Questions to Ask before Starting an Etsy Business

Are you willing to start selling on Etsy? This guide is going to help you get started with the right foot. You are going to learn how to set your store up correctly, how to promote and how to price your products, and many other useful things.

Do I Need To Pay Tax On My Etsy Sales?

Sellers under 16 years of age don’t have to pay any tax on their Etsy income. If you are over 16, you may want to check out the self-employment section on the HMRC website.

How Do I Set My Prices?

You have to do a research on Etsy to see what other shops sell products that are similar to yours. You should always try to price your products according to your desired hourly rate, but you also need to take into account whether you can find potential customers at that price. You can use other sellers as reference when setting your own prices.

How Do I Get Paid For My Etsy Sales?

A small percentage of your earnings is taken by Etsy as a service fee. This percentage depends on your area of residence. In the US, this fee is about 20 cents for four months of having your product listed on Etsy. You also need to calculate about 4% of your price on top of this flat fee. This 4% is deducted only on products you actually sell, so no sales, no such commissions. In order to get paid, you are going to need a PayPal account and a bank account. You can’t open an Etsy shop without them, as you are going to need to receive the money from your buyers and to be able to refund them if needed.

In order to open a PayPal account, you need a debit or credit card, a physical address and a phone number. PayPal will serve as a payment processor. The money from your clients goes to PayPal, and from there you can withdraw it into your bank account via the debit or credit card. Postage charges are also included here. It is possible that PayPal puts your funds on hold sometimes until the client confirms the goods arrived in good condition. Etsy is going to send you monthly bills for all your fees, which you are going to be able to pay straight from your PayPal account.

How Do I Have To Package My Etsy Products?

You can package your products as you wish. Etsy doesn’t have any requirements. However, if you ship fragile items, you may want to use bubble wrap in order to make sure they arrive safely at their destination. The packaging should draw attention and contain some form of branding, so that people can recognize your Etsy shop and associate your products with it. It’s a good idea to include a business card, a thank you letter or a presentation leaflet printed out on some nice paper. The presentation is up to you, but you should be aware that the most important thing for your customers is to receive their products in perfect shape. Everything else you may decide to add to your packaging is an added bonus.

What Are The Shipping Costs On Etsy?

As shipping fees may add up quickly, it’s a good idea to put a limit on the weight of the parcels to be shipped outside the country. You should put your shipping and packaging costs on Etsy in accordance with your real costs. Your customers expect to pay such fees, so don’t try to hide them inside the product price. Using quality cardboard and polythene packaging also helps your image – remember that. This is not a favour, so list your packaging and shipping costs very clearly on the website.

Can I Sell On Etsy If I’m Not From The US?

Yes, you can sell your products on Etsy even if you aren’t a resident of the US.