How To Start an Etsy Shop: What You Need To Know

How to start an Etsy shop? Etsy is a great platform to start your own Etsy business side hustle because you can sell physical products as well as digital downloads.

That’s why in this post, I will show you how to start your Etsy shop and why digital downloads, like Printables, sell the best on Etsy. Selling Printables on Etsy is one of the easiest ways to start your Etsy shop business to make extra income for three reasons:

• The startup cost is low.
• You only need to create your Printables once and can sell them on autopilot over and over again!
• There is no shipping required, so you don’t need to do anything when you receive your first order!

So if you want to learn more, check out this FREE ebook that teaches you the best-selling Printables you can sell with no experience!

In this post, I’ll show you how you can start an Etsy business and open an Etsy shop to make extra money (in less than a week). I’ll show you the things you need to do before you open your Etsy shop and finally, what to sell on Etsy including a list of the top-selling items on Etsy you can sell as a beginner.

In fact, I started my own Etsy shop recently selling digital planners and printables. You can check out my AnyMommyCanPlanner Etsy shop here. And enjoy 25% off with this code: ANYMOMMYCANREADER25

I also want to help you get over your nervousness about starting your very own Etsy business by showing you how simple it is to get started with the right things to sell on Etsy.

In other words, even if you just scroll through this post and get one thing out of it, I am hoping to inspire your own Printables that you could make.

Keep scrolling down so you don’t miss it!

Related Posts

• 10 Best Things To Sell on Etsy and Make Money (Without Making Anything)
• 500 Best Selling Items on Etsy To Make Money in 2023
• 75 Best Etsy Shop Ideas To Start That Make Money (Top Selling in 2023)
• How I Make $1000/Month Selling Printables on Etsy
• How to Make Planner Stickers on Etsy (FREE GUIDE)
• What Is Selling on Etsy right now – 10 Best Things To Sell

How To Start an Etsy Shop (in less than a week)

What should you do before opening an Etsy shop?

In order to ensure that your shop is a huge success, there are a few things you need to consider before opening your doors.

But before we dive in, let’s start with the basics.

What is Etsy?

Etsy is an online marketplace to sell your goods. That means at Etsy.com, you can choose from millions of handmade, vintage, and craft supply items and digital files that are created and curated by thousands of independent sellers.

Is it a good idea to open an Etsy store?

• Yes, if you want to earn more money to support your family.
• Absolutely, if you’d like to design and create templates, even if you aren’t a graphic designer.
• 100 %, if you’re looking for a side hustle that won’t cost you much to get started.

How much does it cost to start an Etsy shop?

When compared to other side hustles, Etsy is by far the most affordable (we’ll go over the exact fees further down).

Because you’ll only be charged fees when you use Etsy.com to sell your items (that means, you won’t have to pay monthly plans or membership fees or anything like that). 

By paying this fee, Etsy will surface your shop in its search feature. 

But Etsy Payments will automatically deduct fees if you make sales on the platform, which means you don’t have to worry about it. 

Are you ready to open your own Etsy shop? Then the next 12 tips are designed to help you.

12 things you need to do before starting your Etsy shop

1. Choose a niche for your Etsy store

The first thing you need to do is to decide on a niche for your shop.

What is a niche?

A niche refers to a specific group of consumers within the market to whom you are selling.

For example “moms on a budget” or “stay at home moms looking to organize the household” or “fun hens night party games”.

These people are looking for something specific, such as a Hen’s night out or moms looking to learn how to budget better.

And the better you know your niche and what your customers want, the better you can design Printables that meet their needs.

Etsy also has a really cool tool called  Etsy Shop Tracker tool which helps you find popular niches for your store.

2. What to sell on Etsy – Finding your first product

What to sell on Etsy is probably a question you might have by now. And I admit, it can feel a little overwhelming to think of your very first product to sell.

You should use an Etsy analytics tool to help you find products that are already selling well.

