How do you successfully start an Etsy shop?

As someone who browses Etsy quite a lot and has made a few Etsy purchases, I can tell you that I nearly always pass over shops that are almost empty. To start, I would suggest having a number of items ready to go, say, 15 or so. If you want to do custom stuff, you can make custom listings or let people know in your store details that you will be happy to make custom stuff for them. When listing an item, fill out the details well. Include measurements, colors, materials and several photographs. It is also a good idea to include basic cleaning information. I have passed over a number of items because I didn’t know if they could be machine washed. Yes, customers can ask you directly, but many would prefer not to.

What some Etsy sellers also do is to essentially only take custom orders. Instead of filling the shop with items they have already made, they make the items as customers order them. This way, if your hand-made mittens aren’t selling, you don’t have a bunch lying around that you can’t move, but if you’re baby blankets are super popular, you make exactly as many as you need to sell.

Many Etsy sellers are also now including allergy information with their products. They will say if the home the items were made in has cats or dogs or if they are smokers. This seems like a smart business practice to me especially with crocheted items because they can pick up particulates.

Good luck!

So, I could fill the shop with pictures of stuff I’ve done, and only take custom orders?

@poofandmook: That’s what a lot of Etsy sellers do. Some of them even sell things they have already made at a discount and then charge more for custom orders. I would definitely speak to successful Etsy sellers who sell similar products to yours but, as a customer, those are my suggestions.

Find a location that has such shops and look to see how much business they seem to draw. I had a friend who had, what I guess you call an Etsy shop. At first she got a friends and family who would purchase stuff but that quickly dried up. Then she had people come in and asked when would she have more stuff. Well she did more and purchased more only no body came back. In 4 months she was bankrupt.
Know your market place. There is a little area where tourist go and all the small shops do well there because of the huge influx of tourist who have money to burn and like to purchase something unusual from their trip. I saw a long line of customers in an etsy shop. I even made a purchase and it was during a week day.
As for my friend, her shop wasn’t at a convienent location, nor in a location where people would appreciate anything out of the ordinary. It was a small town where most of the people were trying to survive on minimum wage. Any extra money they have would go to food and rent and bills before buying something that isn’t really necessary.

@Pandora Etsy is a website. Not brick and mortar.

Good photography. Browse around in the category you’d be selling in. From a buyer standpoint, see what catches your eye and what doesn’t.

Good descriptions. Take the extra work (of messaging back and forth) out for both you and the buyer.

Advertise. There are various ways to get your product out there. Do craft fairs. Put some stuff up on Cut+Paste or Supermarket. Ask another Etsy member to curate something in their treasury. List something new each day. You can just relist an old listing. (Recently listed is the default for most searches.)

Go to the library or bookstore. Tons of literature on this!

Just join! They’re always sending out tips on how to make your store more successful. You can learn a lot before you actually “open”.

Good luck!
And let us know if you do!
I’d love a poofandmook original!

Here is a book you might find of use: link also link

Selling on Etsy can be successful. The best way is to advertise your site and also when you get on Etsy, start networking (become part of “Circles” and network with the other crafters to get the word out.) You can take custom orders (I have ordered custom items) and yes, definitely (as was outlined above) go online with some plentiful inventory, not with just one item or two.

It’s a wonderful venue for creative people….I wish you all the best. Hope this helps.

Thanks everyone!

@Nimis: Etsy or not, I always accept orders! :)

@poofandmook: Let us know when you’ve set up a shop. I’ll spread the word. :)