So Etsy, huh? {my 6 tips}

Here’s a fun little fact for you:
 
 

“Etsy Saw Nearly 1.5 Million New Members & 1.53 Billion Page Views In December”

 
 
And you know what else?
 
 

“Etsy saw $117.8 million worth of goods (after refunds and cancellations) sold by its members in December, up 11.6% from November’s $105.6 million. 6,001,420 items sold during the month, 9.3% more than November’s 5,489,407. Meanwhile, 2,363,780 items were listed during December, 21.2% less than November’s 2,997,877.”

 
 
    You can read the rest of the article for yourself here, but the point is…people know etsy.  Now, know upfront that I don’t get paid to talk about etsy in  any way {unless you order something from my shop} so there’s nothing really in this for me.  There’s also plenty of nay-sayers when it comes to where you should sell your homemade goods and I agree with some of their points. I certainly don’t feel married to etsy for life, but I’ve also had some great success with it.  If you’re already set on etsy being a platform you might like to use, I wanted to just offer a few tips I’ve picked up a long the way.  
 
  My friends I give you…  
 
 

 
 
• Etsy is not a big scary place where you are guaranteed to get buried in a sea of crocheted nose warmers.  With some attention to detail, you can get noticed and actually sell stuff.

•  It does seem a bit overwhelming when you start setting up shop.  That’s normal. You don’t have to explore every single option right from the beginning,  you don’t have to do it all in one day and you can almost always find the answer to your specific questions.  Stick to the bare bones of your shop for now…  how it will function.

•  The Etsy Forums are your friend.  Almost every question you have, someone else has had, and a simple search there can bring you some very valuable information.  Extra tip:  the Business Topics section is most helpful.

•  Shipping will be a huge part of your online business so choose what you will sell carefully.  Anything 13 oz (including packaging) can be shipped pretty easily from your house. Otherwise, you will have to take it to the post office unless you choose to ship everything priority {more expensive but they will come pick it up for you}.  Having 3 small kids, I did not want to go to the post office several times a week.

• Time spent looking closely at other shops {especially ones in your category} is time well spent.  The rule of thumb is basically, find someone who is doing what you want to be doing and watch them.  At least 80% of what helped me the most was through watching {stalking} other shop owners.  Make note of their pictures, pricing, what they sold, tag words etc.  A word of caution however…copying someone else’s work is a big no-no.  It’s ok to use similar materials but always put your own spin on it.  You don’t want to be “THAT girl.”

• Experience is the best teacher.  There are some things that just won’t make sense until you do them.  We all know the person who has to read all 50 pages of the instruction book before they’ll start playing the board game. Cough, cough, my husband, cough {one night he literally read until me and another couple we were with starting nodding off}.   And maybe you’re that person too….it’s ok.  But sometimes diving in and doing it really is the best way to learn.  I’m not saying don’t do your homework.  I’m saying don’t let paralysis by analysis be your story.  I’m especially talking to you type-A/OCD friends {I say it in love} . Figure out what you want to sell, read up on the tips but then get out there and click that “open an Etsy shop” button!  I love the freedom to be able to look at something, decide it wasn’t working for me and change it…just like that.  If I didn’t like a piece, a policy I had, the way I priced something, how my shop looked, etc, I just changed it.  Now, when you start branding yourself and people get used to you being around you can’t do that as much or it could become confusing to your customers, but in the beginning I say play with it. You will learn so much as you go.  :)

 
 
So tell me…what holds you back from doing something you’ve wanted to do for awhile?  And if you’re finally doing it, what helped get you there?  
 
 
 
{if this was up your alley, would you consider subscribing over there on the right?  I’d love to keep stuff like this coming your way. }