Etsy is a great place to consider opening an online store. However, it is not without its drawbacks. You need to do your due diligence and know what other online markets are available. You will decide whether Etsy is the right fit.
What are the 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses of Etsy?
I’m not going to be the one to tell you. I’ve invited a couple of crafters who are quite successful with their Etsy stores to do so. They really know what they’re talking about.
I’ll introduce you to them and leave you with them:
Julia is a graphic designer, lover of pretty things and the person behind Don Fisher, a brand completely different from the ones already on the market. She creates fish-shaped cases!
Zivi uses different techniques to create unique jewelry and accessories that she sells at El Rinconcito de Zivi. She uses paper, soutache, leather, felt, decoupage and cross stitch – that’s it!
The 3 strengths of Etsy
According to Julia:
We believe that Etsy is a very good platform to give exposure to brands that are small and can’t afford to open an online store.
Also, thanks to the “treasuries” your products are seen by a lot of people and the store becomes known to more users.
Finally, Etsy acts almost like a social network, it is not simply a platform where you sell your products but there is interaction with other stores and a lot of visibility among millions of users around the world.
According to Zivi:
The opportunity it gives sellers to have their product reach any corner of the world although most sales are to the United States and Europe throughout my career on Etsy I have also had sales to countries like (Canada, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Mexico and ect.) A much more global audience than on any other platform.
For me Etsy is the most complete and easy to manage platform than any other (Amazon handmade, Dawanda) in addition to having the lowest commissions per sale.
The community of sellers in various Etsy groups, especially in the Etsy Spain group where we can share experiences, find help, clarify doubts or just chat among sellers. In addition to having a lot of information compiled by topic that can be very useful, especially for newcomers to Etsy.
The 3 weak points of Etsy
According to Julia:
In terms of weak points we would perhaps highlight the commissions they charge, which are a bit high.
Also, since there are so many stores, your product might go unnoticed.
We can’t think of any other weak point ?
According to Zivi:
The great competition that there is since there are thousands of stores on Etsy and sometimes with certain products such as jewelry above all it becomes very difficult to stand out.
The time one needs to manage, promote and run the store in general without forgetting to create and fulfill orders. Sometimes there are more hours than we really have.
The mysteries of SEO. Although we know in general what things are important to get sales on Etsy and how SEO works, there is always a part of it that is quite unknown. In addition to sometimes constant changes of Etsy that put us sellers off. Months of drought or few sales followed by months with more sales something irregular in the number of sales that you never quite know what it is due.
Step-by-step guide: how to open your Etsy store
You know how Etsy works from a buyer’s point of view. You know how people search on Etsy, what the search results look like, what information they get about each product, how they can access the owner’s or store’s profile…
So now it’s time to move on to the other side: the sellers’ side.
If you follow the steps below on how to create your Etsy store at the end of the post you will be able to say that you own one of them ?.
Of course, before you get down to work I want you to keep in mind a couple of considerations:
The rates.
The language of the store.
Considerations before opening your Etsy store.
- Fees: How much will it cost you to sell on Etsy?
You will have to pay different fees when selling on Etsy.
On the one hand, you will have to pay for publishing each ad or renewing it (it expires after 4 months). It costs 0,20$ (about 0,19€).
On the other hand, Etsy will take a commission of 3.5% of the price of each product you sell.
You will also have to pay for the option of direct payment from your customers, which you will need so that they can pay you with cards or Paypal, among others. In Spain you will be charged 4% + 0, 30€.
If you advertise your products in a currency that does not correspond to that of your bank account, you will be charged a 2.5% commission for the currency conversion. This would happen, for example, if you decide to open your store with English as the default language and the dollar as currency, but you operate in euros in your account. For making that change you will keep 2.5%.