Kate Shoup

Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-03-2023

If you're looking to channel your passion for crafting and artful creation into a business, consider selling your work on Etsy. Countless crafters have ditched their day jobs to start their own Etsy craft business or have supplemented their existing income by selling their own crafts, vintage items, or crafting supplies. If your dream is to "make a living making things," then Etsy is for you! For this Cheat Sheet, we’ve assembled some of our favorite cheats to highlight some key practices for running a successful Etsy shop.

Article / Updated 04-26-2023

When pricing your items on Etsy, the trick is to strike a balance. You want to price your pieces high enough to cover your costs and turn a healthy profit. But you need to price them low enough that you can sell a reasonable volume of goods. Finding that sweet spot is the focus of this article. Not all creative types share a general distaste for math, but lots of us do. Unfortunately, if you hope to run a profitable Etsy shop, you need to get comfortable with doing a little arithmetic, especially when it comes to pricing your pieces. But don’t freak out! We’re not talking calculus here, or even trigonometry. All you have to learn are two very simple formulas: Wholesale price = (materials + labor + overhead) x 2 Retail price = (wholesale price x 2) + shipping Calculating the cost of materials When calculating your cost for materials, include the price of every little component in your piece. For example, suppose you sell handmade puppy plush toys for babies. Your material cost for each toy may include the cost of fabric, a label, rickrack, stuffing, and thread. What matters here is the cost of what you used to produce one piece. For example, suppose you spent $125 on materials to produce 50 plush pups. To calculate the price of materials per piece, you divide $125 by 50, for a total of $2.50 per piece. Figuring labor costs What if, while perusing the want ads in your local newspaper, you happened upon this listing: Wanted: Skilled professional to expertly fabricate product by hand. Must also run every aspect of business, including sourcing supplies, maintaining and marketing shop, interacting with customers, and ensuring that items sold are artfully packaged and shipped to buyers. Pay: $0. Odds are, that’s a job you’d pass up. And yet, many Etsy sellers pay themselves exactly nada to run their shops. Don’t fall into this trap! Like anyone, you deserve to be compensated for your work. Your pricing formula must include the cost of your labor. To calculate your labor costs, first set an hourly rate for your time. Be sure to pay yourself a fair wage — one that accounts for the skill required to craft your piece. Also think about how much you want or need to earn for your time. If you’re just starting out, you may opt for a lower hourly rate. You can give always yourself periodic raises as your skills improve. Another approach to figuring your hourly rate is to work backward. That is, figure out how much you need to be able to “bill” for each day and divide that by the number of hours you intend to work. So say you need to earn $160 a day and you plan to work eight hours a day. You simply divide $160 by 8 for an hourly rate of $20. We aren’t saying you should charge $20 an hour! This is just an easy round number that works well for this example. Armed with your hourly rate, you’re ready to work out your labor costs. These costs must take into account the time it takes to design a piece, shop for supplies for the piece, construct the piece, photograph the piece, create the item listing for the piece (including composing the item title and description), correspond with the buyer, and package and ship the item. As with materials costs (described in the previous section), you can amortize some of your labor costs — that is, you can spread them out. For example, if it took you four hours to develop the design for a piece, but you plan to make 50 of them, you can amortize those four hours over the 50 finished pieces. Similarly, you likely shop for supplies for several pieces at one time, meaning that you can spread the time you spend shopping across all the projects that you plan to craft using those supplies. If you’re collaborating with others, you want to make sure that you include the cost of their labor as well! Let’s use those plush toy pups as an example. Suppose you spend four hours designing your toy and another hour shopping for enough supplies to construct 50 units. Assuming that your hourly rate is $20, your labor cost is $100 — or, spread out over 50 toys, $2 per toy. Suppose further that each toy takes 30 minutes to make, photograph, and package ($10 in labor). (Yes, we know, 30 minutes is on the low end. Humor us. It makes the math easier.) Your labor cost per toy is then $12. Underestimating the value of your work doesn’t just hurt you; it hurts everyone who’s trying to earn a living selling handmade goods. Deflated prices are bad all the way around! Adding up overhead Your overhead may encompass tools and equipment used in the manufacture of your products, office supplies, packaging supplies, utilities (for example, your Internet connection, electricity used to power your sewing machine, and so on), and Etsy fees. (Note: These costs don’t include shipping. You