonus for starting a business on Etsy is its built-in customer base. With millions of shoppers already browsing the site, you have access to an immediate audience ready to buy from you.
Best Selling Product: E-Printables; our shop mainly revolves around budgeting printables that help people spend less and save more. You can create interesting or helpful printables that people can use and benefit from.
Low Start-Up Costs: You pay a small listing fee for each item you put up for sale, a small percentage from each sale, and a processing fee, depending on your payment method.
Control Of Your Business:  You can set your own prices, decide which products to sell, and design your shop page to reflect your brand.

How To Make Money On Etsy

Selling items on Etsy can be a great way to generate a steady income and enjoy creative freedom.

On the Etsy marketplace, you can sell unique, handmade items and vintage products that share your skills and interests with the world. 

Creating a successful Etsy shop requires careful planning and preparation. Many Etsy sellers say it is much simpler than creating your own website.

Here’s how to make money on Etsy:

1. Decide On Your Product(s)

As an experienced Etsy shop owner, the best advice I can give is to carefully choose your products for your Etsy shop and do product research.

Make sure you pick items that are both profitable and that you enjoy making. This way, you’ll be more likely to stick with it, make money consistently, and create successful products.

Offering various products allows you to expand your customer base and make money on Etsy, but too many can be a considerable upfront cost.

Pick a few, make them tried and true, and bring money into your business before you expand to new items.

Some items you can sell on Etsy are handmade wall art, vintage pieces, craft supplies, digital art pieces, jewelry, and other products you like and people buy.

Begin brainstorming by doing market research to see what product idea you can sell to make money on Etsy.

Use the Etsy search bar to key in a search term; look at the search results to see how other Etsy sellers and successful shops crafted their products.

Then come up with unique ideas for your Etsy shop based on your research- don’t make exact copies, or you can face infringement issues!

2. Pick A Name & Design Your Brand

Deciding on a catchy name for your Etsy shop that resonates with potential customers is key to making money on Etsy.

An Etsy shop name is a great way to stand out from the competition and help your store become more visible to customers.

You want something that conveys your style and the vibe of your products while also being memorable- but make sure it doesn’t already exist as another Etsy shop!

You can combine your name with the products or make something more general if you want to expand- like Brittany’s Handcrafted Doodads, which could mean I make anything by hand.

Once you have settled on a name, you need to design a logo that properly represents what your Etsy shop stands for.

Try to keep it simple but eye-catching, something that looks professional yet still has its own unique character.

3. Plan Your Pricing & Shipping

When you are planning to price and ship your product on Etsy, you need to include all of the costs of making your product and any other expenses so you can make money on Etsy:

Cost of Materials – Material costs can be anything that goes into making your products, from paint and gems to wire and yarn. Your costs will vary based on what you need, but be sure to buy in bulk to lower costs, and always use Honey to find coupons when shopping online!

Etsy Fees – There are some extra fees when you sell things on Etsy, so you must ensure your take-home pay reflects how much you make despite any fees. If you want a $10 take-home per item, you need those fees included in your listing cost, or you’ll lose a few extra bucks.

Shipping Fees – You must also consider shipping options and fees, like boxes and tape. See if there are cheaper ways to ship between FedEx and UPS.

4. Take Pictures & Write Descriptions

Taking good photos and writing product descriptions for the items you sell on Etsy is super important.

The best way to ensure your item stands out from the competition is by taking well-lit photos against a plain background. Different angles will also give customers an idea of what they’re buying.

When writing product descriptions for your items to sell on Etsy, be sure to include all the information about your product, such as its measurements, materials used, colors, etc., in an easy-to-follow way.

Don’t forget to add keywords related to your product so customers can find it more easily when searching on Etsy.

Better details and keywords will help the Etsy search algorithm show your products in the search results when people are looking for products like you.

5. Market Your Shop & Make Sales!

Once your shop is set up and ready to go, it’s time to start marketing it so people can find out about your unique items for sale.

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are great ways to get the word out about your store and what you sell on Etsy.

You can create videos and images of your creative process, of you using your products, and more to gain followers and interest in your items.

Consider paid advertising options such as Facebook Ads, which can be targeted toward specific audiences who may be interested in what you’re selling in your Etsy store.

Email marketing campaigns are another option for getting the word out about your products.

Send newsletters and updates about new items or sales offers in your Etsy store directly to potential and repeat customers who have signed up to receive emails from you.

