Is Selling on Etsy Worth it? Pros & Cons of Selling on an Etsy Store

Is Selling on Etsy worth it?

This question may have popped up in your mind since Etsy is uncovering lots of changes and is also gaining tremendous momentum among sellers as well as buyers lately. If you are selling on Etsy, you must be among those creative enthusiasts curating the notable and most artistic pieces of Art, or those who sell Handmade and Vintage products, and you definitely want to be recognized and sell well.

You must have gone through multiple blogs and articles to get a hunch of what is going on there, and there is a significant chance that you as well have come across the news of many sellers leaving Etsy. There is a significant chance you would have been asking this question to yourself after going through the whirlwind of poles-apart opinions on Etsy being published every day. And by this point, you may have started questioning your idea of selling on Etsy.

We will help you out of the whirlwind and answer all your queries regarding the new stuff going on. In this blog piece, you will find all that concern the Etsy sellers and upon which it highly depends whether you want to become an Etsy seller or not. You will come across what are the major Pros and Cons of selling on Etsy.

Is Selling on Etsy Worth it?

You are aware of the most creative & imaginative marketplace — Etsy. But it is crucial to find out if selling on Etsy still is the best match for you. Etsy sellers mostly review the below features, and you must be very curious to know what it unfolds:

• Etsy Listing/Renewal Fees
• Free Shipping Guarantee
• Paid Etsy Advertising
• Brand Building (Personalised Storefront)
• Etsy SEO

Now we’ll be discussing each of these points in detail while highlighting the pros and cons which will ease in drawing the conclusion – Is selling on Etsy worth it?

We’ll begin with-

Etsy Listing/Renewal Fees

Etsy charges sellers a fee of $0.20 fee for creating or renewing a listing on Etsy. However, it is to be noted that there is no fee for editing a listing.

What’s Pros:

In terms of Etsy Listing Fees, Etsy is really among the favorite marketplace of many sellers because it asks just $0.20 (USD) per listing for four months. If you are a newbie on Etsy, this fee is nominal.

You can enjoy your listings on Etsy for 4 months at a stretch after which you are to pay the renewal fee of 20 cents/listings again.

What’s Cons:

The major setback you suffer also comes from recurring listing fees. Etsy is the platform for Creators, to sell handmade items. When it comes to paying the fee every four months on individual listings, it becomes costly for the artisans and artists to cope with these fees.

What’s Catch: 

If you are a budding seller on Etsy, you may experience a lot being charged from you. Although this may be true, the perks of this are you get a very targeted audience and niche for your listings. But from the perspective of a new seller, the platform is quite convenient to craft success one sale at a time. With 91.1 million active buyers, you are sure to get discovered if you create a unique and lovely product that sugar-coats the eyes of buyers.

Coming to our next point.

Free Shipping Guarantee Etsy

Sometimes back Etsy created a buzz among the selling community with an official statement stating — “Shops that offer free delivery on orders $35 or more to US shoppers will be prioritized in US search. To help US shoppers to find more items that are delivered free within the US.”

The free shipping guarantee applies to both domestic and international sellers shipping orders to US buyers.

The basic term is that the buyer must purchase

• Any individual item $35 USD and up.
• Orders with a total cost of $35 USD and up.

What’s Pros

According to the Etsy Seller Handbook, shoppers on your Etsy store are 20% more likely to complete their purchase when the item is marked as delivered for free (source). If your products are outstanding and you aim to earn more, then you can mark up the price of all your items to $35 or above and tag it as ‘available for free shipping.

In the latest update, Adding shipping required details to your listings and shipping profiles saves a lot of time when these changes to renewals go into effect. The tracking number allows you to know the order’s status, marking it complete when it is out for delivery.

Etsy will also begin to prioritize these items wherever Etsy advertises in the US—in email marketing, social media, and television ads.

What’s Cons:

Since this update in the shipping fees and process came into force, sellers like you are continuously mumbling about Is Etsy Reliable? Marking an Etsy order as complete, Etsy sends an email to the buyer to let them know their order is on its way. Getting a notification that the order is shipped when it’s still in your studio can confuse shoppers. Four exceptions to the tracking-number rule:

• Digital items, including custom digital items
• Customized order additions linked to another order
• Local pickup and delivery options
• Oversized and heavy items

Let’s have an example of a seller who shared her view on the Etsy Community:

A study by EcommerceByte reveals that about 75% of sellers do not wish to be part of the Free Shipping Guarantee. As per E-commerce Bytes, it is terrible to wait for the requirement to upload the tracking number until the package is in the hands of shipping carriers. 

