How To Sell on Etsy in 6 Easy Steps (2025)

Etsy is one of the biggest marketplaces in the world. With more than five million sellers serving over 90 million active buyers, it has the potential to transform a side hustle into a full-time career.

Sellers use Etsy to list handmade, vintage, or curated products, while buyers search the marketplace for unique crafts, jewelry, art, clothing, and home goods.

Wondering how to start an Etsy shop? Here’s a step-by-step guide to set up your Etsy storefront and begin selling.

How to sell on Etsy in 6 steps

1. Create an Etsy account
2. Open your Etsy storefront
3. Upload products
4. Choose how you’ll get paid
5. Set up billing
6. Customize your Etsy storefront

1. Create an Etsy account 

You can create a free account on Etsy. Visit Etsy.com and click Get Started.

Enter basic personal information including your name and email address to create an account.

2. Open your Etsy shop

Once you create an account, you’ll be able to open your Etsy shop. Begin by entering your shop details and preferences, including the language you’ll use to describe your products, the country you’re selling from, and the currency you’ll charge customers in.

Click Save and Continue, then enter your shop name. This can be a combination of letters and numbers, without spaces.

Unsure what to call your shop idea? Get inspired with a business name generator. Choose a name that suits your products and isn’t already in use by another Etsy store owner.

When selecting your Etsy shop name, consider incorporating relevant keywords that describe your products and are likely to be used in customer searches.

3. Upload products

As soon as you open your Etsy shop, you’ll be able to start selling items. Create a new listing for each product you’re selling through the marketplace—be it vintage items, handmade goods, or arts and crafts supplies.

As you fill out your listings, more options will appear to provide more product details. These include:

• How and when the product was made
• The product category
• The listing type
• Whether it’s a physical or digital product

The most important factor of each Etsy listing is its images. When shopping online, people buy with their eyes. They can’t touch, smell, or see the item in person, so their decision to buy your Etsy product rides on excellent product photography.

You can add up to 10 high-quality images and one video per listing. Each item must be eye-catching enough to stand out among products offered by other sellers on the marketplace.

Use clear, high-resolution images that showcase your product from multiple angles. Etsy recommends using photos that are 2,000 pixels for the shortest side of the image, and a resolution of 72 pixels per inch (PPI).

Another important part of your product listings is the description. An effective product description speaks in your customers’ language, including all the most popular product details, and the primary keywords that customers use to search for your items.

Think about what customers might search for when looking for your products, and use those terms in your tags and attributes.

Set the pricing for your product under the Inventory and Pricing section. Enter the amount someone will pay for the item, how many items you have available, and the stock keeping unit (SKU), if you use them. You can also add variations like different sizes or colors.

Finally, add the shipping and returns information customers will need to know when buying from your Etsy store. Specify where you’re shipping the product from and your average processing time—how long it takes for you to pick, pack, and ship the item once they place an order. 

Choose whether you want to offer flat rate shipping prices or delivery upgrades. If you’re shipping items to international customers, add a tariff number for customs.

You can set up a number of shipping profiles that you can apply to future listings with different price points and shipping speeds.

Try to upload more than one product listing when you’re opening your Etsy store. Make sure to preview all listings before publishing so customers don’t see mistakes when encountering your shop.

You’ll be able to edit your listings or add new products at any time via the Shop Manager dashboard.

4. Choose how you’ll get paid

Happy with your inventory? On the next page, you’ll be asked to choose how you want to get paid. 

Select whether you’re an individual seller or an incorporated business. Then, enter your personal information, including your name and address. Finally, enter the details of the bank account you want your Etsy revenue paid into.

5. Set up billing

Etsy charges various <a href="22">fees for listing and selling products</a>. After entering information about how you’d like to receive payments, you’ll be asked to choose a billing method. This is how you’ll pay to publish your listings and open your storefront. 

6. Customize your Etsy storefront

The final step in opening an Etsy shop is to customize your new storefront—the webpage customers will see when visiting your store profile.

Create a welcoming online storefront by adding basic content and information, such as:

• Profile and banner photo: Put yourself, your products, or your business’s logo at the front and center of your Etsy store.
• Bio: Introduce yourself as the shop manager and put a face to the products you’re selling through the marketplace. Give potential customers confidence a human is on the other side of the screen.
• Store description: What do you sell? Why? How did your store come to life? Give first-time visitors to your new Etsy storefront a bit of background about you and why they should buy your products. 
• Shop policies: Delivery, payment options, privacy, exchange and return policies are essential. Make the terms of buying from your store clear to avoid any confusion with customers.

For example, ObjectLover’s Etsy storefront has a custom profile photo, banner, and featured items banner.

How much does it cost to sell on Etsy?

Etsy charges seller fees for setting up a shop, listing products, and making sales on its marketplace. In general, you can expect to share up to 25% of your revenue with Etsy.

