With all the under-priced handmade items and stats about shops with tens of thousands of sales of really low priced items, a common question is: Does anyone really make money on Etsy?

If others are making money, how can you do the same?

There are different levels of success – Would you consider your shop successful if you made enough extra money to cover your food expenses for the month or are you selling your handmade items full time and they need to cover all the bills? There are a lot of sellers, especially new ones, that really just want to sell Something. There are also the sellers that were doing it for fun as a hobby until they lost their job, and now they are trying to ramp things up. Others started as a hobby on the side and have now quit their day job so they can sell their items full time. Each seller you look at could be meeting their particular goals, but each is going to measure their success differently.

What if your goal is to make money? - There is no reason why you cannot derive all your income from selling your crafts on Etsy. That doesn’t always mean that you do it the same way as others do though. You could just use Etsy as your shop where people can make purchases and view feedback, but your marketing could extend much further.

Rather than relying on Etsy for traffic, you could set up multiple different sites that bring in organic search engine traffic and then send customers to your Etsy shop for making transactions. A lot of successful sellers do play a big role in bringing in their own traffic to their shop. Because of their marketing efforts they could be successful selling just about anywhere, but just happen to like the Etsy platform.

You will probably not find too many successful sellers that did not invest an enormous amount of time to build their business. They did far more than list a couple items and wait for sales to roll in. It is all in what you make it.

Some sellers are more business minded than others – It’s not how much money you make, it’s how much you keep that matters. Massive numbers of feedback and number of sales are really impressive, but unless you really know the costs of running a particular shop, you cannot really tell if any profit is being made.

Underpricing of handmade items is prevalent among new and established sellers. Accounting practices also play a big role. Not everyone itemizes and knows what all their expenses are. Without knowing all the numbers and tallying everything up, it is very easy to mistake big revenues for big profits. Sometimes you really do have to “run the numbers” to see if you are actually making money.

Even “successful” sellers may not have it right – Just that a seller sells 1000 items per month doesn’t mean that they have much profit to show. They could be selling that many items simply because they sell them for less than anyone else. Sometimes you can be really busy and see a lot of money changing hands, without realizing that there really isn’t any left at the end of the day.

Some businesses are larger than they seem – An Etsy shop to certain sellers is simply just another venue that they want to have a presence in. You could very well be looking at a seller with hundreds of sales of low priced items, but not realize that they are simply getting rid of excess inventory from years spent successfully selling locally.

For some sellers, Etsy could just be the tip of the iceberg. You will never know just how many sites a person owns unless they mention them. Some could be side projects while others pay the bills. A lot of sellers do not talk about sales and profit or how much they really have going on. The shops that make the most profit per month are not necessarily the ones that people ever hear about and there is really not a good way to find out who they are.

You cannot see the big picture from the outside – How much information really is there about the successful sellers on Etsy? You can find success articles by searching online, but for the most part, the only thing you can really go on is the total number of sales that a seller has. You can look through a site like Craftcount and see the sellers with the most sales. When you go to each seller’s shop you can see their total number of sales, how much they ask for each item, and can look through a list of recent sales. You can probably add everything up and get a pretty good guesstimate of what their revenues are each month. What you will not know though is their expenses and cost of materials so all you can predict is a gross revenue figure.

Go a step further by doing your own homework – Browsing through Etsy and seeing what other sellers are doing can give a good indication of what price-points lead to sales as well as what the trends are and what types of items are popular. Finding a seller with hundreds or even thousands of sales in your particular niche can also show you what is possible. If they can do it, you can do it. Even though it may look like you can aspire to do the same thing, you should still run your own numbers and see if things make sense.

You could do a quick calculation based just off the price of the items for instance. Decide how much money you desire to make per month for instance, divide that by the average price of each item, and see how many items it ends up being. Can you make that many items in a month’s time? Do you have enough time to devote to it and do you really want to?

