Etsy Pros and Cons 2022 is my answer to a question on Quora: https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-benefits-and-cons-of-being-a-seller-on-Etsy/answer/James-Dillehay
I’ve been an Etsy seller along with selling on Amazon Handmade, at craft fairs and selling wholesale to stores. My answer to what are the Etsy pros and cons in 2022 is slighted toward having an Etsy shop, because it works so well as part of my overall business model. Here goes:
Etsy Pros and Cons 2022
Pros:
- Etsy is free to join and create an Etsy shop. There are no monthly subscription fees.
- Etsy was started around the idea of a community marketplace for those who love and want to “buy handmade.” Etsy remains the top site for selling handmade items.
- You don’t have to mess with building or adding a shopping cart to a web site. Etsy’s shopping cart is easy for customers. This is evidenced by the size of Etsy’s continued growth. People would not come back to buy if they were unhappy with the experience.
- Etsy makes setting up and managing product listings easy. After your first product listing is created, you can copy it, then change the details and images for the next listing. Especially useful if you are selling variations on a single product.
- Etsy is more of a community than most online platforms. Anyone think of Amazon as a community? I don’t.
- Etsy payments are fast, especially compared to selling on Amazon Handmade. My Etsy sales get deposited around 48 hours. Amazon pays me every two weeks.
- Etsy doesn’t charge a monthly fee. Amazon Handmade requires you get their Professional Seller account at $40 a month.
- Etsy seller fees are low. It costs .20 to list an item for 3 months. They take 6.5% of the sale (+ around 3% credit card transaction fee) at the time of a sale. Amazon takes 15%.
- Etsy has a deal with the USPS that discounts shipping when purchasing postage through their site.
- Etsy sellers can offer gift cards or gift certificates.
- When I do craft shows, sometimes shoppers don’t buy but do want my business card to see my online store. My cards clearly display my Etsy store web address. I would guess that those extra Etsy sales have increased my overall Etsy business by 25%.
- It’s easy to link to Etsy from social media accounts. Etsy sellers can connect their profiles on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. Then, you can post your special deals, new items, 5-star reviews and recent favorites — to all your social media sites at the same time.
- I have had store owners see my work on Etsy and contact me to learn if I wholesale, which I do. I have a 50% coupon set up with a minimum order of 12 items. This makes collecting payment from store accounts easy and fast to my bank account.
Cons:
- There are a lot of whiners and complainers among Etsy sellers. If you hang out in the forums and take in the negative chats, it can influence your decisions. Personally, I don’t listen to the small complaints. Odds are these people would be complaining no matter where they were selling.
- Etsy isn’t magic. If you are thinking to throw up some product listings and immediately start selling to Etsy shoppers, think again. You have to research your products and competition and stay on top of changes. It’s work, but can pay off if you stay with it.
- It can take a few months of work (research and tweaking) to get results. Be patient.
- Customizing the appearance of your Etsy store is limited. You get more flexibility with your own website.
- Etsy is a publicly traded stock. This means management answers to shareholders who for the most part only care about a return on their money. I thought it was a sad day when Etsy went public. Many sellers felt the heart go out the window in favor of Wall Street bucks.
- It’s easy to get overwhelmed and intimidated by the sheer number of competitors for products like yours on Etsy. I had around 2,000 competing sellers for my main item when I started. I just kept going and eventually got my items on the first page of search results for keywords and phrases my buyers use.
- The more popular your shop becomes, the more likely your product ideas will get copied. Get used to it. This is normal for any online business. Solution: keep looking for more products to add.
- If you do something a customer doesn’t like, their negative review can influence future success. So don’t do anything wrong.
Thinking of selling on Etsy? Check out this post on ways to boost your Etsy shop sales: https://craftmarketer.com/what-is-the-best-way-to-drive-up-sales-on-etsy/
Whether you sell on Etsy or Amazon Handmade or elsewhere, post and link for free to items in your handmade products store in this Facebook group for buying and selling handmade items. Apply at: Buy Sell Handmade Marketplace