Starting an Etsy Business For Dummies. Gatski Kate

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your shop’s About section, and choosing a profile picture

       As you set up your storefront, keep in mind that a major reason people shop on Etsy is to feel connected to the artists who make what they buy. If you want people to buy from you, make sure your Etsy shop reflects your personality! For example, do you have a serious bent? Then your shop should, too. Ditto if you’re whimsical, modern, traditional, edgy, or frilly. Let your personality shine through in your choice of cover photo, shop icon, and other visual elements as well as in your bio and other text-based elements. Not only will this increase your sales, but it may just help you make some friends along the way. (For more on setting up your Etsy shop, check out Chapter 8.)

      Oh, one more pointer: As you set up your Etsy shop, you’ll want to clearly lay out your shop policies – how much you charge for shipping, whether you accept returns, and so on. We cover smart policies in Chapter 9.

Sell’s Angels: Surveying the Etsy Selling Process

       Maybe you want to do more than buy on Etsy. Maybe you want to sell. Putting up an item for sale on Etsy is a simple process:

      1. Create (or curate, in the case of vintage pieces) the item you’re selling and determine how much you want to charge for it (with the help of the pointers we provide in Chapter 10).

      2. Photograph your piece.

      You can include as many as five pictures of each piece in your Etsy shop. The photos you provide should convey the shape, size, color, and texture of your piece and also be easy on the eye.

      3. Compose a snappy title and description for your item listing.

      4. List your item on the site and wait for someone to snatch it up.

      5. When the item sells, ship it to the buyer (after you receive your payment, of course)!

      Okay, that’s a broad overview. The process has a little more to it. But trust us: It’s nothing you can’t handle. Check out the chapters in Part 3 to get up to speed.

Takin’ Care of Business: Handling Business Matters

      For some sellers, running an Etsy shop is merely a hobby – a way to make a little extra money on the side. For others, it’s their day job, or “what they do.” Regardless of which camp you’re in, you need to treat your Etsy shop as a proper small business – building a brand, marketing your shop, and providing excellent customer service.

      If you’re in the latter category – someone who seeks to earn a living by selling on Etsy – you may choose to do even more. For example, you may opt to incorporate your business, obtain a business checking account, streamline your supply chain, use special tools to analyze your business, and so on. Part 4 covers all these topics and more.

Community Collage: Engaging in the Etsy Community

      Sure, Etsy is a great place to buy and sell all sorts of neat stuff. But it’s more than that: It’s a community of creative, crafty people that just begs for participation. Etsy offers several tools that help you jump right in, including these:

      ❯❯ Public message boards, called forums

      ❯❯ Teams, for connecting with like-minded Etsy members

      ❯❯ A podcast, for tips on selling

      ❯❯ Online Labs, in which Etsy staffers and members run online seminars, workshops, shop critiques, and other educational gatherings

      You can also follow your favorite shops and sellers to keep up with their goings-on by adding them to your Favorites.

      Other great resources for the Etsy community include the Etsy Blog (www.etsy.com/blog), which acts as a neighborhood newspaper of sorts. The Etsy Blog serves up fresh content daily and boasts material ranging from information to help you perfect various crafting techniques, to glimpses into the lives of other Etsy sellers, and more.

      Etsy’s email newsletters are another great source of information and inspiration. And if you’re among the more than eleventy-jillion people who maintain a social media account – for example, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest – you can connect with Etsy there as well.

       Etsy is super easy to use, but you’ll still need a little help sometimes. Fortunately, Etsy maintains copious resources to help members find answers to all their burning Etsy-related questions, from Help files to an interactive Questions forum. Go to www.etsy.com/help for the scoop.

      Ready to dive in? Flip to Part 5 for all the details on engaging in the Etsy community.

Chapter 2

      Let’s Get This Party Started: Signing Up

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      ❯❯ Registering for a basic Etsy account

      ❯❯ Signing in to your Etsy account

      ❯❯ Populating your public profile

      The Father of Taoism Lao Tzu once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” (He also said, “Silence is a source of great strength” and “The sage does not hoard”; we’re still digesting those.) On Etsy, that one first step is becoming a registered user by signing up with the site. After that, you’re ready to embark on your own Etsy journey! This chapter gives you all the info you need to register with Etsy.

Sign Me Up! Becoming a Registered User

      Anyone can browse Etsy to see what goodies are for sale. But if you’re in the market to buy, or if you eventually want to open your own shop, you need to create an account with the site by becoming a registered user. It’s easy and free! Just follow the guidelines in this section.

       In addition to being able to purchase items on the site, registered users can keep track of their best-loved items or shops by adding them to their Favorites, communicate with other Etsy members, and participate in the site’s community features, such as the forums. Flip to Part 5 for more information about all these options.

       Setting up your account

      Assuming that you have access to a computer, tablet, or smartphone and an Internet connection, becoming a registered Etsy user is super easy. (Note that the screen images shown here were captured on a computer. They may look different on a tablet or smartphone.)

      1. In your web browser’s address bar, type www.etsy.com and press Enter or Return.

Etsy’s main page appears (see Figure 2-1).

      2.

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