Selling On Etsy

I’ve been selling my printables in my Etsy store for the past five years, and it has been a great way to make some extra money while doing something I love.

There are some things you need to know before you get started with your Etsy business. You’ll want to learn about pricing, fees, key features, Etsy ads, and what Etsy Plus is.

Pricing & Fees

Etsy’s fees are important to keep in mind when pricing items and deciding the quantity to list for each of your product listings. 

Etsy doesn’t charge Etsy sellers monthly fees to have an Etsy account, but you should be aware of four main types of seller fees:

Listing Fee

The first fee charged to Etsy sellers is a listing fee. For each item or product you list for sale in your Etsy store, you will be charged $0.20 per listing/per item.

Payment Processing Fee

Etsy charges sellers a payment processing fee for each transaction that uses Etsy Payments.

The fee rate and percentage vary depending on what country you are in. For the United States, the fee is 3% + $0.25.

The processing fees will appear in the seller’s payments account. They will be deducted before the deposit is made.

If an order needs to be refunded, sellers have their payment processing fees credited and applied to the refund amount.

Crediting the processing fees helps ensure that sellers are not unfairly charged for orders that weren’t fulfilled as expected on the online marketplace.

Transaction Fee

Etsy charges sellers a transaction fee for every sale made through their platform. Etsy takes the transaction fee directly from the proceeds when the item sells.

This fee is 6.5% of the listing price for each item and any applicable shipping or gift-wrapping fees.

Subscription Fee

The monthly subscription fee is charged if you upgrade your Etsy account to Etsy Plus status.

The subscription plan gives sellers bonus promotional features and costs $10 per month.

Key Features

Etsy offers a variety of key features on its platform that can help make the selling process easier for Etsy shop owners.

Two of the key features we use in our Etsy shop are the Seller’s App and the Etsy Seller Handbook:

Etsy’s Seller App

Etsy’s seller app is a powerful tool that helps sellers gain insight into their shop, manage their listings and orders, and interact with customers.

The app is designed to be easy to use and provides users with detailed analytics about the performance of their shop and its listings.

With the app, sellers can track how often their products have been liked and ordered and who has placed those orders.

Additionally, they can set up discounts for their customers or create collections that promote specific items in their shop. 

You’ll receive notifications anytime someone interacts with one of your listings- like when someone favorites or purchases one of your items- so you can respond promptly when needed.

Etsy Seller Handbook

The Etsy Seller Handbook is a valuable resource for those wanting to grow their Etsy shop.

Etsy created the handbook to help sellers take their shop to the next level, covering topics from photography and brand representation to growth strategies and pricing advice.

It offers valuable insight into how to be successful on the platform when you start selling and many of the best practices and tips that come with running an online store.

The Seller Handbook also provides ideas on how to use social media marketing, content creation, and email campaigns to reach new customers and increase awareness of your shop.

You can also find practical advice on how to price products competitively so that you can maximize profits while still providing value for money to customers.

Etsy Ads

Using Etsy Ads on the platform can effectively grow your Etsy business, whether you’ve just started selling or are well-established.

You can choose which items to advertise and control how much money you spend, who sees your Etsy advertising, and when they see them.

With Etsy advertising credits, we target shoppers for our Etsy shop based on their interests and behaviors, such as their location, device type, gender, language, keyword searches, shopping cart content, item types, and categories.

You can also set budgets based on clicks or impressions. This means that you can choose how many people see your ad. You can also choose the time frame that works best for your business.

After you make your ads, Etsy will put them in the search results. They will choose ads relevant to what buyers are looking for and ads people are likely to click on.

It uses an auction system. Only the most relevant ads will be displayed in the search results. Consider things like keywords, pricing, and design when you create your listing to make your ad campaign more successful.

Etsy Plus

Etsy Plus is a $10 subscription package offered by Etsy. It’s the perfect solution for sellers looking to take their shop to the next level.

Etsy Plus provides credits for shop listings and Etsy Advertising, so you can easily reach a wider audience.

You’ll also receive discounted access to custom web URLs, which offer advantages in terms of SEO ranking and brand recognition.

Etsy Plus also lets you keep track of your stock numbers by using restock requests.

With these features, you can make your shop look different from other shops. This will make it look like it represents your brand identity more, and customers will be more interested.

The analytics dashboard also helps you understand customer behavior, keep track of sales trends, refine marketing tactics, and ultimately make better business decisions.

