Hello, fellow creators and dreamers! 🌈
Allow me to rewind the clock and paint a picture of the early days at Instantly Unique Gifts. I stood at the intersection of ambition and uncertainty, contemplating the avenues of e-commerce success. Much like many of you, the idea of Etsy didn’t immediately resonate with me. Instead, my vision fixated on the idea of having a personal website, steering my business independently and calling all the shots.
Yet, as fate would have it, reality gently nudged me towards Etsy—a platform infamous for its high transaction fees but equally renowned for its colossal built-in audience. Swallowing my initial pride, I took the plunge into the world of Etsy, and little did I know, it would become a pivotal force in propelling my business forward.
My Pros of Etsy:
- Quality built in audience ready to purchase
- Marketing from Etsy (yes you have to pay offsite ad fees but we can talk about that another time!)
- Platform to host your store and sell on
- Sales tax for most states is taken care of for you due to it being a marketplace
My Cons of Etsy:
- Credit Card Transaction Fees ( but you’re going to have to pay these anywhere!)
- Transaction Fees (a referral fee basically, currently an additional 6.5% of your sale including shipping charges).
- Off site ad fees – Etsy will run ads on Google and possibly other place, if somebody clicks on your listing, you have to pay an additional referral fee but at least you’re only paying when somebody makes a purchase instead of wasting money on ads that are not converting!
- Etsy retains your customers data so it’s difficult to start an email list or create follow up marketing.
- Misleading negative reviews can be difficult to get removed. Luckily I haven’t really had this issue.
Now, don’t misconstrue my story—I still cherish and actively manage my own website. In fact, I’ve crafted a seamless synergy where Etsy customers effortlessly transition to my site for streamlined file uploads for their personalized products. There, I can also allow customers to opt in for my marketing emails, too (and they usually do!). I also use an app on my Shopify store to sync product reviews back from my Etsy store to my website to bring product reputation. That same app will sync my orders to my Shopify store and I can sync products to or from my Shopify to Etsy. It’s super helpful and I love it so much. I use Shuttle for Etsy on the Shopify App store for the syncing process. Curious about this process? Shoot me a message or leave a comment, and I’ll spill the trade secrets because I use many other Shopify Apps to do all of this automation and syncing.
Etsy, with its captive audience primed for purchases, emerged as an ideal launchpad for my business and I am so glad I embraced it. Armed with strategic pricing to cover the transaction fees, it became a haven for quality customers eager to engage with and invest in my unique products. And here’s a pro-tip: If you’re contemplating taking the Etsy plunge, they’ve generously extended an offer—40 free listings for you and some free listing credits for me as well. Plus, it doesn’t cost anything to open your Etsy store! A true win-win scenario! You only pay $0.20 per listing you make after your free 40 listing’s I am giving you today and it renews that $0.20 for each product sold as well. (i.e. You sell 10 bookmarks, you will pay $0.20 each bookmark + transaction fees.)
As we stand on the cusp of 2024, why not kick off this new chapter, leaving behind the doubts and uncertainties of 2023? Click right here to embark on your Etsy journey with me. Let’s make 2024 the year we conquer our dreams and turn ambitions into tangible, money-making realities! 💸✨
Bonus Tip: Use an Etsy fee calculator to make sure you can cover any transaction fees and be profitable! I like this one: https://www.omniprofitcalculator.com/etsy-fee-calculator
Affiliate Disclosure: Ryan Can Make It is a participant in Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate programs. I earn a small commission from Amazon links and some other links posted on this website.