Here are the main Etsy seller fees to consider:

Setup fee

Depending on when you set up your shop, as well as your location, you may be charged a one-time set-up fee. This fee will be listed during the sign-up process described above.

As of February 2024, the setup fee for some US sellers is $15.

Listing fees

Listing fees are the most common Etsy fees. Sellers are charged 20¢ for every new listing they upload to their store—regardless of whether the listing results in a sale.

By default, listings are shown on Etsy’s marketplace for four months (or until the item has been sold). If auto-renew is selected, you’ll be billed the same 20¢ once the four months are up.

Transaction fees

If you sell an item on Etsy, you’ll pay a 6.5% transaction fee to the marketplace for facilitating the sale. The fee is based on the total price of the sale, including your charges for postage, shipping, and gift wrapping.

Sellers based in some European countries may also need to pay a regulatory operating fee on each listing.

Payment processing fees

Etsy Payments is a shop feature that allows customers to pay using convenient options like credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Klarna. Enabling Etsy Payments means being subject to payment processing fees, which vary by country.

In the US, the payment processing fee for Etsy Payments is 3% of the order total, plus a 25¢ flat fee.

Currency conversion fees

Etsy does all business in US dollars. While you can sell items in other currencies, all fees related to selling on Etsy will be billed in USD. The marketplace will convert your funds to your bank account’s currency before the transfer, but note this currency conversion won’t always be the market value.

Etsy may also take a 2.5% currency conversion fee when you’re doing business using a currency other than USD.

Offsite Ads fees

While your optimized product listings can reach potential customers through the Etsy search engine, the marketplace also offers advertising.

Sellers can opt in to Offsite Ads, where their products are shown across Etsy’s own marketing and advertising channels. Business owners can have their products appear in Etsy’s Facebook, Google, and display ads—without having an advertising account on those platforms.

Etsy sellers are billed when their product sells through an Offsite Ad. If your storefront made less than $10,000 through the marketplace within the past year, 15% of the order total will be taken as payment for the Offsite Ad program. Pass the $10,000 threshold and your Offsite Ads fee is reduced to 12%. Offsite Ad fees never exceed $100 per item.

Etsy shipping costs

Sellers in locations that accept Etsy Payments or PayPal can purchase shipping labels through the marketplace, which is deducted from their account. Rates vary depending on the carrier, origin, destination, and size of each package. Additional fees apply for signature confirmation and insurance.

Etsy Plus

Etsy sellers have the choice to opt into Etsy Plus. The $10 per month subscription package offers additional features for sellers.

Etsy Plus sellers are granted 15 listing credits and a $5 credit in Etsy ads. 

They also get:

• Customizable shop options
• Discounts on custom domain names
• The ability to email shoppers when an item is back in stock

How to sell on Etsy with Shopify

Integrating Shopify with your Etsy shop simplifies inventory management. You can connect Shopify to all channels and platforms where you sell products.

By using an integration app, you can automatically synchronize your inventory and product listings without needing technical skills.

Shopify integration apps function as a bridge between Etsy and Shopify, maintaining a master inventory list and ensuring both storefronts remain accurate following any sales or changes to product listings.

To connect Shopify to your Etsy store, ensure you already have products listed on Etsy. On Shopify, you can then install the Marketplace Connect app or another third-party app designed for this purpose.

Here are some popular apps that can connect your Shopify store and Etsy shop:

• Marketplace Connect
• Etsy Integration ‑ QuickSync
• DPL - Shopify Etsy Integration
• CedCommerce - Etsy Integration

Browse all Etsy integration apps available on the Shopify App store.

Depending on the app you choose, additional features may include:

• Updating products, images, SKUs, barcodes, prices, and other listing details
• Managing Etsy order fulfillment directly from Shopify
• Automatically creating Shopify listings from Etsy listings
• Synchronizing offers and discounts
• Migrating store data when moving platforms

Note: Third-party apps may charge additional fees.

Etsy selling tips to boost your shop’s success

Here are some selling strategies you can use to help grow your Etsy business.

Build a strong brand 

Having a strong visual brand will help you stand out in Etsy search results and make it memorable. First impressions are important, but you don’t need to go all out with an expensive, professional design. A simple logo and brand colors are enough. You can use Shopify’s free logo maker and a template tool like Canva for any visual assets you need to go with your branding. 

Optimize your shop

Etsy’s algorithm links popular search terms and the products it shows in the search results. 

Using relevant keywords in your product titles and descriptions will help Etsy understand what your products are and when it should show them in the search results. The higher you rank in search results, the more likely shoppers are to see your products and consider purchasing them. 

Here are some ways you can make sure your Etsy search engine optimization (SEO) is up to scratch: 

• Use relevant tags and keywords in your product listings.
• Choose the right attributes when listing a product.
• Collect and display reviews on your product pages.
• Keep your storefront updated by regularly adding fresh content.
• Add as much information as possible to your About Me page. 

