How to Start Selling on Etsy (Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide)

When I first began, I had a lot of whatifs. What do I do if X, Y, and Z

whatifs. What do I do if X, Y, and Z happened? And I have sold over $500,000

happened? And I have sold over $500,000 of print ondemand products. Looking back

now, I just wish I started sooner. So,

for anyone who is watching this video, I know some of you may be watching this and you're on lunch break or maybe you are driving and you can't exactly start

maybe today. But anyone who's watching,

maybe today. But anyone who's watching, I want you to at least commit to this process and also comment below. I am

committing to starting today, tomorrow, this week, this month. I just want you all that are watching to commit to this process. If you are thinking about

process. If you are thinking about starting and you know that this is something you really want to do, you have your heart set on it, I want you to commit first and foremost. Now, given

this video is generalized for anyone who wants to start on Etsy, whether that be handmade, digital, or print on demand like I have done in my time on Etsy, but I wanted to create this video so that

anyone who wants to get started can get started and hopefully a lot of you will get started by the end of this video.

You can watch a few more videos if you want to learn more. I'm also going to be sharing my free print on demand crash course down below in which a lot of the videos and a lot of the screen overlays

you're going to see in this video are actually from that whole free course if you're looking to do print on demand and Etsy great free course for you to take

down below. So bare minimum setup fees.

down below. So bare minimum setup fees.

We're going to talk about what you need to spend in order to just start a shop.

Bare minimum. We're not talking softwares. We're not talking really any

softwares. We're not talking really any mockup images really samples, what have you. This just bare minimum to start. So

you. This just bare minimum to start. So

$15 to $30 you need to budget in to pay for the Etsy shop setup fee. 20 per

every listing that you create on Etsy. I

do have a link for 40 free listings on Etsy by signing up under that link. I

highly recommend. So, typically most sellers list about I'd say 10 to 100 listings in their first few months on Etsy. So, again, that's about $20 of

Etsy. So, again, that's about $20 of listings fees that you're going to be paying in the next few months. So,

that's about how much you're going to want to budget in for like bare minimum starting your shop. That's it. No

softwares. Now, if you're going to pay for a design software, mockups, maybe buy some samples of your products. Also,

if you're a handmade business, you're going to have way more fees associated, such as buying a machine, maybe paying for photography, or maybe buying your own camera for your photography, let's

say. Um, paying for other supplies and

say. Um, paying for other supplies and equipment. Okay, that is going to be

equipment. Okay, that is going to be much higher of a budget. The budgets I'm kind of recommending here are more print on demand and digital based just for that reason because when it comes to machines and other startup fees, you're

looking for around like few thousands of dollars as opposed to doing print on demand or digital where your fees are going to lie mostly in your software expenses per month such as design

software which can be $10 to $30 a month. Then you're looking at mock-ups,

month. Then you're looking at mock-ups, which I highly recommend buying some type of shop bundle maybe, or just a few mockup images from real life photo mockup shops. Some examples I have is

mockup shops. Some examples I have is Dolly Mox, uh, Moody Mox is a good one, Watermelon mockups. Those are all real

Watermelon mockups. Those are all real life photo mockup shops that I have found in my time that sell mock-ups for digital and print on demand businesses and also handmade alike. So instead of

paying and doing your own photography, again, that is a option. Typically, I

would budget around like $10 absolute minimum to just get like three mockup images, cuz mock-ups are usually $2 to $5. If you find them on sale, then

$5. If you find them on sale, then you're looking at maybe less than that.

But typically, you want to budget for like, I'd say $20 to $50 as realistic.

And honestly, more realistic is like close to $100 to $200. But again, I would just reinvest as sales come through in your shop rather than paying for it all at once. That's just my what

I've done in the past. And then again, you may want to create like some sort of Google sheet or Excel sheet that just is showing and your budgeting within that as well. Right now, what you need to

as well. Right now, what you need to know is if you are starting on Etsy, there is reoccurring fees when it comes to Etsy listing sales. So, if you get a

sale on Etsy, there is a 20 cent relisting fee. there's a 6.5%

relisting fee. there's a 6.5% transaction fee off of the price and the end price that the customer pays as far as the retail value of your product. On

top of that, there's a usually a 3% processing fee which is taken by like the credit card company or payment processor that Etsy uses. So that's 3%.

So when it comes to what you should know with selling on Etsy as well before you start on Etsy, I know a lot of people ask, okay, do I need business registration of some sort? when I spoke to a lawyer, I interviewed a lawyer,

Michelle Wilson, on my YouTube channel.

