Proof of what's possible on Etsy
I saw some other posts about their year-end successes and thought I'd join by sharing some insights to hopefully help and encourage other sellers.
My wife and I started our Etsy shop in February not expecting too much, just hoping for a little side income. Our first sale came at the very end of March and then took off about a week later.
The next several weeks were great and we couldn't believe the sudden success. However, sales tapered off through the summer and we went from 10-15 orders per day down to around 4. What I've read around this subreddit is that Etsy sometimes gives new shops a boost in the algorithm to help gain traction, so we figured this was it.
In September, we finally released our second product, basically just a Halloween edition of our main product. Come October, sales went back up to where they had been. We then released a Christmas edition, and by mid-November, we were suddenly doing 20-30 orders each day. Without giving away what the product is, I'll just say that it's very giftable, so this demand made sense as Christmas approached. We struggled to keep up with orders, so we increased our prices by 30-50% and orders remained steady.
A couple weeks ago as Christmas demand dwindled, so did our sales, expectedly. However, we were surprised to see another spike just two days ago at 26 sales in one day! Hopefully an indication that this demand will continue outside of Christmas. We ended up doing almost $14k in revenue in December alone.
A little FAQ:
- We only sell physical products. Currently, we only have 4 listings with our main listing bringing in about 82% of orders (which interestingly follows the 80-20 rule).
- We have personally run zero ads. All of our growth has been organic, except for whatever offsite ads that Etsy forces on sellers.
- We have a website that brought in a few sales at the end of the year. I'm a web developer by trade, so I'll be putting more effort on growing our website in 2025.
- We profit around 60-70% per sale. However, we barely took any profit this year as we built up inventory and are now keeping cash on hand going into next year. We expect to sign a lease for a warehouse within the next few months as well, which will eat into profits a bit but hopefully allow us to expand and hire out.
Final advice:
- Focus on SEO immediately! It may seem intimidating at first but it's actually pretty simple once you understand how it works.
- Don't half-ass product photos and videos. Use good lighting, spacing, and color contrast. If you don't know what a good product photo looks like then look at top listings for your niche to get ideas.
- Customer service is key. I know it doesn't come naturally to everyone. It certainly doesn't for me! Luckily, it does for my wife. After each order, she messages the buyer asking if they want their order personalized if they didn't already make any requests. Then, after she has shipped their order, she messages them again to let them know that their package is on the way. She uses a smiley emoji in essentially every message. Buyers mention her awesome customer service in reviews quite often.
- Grow a customer base on social media. We include a business card with a QR code to our Instagram page with each order. This helps us grow our brand and increase brand identity outside of Etsy.
- People around here swear that the only way to be successful on Etsy is to make hundreds of listings. That may help other shops but obviously wasn't true for us. Perfecting your core product is what I would suggest.
- Lastly, and I know that this is the most difficult to do, but be sure pick a niche that is in demand, not oversaturated, and has a culture surrounding it (fitness culture, music culture, etc.). Yes, that is increasingly difficult as more and more stores open up on Etsy, which is why it's increasingly important that you're not yet another store selling the same old stuff. Once you have found the right niche, then focus on putting out the best product.
Hope this helps! I'm happy to answer any questions, and good luck in 2025!
I saw some other posts about their year-end successes and thought I'd join by sharing some insights to hopefully help and encourage other sellers.
My wife and I started our Etsy shop in February not expecting too much, just hoping for a little side income. Our first sale came at the very end of March and then took off about a week later.
The next several weeks were great and we couldn't believe the sudden success. However, sales tapered off through the summer and we went from 10-15 orders per day down to around 4. What I've read around this subreddit is that Etsy sometimes gives new shops a boost in the algorithm to help gain traction, so we figured this was it.
In September, we finally released our second product, basically just a Halloween edition of our main product. Come October, sales went back up to where they had been. We then released a Christmas edition, and by mid-November, we were suddenly doing 20-30 orders each day. Without giving away what the product is, I'll just say that it's very giftable, so this demand made sense as Christmas approached. We struggled to keep up with orders, so we increased our prices by 30-50% and orders remained steady.
A couple weeks ago as Christmas demand dwindled, so did our sales, expectedly. However, we were surprised to see another spike just two days ago at 26 sales in one day! Hopefully an indication that this demand will continue outside of Christmas. We ended up doing almost $14k in revenue in December alone.
A little FAQ:
- We only sell physical products. Currently, we only have 4 listings with our main listing bringing in about 82% of orders (which interestingly follows the 80-20 rule).
- We have personally run zero ads. All of our growth has been organic, except for whatever offsite ads that Etsy forces on sellers.
- We have a website that brought in a few sales at the end of the year. I'm a web developer by trade, so I'll be putting more effort on growing our website in 2025.
- We profit around 60-70% per sale. However, we barely took any profit this year as we built up inventory and are now keeping cash on hand going into next year. We expect to sign a lease for a warehouse within the next few months as well, which will eat into profits a bit but hopefully allow us to expand and hire out.
Final advice:
- Focus on SEO immediately! It may seem intimidating at first but it's actually pretty simple once you understand how it works.
- Don't half-ass product photos and videos. Use good lighting, spacing, and color contrast. If you don't know what a good product photo looks like then look at top listings for your niche to get ideas.
- Customer service is key. I know it doesn't come naturally to everyone. It certainly doesn't for me! Luckily, it does for my wife. After each order, she messages the buyer asking if they want their order personalized if they didn't already make any requests. Then, after she has shipped their order, she messages them again to let them know that their package is on the way. She uses a smiley emoji in essentially every message. Buyers mention her awesome customer service in reviews quite often.
- Grow a customer base on social media. We include a business card with a QR code to our Instagram page with each order. This helps us grow our brand and increase brand identity outside of Etsy.
- People around here swear that the only way to be successful on Etsy is to make hundreds of listings. That may help other shops but obviously wasn't true for us. Perfecting your core product is what I would suggest.
- Lastly, and I know that this is the most difficult to do, but be sure pick a niche that is in demand, not oversaturated, and has a culture surrounding it (fitness culture, music culture, etc.). Yes, that is increasingly difficult as more and more stores open up on Etsy, which is why it's increasingly important that you're not yet another store selling the same old stuff. Once you have found the right niche, then focus on putting out the best product.
Hope this helps! I'm happy to answer any questions, and good luck in 2025!