Once you know about how many items you would need to make, run the numbers on the hours. How long does it take to make each one? Also add in some time for wrapping and shipping. Are there enough hours in the week to make and ship that number of items by yourself? You’ll have to see if it is humanly possible.

You can also check in to see what the materials cost and how much will go in to making each item. Based off your calculations, how much profit is there in each item? Do you think that is enough based on how many you can actually make per week, per month? Would that particular item help you meet your specific needs and goals?

Look at different options for things you can make. Each one will have its pros and cons. Higher priced items do not always use very expensive materials or always take an enormous amount of time to make. You do not necessarily have to make hundreds of items per month. You may just need to make and sell a few if they command high enough prices and have good enough margins. With so many possibilities out there you can find that one type of item that makes the most sense for you to make that also helps you meet your financial goals.

Richard Walker

Definitely one of the most popular categories on Etsy is handmade jewelry. A lot of people are interested in buying it and there are a lot of sellers selling it. So how many items are for sale in each particular category and sub category and how can that data help you sell your handmade jewelry? (scroll down for the numbers)

How can you use this data?

If you are just starting out – You may just want to make handmade jewelry, but could go in different directions. If you can see how much competition you stand to face for each particular type, you may want to start off in a specific category that is less saturated.

Often to get visibility you need a certain number of items. The more saturated the category, the more items you will need to be visible. If you choose a less saturated category you stand the chance of seeing quicker results, assuming people are searching for those types of items of course.

It makes you think about where to list – What specific category fits your handmade jewelry best? The broader ones probably do, but a more specific one might as well and you may have fewer competitors there.

If you want to expand – You may have started out years ago with few competitors, but now you are in a totally saturated category. Knowing just how competitive each particular category is can help you decide what other areas within your same category you could get in to.

It shows that there are niches – Yes, handmade jewelry is very popular and a lot of people make and sell it. Within every popular category are smaller niches that you can find though. If you are most passionate about jewelry and have a talent for making it, don’t let the numbers keep you from doing what you love to do. It is better to make something that you are most interested in and passionate about rather than making something simply because it is the easiest thing to get into at the moment.

It shows whether you should list in multiple categories – And how much effort could be involved in gaining visibility in those categories. Your particular jewelry designs may fit in to a couple different categories. Knowing how many listings are in each category can give you an idea of how many listings you may have to have for people to find you. The number of listings may also make you aware of why you could be having difficulty getting views in a particular category.

Here is all the data:

Top level Category – Jewelry on Etsy:

Jewelry: 3,583,594 total items in the Jewelry Category

Breakdown of the top sub categories under Jewelry:

Necklace – 1,112,234 total items in Necklace category

Earrings – 968,575 total items in Earrings category

Bracelet – 613, 848 total items in Bracelet category

Pendant – 315,949 total items in Pendant category

Ring – 252,771 total items in Ring category

Brooch – 60,903 total items in Brooch category

Piercing – 16,998 total items in Piercing category

Anklet – 12,836 total items in Anklet category

Here is a breakdown of the number of items in each of the sub categories:

Under Necklace:

Beaded – 171,627

Charm – 113,275

Metal – 104,113

Stone – 93,449

Metalwork – 57,347

Glass – 56,835

Wire Wrapped – 42,024

Beadwork – 41,484

Choker – 26,485

Polymer Clay – 21,935

Locket – 19,951

Bib – 15,072

Fiber – 13,248

Plastic – 12,312

Shell – 12,100

Lariat – 7,857

Chainmaille – 7,805

Rosary – 4,837

Enamel – 4,291

Felt – 3,831

Under Earrings:

Dangle – 264,134

Beaded – 100,132

Post – 55,453

Metal – 51,177

Glass – 49,239

Stone – 48,610

Wire Wrapped – 36,755

Metalwork – 34,916

Hoop – 31,416

Chandelier – 23,340

Polymer Clay – 22,916

Pearl – 18,063

Wood – 12,653

Resin – 12,574

Plastic – 11,716

Ear Cuff – 8,170

Shell – 8,141

Chain – 7,970

Chainmaille – 6,259

Fiber – 5,720

Felt – 1,760

Under Bracelet:

Beaded – 172,932

Charm Bracelet – 59,151

Cuff – 41,466

Bangle – 35,937

Stone – 32,342

Metal – 25,242

Beadwork – 17,611

Glass – 16,035

Fiber – 15,517

Beadweaving – 15,187

Wire Wrapped – 14,667

Metalwork – 14,001

Chainmaille – 13,666

Wood – 4,015

Polymer Clay – 3,802

Shell – 3,153

Plastic – 2,420

Resin – 2,239

Felt – 1,006

Under Pendant:

Glass – 47,182

Metal – 36,647

Wire Wrapped – 28,208

Stone – 27,081

Art – 22,677

Metalwork – 20,011

Wood – 16,996

Resin – 16,060

Polymer Clay – 12,547

Photo – 6,840

Ceramic – 5,135

Seaglass – 4,229

Cameo – 3,402

Locket – 3,092

Chain – 2,538

Plastic – 2,499

Shell – 2,211

Enamel – 1,789

Fiber – 1,295

Under Ring:

Adjustable – 50,622

Sterling – 30,082

Wrapped – 20,385

Metal – 19,386

Metalwork – 19,356

Gold – 15,835

Stone – 14,711

Band – 10,579

Jewel – 8,183

Resin – 6,330

Glass – 5,781

Polymer Clay – 4,442

Wood – 3,282

Plastic – 2,295

Fiber – 1,011

Shell – 904

Toe – 703

Felt – 648

Chainmaille – 449

Under Brooch:

Metal – 8,998

Felt – 6,508

Flower – 5,127

Wood – 4,076

Metalwork – 3,705

Polymer Clay – 3,579

Plastic – 3,166

Fiber – 2,939

Cameo – 2,867

Glass – 2,169

Resin – 1,200

Crochet – 1,027

Shell – 328

Knitting – 276

Under Piercing:

Plugs – 8,342

Belly – 3,689

Ear – 2,187

Nose – 1,800

Barbell – 131

Metalwork – 86

Eyebrow – 28

Under Anklet:

Beaded – 5,942

Chain – 1,293

Charm – 1,048

Stone – 859

Fiber – 634

Metal – 495

Glass – 289

As you can see there are quite a few listings under the category of Jewelry on Etsy. While the category is saturated, a lot of the sub categories are not too bad. Obviously if you sell jewelry on Etsy, this data is good to know, but it can also give you an idea of what the handmade jewelry market is like as a whole.

If you want to take it one step further to find popular niches, you can use the Google Adwords Keyword tool.

Let’s say you want to see if there are opportunities in the “beaded necklace” niche.

First you would type in “beaded necklace” into the word or phrase box at the top.

Check the box below it that says only show closely related items.

On the left side of the screen, scroll down and check the box that says “Exact.”

Just below the Search button, click the “keyword ideas tab.”

Now click search and scroll down for the results. Not only do they show all the types of beaded necklaces that people search for, but also how many searches are done for each one of them each month.

You can use the keyword phrase that relates most to your specific designs in your titles whether you list on a marketplace or on your own website. People are specific when they do their searches and if you use specific terms for your keywords you will not be competing directly with everyone in the general “beaded necklace” category.

Resources:

P.S. Want more Free Articles? Sign up for my Newsletter – it’s Free!

Good luck selling

Richard Walker

While a very broad and generic question, it is a very common one. So are things selling on Etsy?

The short answer is obviously Yes. The same could be said for Ebay or probably any of the marketplaces online. There is more to it though.

What are the top selling items? – You can take a look at a site called Craftcount to see who the top sellers are. You can click their names and see what they have for sale.

What should I sell on Etsy? – Ultimately what you decide to make and sell should be based on what your skills are, what you are most interested in, and what is most appealing to your target market.

