Some love it and some hate it, but it has an undeniable draw and exceptional abilities.
What is Etsy, anyway?
Etsy is a community platform which hosts shops and is also home to a powerful internal search engine.
I’m not going to talk about fees today, the company going public in 2015, or the classification or quality of items allowed on the site, as those have been discussed many times.
I want to talk about the Etsy myth – namely, that anything can sell on Etsy.
For context, I’ve been selling on Etsy since 2007, so I’ve had a pretty good run of experience with it.
Tell me more about the Etsy myth…
For a little more context, my first Etsy shop was active from 2007 through about 2014. During that time I shipped many, many hand sculpted pendants and necklaces to over 35 countries worldwide. I got lucky honestly, in that I was offering a niche product just at a time when it hit pop culture consciousness in a big way.
I do consider that luck. I know now to use words like “niche”, “competition”, and “demand”, but in 2007, I just knew that people had begun looking and by some stroke of fate, I had just started offering that item (and to my knowledge, I was the first on Etsy to do so).
I tell you all this both to underscore my experience with Etsy, and also to explain that I was offering something fairly specialized that required above average skill to produce. My intention is not to toot my own horn, but this will become relevant in a moment.
Now onto the Etsy myth…
In my first several years of business, I saw a surprising number of sales (honestly, I was pleasantly stunned). I was also at this time involved in the local craft fair circuit, and was managing the marketplace for an annual festival. I knew the scene.
Please hear my heart when I say this next part…the myth is this – “oh that’s so cute, you should sell it on Etsy!”
Anyone who handmade anything was told this. I overheard it again and again. It was about drawings, crocheted items, 2 part earrings that consisted of a charm looped onto a stainless steel ear wire.
They were cute, no doubt. And yes, anyone COULD sell anything on Etsy. That just doesn’t mean anyone is buying.
Already an Etsy veteran with an active shop, I’d be asked for advice on opening a shop and I was happy to give it. The thing that was always missing though, was the strategy and the awareness of having a target market. If I could do it, anyone could, right?
Right! But also wrong. Because in a veritable sea of online offerings, something that doesn’t stand out simply doesn’t stand much of a chance. I got lucky and stumbled into a healthy niche. Not everyone get that lucky, and certainly not every time.
Why does a strategy matter for Etsy success?
What I’ve just explained was true in the 2009-2012 range, and it’s even more true today with even more products available. Within allowed items of course, you can list anything you wish on Etsy, but that doesn’t mean anyone will buy it.
In fact, it doesn’t mean that anyone will even see it. This is where the Etsy myth really hits. Just because you can offer something doesn’t guarantee success, or even visibility.
It’s a downer, I know. But the simple fact is that without demand, supply is irrelevant. You can have the most incredible item in the world, but without keywords that people are searching for, no one will see it.
Many successful sellers make bank on Etsy using only organic traffic (meaning, views coming from the Etsy search engine rather than direct traffic or advertising). These sellers know how to not just use keywords, but research and validate keywords, and then create and offer items that are in high demand with low competition.
That’s a business strategy! And amazing for those who it works for!
It’s not really how I work though, personally. I’m interest driven and don’t have the focus to exert energy on things that I don’t enjoy like that.
Which brings me to probably, the biggest point I want to make here, and maybe the one that is most relevant to you too…
So how do I sell the items I want to sell on Etsy?
If you’re like me and driven by interest rather than business (and that’s okay, remember Etsy started as an ARTISAN community – it’s cool if you’re there because you’re an artist and not a business mind), how do you sell the items you want on Etsy?
Well, to put it simply, you do your best.
- You give Etsy as much of what it wants as you can, creating “trust markers” on the platform that shows the algorithm that you’re 1) a human rather than a robot, 2) trustworthy and service oriented, 3) offer a great product.
- You find ways to differentiate your products from the rest of the pack and find keywords that perform to drive traffic to them
- You use supportive methods to drive traffic (advertising, social media, etc.)
- You manage your expectations.
Education helps bust the Etsy myth
For all these reasons and more, I’ve created The Seller’s Checklist for Etsy Shop Success to help new and experienced sellers sidestep the Etsy myth and boost their shop’s performance. With tons of tips and info, plus a printable self audit for your shop, you’ll learn how to set up your shop for optimal performance within the confines of what is possible.
Once more, find The Seller’s Checklist for Etsy Shop Success here, and be sure to check back soon as I talk a bit more about finding and using keywords to boost your Etsy SEO.