in my 5 months of Etsy, I’ve learned a few things about me and the process. Let’s just say don’t believe the youtubers out there and if they are making 6 figures, you bet they are doing it through “expert” classes that they are selling you.
I started my Etsy journey with the expectation and goal of making $1,000 a month. I’m not trying to get rich on making POD (print on demand) products, I just wanted to do something that used my creativity that people might buy for their loved ones or for themselves and help contribute to our household budget. I researched and researched and researched on Youtube, plenty of articles and even on Etsy itself. I learned about niche markets, profit margins, copywriting and how to promote your items and store on social media. You know what I learned… after being in a “box” for 20+ years it’s insanely hard for me to think outside of the box and be creative. I think I’ve had a few fun ideas for my items but not anything like some of the items I’ve researched. I’ve also realized that anyone can make a Youtube channel and tell you how to do something, but funny thing, they never show you their store front. I’m assuming the main reason could be that they don’t want you to copy their work or the big reason… they aren’t doing that well on Etsy and want you to believe they are. Like I said above, they are SELLING you $100+ courses on how to be an Etsy seller and how to become an “expert” at SEO, but never back their Etsy knowledge with reference to their Etsy store.
What have I learned… start Etsy if you are looking to do something fun and have the extra time to do it. It’s been fun and I’ll continue to work on my store but I will no longer spend money on building my store. If items sell, they sell. I’ll still create new items and contradictory to what I just said, I’ll spend the $0.20 to list the new items but I will not pay for Etsy ads, Google or Facebook ads, no more premium monthly products. We’ll just let it roll and hopefully I make a few sales. Gosh reading that makes me sound like I’ve given up… I have not given up, I’ve just realized that when you are using your family budget for something that’s not working, you’re just throwing money away. I hope in the next few months that changes but for now, I will focus on new products and spend about 30 minutes per day on my Etsy shop versus the hours I was spending previously while my kids were still sleeping.
Why did I write this post? I’m hoping that if you are out there starting a new Etsy store you learn something, even if it’s a small takeaway, I hope it makes you realize you are not alone and not everyone has six figure Etsy shops from start or maybe not ever. There is a huge learning curve and getting your shop out to the world is harder than the Youtubers let on. Can anyone do it? Yes. Should you give it a try? Yes. Will you get frustrated? Yes. YOLO – give it a go, what could happen? You could make it and make lots of money or you could fail but have fun trying! Or you could be right in the middle of the road and make a few extra dollars that help pay for the groceries, fund that vacation or dinner out with friends, spouse, family.
I copied this from my original Blog post, just in case my blogs don’t carry over:
I started on February 2nd, 2024 and here are my results:
February – June 2024
Sales: $531.44 (28 sales)
Fees / Marketing: $528.68
Printify (I’ll explain below) $482.96
Total: -$480.20
Printify – when you place an order on Etsy, you pay Etsy for the shipping and the item. Then it’s magically sent to Printify to be printed and shipped. So I pay Printify from the amount you paid me on Etsy.
Fees / Marketing – I paid for a year of Sale Samurai, Canva Pro and for the first few months I was paying monthly for Printify Premium. So they were a big chunk of the reason why I was in the negative. I have since reverted back to regular Printify, so there is no longer the $27 fee for the Premium BUT the products do cost a few dollars more for me. In the end, I feel this was a good decision because until I’m making 20 or more sales a month, it’s just not worth paying the additional fee.
Thank you for walking on this journey with me. If you have any questions or comments I’d love to hear from you. Have you started on your Etsy journey?
Here are some of my affiliate links if you are interested in starting your new Etsy shop or just want to shop.
Rakuten: www.rakuten.com/r/DOORJA?eeid=28187
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3UJ8ZqW
Printify: https://try.printify.com/q2d6fdcjq41z
Etsy Referral: https://etsy.me/3WAr5xO
Etsy Store: https://designprintablegoods.etsy.com
M1 Finance Referral: https://m1.finance/eLmQfeLRCmjo
OBVI Save $20: https://www.myobvi.com?snowball=AMY94651