Etsy.com is an international trading platform that should be familiar to those who are personally engaged in the manufacture of various products. On this site you can sell items made by yourself, vintage items, as well as various tools and accessories. This platform will be especially interesting for creative people. In particular, those who make various products, and those who purchase them.
Features
What you need to know about Etsy sales? First of all, you need to understand how the service is arranged and what features it has. Let's talk about the latter.
This is first of all:
- Paid accommodation.
- Affiliate program.
- Availability of commissions.
- Photos of products.
- Name of shop.
So, each of the above features has its own nuances. Let's discuss them in more detail.
Paid Accommodation
Being interested in how to sell from Russia to Etsy, you need to know that the service involves a certain fee for each product posted. This is a kind of rent for a place on a virtual storefront. For the placement of each product you will have to pay twenty cents for four months. After this period, you will need to re-pay the placement. You can renew it manually, tracking the date, or automatically, timely replenishing the balance of your own account.
affiliate program
Etsy rules provide fairly favorable conditions for beginners. This is a kind of testing. According to its results, the potential seller will be able to decide on further cooperation with the service.
So, registering for Etsy is extremely simple. After it, a new user can add forty products absolutely free, saving eight dollars in this way, which at the current rate are equal to more than five hundred rubles.
Such a discount allows you to get the first invaluable experience in trading on this site. However, to obtain such privileges you need to use someone else’s affiliate link to register. You can get it from those who already use the service.
Availability of commissions
If you are interested in selling goods on Etsy, the financial issue cannot be ignored. In addition to paid accommodation, which does not guarantee the purchase of the product, there are additional fees. They are charged to the user directly when selling the goods. The size of the commission is five percent of the cost of goods and delivery.
A feature of Etsy.com consists not only in the availability of commissions, but also in their payment. For example, on the first day of each month, users are sent invoices for the previous month, giving fifteen days to pay. Agree, this is quite convenient. In particular, for the reason that eliminates the need to independently calculate the amount of accrued commissions.
In case of non-payment of accrued commissions, the service may block the store. This is why you should not ignore the newsletter. In addition, you can control the financial issue yourself in a special section of your account.
Product Photos
You need to understand that in a real storefront, the entire impression of a potential buyer is formed solely from the picture. That's why those who are interested in how to sell from Russia to Etsy should pay due attention to creating high-quality photos.
They should not only please you, but also be attractive to potential customers. Put yourself in their place. Imagine that you need to make a choice, not being able to examine the product in detail. That's why photos should be attractive, but also realistic, so that potential buyers are not disappointed in their own acquisitions. It is advisable to take several photos from completely different angles. Not only life-size, but also with the possibility of increasing. This will allow a detailed review of the product.
Do not overdo the processing of photos in various programs. Of course, in this way you can make them attractive, and your product is unique. But do not forget that the greater the difference between a virtual picture and reality, the greater the frustration for your customer. If you work for the long term and are interested in regular customers, do not deceive their expectations.
Name of shop
If you are interested in how to sell from Russia to Etsy, remember that the name of the store plays a big role. It should be memorable so that customers can easily find and recommend you.
A lot of advice has been invented regarding the choice of name. In particular, it should resonate with the theme. That is, ideally, from the name, the user should understand what products he will find on sale.
If your brand already has a name, you can use it as a store name for selling products.
How to sell on Etsy from Russia?
Perhaps the first thing to start the answer to this question is action. That is, it is not enough just to study theoretical information, drowning in its abundance. You need to start acting as soon as possible. Only in practice can we understand how the service is really arranged.
In addition, according to experienced sellers, it’s not enough just to place goods and expect an influx of potential buyers. Be sure to pay attention to the promotion of your own store. Indeed, in fact, this is not necessary for anyone except its owner.
Selling goods on this service is not as difficult as it seems. From the technical side, everything is extremely simple.
- Registration.
- Displaying goods in a virtual storefront.
- Sales.
Instructions on how to sell on Etsy should certainly include a clause explaining that creating a store is only the beginning. The bulk of the work awaits the owner after its launch. Registration is incredibly fast and simple and does not require complex efforts. However, it is much more difficult to attract at least one real buyer. Especially if you have never been involved in online business before. Working for Etsy, the tax issue will have to be resolved on its own. Indeed, in fact, you will not have an employer who will act as your agent and make all deductions to the budget for you.
Why aren't you still selling on Etsy?
Registration on this site is incredibly simple and does not require any special knowledge from users. However, despite this, potential sellers are in no hurry to launch their own store. There are a few common misconceptions that many beginners find it difficult to get started:
- Lack of prospects.
- It is expensive.
- It's complicated.
- The presence of competitors.
Let's dwell on each of the listed items in more detail.
Lack of prospects
About Etsy, like any other service, there is an incredible amount of conflicting opinions. Sometimes they can be diametrically opposite. If you read the reviews of pessimists or those who did not succeed on this site, you will feel that there are no attractive prospects for Etsy. Especially for beginners. However, this is actually not the case. To make sure of this, it is enough to collect more complete information and understand that a lot of stores located on this site turn out to be quite successful and bring profit to their owners in the future.
There are many potential sellers who doubt the demand for their own goods. However, it is impossible to know in advance whether there will be demand. In addition, refusing to even try, you deprive yourself of a chance of success in advance. By opening your own store on Etsy, you can test the demand for your own products with minimal financial costs.
It is expensive
Indeed, the placement of goods on the site is paid. However, we are not talking about any large investments. And if you compare the virtual storefront on Etsy with a real store, then the advantages of the first option will become even more obvious and significant.
First of all, opening your own store on Etsy is absolutely free and does not cost the owner a dime. For the placement of one product for four months you will have to pay twenty cents. In terms of the month it is only five cents, which must be multiplied by the number of your goods. In such a simple way, you will know the total rental amount of a virtual storefront. Most likely, this will cost significantly less than renting a physical outlet. At the same time, your Etsy store will work around the clock.
it's complicated
Of course, those who plan to work on the aforementioned site will have to not only register their own store, but also deal with a host of other subtleties.
In particular, in order to attract potential customers, you need to advertise your own store. This carries additional costs and requires some professional knowledge. In addition, you will have to regularly monitor the timely placement of goods, etc.
However, such tasks cannot be avoided in any other work. At the same time, the own store gives the owner some freedom. Indeed, over time, you can hire a specialist to perform routine tasks.
Competitors
Some novice sellers before opening their own store begin to study in detail the products presented on the site, and in this way get acquainted with the work of more successful colleagues and potential competitors at the same time.
Involuntarily, the beginning master begins to compare himself with others and consider his work unworthy. Then he convinces himself that his products are not worthy of the attention of buyers and will not be in demand. With such samoyedstvo not to go far.
There is competition in any field. Some of your competitors will be more successful. But this does not mean that you have no place on the site. Give the buyer the right to choose whose product is more worthy.
If you actively seek out other people's work, compare yourself with others and engage in self-humiliation, nothing good will come of it. Better spend this time on your own development. It is possible that after some time you will be able to get ahead of the competitor whose work you were envious before.