Ranked 8th in the world with over 390 million monthly visitors, Etsy has become a globally operating successful marketplace. It differs from the competition in its assortment because the platform gathers sellers who offer unique, hand-made products. Read our article to learn how to start an Etsy shop.
The first step is to create an Etsy account. You need to go to the home page and in the upper right corner select 鈥Login鈥 and then 鈥Sign Up鈥. At this point, you will see a window that requires some basic details, i.e. e-mail, name and password. After completing them, press the 鈥Register鈥 button. A message asking you to confirm your registration will be sent to the e-mail address provided.
Once your account registration is complete, you will have to go to etsy.com and select the 鈥Sell with Etsy鈥 鈫 鈥Open a store with Etsy鈥 button. Next, select your store language, country and currency and confirm this information with the 鈥Save and Continue鈥 button. The last step is to choose the name of your store.
The name should match the style of the store and should not be too complicated. Catchy but not cheesy. It must also meet the requirements imposed by Etsy:
An important step when setting up a store is to determine the payment methods that buyers will have at their disposal. The platform has prepared a special Etsy Payments service, which you can sign up for by following the path:
鈥Store panel鈥 鈫 鈥Finances鈥 鈫 鈥Payment settings鈥 鈫 鈥Select the country of your bank account鈥 鈫 鈥Payment settings鈥 鈫 鈥Payment settings鈥 鈫 鈥Payment settings鈥 鈫 鈥Bank account鈥
In the final step, you鈥檒l provide information about the individual (or company) and bank account details. For registering at Etsy Payments you should verify the previously provided data. In the case of an individual, the platform requires:
Those registering as a company put down the following details on top of verifying their identity:
In some cases, Etsy will request additional verification with a copy of your one of your IDs (ID/driver鈥檚 license/passport).
The final step to registering your Etsy Payments service is to add a credit or debit card. Sellers who have an account with a bank located in the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland or Hong Kong should to verify it to receive funds from sales without any problems.
Account verification goes as follows: Etsy, within 3-5 days of registering with Etsy Payments, sends a small amount of money to the seller鈥檚 account. The seller鈥檚 job is to add that amount to their payment account via the path:
鈥Store panel鈥 鈫 鈥Finances鈥 鈫 鈥Payment account鈥 鈫 鈥Verify bank鈥
In the case of new sellers, they will get the transfer only after their store gets opened on the platform.
The Etsy Payments service is only available in eligible countries, which include:
Sellers coming from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania, Hungary and Poland should reckon that Etsy will be sending them transfers in Euro currency, so their bank may charge currency conversion fees when withdrawing those funds.
In some countries, a credit or debit card is required to open a store.
After filling in all the necessary information, complete the store opening by pressing the 鈥Open Store鈥 button.
Before listing your first items, take some time to complete important sections about your store, such as:
Etsy is a platform where sellers from all over the world can list:
Etsy has a list of specific types of products that are prohibited from being sold on the platform. These restrictions relate to legal requirements or for purely Etsy鈥檚 reasons, as the site is committed to making its marketplace unique and offering products that align with its compliance-on-time values. Below is a list of products prohibited or restricted for sale.
The Etsy platform is not a place to offer services, e.g. you may not list rentals. Exceptions are services related to the creation of a new tangible product. You are also allowed to sell Tarot card reading and fortune telling services if they do not qualify as metaphysical services.
There is a 5-star rating system for sellers that buyers exercise on Etsy. The customer has 100 days to do so from the date of delivery (in the case of digital products 鈥 from the date of download). Any seller can see reviews on their store at any time by following the path: 鈥Store manager鈥 鈫 鈥Sales channels鈥 鈫 鈥Shop name鈥溾啋 鈥Reviews鈥
The review you see is an average of the ratings you鈥檝e received over the past 12 months.
Star Seller badge is a special status awarded to stores that meet certain criteria. In this way, Etsy wants to thank them for their excellent customer service. The badge received is visible to shoppers. The table below shows the requirements a store must meet to get Star Seller status.
A store that had Star Seller status, but for some reason no longer meets the requirements of the program, may have its badge revoked.
The complaint system was created to resolve disputes that arise between the seller and the buyer. It is a stage where those involved can have a direct discussion and resolve the matter between themselves. A complaint may be based on a failure to deliver a product to a customer or delivery of a product that is not as described. If the issue is not resolved between the buyer and seller, the parties can ask an Etsy employee to resolve the conflict.
Sellers who qualify for the Seller Protection Policy can count on Etsy to help when a dispute arises with a customer. To participate in the program, you must meet and have a good reputation, which means:
Joining the program is automatic once all requirements are met 鈥 no special application needs to be sent.
Before opening your store on Etsy, make sure that the items you offer match the style and values of the site. If it鈥檚 the right place for your store鈥檚 assortment you decide to create an account. In case you get lost in the vastness of guidelines, you can always count on a lot of useful instructions and tutorials Etsy and associates provide.
Check out our other e-commerce articles: eBay shipping 鈥 5 things you need to know!
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Author: Martin Sparks
E-commerce enthusiasts which constantly digs around the internet in order to make sure he hasn鈥檛 missed any important information on the topic of starting and scaling profitable online stores.
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