generally calculate these costs separately and pass them along to the buyer. More on shipping costs in a moment.) As with labor costs, you need to amortize your overhead costs — totaling them up and then spreading them out over all the items you make. As a simple example, if you calculate your monthly overhead at $50, and you produce 50 pieces a month as with those plush pups, your overhead is $1 per piece. Of course, this calculation gets tricky when your overhead involves purchases of items like tools and equipment used in the manufacture of your products. In those cases, you want to amortize the items over their life span. For example, maybe you’ve bought a $250 sewing machine that you plan to use for five years. In that time, you anticipate that you’ll sew 500 pieces. Your overhead for the machine is then 50 cents per piece. If you simply can’t face calculating all these overhead costs, add up your materials cost and your labor cost for each piece you make, multiply the sum by 10 or 15 percent, and call that your overhead. It won’t exactly reflect your actual overhead, but it’ll probably be in the ballpark. Understanding the “times 2” Earlier in this article, we provide the wholesale pricing formula, which calls for adding together your costs for materials, labor, and overhead and then multiplying the sum by 2. What’s up with that? That “times 2” covers a host of things. It’s your profit. It’s what you invest back in your business. If your sewing machine breaks, the “times 2” is what you use to buy a new one. If you decide to expand your product line, that “times 2” is where you find the capital you need to grow. Or you may just use your “times 2” to build a nice nest egg for your business or a fund to fall back on if times get tough. You may feel uncomfortable with all this two-timing, thinking that your labor costs are your “profit.” Don’t. Yes, you may be paying yourself to make your products, but if your business grows, that may not always be the case. Multiplying your costs by 2 enables you to ensure that your business is profitable, regardless of how it’s structured. Pricing for wholesale and retail As the proprietor of your own small manufacturing business, you need to establish two prices for your goods: the wholesale price and the retail price. The wholesale price is for customers who buy large quantities of your item to resell it. That customer then sells your piece to someone else at the retail price, which is usually (though not always) double the wholesale price. As mentioned, to determine the retail price, you typically multiply the wholesale price by 2 and add shipping costs. Some sellers choose a higher operand — for example, multiplying the wholesale price by 2.5 or even 3 to determine the retail price (assuming that the market will bear it). We know what you’re thinking: “I’m going to sell my stuff only through my Etsy shop, so I’ll just charge everyone my wholesale price.” Right? Wrong! Even if you plan to sell your items exclusively through Etsy, you need to establish both a wholesale price and a retail price, and you need to sell your pieces on Etsy at the retail rate. Why? Two reasons. First, even if you have no plans to expand beyond your Etsy shop, you don’t want to cheat yourself of the chance to offer wholesale prices to bulk buyers if the opportunity arises. And second, you’ll almost certainly want to run the occasional sale in your Etsy shop. Pricing your goods for retail gives you some leeway to discount them as needed and still turn a profit. (More on running sales in a minute.) Adjusting for free shipping and handling Anymore, thanks to big-box businesses (think: Amazon), most online shoppers pretty much expect free shipping — including shoppers on Etsy. In fact, according to Etsy, shoppers on the site are 20 percent more likely to complete a purchase if shipping and handling are free. To facilitate this, Etsy enables shop owners (read: you) to offer a free shipping guarantee. This guarantee automatically applies free shipping and handling to buyers in the U.S. when they spend $35 or more in your shop. Note: As an added bonus, Etsy’s search algorithms prioritize items that ship for free, making it easier for buyers to find them. If you want to offer free shipping and handling on all orders, not just orders over $35, you can create and apply a special “free shipping” shipping profile. Ugh. Does all this mean you have to eat your shipping and handling costs anytime people avail themselves of your free shipping guarantee? Negatory. It just means you need to factor these costs into the price for each item you list. So, if shipping and handling an item will set you back $5, you need to up that item’s listing price by that same amount. Your shipping and handling costs aren’t limited to postage. They also include mailing supplies, like an envelope or box, tissue, tape, and whatnot, not to mention labor. Enabling the free shipping guarantee If you decide you want your Etsy shop to offer a free shipping guarantee, you need to perform a few steps to set it up: Click the Settings link on the left side of the Shop Manager Click Shipping Settings Click the Free Shipping Guarantee tab. Click Get Started to open the Set a Free Shipping Guarantee dialog box and click Set Free Shipping Now. Etsy confirms that you’ve set up your free shipping guarantee; click Got It.

