11 Things You Need To Know Before Starting An Etsy Shop

So you’re thinking about starting your own Etsy shop – that’s fantastic!

The prospect of diving into the world of e-commerce and selling your handmade creations, vintage items, or digital products is an exciting one.

But before you hit that “Open Your Etsy Shop” button, I want to share some important insights that will help you prepare for this entrepreneurial journey. These are tips that I honestly wish I knew before I started my shop as it could’ve saved me a lot of time worrying.

As someone who believes in the power of taking action, I also understand that preparation is key to success. With that in mind, here are 11 crucial things you need to know before starting your Etsy shop journey.

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Things You Need To Know Before Starting An Etsy Shop

1. Get a basic understanding of Etsy’s SEO

Understanding Etsy SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is crucial for any aspiring Etsy seller, and it’s one of the first things you should grasp before opening your shop.

From a blogger’s perspective, I’ve seen firsthand how effective SEO can make or break your online presence, and Etsy is no different. Here’s why understanding Etsy SEO is so important:

Etsy is a massive online marketplace with millions of products. To stand out in this crowded space, you need your products to be discoverable by potential customers. Etsy SEO is the key to achieving this.
Understanding Etsy SEO allows you to adapt to changing trends and customer preferences. What’s popular one month may not be the next. SEO provides the flexibility to adjust your listings to align with what’s currently in demand, helping you stay relevant and maximize sales!

Check out this post if you want to learn the basics of Etsy SEO and learn how to rank faster: 6 Successful Tips on How To Improve SEO on Etsy.

2. You need to make sure your product is competitive and profitable

As an Etsy seller, I can’t stress enough how crucial it is to understand whether your chosen niche on Etsy is competitive or profitable before diving into the world of online selling.

It’s like setting the coordinates for your journey – you need to know the area you’re entering into!

Personally, I use EverBee, an Etsy product research tool, to find the best products in my niche to sell. It saves me so much time and energy browsing Etsy to find digital products that sell.

Identifying the competitiveness of your niche provides you with a realistic perspective on the challenges you may encounter.

Some niches on Etsy are saturated with sellers offering similar products, making it challenging for new entrants to gain visibility and stand out.

Not all niches are created equal; some are more lucrative than others. Through research and analysis, you can estimate the earning potential in your niche.

Consider factors like pricing, production costs, and expected sales volume, then you can determine whether your Etsy shop has the potential to generate a sustainable income.

Want to find high in-demand and low competition niches on Etsy? Then, I highly recommend reading this helpful post.

3. Know Etsy’s fees and shipping costs

Having a firm grasp of Etsy’s shipping costs and fees is essential for setting your product prices. Shipping costs can vary based on factors like package weight, size, and the destination of your customers.

This not only ensures that your customers are charged fairly for shipping but also guarantees that you don’t inadvertently absorb excessive shipping expenses, which can erode your profits over time.

Transparent and attractive shipping policies not only enhance your shop’s appeal but also foster trust with customers, leading to more sales and repeat business.

4. You should have at least 5 products already created.

Having at least five physical or digital products created before opening your shop is a strategic move with several significant advantages.

Trust me, when I first opened my Etsy shop, I was just going with the flow and it took up so much time and energy. I had a goal to create a digital product everyday for 30 days, and I wish that I had at least a few digital products in my pocket to save me time and energy.

Let’s say you’re just starting off your shop and you make it a goal to create as much as you can, but one day, life throws curveballs at you.

And you have to put your Etsy shop on hold because you don’t have time to create. But if you have at least a handful of products in your drafts, then you save yourself some stress and overwhelm from having to start from scratch.

5. You have to treat your Etsy shop like a business.

From the perspective of an Etsy seller, adopting a business mindset even before launching your Etsy shop is literally soo important to laying a sturdy foundation for your entrepreneurial journey.

When you adopt a business mindset, your motivation to pursue your side hustle increase. You’ll focus more on your passion, and not so much the outcome.

It means taking your shop seriously and recognizing that it’s not just a hobby but a genuine venture with the potential to generate income.

