Starting a shop on Etsy is very easy. The hardest aspect of starting an Etsy shop is coming up with the kind of crafts you are comfortable creating, in order to supply the market you are targeting. If you don’t want to build your own crafts, you may source vintage items and sell them at reasonable rates.
There are upsides and downsides to everything in life, the same can be said about the kind of products you supply. I personally think it is best to create your own crafts for sale, in fact, no one knows about your creations as you do, hence you stand a better chance at selling your products just to mention one of the advantages.
A disadvantage is that the going rate for your crafts needs to be very competitive as lots of other vendors may already be selling the same or similar crafts. As for vintage items, one advantage is that the going rates are mostly high which is a good thing and the disadvantage is locating and gathering vintage items for your store which can be tedious and costly most times but if you like what you do you will find a way, not an excuse.
After coming up with your products, locate a supplier for your raw materials. I personally purchase all my supplies from the Etsy Club, I get a wide range of quality materials at reasonable rates and they are shipped right to my doorstep. Here is a link I added for your convenience.
Once you are through coming up with the kind of products you are comfortable with, Go to Etsy.com, click on the link “Sell” then click on Open Esty Shop and follow through with the process. Signing up is very easy but we will make a separate post with a total walkthrough on Etsy’s sign up process and product listings.
Once you are through signing up and verifying your Etsy store you may start listing the products you will be selling. Each product lists attract a small cost. Try to use professionally taken photos for all product listings.
Now, Simply purchase all raw materials needed from start to finish of your product depending on the kind of products you are creating. At first, you may not need to purchase a mass amount of supplies as it is best to supply on-demand but purchase enough to have materials left over for a few more finished products. Sometimes you may get deals of which if you purchase a certain amount of materials you get discounts, try to maximize on all opportunities when it comes on to business.
In some cases, you may need to wait until an order is placed before purchasing your raw materials as it is totally dependent on the product you are supplying.
This is a general outline of starting an Etsy Shop. Please leave your comments below if I missed anything if you have a question, concerns.
We are also seeking guest authors.