The one I am using is called EverBee and you can start using EverBee for FREE for as long as you like.

That’s why I recommend starting out by selling digital downloads, like Printables.

What are Printables?

A printable is a digital product designed to be printed at home. Those are digital downloads to sell on Etsy that can make a lot of money.

An example of a printable would be a budget planner, a net worth tracker that you stick up on the fridge, or a calendar sheet to print out to keep on your desk. 

But let’s look at some more examples now to give you a better idea of what things you can sell on Etsy.

Digital downloads to sell on Etsy

So, you’ve been thinking about starting your Etsy business but you don’t know what to sell on Etsy, right? 

Like I said at the beginning of this post if you’re only taking away one thing from this post, I hope it’s an idea for a Printable you can make. To help you find what things to sell on Etsy, here are 19 Etsy Printables ideas of Etsy digital download ideas to sell you’re going to love (I don’t know about you, but I find them PRETTY exciting):

1. Printable planner
2. Printable Budget planners
3. Meal plans
4. Printables for kids like coloring books for children or Christmas coloring pages
5. Printable coloring pages for adults
6. Printable wall art
7. Printable stickers
8. Printable lined paper
9. Thank you cards for teachers
10. Cake toppers for kids’ birthday party
11. Letters to Santa
12. Client intake forms for small businesses (like real estate, beauty salons, hair salons, nail salons, etc.)
13. Media kit for bloggers to download and customize
14. Instagram templates to download and customize
15. Business cards for small businesses
16. Gift tags
17. Valentines Day cards
18. Customizable birthday cards
19. Small business letterheads
20. Open house templates for real estate agents
21. And many many more!

However, you don’t have to stick to your first one and if it does not sell, you don’t have to keep it up.

Luckily for you, this FREE ebook shares with you the secret on how to choose a product that will SELL depending on the calendar month and season, because one of the course creators specializes in selling seasonal printables, and shares all of his top tips in the course.

Let me elaborate more on that in a moment, but let’s get started. 

Are you excited about creating your own Printables?

How to design Printables to sell

Printables are being created digitally and then saved as a pdf file so that they can be printed at home or at a print shop.

Did you know that you can design your Printables using free tools?

(By the way, if you’re not design-savvy, there’s a course that is popular amongst moms, like mom of two Rachel who took the course and now makes $10k/month from selling her Printables. And in the course, modules 4-5 are walk you through in detail how to create your Printables and actually design them to help you speed up the process.)

But I thought you’d like to know that you can design your digital products with these free tools.

Free tools to create digital printables with:

• Google sheets

• Canva

For some of your Printables that include lists or spreadsheets, you can use Google sheets. All you have to do is create your spreadsheet and then simply download your Printable as a PDF and upload it to Etsy.

The same goes for Canva. After you design your Printable you can simply download it as a PDF before you upload it to your Etsy shop.

The course I mentioned briefly above, not only walks you through the entire design process one step at a time. But they also give you 12 ‘done for you’ templates so that you can list your products as quickly as possible (which is a real plus, especially if you’re a busy mommy like me).

3. Research the demand for your Printables

As I mentioned earlier, you need to research your niche to ensure that there is enough demand for the type of Printables you want to sell on your Etsy store before you create them. That’s why the course teaches you the secret keyword research strategies so you pick the right ones.

Alternatively, you can invest in an Etsy product analytics research tool so that you can find out exactly how many people are searching for your Printables. 

The one I am using is called EverBee. You can use EverBee for FREE for as long as you like (no credit card requiered, which I personally like).

And EverBee is amazing!

It shows you how many sales your competition made last month, how much revenue they had and how old the listing is.

You can even see the exact tags and keywords they used for that listing.

Here’s a checklist before you open your Etsy shop:

• Take a look at what other stores are selling.
• In particular look for 10 shops that are selling either your exact item or similar Printables.
• Take note of the number of sales they have been making.
• How long have their shops been open? Because if their shops have been open for a long time with little sales then that’s a hint that this Printable isn’t in high demand.
• However, numerous sales over a short timeframe suggest that your Printable has a market.
• Find out what types of products sell well on Etsy by looking at Bestsellers as I show you in the image below.