I highly recommend her channel and then also watching the video I'm going to link down below of maybe like this will be in a playlist and after this video, I highly recommend watching that video too because I have to say, and please, I

mean, uh, I like to make a joke, drink water every time I say and repeat the same phrase on my channel, but like legitimately, I say this all the time. I

am not a lawyer. I'm not a tax professional. A lot of people ask me tax

professional. A lot of people ask me tax and legal advice questions that I cannot give answers to. But when I began on Etsy, I did not need any type of business registration to start my shop

that day. And when I was talking to

that day. And when I was talking to Michelle Wilson, she said that you don't need any type of specific permit or anything to sell on Etsy and start

selling on Etsy. However, you do want to register in some way with your county and your state, and you can actually do that pretty much online in most states.

Again, I can only speak for the United States, but I have moved to three different states at this point since I've owned my businesses and average state, I've been able to do it online.

Typically, you just need to register some sort of assumed business name because even as a sole proprietor, which is what a lot of us are when we first start our Etsy shops. Sole

proprietorship is just a pass through taxation type. So sometimes your legal

taxation type. So sometimes your legal the legal and the tax kind of go together as far as sole proprietorship.

Again, I can't speak too much on it cuz I am not I I I only know so much that gets me to creating my business, right?

But um when it comes to legal things that you need to do for your business when you start off, typically you want to register your business with your county, your state. Usually you want to

do that in the first few weeks or the first few months that you started. So um

as far as taxes, what do you need to do with taxes when you are starting on Etsy? Again, I am not a tax

Etsy? Again, I am not a tax professional. I cannot give tax advice

professional. I cannot give tax advice of any sort during this video, but I will say that if you live in the United States, Etsy does remit sales tax because they work and operate as a

third-party entity. So what that means

third-party entity. So what that means is you are technically a reseller on Etsy's website. So in a way Etsy is

Etsy's website. So in a way Etsy is required to collect sales tax and remit it for their business that you technically are reselling on in a way.

So I hope that makes sense. But

basically since you are doing that, Etsy remits sales taxes for you as even though you have your own business entity outside of Etsy. However, you do have to

register in most cases in your state.

Again, that's something you're going to want to look up per state. But for

registration of your own tax uh obligations, for me in the past, in every state I've lived in, again, I've lived in three different states. I've

sold on Etsy in all three states. I've

typically had to just file zero. Like,

it's just a form that takes me under one minute to fill out every single month for my Etsy shop and business in the state that I have been in. In every

state I've been in, I've just had to file zero on my sales tax because again, Etsy remits it for me. Now, if you sell outside of Etsy, such as on Shopify, on a different website, if you sell in

person, that's when you will need to talk to a tax professional on how you need to collect sales tax. If you're

selling physically, in person, or on a different website, because that is going to be different than Etsy. But if you're just selling on Etsy, that's not something you have to worry about. And

that's like the pro. The pro of Etsy is sales tax. we don't really need to worry

sales tax. we don't really need to worry that much about because again something it's something Etsy takes care of since we're selling on a third party platform.

Okay, so the next step in the process that we are going into is shop policies.

Now Etsy inherently already has cookie policies, privacy policies in Etsy's platform by itself. Why do we need to do our own privacy policies terms and

conditions? You may be wondering. So,

conditions? You may be wondering. So,

one reason why is just because this protects your store individually rather than just having a blanket statement for Etsy. As a new Etsy seller, the best way

Etsy. As a new Etsy seller, the best way to get sales when you first begin is having a grand opening event of some sort. That's why I recommend offering a

sort. That's why I recommend offering a maybe 20% off, 30% off, whole wide shop discount for your first 30 days on the platform. That's where I recommend

platform. That's where I recommend putting this in the shop announcement saying, "Hey, we're a small business.

Here is our grand opening discount code if you would like to shop with us and be one of our first customers. So, you want to fill out your shop announcement. You

want to also fill out the thank you area. So, a thank you message that

area. So, a thank you message that confirms to the customer we have received your order. And then also thank you if you want to shop with us again.

But you just want to say thank you and also ask kindly if they can review the product when they get it in person.

Again, reviews are most important and most vital when you are starting as a new Etsy shop because you're in that chicken or the egg scenario. How do you get reviews if you don't have sales? How

do you get sales if you don't have reviews and that trust established? As

far as the next part of the process, you want to fill out your return, exchange, and cancellation policies with the privacy policy templates. So again, I have those privacy policy templates in

my print on demand crash course. highly

recommend just getting that course for the templates that you can copy and paste. The next area you want to fill

paste. The next area you want to fill out is your storefront and banner. So,

this is where you're going to fill out your shop banner. You're going to have maybe or create your own shop banner. I

do have a shop starter kit down below that you can get. As far as templates, I've created over 20 shop banner rotating templates. I've created over 50

rotating templates. I've created over 50 shop logo examples and templates that you can just use. use any of them that you like. Um, again, you can purchase

you like. Um, again, you can purchase that down below if you just need help or you need inspiration for that. I created

that for that reason to just get started, go as quick as you can in starting a business and starting your Etsy shop. So, highly recommend that

