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Starting an Etsy shop can be a little daunting. How do you even set up an Etsy shop?

Honestly, it takes a little getting used to. Not only is it logistically hard by getting the listing up, but you actually have to price your product so you actually make a profit!

In today’s blog post, we are going to cover the basics and help you get your very first Etsy listing up!

| Rather watch the video? Check it out here! |

Before you set up your Etsy shop

It’s important to know that before you set up your Etsy shop, you have some work to do. Setting up your Etsy shop is like the last step, here’s what you need to prep before even creating an Etsy account.

Creating a product

In order to even fully set up your shop, you need to have at least one product to list. Etsy recommends that you have 10 listings to start just so your shop looks more filled out.

I think this is a crazy suggestion! If you don’t even know how to really work Etsy, you don’t know how to set up a listing, rank in search, or even what your audience wants- why would you create 10 different products to start?!

It’s a wild suggestion. What I highly suggest you do is come up with the main theme for your shop. What type of products would you like to sell?

• Crochet items
• Jewelry
• Clothes
• Paints or prints
• Strictly digital products

Once you decide what the theme of your shop will be, come up with 3-4 product ideas of what you’d like to eventually create. Then, pick one to post.

If you spend so much time in the beginning creation phases, you’ll start to second guess yourself, procrastinate and you may never start!

This isn’t the time to overthink! Choose one product to list and list it!

I started my shop with one product and sold my first one within a few hours! So don’t think you need a ton of products for success- you just need the right one!

1. Setting up your store

Now that you have your product made, it’s time to set up your shop! If you don’t even have an Etsy account, it’s really easy to create one.

You need to create a buyer’s Etsy account to actually create your shop.

Once you go to Etsy click “sign-in” (top right corner) and go to “Register”

From there, sign-up is easy!

2. Set up your Etsy Shop

Now you can get to setting up your shop! Go to the corner and click on “You”. In the drop-down menu, at the bottom, there should be a “Sell on Etsy” option.

NOTE: I have a shop set up for this account already, so the screenshot below doesn’t show that option

Shop preferences

From there, it will take you to this screen:

Here you can set up your language, currency, and what you intend to do with your shop. This is just to let Etsy know what you’d like to do with your shop and doesn’t affect anything with it, so just pick the best option for you.

3. Choosing a shop name

Now we get to the hard part- choosing a shop name! Here are some tips to help you if you’re feeling stuck on what to call your Etsy shop.

Use keywords

Keywords on Etsy play a big role in the overall success of your shop. Ranking in search is where a lot of my traffic and sales come from!

SEO and keywords can be a bit of a confusing topic, so if you want to learn more, you can check out my Etsy Seo tips video right here! I go more in-depth on the topics of ranking in search and using SEO to make more sales!

But for now, let’s talk about just the shop name. You can add keywords to your shop name to not only help your buyers understand what it is you sell but help you rank in search as well!

What does this all mean?

Keywords, if you don’t know, are basically anything that someone looks up on a search engine like Google YouTube, and even Etsy.

So for example, if you were to look up “Content Calendar Template” my Etsy listing would show up. 

And you can do something similar with your shop name by putting in keywords into your shop name.

Let’s say, for example, you sell downloadable templates like me. Pinterest templates, google sheets templates, etc…

“Templates” is a keyword because it’s what you sell. You could come up with different names using that words and see what you come up with. Like in the next example.

Use a combo with your own name

You can also use a combination of keywords or what you sell and your actual name. For example “CatePaints” or “CraftyCara”.

This will make your brand feel more personal, while also adding in a keyword and letting your audience know what to expect from your shop!

Name it after your blog

Or, you could do exactly what I did and name your shop after your blog!

I created this Etsy as an extension of my blog, so it seemed fitting that it be named exactly after my blog.

Use Ideas from Etsy

The thing about Etsy is no two shops can have the same name, kinda like a website. So if you pick the most amazing name ever but it’s taken… what do you do?

One of the cool things about Etsy is if you type in a name that’s been used already. Etsy will give you other ideas that you can use!

I tried to use “SarahPaints” as my shop name, but when I went to check availability it was taken

So, Etsy then suggested to m a new name and I found “SarahByCrafting” was available, so I took that one instead!

Don’t focus too hard on the name

I know it can be easy to get caught up in trying to come up with the perfect name. But, honestly, in the end, it doesn’t really matter that much.

When I am shopping on Etsy, as I often do, I hardly ever look at the name of a shop. And, if I do, the shop name does not affect my want to purchase a product from them.

That doesn’t mean don’t take your time and try to come up with a name you really like, you should do that.

But also, don’t wait 5 months to launch your shop while you wait for the heavens to bestow you the perfect name, okay?

4. Set up your first Etsy shop listing

Now we are at the “stock your shop” section. Click on “Add a listing” to get started.