Pros & Cons Of Using Etsy

Pros

Customer base of millions of Etsy users helps you sell more products
Don’t need a lot of start-up capital to open an Etsy store
Have control over your business
Access to powerful tools and resources on the Etsy dashboard
Products are automatically added to the search on Etsy
Low listing fee

Cons

Takes time to build up a following
Fees are involved even if there’s no monthly subscription
Competition with other sellers to sell on Etsy

Best Selling Etsy Products

You need to know the best-selling products to stand out from the competition. Here are three of our favorite items to sell on Etsy:

Printables

Printables are digital files that customers can print at home or with a print service.

These include budgets, artwork, calendars, checklists, coloring pages, planners, stickers, and templates.

Printables are incredibly versatile and appeal to a broad audience because they’re easy to use and inexpensive. People can instantly download digital files for printing within seconds!

Because of this popularity, many different types of printables are available on Etsy. From wall art to wedding decorations- the possibilities are endless! 

To help you get started, we recommend taking the FREE printables workshop by Gold City Ventures! It’ll give you some ideas and tell you how to make 10X sales in your Etsy store.

Digital Downloads

Digital downloads are another popular item to sell on Etsy. These include ebooks, music files, video tutorials, and more.

People love them because they’re convenient and accessible – customers can listen, watch, and read within seconds and have constant entertainment!

Customers can instantly access a digital download from anywhere with an internet connection—as well as cost savings since there is no shipping fee or physical product involved.

It’s easy for sellers when they start selling to create multiple versions of their products for sale at different price points- which can help increase profits.

Home Decor

Home decor is one of Etsy’s most popular product categories to sell on Etsy this year.

People have been looking for unique pieces to spruce up their homes and give them a personalized touch – and Etsy shops have been delivering!

Items include everything from throw pillows and wall art to furniture and light fixtures.

Plus, sellers have a wide range of customization options available when creating their pieces to sell on Etsy—allowing them to create one-of-a-kind pieces that will capture shoppers’ attention quickly and easily.

Etsy Competitors

Etsy is the go-to online marketplace for handmade goods, but there are other options.

Plenty of other websites and marketplaces dedicated to handmade items offer creators and buyers a great experience.

Here are three of the most popular platforms if you’re looking for an alternative to Etsy:

Shopify

Shopify is an e-commerce platform that enables users to create their own digital stores. With Shopify, you can design your store from scratch or use one of the many templates available.

From an SEO perspective, Shopify has several advantages over Etsy.

It allows store owners to create custom URLs and pages optimized for search engine visibility and add meta descriptions and editable titles that increase visibility on search engines like Google.

It provides users with an easy way to track sales and analyze customer data to make better decisions about marketing strategies and product offerings.

You can also customize your store with features like payment gateways, product pages, shipping options, and more.

Bonanza

Bonanza offers a great combination of features and benefits for sellers looking for an alternative to Etsy.

With Bonanza, you can either take advantage of a marketplace or build an online store similar to Etsy, which allows you to choose which approach works best for your business.

On top of that, it costs less to sell on Bonanza than on some other marketplaces. You only have to pay a 3.5% base fee plus an additional fee if you advertise on Google Shopping.

A feature we like is that you can integrate Facebook and Bing Shopping into your Bonanza store. It helps get your products out there and puts them in front of the right people.

You can also import listings for items you already have listed on eBay or Amazon; that way, you can have more visibility among potential customers.

Amazon Handmade

Amazon Handmade is a marketplace for handmade items that was launched in 2015. It has grown in popularity since then due to its ease of use and wide selection of products.

It allows sellers to list their handmade items on the platform without listing fees or commissions.

Sellers also have access to Amazon’s vast customer base and marketing capabilities, such as Prime shipping and Alexa integration.

Amazon Handmade doesn’t charge a listing fee but charges a 15% commission with a $1 minimum on each sale, which can add up quickly if you’re selling high-priced items or large quantities.

Our Thoughts

Making money on Etsy isn’t hard when you know how—all it takes is creativity and savvy marketing skills!

With these tips in mind, you will be well-equipped to make money through an Etsy shop!

Whether you are just starting or need new ideas for increasing sales in an existing shop, these strategies can help ensure success in the digital marketplace.

With hard work and creativity, you can create successful listings on Etsy and potentially turn them into a profitable business!