I’m teaching a class today about opening an Etsy shop and I wanted to create a quick reference handout that had clickable links. That’s hard to do with a paper handout. So I decided to create it as a blog post and even if you aren’t in my class, this reference might be helpful to you as well.
I always recommend that new potential Etsy sellers take some time to read the Etsy Seller Handbook, but it can be really overwhelming to get started. It has a lot of information. So here are my 10 favorite articles to help you make decisions as you are opening up your shop and trying to decide what features to use.
Getting Started.
- This beginners guide to selling on Etsy has a whole lot of links to some of the most frequently used features and is kind of like a checklist of the steps you should take to set up.
- Tips for choosing your shop name.
- This article on Communicating your Brand has great advice and links about creating shop policies and FAQs.
Listings.
- How to add variations (color, size, style) and photos of those variations to your listings.
- 7 types of product photos. This is a really good checklist of what kinds of photos to include to communicate everything about your item.
Getting Found in Search.
- Seriously, read this one. The ultimate guide to Etsy Search.
- I also learned things listening to the podcast that is linked in this “Your Search Questions Answered” article.
Shipping.
- Understanding the somewhat controversial new free shipping initiative.
- The ultimate guide to shipping has links to all of the current Etsy advice about being strategic about shipping costs.
Ads
- Once you have set up shop, you might want to think about advertising to bring in new customers. Etsy Ads is brand new. What are Etsy Ads and how do they work?