Etsy shop. So, highly recommend that down below. But you will want to fill

down below. But you will want to fill out your shop logo at this stage. You

will want to fill out also the location of your shop. So, this is really important and this is where a lot of people ask me, okay, I don't know what to put here. I would put your location

or where you currently reside or a city nearby that is bigger that you reside near. You will also want to fill in your

near. You will also want to fill in your about section at the very bottom of the page. You just want to fill in maybe

page. You just want to fill in maybe something about yourself, something about why you began your small business and your shop, right? The next thing is you do want to fill in your little icon,

your person icon for your profile. I

think that filling in either a selfie of you, a picture of your family and you is the best thing I would recommend to anyone watching this video because again I think that a lot of customers, one of

the main customer type that we have on Etsy and what we serve on Etsy is people who are shopping on Etsy to have that real connection and that personalized

touch with a seller that they're buying from. So, the next part of the process

from. So, the next part of the process that you're going to want to fill out and next step in this is to set up your coupons. So, one of the reasons why you

coupons. So, one of the reasons why you should turn this on is because this first and foremost turns on the automated email and notification system

on Etsy. So, what Etsy does is once you

on Etsy. So, what Etsy does is once you turn on the abandoned cart coupon, let's say a customer adds to cart, they walk away from their cart and they forget about your product. What Etsy does is they send a push notification if they

have notifications turned on on the Etsy app. They also send an email to that

app. They also send an email to that customer to say, "Hey, by the way, this product that you walked away from, the seller is offering you a discount of X, let's say." The next area that you're

let's say." The next area that you're going to want to fill out is shipping profiles. And this is where you can make

profiles. And this is where you can make the decision to offer free shipping.

Offer shipping over maybe if a customer spends over $35 on Etsy or not offer free shipping. You may be wondering,

free shipping. You may be wondering, Heather, what should I do? Because I'm a new seller. I have no idea, and that's

new seller. I have no idea, and that's why I'm watching this video of yours.

So, my suggestion is doing a hybrid shipping model, which is simple answer, $35 or more the customer spends, they get free shipping. The reason why I like to do

shipping. The reason why I like to do this is one, it encourages your customers to buy more from your shop.

two, Etsy and Etsy's algorithm is known to push new listings and shops that are a part of the free shipping guarantee program, which is at $35 plus. However,

it is only domestic for the United States only. So, keep that in mind. I

States only. So, keep that in mind. I

know some sellers who are international may not be able to do this, but if you're based in the US, I highly, highly recommend turning that on in your shop.

So, all in all, either free shipping over $35 or no free shipping. However,

if your products cost more than $6, this is another thing to factor in. So, Etsy

has a visibility. You can have visibility problems on Etsy if your shipping is over $6 for your customers.

That can impact your visibility in the long term on Etsy in which if the cost is higher than $6. Oh my gosh, I almost dropped my laptop. I would recommend offering free shipping. That is my only

exception to that rule. Okay, that is the steps for this step we're on. I am

not numbering these steps, by the way, because if I do, then we're going to get really off in this video. I will not verbalize the step I am on to say that.

So, anyways, we'll continue. Now, the

next steps of the process that I'm going to outline are specific to my print on demand seller. So, if you're looking to

demand seller. So, if you're looking to start a print on demand shop, if you are not a print on demand seller, then feel free to consume my other content or learn more about print on demand because it's a beautiful process and I

personally have made a lot of money on it. So, I will keep talking about the

it. So, I will keep talking about the things that make me money. If you have a print on demand shop, the next steps of the process are going to be setting up your print on demand side of the

business. So, whether you're on

business. So, whether you're on Printull, Printify, you're going to open an account on this step. You are going to then go and integrate that new account. First, you're going to go to

account. First, you're going to go to Printify's website, Printull's website, any other print on demand company's website that you're looking to use.

After that, you are going to integrate it. Usually, there is a button that you

it. Usually, there is a button that you can just integrate on either website.

You will integrate. It will go to your Etsy shop. If you're already logged in

Etsy shop. If you're already logged in on Etsy, it will pop up with a website that asks to allow the integration tool.

That is it for the integration, that seamless integration between your Etsy shop and the print on demand company.