There is no such thing as “FREE” shipping and I don’t believe lying to my customers is moral — An Etsy seller

What’s Catch: 

When you become an Etsy seller, the primary help comes from their detailed and very descriptive ‘Seller Handbook.’ You can enjoy the ‘Smart Pricing’ tool on your dashboard itself. This tool helps you to decide and calculate your price accordingly. Try the Free Shipping Guarantee for your Etsy store.

Other than this, Other than this, in case of a new update of tracking numbers and delivery. When the order is marked, complete, the mail is sent to the buyers that their order is on its way. This mail usually creates confusion among shoppers. When you purchase shipping labels/postage on Etsy, you will choose the date you plan to drop off the package. Marking the order complete automatically flows a mail to the customer on the same date.

Professionally, If you want to earn more, it is the best idea ever for listings below $35. But ethically, if you are selling locally in the U.S., the buyers are going to pay more than they were because the shipping cost would have been less. On the other hand, The new update related to shipping tracking numbers and details has created easiness as well as confusion among the sellers on Etsy. 

Next is an important point that will surely make a significant impact in deciding our topic of discussion – Is selling on Etsy worth it? The Paid Ads –

Etsy Ads

Etsy uses the site’s advertising algorithm to fetch the details of the product and match them with the users’ search or profile info to your listing ads. Offsite ads make sure to show the most prominent item for every user profile and search query. As per Etsy offsite ads, you need not do anything to be eligible.

The offsite ads fees are charged after purchase; the fee payments depend on the criteria that have to be followed, considering sales made in the past 365 days.

• If you have made a sale of less than $10,000, you will be charged a 15% fee for an order attributed to an Offsite Ad.
• Whereas, if you have made a sale for at least $10,000, you will be charged 12% only.

What’s Pros: 

Earlier, you were the master of your daily biddings over Promoted Listings and Google Shopping Ads in your Etsy Store. The new update changes the idea of optimizing the listings to maximize their visibility across the different platforms. All your correctly listed items are advertised, you need to improve the quality of your listings since Off-site ads pick up your listings and provide them using the details of your product. The most relaxed and beneficial thing is that you need to pay if a buyer purchases by clicking on the Ad.

Etsy reserves 4 rows for the Etsy Promoted Listings on every page of search results.

What’s Cons:

Earlier, you were the master of your daily biddings over Promoted Listings and Google Shopping Ads in your Etsy Store. The new update changes the idea of optimizing the listings to maximize their visibility across the different platforms.

All your correctly listed items are advertised, you need to improve the quality of your listings since Off-site ads pick up your listings and provide them using the details of your product. The most relaxed and beneficial thing is that you need to pay if a buyer makes a purchase by clicking on the Ad.

What’s Catch:

Earlier, your budget was restricted and only regulated by you, but now your estimated budget is optimized according to reach and purchase. Earlier offsite ads were optional for you, depending upon the revenue you have made in the past 365 days. But now, Etsy utilizes all listings inventory information, including product descriptions, photos, titles, and more. For sellers who have made less than $10,000 in a year for them, Etsy ads are optional.

Are you convinced? or Still looking for the answer to the question – Is selling on Etsy worth it? Up next is a game-changing point that will help you make your decision.  

Personalized Storefront (Brand Building)

Being an Etsy seller you must be very creative in manufacturing products or placing and promoting them well. Etsy gives you leverage to go much artistic and innovative in maintaining your store. Be it keeping the store’s name, unique product’s name, or designing your store. 

What’s Pros:  

You can become an Etsy seller and build your brand at the same time. You can be so creative when it comes to the manufacturing of your product, as well as creating listings on Etsy.

The more you detail about your store, your purpose of business, your uniqueness in the process of making, and your talent, the more traffic and conversions you get. Etsy lets you create a very personalized storefront. It is so easy to set up a store on Etsy.

If it’s handicraft, vintage, custom, or unique, it’s on Etsy. Explore what you can sell on Etsy to become a brand.

What’s Cons:

You will have a good time setting up your store, but it may be a cumbersome task. It becomes more hectic when you have your independent store to manage. If you are also selling on other marketplaces, too, like eBay, Amazon, and Walmart.

The listing details on Etsy are usually more lengthy; it asks you to fill up every single aspect of the product. If you are a full-fledged seller managing all of your stores, building a brand and storefront on Etsy will eat much of your time.

What’s Catch: 

Etsy is the only marketplace that lets artists bloom and build their brands.  Above is a bestseller in the Jewelry Category MignonandMignon, you can see how patiently she has curated her store and policies.