Whether you’re selling handcrafted items, digital products, or vintage finds, viewing your shop as a business encourages you to develop a cohesive brand identity, compelling product descriptions, and top-notch customer service.

Also, considering your Etsy shop as a business helps you stay motivated and committed. Running a business can be challenging, and there will be ups and downs along the way.

But if you see your shop as a business, I bet you’ll be more determined to tackle those challenges more head-on and take your shop more seriously.

6. You can save time by already having listing photos created

Having your listing photos ready to go before launching your shop is a game-changing strategy that can save you a ton of time – seriously!

Another tip I wish someone had told me before I started! I highly recommend having 5-7 listing templates of your products already created so that whenever you are about to publish a product, you don’t have to redesign a listing from scratch. This is a time-waster!

And unfortunately, yes, time is money in a sense and you’re constantly spending 30 minutes creating a listing design each time, that’s time you could be focusing on elsewhere.

7. You should have items in stock and ready to go

If you’re planning to sell physical products, pay attention to this tip!

It’s so important to have a full stock of items ready in your shop. Stocking your items in advance allows for a faster and more efficient order fulfillment process.

When an order comes in, you can promptly package and ship it, ensuring that your customers receive their purchases in a timely manner. This quick turnaround time can result in satisfied customers who are more likely to leave positive reviews and become repeat buyers.

So, stay prepared and keep your inventory stocked – your Etsy shop and your customers will thank you for it!

8. Success on Etsy looks different for everyone

Every Etsy seller’s journey has its ups and downs. It’s so easy to compare our journey to others. An Etsy seller could make 6 figures in one year, and one Etsy seller could make $1,000 in one year.

So maybe it’s time to ask yourself, what does success look like to you? If you took away the comparison and you just created an Etsy shop for yourself, what would success look like for you?

For me, it looked like hitting my first sale in after my first month. I remember I was so happy when it wasn’t my family that bought my Etsy product, haha. That was such a win and success!

I know comparison mode is soo easy to fall into, but that’s why I encourage you to write down what success looks like to you on Etsy before you start. So you can look back on it and remind yourself how far you’ve come!

9. Professional branding isn’t as important as you think, especially in the beginning

I think Etsy sellers get hung up on this idea that professional branding is so important when you are starting your shop.

And it makes sense.

If you look at the top sellers, they’ve all got professional branding. You’ll see consistent listing photos, a professional banner, shop policies in place, and just a lot of professionalism in general, haha.

But if you’re just starting off, don’t even worry about this. Seriously. Like for the next 3-4 months just solely focus on creating. You want to focus on your biggest ROI (return on investment), which is putting as much products out there for you to rank and get those sales!

Once you’re starting to see sales, then you can invest a bit more time and energy into re-vamping your Etsy shop.

10. Don’t stress about the little things

This goes hand-in-hand with professional branding. But also the small things like whether your product is perfect or not.

Of course you don’t want your digital product to have a lot of typos if it’s a planner or journal prompt that you’re selling. But try not to sweat it if you feel like your product has to be “perfect.”

Perfectionism is literally a creativity killer and it will cause you to have creator’s block. I’ve been there so many times. My biggest advice to you before you start your Etsy shop is to focus on the mantra, Progress Over Perfection.

Don’t sweat the small stuff and focus on just taking action and clicking that “Publish” button!

11. Making sales on Etsy isn’t a fast game

I’m sure you already know this, but maybe deep down, you want to make money on Etsy as fast as you can.

I think if that were possible, everybody would be doing it, right?

That goes for starting a blog or any type of side hustle. If we knew that making money was a fast game, heck, we all would be scramming to do it.

But, the unfortunate hard, loving truth is that it’s not. It’s so hard to put a number on when you’ll make your first sale or when you’ll hit your first $100 on Etsy.

But what I can say, is if you put in the work and you don’t give up even when you don’t see progress, you’ll start to see growth when you least expect it.

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This post is all about things you need to know before starting an Etsy shop.