However, that is not where we are stopping in this process because there's a few more things you're going to want to know and fill out. So, the next step that is vital to any print on demand

business is setting up your payment and how you are going to pay your print on demand provider or company. This is

really important because if you don't fill this out when an order comes through on your Etsy shop and it integrates to your print on demand company, it will stop and it will be on

hold until you give that payment information to print on demand and that print on demand company. Some people

think that it is for free if you get an order on Etsy that you don't have to pay anything which is incorrect. Basically,

what you have to do is you have to set up your payment system to Printify, Printull, what have you. After you set that up, when an order comes through, it

will seamlessly charge you every time an order comes through. Once order comes in through Etsy, your print on demand company gets the order. It gets printed, packed, shipped after it charges you, of

course, and then it gets shipped out to the customer. The print on demand

the customer. The print on demand provider will complete the tracking information. So they actually will copy

information. So they actually will copy and paste that tracking number and put it into Etsy in the back end of the Printify software or Printful software

for you and then that it gets shipped out to the customer. The customer gets notified. You don't have to do anything

notified. You don't have to do anything in that process. Basically after you fill out those payment settings, you will want to go through a few steps of the process of filling out your Printify

settings. So you have the option to have

settings. So you have the option to have a manual push order approval setting.

You can have automated every 24 hours or you can do automated within an hour or also automated at a certain time each day. So this is completely up to you. My

day. So this is completely up to you. My

experience is I've always liked to do automatically in one order. It does not start the moment the order comes through. It actually starts the moment

through. It actually starts the moment that you pay for it and approve it on Printify, Printull, what have you. The

next important step is if you are a print on demand seller, what I highly recommend you doing is submitting a taxexempt certificate if it is available

in your country and state that you live in. There are some tax registration

in. There are some tax registration things and business registration things you will have to do in order to get and be able to apply for a sales tax exempt

certificate. But what this does and why

certificate. But what this does and why it's so important for a lot of sellers is because as a print on demand business owner, we are technically the middleman.

This is the best way I can describe it.

We are the middleman. We are a reseller, right? We're still buying it from

right? We're still buying it from someone else. We're reselling it. So you

someone else. We're reselling it. So you

as the reseller get charged sales tax every time an order comes through. What

the resale tax exempt certificate does is it exempts you from that resale tax.

Basically, you can save hundreds to thousands a year basically on tax that you shouldn't be paying anyways as a reseller. So again, you do want to check

reseller. So again, you do want to check for your country. I've also heard that for Canadian sellers. Again, I'm only based in the United States, so I can only speak for my country, but that is a

option for other sellers outside of the United States as well. Going on to our last two areas that I would fill out.

So, first off, the next area you will want to fill out is going to the branded gift messaging area. And on your Etsy shop, you can turn this on once you turn

it on on your Printify or Printull account. So, Printify and Printull are

account. So, Printify and Printull are some of the major print on demand companies that offer this. So, you can do gift messaging with Etsy in which your print on demand provider, only

select print on demand companies and providers do this. So, you do have to make sure in the area of Printify that the print on demand providers you are

using offer gift messaging, but if you do have this, I highly recommend turning it on because a lot of Etsy shoppers are gifts. So, they're typically buying

gifts. So, they're typically buying products and sending them to recipients directly rather than ordering it and packaging it up and giving the gift.

They are just sending it directly to the recipient. Right? So, gift messaging is

recipient. Right? So, gift messaging is what I'd recommend turning on because it's that added touch and added availability to the customer to send that special gift to someone. And then

also, branded package inserts. I highly

recommend doing this because again, this is going to remind the customer to come back to you in your branded insert cards. What I recommend having is a QR

cards. What I recommend having is a QR code that someone can scan to easily go to their review page and leave a review on your product. Also, I recommend a

second QR code for maybe a thank you discount or the thank you coupon that you already have turned on on your shop.

Just remind that customer again of that because the more repeat buyers you have, the better your shop is going to do longterm. I want to challenge you to

longterm. I want to challenge you to create one listing in the next week, in the next 24 hours if you can. And if you are taking on this challenge, I want you

to type down below challenge accepted because I find that the next hardest phase and hardest part for an Etsy seller after opening shop is creating

listings and creating listings consistently. Just create one listing.

consistently. Just create one listing.

Either if you're a handmade seller, create a handmade listing. Digital

seller, create a digital listing. If

you're a print on demand, again, that's something that you could do in the next hour to just get that first listing out the door. It usually takes a few weeks

the door. It usually takes a few weeks for those listings to get indexed on Etsy. So, if you don't see sales

Etsy. So, if you don't see sales tomorrow, the next day, the next week, just know it usually takes a few weeks and you want to keep building that, keep building that momentum and keep going.

Let me know that you accepted it in the comment section. I'm going to heart as

comment section. I'm going to heart as many of you as I can. And don't forget to check out this next video. I think

it's going to really help boost your sales as you continue to list in your Etsy business. I will see you all in the

Etsy business. I will see you all in the next video here.

[Music]