The more information you provide about your brand and the more relevant keywords you use, the easier it is for Etsy to understand what you’re selling and make sure the right customers see your products. 

Sticker brand Love and Olive optimizes its product descriptions for Etsy search to ensure its products can easily be found by its customers. For example, their Wistful Wildflower Sticker Pack incorporates key search terms shoppers might use, like “sticker pack” and “botanical sticker gift.”

Promote your shop

The math is simple: More eyeballs on your products equals more sales opportunities. There are plenty of ways you can spread the word about your store.

Here are some ideas to get started: 

• Share on social media: Use social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook to showcase your products and engage with potential customers.
• Collaborate with influencers: Partner with bloggers and creators in your niche to reach a wider audience and promote your products.
• Use Etsy’s marketing tools: Sign up for Promoted Listings or Etsy Ads to get more views on your products. 

See how pet accessories brand Bruno Society works with pet-influencers to reach new audiences and promote its brand:

Use multiple sales channels

To boost your reach, try adding sales channels to include Etsy alternatives. Craft-friendly marketplaces, crowdfunding sites, and ecommerce platforms may give you more opportunities to connect with customers.

Here are some selling platforms to consider alongside Etsy:

Artisans Cooperative

Artisans Cooperative is a marketplace for handmade products. Like Etsy, it offers a community-driven experience that focuses on inclusivity and supports genuine artisans, with a “verified handmade” badge for qualifying listings.

Ko-fi

Ko-fi offers a unique blend of crowdfunding and direct sales, tailored for creatives and crafters. Through Ko-fi, you can sell your craft products directly, receive donations, and establish membership communities offering exclusive content to supporters.

Amazon handmade

Launched in 2015, Amazon Handmade caters to small businesses that produce handcrafted items. Being part of Amazon’s vast ecosystem offers extensive customer reach.

Shopify

Shopify is a commerce platform that helps you sell online and in person. Using Shopify, you can set up an ecommerce website, sell on social media, and serve customers at markets, pop-ups, and retail stores, using a point-of-sale device.

It’s also straightforward to sell on Etsy, Amazon, and other marketplaces from your Shopify store, managing all your orders and inventory from one place.

Offer competitive pricing 

Pricing your products on Etsy can be difficult. Most items are handmade, with a ton of time and effort invested into each piece. To ensure a good conversion rate, your prices have to reflect the value of the product and the going market rate.

If a competitor is selling the same thing for half the price, shoppers will wonder why they should pay more for yours. 

Competitive pricing isn’t about making sure you always have the lowest price. That can hurt your bottom line, especially if the cost of creating your products is high. You want to make a healthy profit, after all. 

Follow these tips to competitively price your products: 

• Research competitors: Look at what other ecommerce brands are charging for similar products. Look beyond the price to see what other value they’re offering. Is there free shipping? Are they running a discount? 
• Round down a cent: If most brands are selling the same product for $30, you can stand out by selling for $29.99. This popular pricing model gives the illusion of a cheaper purchase, even if it’s only by one cent. 
• Add value elsewhere: If you can’t justify going as low as your competitors, consider adding value in other ways. This might be through free shipping, custom packaging, a freebie with every purchase, or a discount code for return shoppers. 

In this example, the search results for “wooden clogs” include hundreds of results. You can stand out, like the example on the left, by running a sale, offering free shipping, and including limited stock quantity information.

Encourage reviews and feedback 

Etsy reviews help your listings stand out by providing social proof and extra keywords. The more reviews you have, the more confident new customers will be when purchasing your products.

Encourage customers to share reviews, feedback, and even photos of their products (which Etsy shows on the product page). You can ask via email after a customer has made a purchase and incentivize them by offering a discount code for their next purchase.

Etsy seller Los Angeles Wallpaper has seen the value of strong reviews. The home décor brand has more than 700 reviews from happy customers. The majority of feedback includes a product photo, which increases social proof and trust from shoppers.

Provide excellent customer service 

Customers are more likely to return if they have a great experience with your online business. They might also recommend you to their friends, family, and followers. Etsy’s personal vibe allows for unique selling experiences. 

Here are some ways to provide great customer service:

• Respond to questions and feedback quickly. 
• Use custom packaging. 
• Add a handwritten thank you note to all orders.
• Extend your return period to give shoppers peace of mind. 
• Give existing customers a discount code for their next purchase.
• Reply to Etsy reviews and thank customers for sharing their experiences.
• Be proactive when communicating delivery delays. 

Start selling on Etsy 

Like Shopify, Etsy is a popular option for selling handmade goods. Whether you make intricate necklaces, crocheted animals, or upcycled furniture, you’ll find an audience.