This is what the prep beforehand was for. There is a lot of information that needs to be added to your listing! I go over the listing more in my Etsy SEO video so if you want more in-depth info on how to set this up, make sure to check out that video!

Add photos

If you have a physical product, make sure to take your time and get good-quality photos of your product. The shop will suggest what photos to add in the boxes such as different angles, a photo for scale, and one of the products in use.

Obviously, you don’t have to add all of these photos, but the more you add the better the buyer can see the product and decide if they want to purchase!

So far, all of my products are digital. So I created all my photos for my shop in Canva.

Add a video (Optional)

You can actually add 15-second videos showing off your product!

I think this is an excellent feature and I have used it for my Pinterest templates to show how they are used.

You don’t have to add a video, but it does give the customer a way better picture of the product you are trying to sell!

Add listing details

Here you want to add your title and other details.

As you can see, my title is pretty long. I’ve used up as many characters as I could and this is so I can get ranked in search, which this listing does.

It’s important to add keywords to your title and not just have a short and simple title. You’ll see titles like this on pretty much all of the listings on Etsy.

Then there is just some more information to fill in like who made the product and other optional things like if it is for a special occasion, holiday, or is it any specific color.

These options are here to help Etsy understand what your listing looks like so it knows where to rank you in search.

When Etsy shoppers type something in and use filters, Etsy needs to know where to put your listing and where to exclude your listing so it best fits the shopper’s query.

None of these things applied when I set up my Etsy shop, which is why they are left blank.

The next section is for renewal options.

So listings on Etsy need to be renewed every 4 months. It costs 20 cents (USD) to post the listing for the first time, and 20 cents every 4 months.

So you have the option for this renewal to happen automatically (which is recommended) or you can come back every 4 months and do it manually.

If you choose to do it manually, make sure to remember! Because if you don’t for some reason, your listing will be taken down from Etsy and no one will be able to buy it.

The listing won’t be deleted, but it will be taken to the back end of your site and no one will be able to buy it.

Add a description

As you can see, there is a lot that goes into the description.

Make sure you really fill them out with all the information buyers will need about your product!

Make sure to include:

• Keywords
• What they will get when they purchase
• A description of the product
• Any other useful information
• A refund policy (if you do one or not)

There is also a section to add in tags and any materials you used to create the product. This is just another place to add keywords and help Etsy categorize your listing.

Choose a price

Here is where you set the price and the quantity. Pricing is one of the things that a lot of Etsy sellers really struggle with.

You don’t want to set the price too high and scare potential buyers away, but also don’t want to set the price too low and not make a profit.

I tend to look at what other buyers are selling similar products for and gauge my prices that way.

If it’s a physical product, consider the material cost to make the product, shipping costs, and how much of a hassle it would be to drive to get it shipped.

Pricing digital products is a bit easier in my opinion. No shipping costs, and easy delivery. I prefer it over physical products honestly.

The last thing I think about is what would I reasonably pay for a product like this?

And remember, you can always change the pricing later if you change your mind! Try not to think about it too hard, but be smart about it!

You also have the inventory, which is self-explanatory. However much you have of a product is how much you put there.

SKU- This is just for you. Name the product whatever you want in the backend of your site. Buyers won’t see the name.

Variations- This slot is for if you have different variations of the product you’re making (ex: different color necklaces)

Personalization- For example, if you’re doing customizable necklaces, you can tell the buyer to put in their name. 

Shipping your products

Depending on the type of product you are selling (digital or physical) this section will look different.

Physical products

Here you can calculate shipping costs based on where the buyer lives so you can get an idea of how much the total cost of what the buyer will be paying.

This also helps you understand how much money you’ll be paying upfront to get the item shipped. You will end up getting the shipping cost back (minus the fees that Etsy takes of course).

You can also mention how long it will take you to ship the item so the customer knows, what company you use to ship with (this will change the shipping price) if you do free shipping and you can charge a handling fee if you’d like.

The handling fee will get added to the buyer’s shipping cost and they won’t know that it is separate. This is used if you want a fee to be added to the buyer’s total for your expenses of taking the item to get shipped or anything else.

If you want to learn a bit more about physical products- branding, marketing, shipping- check out this blog post right here!

It’s specifically for T-Short shops, but there is a lot of valuable info in there for any Etsy seller!

Digital products

If you sell digital products, your job is much easier. You don’t have to worry about shipping costs, handling fees, how much your product weighs, or anything.

All you have to do is download whatever files the customer is going to be getting here and you are good to go!

5. Adding your payment information

The next two steps are super easy. All you have to do is add in your information on how you’d like to get paid by Etsy, and how you’re going to pay Etsy for your listings!

And after you are done with your listing, it will show up in your shop!

What are you selling on Etsy? Physical product or digital? Let me know in the comments section down below!