It is not necessarily a good idea to find out who the top sellers are and then do the same thing. The reason for their success is not due to their products alone and seldom does success come easily. A much better approach is to start with something that interests you as well as others. If you do not have interest and passion in what you do you are unlikely to do the work necessary to make anything successful.

What about all the sellers complaining about their sales? – The first thing to keep in mind when getting a general consensus about sales on a website is that people with issues or complaints are much more vocal than those that are really doing well. There will always be sellers asking for help online, and the larger the site and the more sellers there are, the more complaints and questions you will find. Realize that literally millions of people are selling their handmade items online. If a very small percentage of them post about their problems, there will automatically be tens of thousands of posts. That’s just the way it is.

If you do a search for successful Etsy sellers you will undoubtedly find articles written about them as well.

Will my items sell if I put them on Etsy? – There are no guarantees, that’s for sure. Etsy is a well known site where buyers know they can go to purchase handmade items. In order to sell your items a few things have to take place. Prospective buyers will need to be able to search for and find your items. You will also need descriptions and good enough photos for people to make informed decisions. In addition to those things, your designs will also have to appeal to your market and will need to be at prices they are willing to pay. There are a lot of variables and selling is not an exact science.

I set up a shop on Etsy and still have not made any sales – Etsy or any marketplace is simply a venue where buyers and sellers come together. While Etsy can bring views to your items, you may not receive enough. You may need to drive traffic to your items by way of a Facebook Page, Blog, or traditional forms of marketing. Another factor is how many similar items are already listed. The more competitors you have, the easier it is to get lost in the crowd.

Takeaway – Think of Etsy simply as a venue, much like your own website. There will always be people selling really successfully through their own websites and there will always be those that cannot get anyone to even take a look at what they have to offer. Selling on Etsy is not very different other than the fact that you will probably get some views simply because so many people visit their site each day.

Selling handmade items online has less to do with where you put your items and more to do with driving targeted traffic to your site and having appealing items that people are willing to buy. If you have those things along with a site that functions well and allows you take orders, you stand a chance of making sales.

P.S. – See the related articles below for more topics about selling on Etsy

More articles can be seen here as well: Selling on Etsy

Richard Walker

Feedback and feedback systems can either make or ruin your day. One second you can be on top of the world and the next you may be wondering how you can continue on.

It is not the concept of feedback that is intimidating, but the possibility of getting a negative and the fact that it can hurt your hard earned reputation and future sales.

Here are some issues and what you can do.

Reputation – Your feedback is your reputation on a marketplace. On a marketplace or venue where customers are free to leave any feedback they choose, it can either be a positive or negative thing.

Helps – The up side is obviously having a lot of positive feedback. That definitely instills confidence in a new customer thinking about purchasing one of your handmade items.

Hurts – Depending on your number of positive feedback, a single negative can severely impact your over all score. While customers do expect to see a negative here and there, as a seller, it can be much more devastating to get one early on versus after you have hundreds of positives to even things out.

Lack of control – Lets face it, you cannot make everyone happy all the time. Unfortunately things happen and even when you make them right, your customer will still have had a less than perfect experience.

Unfortunately, buyers often do not realize the impact of their feedback and feel the need to speak their mind for better or worse.

In a regular business you definitely would not post any negative remarks on your wall along with all your thank you letters. You will never see anyone do that because they have control. In most marketplaces people are free to post and rate you any way they see fit, whether it is justified or not.

Expectations – When you sell on a marketplace your customers will be comparing your items and their purchase experience with the other transactions that they have had. This can be good and bad.

It is great if you shipped quicker, your item was better than expected and did not get damaged, and your customer got it faster than they thought they would.

What if you are different than some of the other sellers though? Maybe your lead time is longer or you only ship once or twice per week. It may clearly state this in your listings and policies but that does not mean that you will not get less than perfect feedback on some occasions from customers that either did not notice it or did not take the time to read your policies.

