Do you have your own handmade items, vintage or do you have craft materials that you would like to sell to other people? If you follow in any of the three mentioned categories, then you are in the right place.
Today, I am going to review Etsy, one of the most popular marketplace to sell handmade and vintage items.
What is Etsy?
Etsy is an online marketplace for sellers and buyers who are passionate about crafts, arts, vintage or handmade items. It an American online marketing platform with over 30 million buyers.
How to Sell on Etsy
Unlike other marketplaces where you can sell pretty much anything. Etsy only accept sellers dealing with products in any of the three categories namely, vintage, handmade and craft supplies.
Vintage are all items that are 20 years or older. These are mostly personal collections. Handmade, as the name suggest are items that you have personally created or someone from your shop helped you to create them. Craft supplies are products or materials to be used to make handmade or crafts items.
How to Get Started with Etsy
Signing up with Etsy as a seller is free. There are no pre-requirements needed and they accept members from all over the world. However, you will need to verify your account by having a credit card attached to your account or connect your Paypal account to your Etsy account.
A $1 will be deducted from your account for verification purposes but will be refunded to you later on. Once you are through the verification process, you are now free to open up your own shop and start selling on Etsy.
For every item you list, you MUST make sure it falls under the three categories. You are also responsible for setting your own prices, shipping charges and return policy.
How Much Does it Cost to Sell on Etsy?
Each item listing on Etsy costs $0.20, when the listing is published. A listing will last for four months or until the item is sold. Once a sale has occurred, Etsy charges 3.5% transaction fee on the item’s sale price.
How Do You Get Paid?
You get paid through direct checkout (some countries only). So, buyers can pay with their credit or debit card in their local currency and you receive the funds to your bank account in your local currency. You can also get paid through PayPal, by a check or money order.
Pros
- Free to sign up and they accept members from all over the world.
- No listing limits. You can list as many items as possible.
- Competitive listing charges, not so high.
- Your items get exposed to a large community of over 30 million people.
- You can buy some high quality items at a much lower price.
Cons
- Your account may get deleted anytime without prior warning for violations.
- You only list items in three categories – vintage, handmade and craft supplies.
- No outsourcing of products, unless someone is working with you.
- You must be the owner or the creator of the product you are selling.
- Lack of varieties since most sellers tend to stick to what they know how to create.
- You get charged a listing fee, plus a final transaction fee of the total sale.
Conclusion
Etsy is a good marketplace to sell vintage, craft supplies or handmade items that you have personally created or created by someone from your shop. However, you will have to read and understand their terms of use, adhere to their strict rules and make sure you are accurately representing yourself, your business and your items.
Otherwise, you may wake up one day to find your Etsy account permanently deleted without a prior notice and it may be very hard to reinstate it.
