This is a guest post from yesterday’s featured interview, the Mousesnaps ladies Nova & Mimi. Their Etsy website is rolling along and today they are sharing with us tips on how to sell well on Etsy. You might also want to check out another Abundant Artist post on how to sell your art online.
How to Sell Art on Etsy
Invest in your photos. Photos on any online store do much more than just showcase your item – they represent how seriously you take your business and the overall quality of your products. Invest in a good camera, learn basic photography techniques, and take plenty of photos for your shop. Of course, not everyone is a convincing photographer. Only half of the Mousesnaps team knows her way around a digital camera. If you can’t seem to take good photos, enlist the help of a friend who’s more skilled or has a better camera. A lot of amateur photographers will be willing to take photos if you offer them a photo credit on your site.
[Note: Check out our guide on How to Photograph and Edit Your Art for Your Site]
Stage your postings. When you post a new item on Etsy, it’s listed at the top of the corresponding section for a short period of time. This gives you and your store increased visibility. Each time Mousesnaps has had a major sale or inquiry, it’s been immediately after a new posting. If you have several items to upload, it makes sense to space your postings over a period of days to maximize your exposure.
Take advantage of categories and tags. Etsy’s suggested tags are there for a reason – they’re common items people look for on the site. Use Etsy’s suggested language instead of your own. For example, if you’re selling a set of kitchen towels, be sure to use the “towel” tag. Don’t skip that tag and instead create your own “kitchen towel” tag – you will miss anyone who comes to the site and just searches using the towel tag. If you have available tags left for your posting after you’ve selected any appropriate ones Etsy has listed, feel free to create your own.
Leverage your personal networks. Cross-promote your Etsy posts on your Facebook page, your blog, or Twitter (Editor’s note: I’d also add Flickr. People go looking for images and see your stuff). Etsy even has a toolbar feature that lets you share your new listings on Facebook, provided you’re logged into both sites. But keep in mind that no one likes to be marketed to all the time – so be sure to keep it entertaining for those in your networks. Don’t only tweet when you’re posting a new item. And don’t only update your blog once a week when you’re adding something new to your store. Keep people involved in your business by posting anecdotes about your creation process, giving an inside look at something as it’s being completed, or just keeping people up to date on your related endeavors. It’s much more interesting that way.
Selling Art on Etsy Isn’t That Hard
Do the math. Calculate the cost of your materials, your time and Etsy fees to price your products appropriately. Don’t just pick a round number because it sounds good. Also – be honest with yourself about how much you’re charging. A good way to test the quality of your product against your price is by going to a flea market or craft fair and setting up a booth. People will be brutally honest if they think your product is overpriced. And similarly, if your product is flying off the table, you know you can raise your price. Last year, Mimi and I were selling at a local fair when someone tried to buy an item that we said was “$4.” The customer thought we said “$14,” and was still willing to buy it. We sold it at $4 anyway (we’re cool like that), but we knew we could land on a price at least a couple of dollars higher.
Check out the competition. Routinely patrol Etsy for sellers who are making your product or something similar. Are they cheaper? Does their product look better? Adjust your listings so that you’re competitively priced. If you think you have a superior product, explain the difference in your product descriptions. Remember what we said about the photos – appearance is everything! Make sure your store has an awesome shop name, too.
Love what you do. It sounds so corny, but you have to like what you’re doing to be successful. It’s a real shocker that the two of us love mousetraps so much – but it’s true! We’ve had huge orders come in and had to drop plans and paint all day and night to get them out. It was strangely fun for us, so we know we’re on the right track.
I liked this. While I’m not exactly an “artist” I would like to sell some things on Etsy and you gave some excellent tips here that I will follow when I do. Thank you!
.-= Gabrielle Valentine´s last blog ..Sometimes We Drive. And Sing. And Pretend To Be Oompa Loompas. =-.
I heard of Etsy some 5 years ago (may be earlier). It was during the era of Yessy and BoundlessGallery. I was discourage due to PayPal police towards my country as at that time, Nigerians were banned from using their facility.
Just today, I joined the site but I am wondering if it is worth it. When I looked around, I found a lot of non traditional art. Are these online galleries profitable anymore?
Unlike when I first attempted to join, I know all the ‘tricks’ of tagging, spacing uploads, using keywords and competitive pricing. But I also know that the online art industry isn’t what it use to be. Most of the people who has huge sales records are all ‘old timers’ (they have been on the site for years and I know a few of them has their own group of followers/collectors). I just hope I don’t waste my time and internet.
Well, Tugis, please do keep up posted! Anything new to report from the online selling department? 🙂
Hi I just discovered this website and it’s amazing
But I am a freelancer i can do portraits and realistic drawing so can sell the service on Etsy
(just like fiverr) i mean people who interested would send me their photos and i draw them
Hello,
African Art- modern styles are really on trend now, so if that is what you do I think your work will become popular and sell. Good luck!
