How to Sell Crafts on Etsy

Etsy is an online community dedicated to arts and crafts and the people who create them. At Etsy, artists and crafters showcase and sell their original works, and art and craft enthusiasts look for new items. All crafts sold on Etsy must be handmade by the seller and sold by the seller directly. Unlike most online sales sites, there is no middleman. Etsy sellers and buyers interact directly to complete each sales transaction.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Handmade craft items to sell
• Credit card

1. Register for an Etsy account. You will choose a username, password, enter personal and credit card information. The username you choose in this stage will become your website name. It will read "http://yourusername.etsy.com." Your Etsy username cannot be changed later, so choose the name that you want to use to sell your products.

2. Set up your Etsy profile. Tell the buyers a little bit about yourself and the crafts that you are selling. Your profile will be viewable by the Etsy community.

3. Set up and customize your craft shop. Here you will determine your shop's appearance, your shop policies, list forms of payment you will accept and inform buyers of your shipping options.

4. List your craft items. You will list each craft item you would like to sell separately with descriptions, price and pictures. Each item will automatically go into your shop.

5. Complete each transaction. Etsy provides numerous features, such as the "Conversation" feature, to help buyers and sellers communicate. The buyer will pay you directly and, once you have received payment, you will ship the item directly to the buyer.

6. Pay your Etsy fees. Etsy charges both a listing fee of $0.20 per item and a fee of 3.5 percent of the sales price when each item sells. Etsy fees are due twice each month, and they must be paid on time to keep your shop up and running.

Tips & Warnings

• Get involved in the Etsy community. Etsy has forums, chat rooms and virtual labs where sellers and buyers can connect. Alchemy is a community feature where buyers request items from sellers.
• You must be eighteen years old to sell on Etsy.

Resources

• A Crafting Community

[irisspring]

on 9/24/2009 Great advice. Thank you.