Also, you want to pay close attention to the headlines, keywords, copywriting, and photography they use to sell their items.

4. Think about your brand

Honestly, thinking of your brand is not the most important thing when you’re starting out.

However, a great brand can help your shop succeed.

Therefore, just think about your:

• brand name
• your colors
• and what you want people to think and feel when they discover your shop.

But also think about where you want to see yourself in a year’s time.

Will the name still resonate with you then?

5. Name your Etsy shop

As I mentioned in my previous point, you need to choose a name for your shop.

Pick a name that is memorable and fits your style.

But also make sure that the name isn’t already in use by another Etsy member and doesn’t infringe on another’s trademark.

And, if the shop name you entered is already in use, then Etsy will suggest other shop names that are still available.

The good thing is that Etsy will hold your shop name for you while you open your shop so that nobody else can claim it while you set up your shop.

6. Set a price

While you don’t want to price your items too low, you also don’t want to price them too high. Again, the course covers all of this but you want your prices to be competitive enough.

To get an idea of what your ideal customer will pay, you can ask friends and family as well.

In general, however, it’s better to ask your ideal customer directly.

7. Get a proof of concept (POC) and test the waters

Seriously mommy, don’t feel like you have to jump in, open your Etsy shop and nail it right away.

Because what successful shop owners will tell you is that they were exploring different Printables, before they found the one that sticks. 

Testing the waters is also a good strategy to see if opening a shop is for you but also if it’s a feasible business for you.

Therefore you should design your Printables with the least amount of effort and upload them to your store before you flash out your designs.

Then you want to see how many people click on your product, even if they don’t buy it.

By doing this, you’ll get a sense of how popular your product may become. Then, when you have enough proof that there is demand for your product, you can refine it and make it flashier.

And that’s even easier with pre-made templates that you get here. Because templates help you to get your Etsy shop up TODAY. All you have to do is customize the designs with your colors and fonts and you’re ready to test how well your Printables idea is perceived on the market.

Then, you can build an Etsy shop purely around digital downloads.

Does it cost to sell on Etsy?

Honestly, I used to think selling on Etsy was completely free. However, there are a few very small fees to pay depending on your listings.

So, how much does it cost to list your items on Etsy? 

Here are a few fees you should know about that you may find on Etsy.

Listing fees

Etsy charges $0.20 USD for each listing. 

Regardless of whether you sell any items or not, this fee will be added to your Payment account when an item is listed.

After four months, each listing expires, but you can set it to automatically renew for $0.20.

Let’s look at what that means.

Auto-renew expired

Your listing normally expires after four months, but when your listing is set to be automatically renewed, then the four-month listing period starts over again. 

If you would like Etsy auto-renew your listing for you, it costs $0.20 per listing. Your listing fee is added when it is auto-renewed, and you must pay it regardless of whether sales are made.

Auto-renew sold 

Each time you sell multiple quantities of the same listing within one transaction, you’ll be charged a multi-quantity fee.

This auto-renewal sold fee is $0.20 for each additional quantity.  

So let’s say you sell more than one item in an order, and you’ve already been charged for listing the first item. Etsy charges $0.20 for each additional quantity you sell.

Private listing fee

What about customizable Printables that are customized specifically for that order?

If the specified buyer purchases the item, the fee is added to your Payment Account.

And that fee is $0.20 per private listing.

Additionally, there is a transaction fee of 5% for all items shipped. Since we are talking about printables that can be downloaded, you don’t need to worry about that for now. 

How much money can you make selling on Etsy?

This of course depends but you can sell your Printables from $0,20 – $200 and more!

If you’re interested you can have a look at some of these students that are making money here to get an idea. Many of them are busy moms, new side hustlers, crafters, full-time freelancers, and more, some making thousands to tens of thousands per month.

