How to Start Your Own Etsy Shop in 4 Steps!

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I have a belief that every stay at home mom should have a side hustle. A study from The Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology showed that entrepreneurs enjoy a higher overall well–being and life satisfaction and for me, having something that makes me feel like more than just a mom does wonders for my mental health! And one of the best side hustles for the creative momma is to start your own Etsy shop!

I started an Etsy shop in 2016 to sell sewing projects that I was making for my blog. Now since my blog has shifted from the DIY realm I keep it open to sell my digital prints and blogging tees. If you’re a fellow creative, starting an Etsy shop is a killer side hustle that you can start today! Here’s how to start an Etsy shop!

Before You Start: What Will You Sell?

Before you actually start your Etsy shop you need to decide what you’re going to sell. First, decide whether you will sell digital or physical products.

Digital:

a digital is any product that will be sent digitally like an ebook or digital print. Basically, anything that is a PDF, PNG, JPEG, ZIP, MP3, etc.

Physical:

a physical product is any product that you will physically ship to the customer. Some examples of physical products are baby bows, picture frames, candles, anything that needs to be physically shipped out.

In my shop, I sell physical and digital products however I prefer to sell digital products because you make them once and they can be sold over and over and over again and you don’t have to ship anything out. So when someone buys your digital product on Etsy, Etsy will actually deliver it directly to your customer so after you list your product Etsy does everything for you! Talk about easy income right?

The only real downfall of a digital product is the prices of digital products sell low. While you could sell a physical wall print for $30 you can really only sell a digital print for about $5. So you’ll have to sell more to make the same amount of money but for the passive-ness of digital products, I still think they are the bomb.com.

The nice thing about selling your physical handmade items on Etsy is you can charge a decent price. I started my Etsy shop selling handmade baby bibs that I sold for $12 a pop! Which is more than you’d probably pay for a bib at Walmart or Target but the magic of Etsy is that you are getting unique handmade items that you can’t find anywhere else! So people are willing to pay more for these unique handmade items, so you actually make good money!

The only downside for me when it comes to selling physical products is you have to physically ship it out. So you have to stay on top of your orders, package them up, and take them to the post office. Lazy girl problems I know. But for the profit you make, it’s still worth it. Especially if you can make your products quick and you enjoy doing it.

So before you start, decide what products you will sell. Digital or physical and what specifically you’re going to sell. Baby bibs? Candles? Printables?

Need help? Here’s my list of 15 things you can make and sell on Etsy!

Once you know what you’re going to sell, it’s time to create a few products!

1. Create a Few Products.

Before you open an Etsy shop you need to have some products ready to list!

Shoot for 5 Products to List:

I’d shoot to have at least 5 products done and ready to list! So if you’re planning on making and selling baby bows, make 5 different bows that are ready to go!

Take Product Pictures:

Once your products are done, it’s time to pictures of your products! Use natural light and take some cute staged photos of your products! Take some time taking good product photos at all different angles because that is what customers will use to decide if they even want to click over to your listing. You only have a few seconds to make a good impression so your photos need to be good! If you have the money you can pay to have a photographer take your product photos, but at least spend time and put some thought into doing it yourself.

If you are creating a digital product, you can print it out and take pictures yourself, or simply use a good mockup site to create a 3d version for you. Myecovermaker.com makes great 3d mockups of covers for pdfs and ebooks, and a place like creativemarket.com has a bunch of mockup templates you can purchase for things like digital decor prints.

2. Sign up for an Etsy account.

Now it’s time to open up your Etsy shop! So if you don’t already have an Etsy account, you first need to create an account at Etsy.com. If you already have an Etsy account skip to step 3 below.

To create an Etsy account. Go to Etsy.com > click Register > then fill in your info and click register!

3. Open an Etsy Shop.

To open up your Etsy shop, log into your Etsy account then click on ‘Sell on Etsy’ in the top corner then follow the steps below. Etsy will take you through the steps below to easily set up your shop!

Enter Shop Preferences (where you’re based, and currency)
Choose a Shop Name (Your shop name cannot have spaces, mine is LifeonWallerShop)
Add Some Listings (add in your products with a detailed title, photos, description, price, tags, etc.)
Setup Payment (Set up where you will be paid. I have mine set to direct deposit)
Setup Billing (Etsy charges you .20 cents per listing so set up where you want that charged from.)

4. Create Shop Logo and Header Images

Now that you have your Etsy shop up and running, it’s time to make it pretty by creating a shop logo and header image! You can make these for free at Canva.com. I use Canva almost daily for my blog and shop and it’s a super easy and free way to make your shop graphics!

Simply head to Canva.com, create a free account, then type in Etsy to the search bar. You can see they have templates to help you design your Etsy shop header and logo. Click on each and use one of their awesome templates to design a shop logo and header image!

Then once you’ve made your graphics, add them to your shop by clicking the edit shop button (looks like a pencil) in your Etsy shop manager dashboard!

Done Start Selling!

Now you have your own shop up and running ready to take orders! But don’t just stop there. If you really want to make sales on your products it’s time to promote, promote, promote!