Article / Updated 08-02-2021

If you don’t find an Etsy team that meets your needs, you can start one of your own. For example, you may want to start a team for other Etsy members who share your passion for your medium, who live in your geographic area, who are devoted to a particular style of design, who share similar goals with their Etsy shops, or what have you. Note that when you create a team, you automatically become its captain, so administrative duties fall to you (unless you delegate them to other members). To create a team, click the Create a Team button in the top-right corner of the main Etsy Teams page. Etsy prompts you to enter the team details. The name and team type A short description and (optionally) a long description Rules about team access and (optionally) who can join Application questions (if needed) The team’s logo Tags to describe your shop Related links (for example, you may include a link to your own personal website or to some other relevant page online) After you fill in the requested information, click Create Team.

Article / Updated 10-31-2017

Etsy Promoted Listings is one of two tools to Etsy offers to help you advertise your shop. Etsy Promoted Listings, is, to quote Etsy, "good for improving discoverability within Etsy search results." With Etsy Promoted Listings, you simply note how much you want to spend each day on Promoted Listings, and Etsy does the rest — propelling your listings to the top of the heap (or close to it) when prospective buyers type relevant keywords. To set up Etsy Promoted Listings, follow these steps: Click the Shop Manager link along the top of any Etsy Marketplace page. The main Shop Manager page opens. Click the Promote link on the left side of the page and choose Advertising Options in the pane that appears. The Etsy Advertising page appears. Click the Start Advertising on Etsy button. The Promoted Listings page opens. Enter your daily budget. This can range from $1 to $10. (The more you spend, the more impressions you'll get.) If you want new listings to be automatically included in your ad buy, toggle on the Automatically Advertise New Listings setting. Click the Start Advertising button. Etsy sets up your Promoted Listings campaign. Then it displays the Advertising dashboard with the Promoted Listings tab displayed. From here, you can view stats on ad performance and sales from ads. When you launch Promoted Listings, it will remain in effect until you discontinue it. To do so, click the Manage link near the top of the Promoted Listings page of the Advertising dashboard. The Manage Promoted Listings page opens. Then toggle the Advertise with Promoted Listings setting off to disable it. (To re-enable the feature, you simply toggle the Advertise Promoted Listings setting back on.)

Article / Updated 10-31-2017

Honestly, nearly everyone on Etsy is great. For real. But every so often, you're bound to run into someone who, well, isn't. Whether someone on Etsy is rude, demanding, or simply a pain in the patootie, keep these points in mind: Polish your policies. Clear, concise shop policies can go a long way toward heading off problems down the road. Be sure that your shop's policies are as clear as possible. Don't take it personally. If, after receiving your beautiful baubles, your buyer doesn't appreciate their magnificence, that's on him, not on you. Be professional. However tempting it may be to uncork on a difficult buyer, don't — at least, not where that person can hear you. Keep all communications firm, polite, and to the point. Oh, and resist the temptation to air your grievances on the Etsy forums. Everything you write there is visible to anyone on the Internet — including your grandmother. Plus, calling out a buyer by name is a violation of the site's policies, which can lead to your expulsion. Extend the olive branch. Most buyers aren't evil. They just want to feel like you're willing to work with them to achieve a happy, speedy transaction. Kindly communicate to them that you'll do everything possible to make that happen — and then do it. If you feel that you've done all you reasonably can to rectify a problem with a buyer to no avail, don't be afraid to cut your losses by refunding the buyer's money. Better to get a problem buyer out of your hair than to kill yourself trying to make him happy.

Article / Updated 10-31-2017

A convo — short for "conversation" — is a communication with another member using Etsy's internal messaging system. You can use convos to communicate with any other Etsy member. To access your convos, click the Shop Manager link that appears along the top of any Etsy Marketplace page, and choose Conversations in the main Shop Manager page. The Conversations page appears, listing your convos. If you use the Sell on Etsy app, you'll receive a notification on your mobile phone when you receive a message via convo. To make sure you don't miss a missive, you can also set up Etsy to email you anytime someone sends you a message on the site. Here's how: Click the Settings link in the top-right corner of the Shop Manager Conversations page. The Emails tab opens. In the General Notifications section of the Emails tab, click the Someone Sends Me a Convo check box to select it. Click the Save Settings button at the bottom of the page. Etsy saves your settings. Set up a separate email address for correspondence on Etsy. That way, you can keep all your business-related messages in one place.