You are sure to reach out to the niche customer base because all Etsy deals are Art, Handcrafted, and Vintage products. You can try integrating your Etsy store into your independent store; this will help you manage the cumbersome task of selling.

Now coming to the last point that’ll decide the debate – Is selling on Etsy worth it? The SEO- 

Etsy SEO — Search Algorithm

Etsy has a powerful SEO that governs the listings accordingly

What’s Pros:

Based on a particular factor, it compares your listings among the listings of your product category. It then chooses the best one to pop up on the first page when the buyer searches for a query. If you master the game of Etsy SEO and get all your Etsy listings right with optimum keywords and relevancy, you can get first place.

As soon as the buyer makes a search, Etsy processes it on two factors — Query Matching and Ranking.

What’s Cons:

Your listings may tend to suffer more if it does not appropriately optimize. Most of the sellers who have left Etsy are stating that they have been unhappy with the frequent changes in the SEO algorithm of Etsy.

If not keyword optimizing your listing components like Title, Description, and Shop’s About section. You are likely to suffer, and your listings will not show up in the search results.

What’s Catch:

Is Etsy reliable when it comes to the SEO part? However, the answer to this depends upon how well you curate your shop on Etsy. If you are up-to-date with Shop Improvement and Etsy SEO, your major competitor’s listings quality, and your customer preferences, you can do well and gain much traffic to your listings.

If you want to build your brand, you will mention your website and other social media platforms; where people will reach you and see your creations that are not available on Etsy.

With this, we wrap up all the necessary Etsy pros and cons that’ll help you decide – Is selling on Etsy worth it or not? 

Now that you have collected some ideas about How Good the Etsy Marketplace can be for your online creative storefront; Checkout the video to get a review on all discussed above.

Have you made your Decision? Is Etsy Reliable?

It’s quite clear that the pros outweigh the cons by a significant margin. But it’s also undeniable that for some sellers, the cons are evident. The points above were the primary reasons sellers are confused about ‘Is selling on Etsy worth it?’

Empathizing with all the sellers who have left Etsy for the reasons mentioned above. You can decide, as Etsy always keeps evolving to be a better platform for both sellers and buyers. Still pacing toward the most popular marketplace in the world. If you have something unique to offer, and you want to come up with a brand out of your creativity. Etsy is worth your try and time.

Since now we have covered all the Etsy Pros and Cons, Let’s dive into another important point of discussion.

How to Develop New Products on Etsy

Update your shop with products regularly. Uploading new products never lets Etsy forget you. You will always be in the eyes of the random browsers, gaining a fair chance to grab their attention.

Things You Need To Know Before Selling On Etsy

• Go through your sales records.
• Keep track of what’s trending.
• Don’t go on creating a new line of products entirely. Try to jazz up your present idea a bit and you are good to go.

Ask for opinions on every single move

You are going to become an Etsy seller, or most probably have already set your shop on Etsy. Each minute you waste over-analyzing and loping for everyone’s opinion. You are not earning any penny, which means you are slightly losing it. You need to make your own decisions and make them quick.

Keep track of your Competitors

If you still haven’t started keeping track of your competitors, you are probably living under a rock. It is imperative to see what your competitors are doing. There are a few things that you should take as pointers.

• What are they selling?
• Which ideas are they coming up with?
• What are their best sellers?
• How do they describe their best-seller items?
• What is the sales price of those items?
• How have they set up their Etsy store, and what’s missing in your shop?
• Check out every single aesthetic of their shop and take notes.
• How have they done their product listing?

Keep notes of all these points and plan ahead of your competitors to boost your sales. You will find yourself is Etsy reliable or not

Where to Start?

Since now you’ve seen the pros and cons of selling on Etsy and got clear answers to the questions ‘Is Etsy a good place to sell’ or ‘Is selling on Etsy worth it or not’, the next step is to start.

But where?

You may need a headstart.

A tool or a robust platform to set up your store on Etsy while managing the current website. Something that can assist in listing products on Etsy while connecting the inventory between the connected platforms.

And that tool is known as an Etsy Integration App. A tool designed perfectly for Shopify-based sellers who are looking to start selling on Etsy with an existing store on Shopify. 

You can sell your creations on Etsy and generate backup earnings, while your site flourishes on Shopify.

We have tried to cover up all the points

• Why do people doubt selling on Etsy and
• How you can avoid doing that.

We have all that you need to set up and scale your own Shopify store on Etsy. If you have any more questions, we are more than happy to assist you with selling on Etsy. You can schedule a free discussion with our experts.