Have you ever thought about opening your Etsy store but you haven’t done it yet? Do you think it’s complicated? Are you afraid that you won’t know how? Or do you think it’s going to take you a long time and you never see the results?
Don’t panic.
After reading this article you will no longer hang on to those worries! You will see that it will be a lot easier than you thought. If you have the desire to open your first Etsy store, you will have everything you need in this article and the subsequent ones we will share.
I want to help you better understand what Etsy is and how it works. With today’s article you will have the opportunity to discover what you will find when opening your first online store, step by step.
I don’t want you to end up lost with too much information and giving you the excuse to postpone opening your Etsy store any further. You will just have to look at the guidelines in the FAQs on Etsy. The material is very well explained, but if you’re starting from scratch… the information to process everything at once can be a lot. If you end up jumping from one question to another clicking on more and more links, you’ll end up saturated and overwhelmed.
Let’s avoid that today. That’s why you will find different sections and many many photos.
Why Etsy and not any other marketplace?
A couple of weeks ago I asked some artisans which were their favorite platforms to sell online.
The result?
Etsy won by a landslide. It seems to be one of the best performing marketplaces in general. However, I have to point out that not all products work the same in that marketplace.
Opening your store on Etsy does not guarantee success selling online. That will depend on many factors, such as the time it takes you to make your crafts, the price, the ease of shipping, the marketing strategy you use and other factors.
However, it can give you a very good opportunity to test the waters.
If you have not yet taken your first steps in online sales, creating your Etsy store will allow you to do so without too many complications.
Would you like to give it a try?
What is Etsy?
Etsy is one of the largest marketplaces for handmade items that you will find on the Internet.
The term ‘marketplace’ literally means ‘market’. In other words, a marketplace is equivalent to the traditional ‘flea market’. Anyone can sell their products and buy anyone else’s products.
Ebay and Amazon, which I’m sure you’re familiar with, are marketplaces. What differentiates Etsy from these other marketplaces is mainly the type of item you will find.
Etsy sells handmade, vintage (at least 20 years old) and also DIY materials and patterns.
That means that whoever lands on Etsy is looking for just that. If you sell crafts or want to buy them, you’re in the right place.
How does Etsy work?
When you enter Etsy for the first time you’ll see something like this (or similar, because the cover photos often change):
If you scroll down you’ll discover different sections: Shop by Category, Discover Gifts, Shops to Explore, Reviews and more.
You will find the results are in English by default. However, you might want to purchase a vintage craft from another culture, which might be easier if you search with a different language.
Don’t worry. If that happens to you, you can easily change the language:
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page.
- Where you see the little round symbol with the flag of any country, click on it.
- A new window will open to select your preferred region, language and currency.
- Choose what you like and that’s it.
Note: It may seem silly for me to clarify this, but just in case someone thinks they don’t see what I see…
The arrows, comments and red indications that you will find in all the images have been added by me to highlight some little things.
How to search
You have two possibilities when searching for what you are interested in on Etsy:
- Doing a direct search for what you want if you’re clear on what it is.
- Entering the different categories and researching inside.
Let’s look at each case with an example:
Let’s say you’re looking for a gift for a friend who just moved into a new house.
Direct search using the search engine
You know your friend loves plants and would like something to decorate the house or improve their plants with. You think that a funny ceramic flower pot could be a good option.
You put that in the search engine and hit search.
That takes you to the next page:
There you can select whether you want results only in English or a different language.
Actually, all the results you get will be in a different language if you have selected it as your default language because Etsy translates them automatically.