This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Etsy.com is the world's largest handcrafted marketplace. We have featured stories of Etsy sellers more than three dozen times in the history of the program. Most of the time we try to look for some specific angle, either how someone is selling differently there, how they've come up with some kind of unique product, what they've learned as they've grown their business, or how they've transitioned from selling on Etsy to their own website, which is often a very good model. Now, one of my favorite stories in this category comes from Jennifer Brown in Chicago. This was way back on episode 182.
It was titled Chicago Woman Sells $70,000 a Month on Etsy. I guess you can probably tell from the title that she has managed to do pretty well. Now, of course, not all Etsy sellers see results like that. In fact, most of them don't, but there's quite a range of outcomes. So in these situations, I always like to look and see, okay, what do successful sellers do differently?
Now, today's listener is looking for some general advice on getting started with Etsy, as well as what to look out for, the pros and cons, and more. So let's hear her question, and then I'll give you a few tips. [Music]
Hi, this is Liz from Albany, California. I've been listening to the show for a couple of years, and I love the unique stories, useful advice, and especially the puns. I'm an artist with an Etsy store for jewelry, and I'm considering creating a new Etsy shop for clipart products and printables.
I've heard a couple of episodes in which you featured people selling products through Etsy. My question is, what are your general thoughts about Etsy? Do you have any tips for increasing and maximizing sales through the platform? What are the pros and cons of using Etsy versus another online marketplace, or even starting my own website? Thanks, Chris.
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All right, thank you so much, Liz. So glad you're listening. We will indeed try to keep it fundamental here as we go forward into 2020. Congrats on that first Etsy shop. It's interesting to hear about your expansion idea.
So for anyone who is not familiar, Etsy can be a great starter platform. Can sometimes go on to be more than a starter platform, but for anyone, it's a great starter platform. It is very easy to list something for sale right away. It will take you about an hour or less, maybe even 15 minutes or less, depending on how quickly you can answer a few basic questions. There is a big marketplace of buyers, which is great.
It's not just a bunch of sellers. Sometimes for some of these platforms, it's all people who are offering a service and very small number of people who are actually buying. So Etsy does have a good marketplace of buyers. They've done a good job of marketing themselves in that way, which ultimately benefits the sellers as well. You can get some real world experience in a short amount of time, and you can begin building your own following that you can then take elsewhere.
I think that last part is key, at least for a lot of people. So what's not to love? Like what is not amazing? Whenever you hear about an opportunity that just sounds so good, you always have to ask, what's not so good about it? Like if it was that easy, wouldn't everybody be doing it?
Well, there is a lot of competition. Like there are a lot of sellers out there. There are a lot of people who are trying to sell in some cases, fairly similar products. Also Etsy is not a charity, they're a business, so they're charging fees. And sometimes people are concerned about the fees going up or all the fees they have to pay over time.
It is called the world's largest handcrafted marketplace, but not everything on the site is truly handcrafted. A lot of stuff is mass manufactured, even though it's not supposed to be. And then ultimately, here's the biggest concern. I think you end up building Etsy's business as much as your own. So when it's a win-win, that's fine of course, but there are some real downsides.
So here are a couple of tips to give you an advantage. Okay, first of all, don't sell a commodity. Don't sell something that everybody else is selling there. So when I hear Liz's idea about the clip art products and printables, I think it's tricky because some people are able to be successful doing that, but it's also the kind of thing that can be easily duplicated. Now, nothing at all wrong with experimenting.
That is again, something that's really great with this platform. You can also experiment with a bunch of ideas and do more of what works. In the book, "100 Side Hustles," I told the story of Kirsten Legrecca. She went to Etsy and tried selling a bunch of different things, paid attention to what people liked the most, what they commented on the most, et cetera. And she ended up focusing on monogrammed scarves.
She built a whole business out of that. It became a low six-figure business. I think she's gone on to do something else now, but the point is she experimented and then focused on what people responded to. Speaking of focusing, I think it's good to focus around a theme. Episode 622, 622 from our archives, was titled "When the Rubber Hits the Road, This Mom of Three Earns $5,000 a Month." And she earned that $5,000 a month primarily from Etsy.
Now, in her case, the store was called Yellow Bess, but everything she made was sold in the color Robin's Egg Blue. I forget exactly why she was called Yellow Bess and everything was sold with this other color, but the point is she had chosen this theme and she really kind of built it out. I think that helps a lot, especially when there are a lot of people selling similar items. Okay, two more things. You want to write your copy, which is your title, your description, any details in the listing itself, with enthusiasm.
You have to say it like that also, with enthusiasm. You know, you want to be like, "This clip art is so fun. These printables are the best thing you've ever seen. Here's why you'll love them." Maybe not quite like that, but again, the point is be enthusiastic. Lastly, you might want to consider spending a small amount of money for what they call promoted listings, which are basically ads or sponsored listings, whatever you want to call them.
They call them promoted listings. This will help you get more exposure quickly and therefore learn what works and what doesn't. So you don't have to spend a lot of money, but if you're willing to spend a little, it can get you that information quicker than just waiting. Now over time, just to kind of hammer this in, most of our big success stories that feature Etsy do end up building their own site. They end up building their own following apart from the platform, which I think is wise.
So for Liz and anybody else out there, as long as you know that and are thinking ahead, it is not at all a bad place to start or experiment or expand. [Music]
Listeners, do you have a question? Just come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We will be featuring them throughout the year, along with updates from other listeners as they launch their projects. Today's notes are at sidehustleschool.com/1107.
You can now get a transcript and sign up for a newly updated email series. Thank you so much. I'll be back tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau and this is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