Article / Updated 10-31-2017

If you're starting your Etsy shop as a hobby, you probably haven't given much thought to the structure of your Etsy business. It's just you, creating or curating stuff and putting it up for sale. But if your Etsy shop grows into a full-time operation — or if you want it to — you'll need to consider what business structure is best for you. The structure that you choose affects both your personal liability if your business is sued and the taxes you'll have to pay. Depending on your location, you may be required to obtain a business license to operate your Etsy shop in an aboveboard manner. You may also need a business license to open a business checking account. You can find information about business license requirements in your area online. When it comes to business structures, you have a few main options: Sole proprietorship: If you're just starting out with your Etsy business, odds are you're running a sole proprietorship, sort of by default. That is, you own your business outright and you're solely responsible for all decisions and debts that pertain to it. This type of business is by far the easiest to start, but it's also the riskiest type to run. This is because you'll be held personally accountable if something goes wrong. For example, if someone using your product becomes sick or injured, that person could sue you, personally, placing your assets (and any assets that you hold jointly with a spouse) at risk. You're also personally accountable for any debt that the business assumes. General partnership: A general partnership consists of two or more co-owners. Typically, the parties in a general partnership split the profits from the business equally, although that's not always the case. For example, if you and your friend go into business together but you invest more in startup costs, you may agree to a different split of the profits — say, 60/40. General partnerships are similar to sole proprietorships in that you and your partner(s) are personally responsible for any debt that the business incurs. Limited partnership: In addition to general partnerships, limited partnerships exist. In that case, one partner contributes funds and shares in profits but assumes no role in the workings of the company. Corporation: A corporation is a legal entity all its own, separate from its founders (you), managers, and employees, and owned by its shareholders (again, you, along with anyone else you decide to bring into the fold). Operating as a corporation means, among other things, that your personal assets are protected in case the company is sued. Two types of corporations exist: C-corporations and S-corporations. Although C-corporations provide the most financial protection to shareholders and offer other advantages, many small businesses go the S-corporation route because they're cheaper to start and easier to maintain. To avoid running afoul of the IRS, speak to your accountant in detail about how to deal with profits if you opt to form a corporation. Limited liability company (LLC): A popular choice for many business owners, a limited liability company (LLC) is a sort of hybrid between a partnership and a corporation. An LLC not only limits your liability for business debt but also allows you to choose whether you want to be treated as a partnership or as a corporation, depending on which has the lower tax burden. So what type of business structure is right for you? That's an excellent question — and one that you want to direct to a lawyer or accountant. (Also, be sure to seek the help of a lawyer or accountant when it comes to actually setting up your company because the precise steps for doing so differ depending on where you live.)

Article / Updated 10-31-2017

You manage your Etsy shop from . . . well, Shop Manager, which enables you to manage your listings, convos, and orders as well as your promotional activities. Here, you find out how to use it to manage your shop finances, track stats, and more. As you've no doubt noticed, when you open Shop Manager (by clicking the Shop Manager link that appears along the top of any Etsy Marketplace page), the Shop Manager dashboard appears. This dashboard provides several key pieces of information, all accessible at a glance: An overview of orders received and active listings A list of unread convos A stats overview (including views, favorites, orders, and revenue) Updates from the Shop Advisor (these may flag a listing that's about to expire, alert you to a new case, or just share useful info to help you run your shop more efficiently) Recent shop activity, including people favoriting a listing in your shop (or the shop itself) as well as purchases made in your shop