Jane
These are some great tips and I already use some of these for my Zazzle store front. I’ve found that even after employing some of these strategies, my sales are still rather low. Sure, I know I’m knew at this and 3 months is surely not enough time to gauge future success. You really need to have a gift, I think, for creating amazing products to be successful in the end. Learning how to use a camera and properly expose and compose your shot is really just the beginning. I’ve taken several thousand shots in the past 3 years and learned much about the technical stuff. But delivering the “WOW” factor in your work really counts. Regardless of how much money I earn I will always be taking snaps. But it would be a dream life to make a living on the net doing what I do.
You may want to check-out Storemate.com and Artfire.com as good alternatives.
If you want something different try out storemate.com, I registered on storemate.com and seen some sharp increase in the traffic directed to my website.
Unlike Etsy and Artfire they are not restricted to handmade stuff. I get to promote to a bigger audience (all design buffs).
Their “Talk-About” feature has got me more connected to my customers where I help them with custom options, shipping queries in realtime. I surprise my customers with exclusive discounts during these sessions and that returned heavy sales and followers.
Been looking at selling on Etsy for awhile. Thanks for the info as it definitely helps!
Thanks for all these usefull tips!!!!!
I started my research into online selling with this article, and I’m glad I did. It was well-written, upbeat and had very useful suggestions, especially about the pricing.
Just starting on the web, but have lots of sculptures.
Stone, iron, and most recently,a multi-media life-size statue that looks like a bronze… but only weighs app. 100 lbs.
How do I start to sell my art?
Hi! I just wanted to thank you for all of the great tips! I’m trying to make the money myself to go to a robotics competition in January but had never sold my artwork before. I’m absolutely positive this article will help me along the way! 😀
Wishing you the best,
Ellie
Good luck Ellie!
Selling art on Etsy is extremely hard. Setting up a shop is easy. The competition is colossal and daunting and most Etsy buyers look for heavily discounted decorative art. Renewing/relisting unsold items can get quite expensive over time. That said, it’s worth a try so best wishes to all who venture there 🙂
Where would you suggest selling for artists who aren’t great at networking??
I have really wanted to start selling my art canvases on Etsy however I do not know how to mail the canvases. How do you prepare it for shipping? How much does it cost? I’m really new to all of this. If you could help me it would be greatly appreciated!
ULine is a distributor of packing materials and they make mailers especially designed for shipping artwork both 2D and 3D.
For any type of Paintings..
I tried Etsy, but in 2 weeks I had only one visit in my page, so I deleted my profile. Need to find better place.
Hey!!
My name is Terri Woodfin and I’m extremely interested in selling my art on ETSY! However, I have never been an Artist before. I’m a nurse of 12 years and just recently had a baby and I started doing abstract art and sold almost every piece I have ever done! People seem to love my pieces. I have done a Gallery Show of 35 pieces over a 4 hour period and sold 30 pieces. I have never taken an art class, but would like to know a little more about what you do to help new artist like me sell my work. I do own my own business out of my house and have a website, but I think i need to take better photos of my paintings or something to help sell them. Please help! Thank you soooo much!! ____ T.W.
Thank you so much! I loved all of this advice…
Cory, I’ve been on Etsy for 6 years. At first, the focus was on unique individual artists and sales were OK. As of 2013, the major sales are for mass production items and suppliers of things such as t-shirts, prints, jewelry supplies and posters. The small indie artists are buried deep under the mass postings of these large companies that can afford paying for ads and costs of continuous postings. Many of my artist friends are leaving and I plan on doing the same when I find a better venue. I hope you can take another look at Etsy with a updated post because this post is out of date. I did some research on Etsy and share my personal view point & experiences with Etsy on my blog: http://www.GlassLampworkingByPatsyEvins.com “Etsy Top Sellers”
Hi Patsy, I agree with you at least in part. This post is definitely old, and there are definitely some challenges with being seen on Etsy. That’s not any different than any other site that lets people create their own accounts for free.
I do know artists who are successful on Etsy, but it’s mostly because they’ve built up their own following and they use Etsy as a traffic source and showcase, not as their primary sales venue.
A well written article with some good points to ponder (especially the “flea market test”), but it is a bit lacking in the areas that are most important to anyone contemplating selling for the first time. For example, how does one safely ship a print? Roll it in a tube? What if the print is matted an framed already? (shipping flat mounted artwork via a safe carrier such as Fedex, in packaging designed for mailing prints, can cost more than the print itself is worth). Should I get a quality photo printer and do the prints myself, or use an outside service, and do most buyers have a preference? This article does offer some good and sound advice, but there are also some important points missing and I wish they had been covered.