8. Become your first customer

For people to be able to download your product without a problem, you have to be your very first customer and experience the entire customer journey.

Take a critical view.

• Can people find your Etsy shop easily?
• Are you clear about what you’re selling?
• Is it crystal clear to your customers that this is a digital download and not a physical product that will be shipped out to them in the mail? 

If you have a printer at home, it’s definitely a good idea to print your product at home to give you a better idea of how your own product will look.

Depending on your printable product, you want to check whether it’s easy to cut, fold, or customize with someone’s name?

9. Get your documentation ready

Once your customer has placed their order, you’ll send them a digital file containing instructions on how they can access and download their Printable file.

There, you’ll describe the steps they need to follow in order to access their digital download, including:

• Setting up your printer
• How to print from a MAC
• How to print from a PC
• Can you print it from your mobile phone
• Even how to switch from landscape to portrait mode
• How to change the settings from black and white to color 
• What to do if you want to remove double sided printing

Assume that the customer knows nothing and you need to explain everything from scratch. 

Please explain literally anything a customer may encounter, because the more you help, the less likely you are to get a return or bad review.

10. Make sure you have copyrights

Etsy is, rightly so, very strict about protecting intellectual property, including yours.

That means there are certain things you can and cannot sell on Etsy. This includes artwork from other people, or Disney characters, even if you designed or created the artwork.

Having said that, I know there are plenty of sellers who don’t follow this rule.

And, honestly, I have no idea how these people are able to sell Disney characters as cake toppers on Etsy or personalized kids’ name wall art with famous Disney characters like Cinderella, but it’s there.

Yet, you don’t want to be one of them because sometimes Etsy or the artist themselves will ask you to remove their art, which could mean you have to take down your shop.

11. Set up a business bank account

From the moment you open your Etsy shop, you need to treat it as a business. Therefore, you should separate your Etsy shop earnings from the rest of your finances in order to be able to track your earnings in order to pay your taxes.

12. Invest in a course

The fastest way to get your Printables out is by using done-for-you templates like these ones that have proven to be successful.

I remember one mom from the course built her VERY successful Etsy shop by just using the templates that came in the course.

With the E-Printables course you’ll also get:

✅ 13 full modules with Video tutorials for making beautiful printables and text lessons on starting your Etsy shop.

✅ 12 digital templates for making calendars, banners, greeting cards, and more so you can get your products created in minutes.

✅ 30 days of free coaching in the Facebook group with expert support, bonus videos, and prize giveaways.

✅ 12 ‘done for you’ templates so you can make printables faster

✅ Lessons on how to drive traffic and sales to your Etsy shop

✅ 4 weeks in our VIP Facebook membership free with purchase

✅ 24/7 support for questions if you need help

In the Facebook Group, they have 7-day full-day support where you can ask any question and receive an answer within a couple of hours.

You also get…

🌟 Host Live Q&A sessions to answer your questions

🌟 Welcome six-figure sellers into the group for live bonus training videos

🌟 Hold monthly graphic design and UX office hours to make your products look extra amazing

🌟 Run challenges and “win” threads to celebrate your successes

🌟 Give away AWESOME prizes like other online business courses and ebooks (this is a student favorite)

Create your Etsy shop

In the E-Printables course that over 1000 students have taken already and are earning thousands of dollars from, you will learn how to set up your Etsy shop and how to list your first product, but here are some basics to get you started:

• Before you can create your shop, you need to either create an account with Etsy or sign in.
• Next, give your shop a name, select a language and currency, and tell Etsy whether you’re doing this full-time or part-time. But you need not be concerned; this isn’t going to affect your shop and is just for informational purposes.
• Add listings to your store, even if they aren’t all the Printables that you plan to offer. Get started by uploading the listings you have now. 
• Set up your payment details so that you can be paid. You’ll need your bank account number and bank address before you can proceed because Etsy will ask you to verify it. You may also need to add a credit card or debit card for some countries.
• Congratulations! Your store is now ready for business.

