Marcia Layton Turner - The Complete Idiots Guide to Selling Your Crafts on Etsy

Selling Your
Crafts on Etsy

Selling Your
Crafts on Etsy

by Marcia Layton Turner

A member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

ALPHA BOOKS

Published by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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ISBN: 978-1-61564-330-1
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2012949173

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Introduction

Etsy is one of the fastest-growing retail websites around. Whether youre in search of a place to sell your handmade crafts or you already have an Etsy shop and want to know how to sell more, youve come to the right place.

Whereas eBay pioneered the consumer-to-consumer online marketplace, Etsy has taken that idea one step further. Instead of selling anything to anyone, as eBay essentially enables you to do, Etsy is specifically for artisans looking to connect with buyers who appreciate lifes finer things. From art to knitting to woodworking, blown glass, handmade jewelry, sewed pieces, papier-mch, and more, you can findor sellit on Etsy.

Successful selling on Etsy starts with your crafts. Maybe you have a stash of pieces youve created but dont know what to do with, or maybe youve recently discovered a crafting technique you love and want to use to make some money. All you have to do is set up shop, show your work to potential customers, and provide excellent customer service.

I wrote this book to help you create your Etsy storefront and find success selling on this virtual marketplace, whether youre an Etsy newbie or a seasoned pro. Theres always something new to learn that can make your product listings more appealing, drive more traffic to your Etsy shop, and help expand your customer base. I designed this book to help you with all these thingsand more. In it, I show you the ins and outs of Etsy and help you avoid making the same rookie mistakes most sellers have already made.

Throughout youll find stories and lessons learned from seasoned Etsy pros who make part or all of their income from the site. Many sellers are part-time, investing time in their craft after working a full-time job or after the kids are in bed. Others have worked their way up to selling full-time on Etsy, which provides the bulk of their income. Others simply enjoy selling on Etsy when they find the time to craft, doing so more for the enjoyment than the revenue.

Whatever category you fall intoaspiring full-time Etsy seller or more casualyou can pick up ideas for selling more with less effort in the following chapters. Heres to your success!

How This Book Is Organized

This book is organized into five parts, followed by a series of appendixes with additional resources to turn to.

, you learn how Etsy functions, get tips for researching whats currently sellingon Etsy and in other marketplacesand discover how to protect yourself once you uncover a hot product category.

, Setting Up Shop, is probably the most important part of the book. To be profitable on Etsy, you need to set up your Etsy shop properly, establish policies that demonstrate to buyers youre legitimate without setting yourself up to be scammed, specify how you want to be paid, and create a packing and shipping process that wows buyers without costing you an arm and a leg. This behind-the-scenes work isnt always exciting, but it will make the difference between a hobby and a business.