Article / Updated 10-31-2017

You don't have to be "at work" to manage your Etsy shop. With the Sell on Etsy app, available for Android and Apple iOS devices, you could be literally anywhere. Antarctica? Check. The Sahara? Check. The hammock in your backyard? Check, check, and check (as long as you have a cell or Wi-Fi signal, of course). The main page of the Sell on Etsy app looks a little like the main Shop Manager page. It features a dashboard as well as links to a Listings-type page, Open Orders and Completed Orders pages, and convos. Clicking the More button reveals even more options: Your Shop: Tap this option to view your shop. Reviews: To peruse your reviews, tap this option. Shop Updates: Tap this to post Shop Updates. Teams: Your Etsy Teams are just a tap away. Settings: Access shop and notification settings here. Help: Tap Help for help using the Sell on Etsy app, to view the Seller Handbook, or to check out Etsy policies. Account: When you tap Account, you see options to open profile settings, access additional Etsy accounts, and sign out. Switch to the Etsy App: Tap this if you want to take off your "seller" hat and put on your "buyer" one and do a little shopping yourself. You're not limited to using the Sell on Etsy app to manage your store, however. Tons of third-party vendors have built apps to help Etsy sellers manage their shops. Some of these apps are for Android and Apple iOS devices. Others are meant for a desktop or laptop computer. These apps handle all sorts of tasks, like selling Etsy products directly through Instagram and Facebook (Spreesy), managing your inventory (RunInventory), pricing your items (PriceWoot), and more. You can browse Etsy's App Gallery to find out which apps are available. To access it, follow these steps on the Etsy website: Click the Shop Manager link that appears along the top of any Etsy Marketplace page. On the left side of the Shop Manager page, click the Community & Help link and choose App Marketplace. The Apps You Use page opens. Click the App Gallery link. The Apps for Etsy page opens. To find out more about an app, click the app's link. A page containing information about the app opens. To download the app, click the Visit Website button that appears on the app's page and follow the instructions. (The precise steps vary by app.) These apps are developed by third-party vendors. That's a techy way of saying that although you can access the apps from Etsy's website, for the most part, Etsy didn't build them. And that's a polite way of saying that if you have a problem with an app, don't bug Etsy about it; bug the company that actually made the app.

Article / Updated 10-31-2017

These days, you're no longer limited to conducting Etsy business online. Now, with the Sell on Etsy mobile app, you can do it in person, too — assuming that you use an Apple iOS or Android device and you live in the United States. (Etsy hopes to expand the service to more locations soon.) For example, you may use the app to handle transactions at a local art fair or farmers' market. You can use the Sell on Etsy app to peddle items already listed in your Etsy shop in person. Etsy updates your shop inventory in real time to reflect the sale. Or you can use the app's Quick Sale feature to sell items you haven't listed. Just enter an item name and price. (After you've entered details for a Quick Sale, you can access them by selecting Sell from History. That way, you don't have to enter the same title and price over and over again until your fingers fall off.) Either way, your shop's total sales will reflect these transactions. What's super great about the Sell on Etsy app is that you can use it in combination with an Etsy credit card reader — which you can order free from Etsy — to process Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover transactions. (Etsy charges just 2.75 percent per swipe and waives all other transaction fees.) Funds from in-person transactions will appear in your Etsy account alongside monies from online sales. You don't have to use the Etsy card reader. You can also accept in-person payments in cash. Before you can use the Sell on Etsy app (with or without the card reader), you need to do a few things. First, make sure your Etsy shop is set up to accept Etsy Payments. Second, make sure that you have the latest version of the Sell on Etsy app installed on your mobile device. Third, if this is your first time using the Sell on Etsy app, you need to accept the Terms of Use and enable location services. Fourth, set the app to apply the appropriate sales tax to your in-person sales. Here's how: Launch the Sell on Etsy app. Tap the More button in the lower-right corner of the app's main screen. Tap the In Person Sales option. Tap the Sales Tax option. Tap the Add Sales Tax Rate button. Tap the Name option and type a descriptive name for the tax rate (such as the state for which it applies). Type the Tax Rate option and enter the desired rate. Click Done. Etsy will apply this rate to all in-person transactions with the Sell on Etsy app. With that done, you're ready to make in-person sales. Here's how it's done: Launch the Sell on Etsy app. Tap the Sell Now link in the upper-right corner of the app's main screen. The Sell in Person screen opens. Do one of the following: Tap Quick Sale. Then type a name for the item, type a price, and tap Continue. Tap Sell from Listings. The app displays your shop's active listings. Tap the one for the item you want to sell. Tap Sell from History. If you're selling an item for which you've already entered the details in the Quick Sale screen, you can access it here. To add more items to the sale, tap Add Another Item. Then repeat Step 3. To apply a discount, tap Add Discount. Specify whether the discount should be a cash amount or a percentage, enter the discount value, and tap Apply Discount. Tap the Charge button at the bottom of the screen. Tap Cash or Credit. Indicate the amount of cash received or swipe the credit card using the card reader. If the buyer is paying by credit card, the app will prompt her for a signature. If the buyer wants a receipt, ask her to type in her email address in the screen that appears. That's it! You're done.