You always run the risk of having your feedback hurt your reputation on a marketplace when you deviate from the buy now, ship within 24 hour crowd.

Disconnect – In any other type of selling venue, if there is any issue at all, you go directly to the source, either the artist or the maker of the handmade item. Wouldn’t you want to talk directly to the person who made your item and shipped it if there was a problem?

For some reason when feedback systems are involved, problems and issues can get mentioned in the seller’s feedback after the fact. At that point the seller may make the situation right, but the feedback can remain and impact their reputation. Had the buyer contacted the seller prior to leaving a feedback, everything could have been resolved and everyone would be happy.

What can you do? – The first thing is to have an open line of communication between you and your customer right off the bat. A simple thank you email along with a reminder of your shipping policies may be all you need to make sure you and your customer are on the same page after they make a purchase.

The second is you just have to keep selling and getting more feedback. Not only do more positives increase your overall feedback percentage, but they also push your negatives and neutrals further down the page.

Who would you rather purchase from someone that got a negative this morning, or someone who got theirs three months ago and has had all positive ones since?

Every marketplace is going to be a little different with their feedback system and even how feedback is calculated. Some may have better systems for disputing negatives and you may have the option to post replys to your feedback. Posting a good explanation can really take away the impact of a negative feedback even if it does not get removed.

What are your biggest concerns with the feedback system in your marketplace?

Richard Walker

When it comes to being able to make a purchase and complete a transaction, simpler is better. The easier and quicker you can make it for your customer, the greater the chance they will go through with a purchase.

How much effort do your customers have to go through in order to purchase your handmade items? Take a look at the steps and see which ones can be made easier.

Purchasing – How many steps does someone have to go through in order to make a purchase? Does everyone have to contact you at least once or can the majority of people buy something with just a couple clicks? Do they have to register with your site and set up a password first or can they just put in their payment info?

Choosing options - Can people easily select color and size options on your site or do they have to contact you first? The ideal situation is to have pull down menus with check boxes for each option. A more time consuming but still effective way to do this is to have separate listings for each color or size.

Shipping – Are you offering flat rate or free shipping or does someone have to enter in their zip to get a quote? Make it easy, either include the shipping in the price of your items or have a clear flat rate right next to the price so someone will not have to click away to see what your rates are.

Offer Ready Made Pieces – Even if you build everything to order and mainly want to do custom pieces, offer some items that can be purchased as shown. Many people have trouble visualizing and the majority of people will want to purchase something that is already designed and figured out.

There are also the customers that simply need something right away. Time is more important than the actual design. Not everyone is willing to wait and help to create the perfect design when something you have ready to ship is close enough.

This is also true in the case of seasonal and holiday inspired designs. The majority of people do not plan ahead and will not think to contact you in advance to get something made in time.

There will also be a large number of people that simply do not want to go through a process of going back and forth with you to create a custom design.

Photos – Visualizing the scale of an item, even when the dimensions are listed, can be difficult. Try to include at least one photo of your handmade item either installed, being worn, or hung on the wall in relation to some furnishings. For smaller items, use coins or a ruler in the photo so people can really visualize the true size.

Show the Variations – Showing something in red and then only giving the color swatches for a few other colors is not nearly as effective in making a sale as actually showing a finished item in each of the colors.

Show Finished Pieces – Renditions may work for totally custom pieces, but people will need to see exactly what something looks like in just about every other case. Finished pieces also show and prove the quality of your items. People really need to see very similar examples of how their particular piece will turn out.

Give Ballpark Prices – If possible, give a price range or even a list of added costs when different options are selected. That way people will not have to go through the effort and waiting involved in emailing you just to see if your item is going to be within their budget.

You will also have a greater likelihood of making a sale since you are probably not able to instantly respond to all emails and some people are impatient.

How can you make the process of purchasing your handmade items simpler?

Richard Walker