Hi Mark – this article is a couple of years old and the Mousesnaps ladies aren’t in business any more. There are lots of resources online for learning to sell on Etsy.
I do think that we need to create an article on shipping art – thanks for the suggestion!
I definitely agree– info on shipping would be greatly appreciated!
Hi when you get a response would you keep me updated too. I have always done shows need to sell my art. I’ve never used the internet for that. Good luck. diannadima62443@gmail.com
I enjoy what you guys are up too. Such clever work
and exposure! Keep up the awesome works guys I’ve
incorporated you guys to my own blogroll.
I’d like to know if there is someone interested to buy my drawings of jewels on papers for execution
I would like to show my work online,with a view to selling,I cannot seem to find any page dedicated to unknown artists can you help
A nice camera does not make one a great photographer anymore than a sharp scalpel makes a great surgeon. It’s a tool.
What about paying taxes as you set up an online account? How does this work? I want to help my mom sell her crafts! She’s amazing…I’m the photographer, she’s the crafter. But I am not sure how the taxation comes into play.
I am new to this and don’t understand how to do the technical part of getting my paintings onto etsy. I don’t see directions anywhere on how to sign up and download a product.
Can you help me?
I want that people can lyk my sketch.. Or can buy my art also.
I’m new at painting and really got the bug. I paint on my boat and at home. Started as just a fun thing to do and got friends and family who live what I’ve done. My husband keeps asking me what I was going to do with my pieces. I DIDN’t see any information on collecting
money from clients/ buyers. I have questions on how safe and my husband is not wanting me to open PayPal in fear of someone doing damage…any advice on this????
About PayPal. First, I’ve had a PayPal account selling art from my website for about 10 years. If it weren’t for PayPal, at least in the beginning, I could never have sold online. Second, PayPal is one of, if not the largest, online banking transaction company around. There are no guarantees in life, as Target, Home Depot, and others have learned. But, PayPal is about as safe as you can get online as far as I’m concerned. Transactions are easy, quick, efficient. And, now even Wal-Mart carries PayPal. When setting up PayPal, set up a banking account just for PayPal use and transfer money into that account when needed. I do almost all my shopping online these days, and I almost won’t do business with anyone who does not offer PayPal. This way, your credit card info isn’t scattered all over there and yonder and is with only one source…..PayPal. Do it. You won’t regret it.
This Pay Pal info sounds good. My husband, a geek who worked in government security, says be wary of Pay Pal. Your way of doing it, though, insures security. Thanks for the information.
I have been painting for about a year and have had little success so far. I have tried 2 galleries and nothing, but have sold one painting to a relative. I put my paintings up on facebook and artpal but get nothing but nice work or it is beautiful etc. I even was on etsy and did a lot of crafts there with no success. What am I doing wrong?
Giving up on painting.
Thanks for any help.
A dull scalpel isn’t of much use to a brilliant surgeon though. The best photographer who ever lived might take a good picture with an old cellphone, and that picture would still be a low res cellphone picture.
Any one can help me am new
Any way I can see your work
@patsy Hi Patsy! I hear what you’re saying and I love your hand made glass blown beads as well as your art. I also like the website you created and wonder where could I get one too?
Keep up the awesome work!
High all,
my problem is I tend to spend weeks on one painting and keep the details and quality high
therefore, so when I read above that people paint all night to fill the orders, I must be marketing wrong.
my works range from $600. to $990.is Etzy.com, or Facebook the wrong place for me?
http://investmentart.weebly.com
Hi Dears:
I have question regarding selling watercolor painting online, can anybody help me how can i start??????
Hi Dears:
I have question regarding selling Stone painting online, can anybody help me how can i start?????
Hello.
I’ve been planning to sell art on Etsy after finishing highschool later this year. I guess what I specialize in is character designing, including drawing designs based on written biodata and character sheets. Is this possibly a good type of art to sell?
If not, I might just offer character headshots for conventions and stuff haha uwu
Thoughts?
I’m just getting used to the idea of selling my artwork on line… your tips and even the comments below your tips are very helpful! Thank you.
Artfully,
KC
How do I go about selling the photos of my art and craftswork and photo of my original hand painting on Etsy? can I direct people from etsy to go and view where they can buy my works in prints? Does etsy have a print-on-demand like other site so that I’ll only submit my jpg of my desing to etsy, they the etsy will do the printing and ship the print to the customer, then pay me my royalty?
I have written fifty-four books and painted over five hundred paintings. Now, I need a way to introduce them to the public for sale. If you can help me, I would like that.
I am looking to post my artworks on Etsy for sale…how do I do that?
Me too
AWESOME IDEAS!! I can also recommend @josh.dring one of my favourite artists on Instagram. You can see his art prints on Etsy!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/joshdring ❤️