Many creative people dream of starting their own business selling their own handmade creations, but too many people think that it’s either too hard, too costly or both.
Well that may have been the case a few years ago,
but since the launch of Etsy in 2005 it is probably the easiest business to start. You are able to get your handmade creations in front of millions of potential buyers in 150 countries worldwide, and setting up your shop is not only simple to do, but is also free, which is why I took the plunge and setup my Cross Stitch Pattern business.
There are few things to keep in mind when starting your new Etsy business and probably the most important is that your username is also you shop name, and once this has been registered it cannot be changed, so make sure you know exactly what you want your shop to be called and setup your account with that name.
Another important point when filling out your shop information and appearance, Etsy give you a preview of how you shop homepage will look in Google search results. Make sure you give plenty of thought to this, when I first set mine up I didn’t, but luckily I was able to go back and change it.
In the Shop Title section you will need to put what your shop does, and not your shop name, for example mine says ‘Unique Modern Cross Stitch Patterns’, and in the description I have put ‘Cross Stitch Patterns with a modern twist on Etsy designed by Lucy Lu Cross Stitch Charts the home of unique cross stitch designs’ so when people search for ‘Cross Stitch Patterns’ in google my shop will appear in the results showing the following:
Unique Modern Cross Stitch Patterns by LucyLuCrossStitch
Cross Stitch Patterns with a modern twist on Etsy designed by Lucy Lu Cross Stitch Charts the home of unique cross stitch designs
So as you can see getting your shop name, shop title and shop description right is very important if you also want to be found in organic google searches.
So you have your shop up and running, your shop name, title and description have been saved, you are now ready to start listing your handmade goods. First thing to remember is to make sure you have good photo’s of each of your products, and preferably from different angles. You will need to name your product and give it a meaningful description, this could be its function, or what inspired you to make it. You will then be able to preview your listing before it goes live, once happy you just need to publish it, it is that simple.
Now as we all know not everything is free and that is the case when listing your items, and although Etsy charge you for listing your product and take a percentage when you sell, that is all they charge for. So what are Etsy’s charges, well Etsy charge 20cents per listing which is just over 13p sterling, and when you sell Etsy charge you 3.5% of your selling price, so if I sell for $6 then Etsy will charge me 21cents which again is just over 13p sterling – not much to pay considering you are getting your handmade goods in front of so many potential buyers.
Starting an Etsy business is something that you can do in your spare time, you don’t have to give up your day job, unless of course you want to, also it’s a fantastic and relatively cheap way of testing the market. You will never know unless you try!