Now that your store is open, you might be wondering how you’ll attract customers. And for that, I’ve put together some tips to help you get started.

Etsy tips for beginners

Marketing strategy

To increase your sales, you need a conversion-driven marketing strategy.

Module 11 in the course talks about how to market your Etsy shop and drive traffic to it. However, you can optimize your listing right away as one of the best strategies.

So let’s look at how you can do that.

Here are some tips for optimizing your listings:

• You should keep titles short and sweet.
• Give an accurate description of your items, especially that they are digital downloads and that you WON’T ship out physical products.
• Make sure your product images are clear and enticing and ideally taken in daylight, with plants and props to make the image more appealing. 
• Offer competitive prices.
• Clearly communicate purchasing details like shipping timelines, rates, and options.

Lastly, with over 4.5 million sellers on Etsy, it’s important not to make these mistakes if you want your shop to stand out. Let’s look at 3 mistakes that are easy to make, but easy to avoid.

3 mistakes that will harm your Etsy shop and how to avoid them

1. A poorly lit photograph or bad photography, in general, is mistake #1. 

Here’s why.

Your photo is the first impression the buyer gets of your product and it is your photo that will determine whether or not they click on your listing. Don’t let poor photography ruin your shop. 

Instead, put as much effort into making them appealing as possible.

For example, you can buy pre-made flat lays and templates to insert your printable, or you can print it out yourself and arrange it in a setting that tells a story. 

As an example, if you sell custom gift tags, you can print the labels, customize them, and hang them on a gift to give the buyer a better idea of how the finished product will look. 

As another example, if you’re selling Santa coloring books for kids, then display some pencils and markers next to it so that the parents can picture their kids coloring them.

2. Offering products that don’t stand out in the market is mistake #2.

The point I’m trying to make is that many sellers will sell very similar products to yours (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because it proves that there is a market for your product).

BUT, how can you make your Printable stand out?

How does your Printable planner stand out from the competition?

For example, do you have a better photo or a more relevant title that addresses the buyer’s concerns? 

To understand what your customers see and why they would choose your shop over someone else’s, search your own items and see what comes up.

Because when your customer searches on Etsy for a product, they probably have something specific in mind.

This is called User Intent and User intent is the key to your success, and the better your product responds to the user’s intent, the more likely you are to make a sale.

3. Sticking to products that don’t sell is mistake #3.

Let’s say the first Printable product doesn’t sell as well as you had hoped.

That’s okay.

But don’t stop there.

Instead, find a better product that sells like hotcakes.

Because shops that survive are those that pivot when sales stagnate.

For example, during Covid, many sellers added printables to their shops that customers were looking for, like Covid cards for nurses or vaccination passport cardholders.

In the end, the key is not so much about sticking to the printable that YOU had in mind as it is about giving the customer what they want instead. You never know where this journey will take you, so being flexible will go a long way. And your search might lead you to a more profitable niche than you imagined. Stay open and always watch for customer demand. 

Summary on how to start an Etsy shop

Let’s sum it all up mommy, here are the things you need to know before you open your Etsy shop:

1. Choose a niche for your Etsy store
2. Find your first product to sell
3. Research the demand for your Printables
4. Think about your brand. 
5. Name your shop: 
6. Set a price. 
7. Get a proof of concept (POC) and test the waters. 
8. Become your first customer. 
9. Get your documentation ready.
10. Make sure you have copyrights. 
11. Set up a business bank account.
12. Invest in a course like this one that has already helped hundreds of busy mommies make extra money.

Hopefully, this post has inspired you to start dreaming about what could be if you started your own Etsy shop to make some extra money to afford your kids the best life possible or even turn your side hustle into a full-time salary and more!

Do you think you would like to start your own Etsy store selling Printables? Tell me in the comments.