Starting an Etsy Business For Dummies

Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 2Beyond the Book 2Where to Go from Here 3Part 1: Getting Started with Etsy 5Chapter 1: Handmade for Each Other: Falling in Love with Etsy 7Creative Crusade: Understanding Etsy\'s Purpose and Business Model 8World Up: Introducing the World of Etsy 9Registering with Etsy 9Navigating the Etsy home page 10Understanding your account and your shop 11Discovering what\'s for sale on Etsy 12Ensuring your safety on Etsy 12Storefront and Center: Setting Up Your Storefront 13Sell\'s Angels: Surveying the Etsy Selling Process 14Takin\' Care of Business: Handling Business Matters 15Community Collage: Engaging in the Etsy Community 15Chapter 2: Let\'s Get This Party Started: Signing Up 17Sign Me Up! Becoming a Registered User 17Setting up your account 18Accessing Etsy\'s House Rules and reviewing its Terms of Use 20It\'s a Sign: Signing In 21High Profile: Setting Up Your Public Profile 22Chapter 3: There\'s No Place Like Home: Discovering Etsy\'s Home Page 29Home Sweet Home: Etsy\'s Home Page 30Tonight\'s Head(er)liner: Exploring the Header Bar 31Category Eight: Browsing Etsy\'s Category Links 32But Wait! There\'s More! Exploring More Ways to Shop from Etsy\'s Home Page 33Viewing personalized picks 33Perusing more suggestions from Etsy 35The Velvet Blog: Reading Etsy Blog Posts 36Campaign Promises: Tracking Etsy Campaigns 37Say What? Discovering What Etsy Is 38Playing Footsie: Exploring Footer Links 39Sell on Etsy 39Join the community 40Discover and shop 40Get to know us 41Follow Etsy 41\'Appy Days: Exploring the Home Page on the Etsy App 41Chapter 4: Account Trackula: Navigating Your Etsy Account and the Shop Manager 43Hey You! Exploring the You Menu 44Final Account-down: Managing Your Etsy Account 45Shop Talk: Familiarizing Yourself with the Shop Manager 49Managing your listings 50Accessing conversations 50Handling orders 50Retrieving statistics 51Checking your Etsy finances 51Promoting your shop 51Finding a production partner 52Learning more 52Changing shop settings 52Adding sales channels 53Chapter 5: Buy and Buy: Finding and Purchasing Items on Etsy 55Gimme One Reason: Understanding Why You Should Buy on Etsy 55Go Fish: Using Etsy\'s Search Tool 56Transaction Oriented: Delving into Transaction Details 59A Review to a Kill: Leaving a Review After You Buy 64Case in Point: Filing a Case Against a Seller 65Chapter 6: Safe Word: Maintaining Privacy and Safety on Etsy 69Oh, Behave! Adhering to Etsy\'s House Rules 69Private Party: Guarding Your Privacy on Etsy 71Understanding Etsy\'s Privacy Policy 71Changing your privacy settings 72Choosing a strong password 73Safe Passage: Keeping Yourself Safe on Etsy 74Avoiding scams on Etsy 74Staying safe in Etsy\'s public places 75Making your account more secure 76Using Etsy\'s Seller Protection program 78Brooklyn, We Have a Problem: Reporting Issues to Etsy 79Part 2: If You Build It, They Will Come: Setting Up Your Etsy Shop 81Chapter 7: Sell Coverage: Understanding What You Can and Can\'t Sell on Etsy 83Yes, We Can! Figuring Out What You Can Sell on Etsy 84Selling items you made or designed yourself 84Offering vintage items 85Selling supplies 85Just Say No! Understanding What\'s Not Allowed on Etsy 86Knowing what items are prohibited 86Selling only certain services 87Off with Their Heads! Knowing What Happens If You Break a Rule 87Chapter 8: Come on In! Creating an Eye-Catching Storefront 89Shop to It: Setting Up Your Etsy Shop 90Creating your shop 90Picking a name 91Creating your first listing 92Setting up Etsy Payments 93Setting up your credit card 96Opening your shop 97Picture This: Adding a Cover Photo and Shop Icon to Your Shop 98Title Wave: Adding a Shop Title and Announcement 101All about Me: Adding an About Section 103Let\'s See It! Viewing Your Shop 106Team Edit-ward: Editing Your Shop Settings 108Chapter 9: Policy Academy: Setting Your Shop\'s Policies 109Fair and Square: General Policy Tips 110Policy Wonk: Using Etsy\'s Shop Policies Template 110Shipping 111Payment options 112Returns and exchanges 113Privacy policy 113Publishing your shop policies 115That\'s a FAQ, Jack! Fielding frequently asked questions 116Chapter 10: The Price Is Right! Pricing Your Pieces 119Formulaic Plot: Breaking Down Your Pricing Formulas 120Calculating the cost of materials 120Figuring labor costs 121Adding up overhead 122Understanding the \"times 2\" 122Pricing for wholesale and retail 123Putting it all together 124Eyes on the Price: Evaluating Your Prices 124Assessing your competition\'s pricing 125Studying your target market 125Figuring out how to lower your prices 126Knowing when to raise your prices 126Something Old: Pricing Vintage Items 127How Low Can You Go? Pricing for Sales 128Part 3: She Sells Seashells (And More): Understanding the Etsy Selling Process 129Chapter 11: Say Cheese! Photographing Your Wares 131I\'ll Take That-a-One! Choosing a Camera 132In Style: Styling Your Photos 134Using backgrounds 134Working with props 136Using live models 139Lighting Bug: Lighting Your Shot 140Compose Yourself: Composing Your Shot 143Trying basic composition principles 143Applying the rule of thirds 145Focus, People! Focusing Your Image 147Shoot, Shoot, and Shoot Some More: Taking Lots of Pictures 148Clean-Up on Image Five: Tidying Up Your Photos with Image-Editing Software 148Starting with Pic Monkey and opening a photo 149Editing your photo in Pic Monkey 150Saving your changes 151Chapter 12: Word Up: Composing Engaging Titles and Descriptions 153Headline Muse: Writing Titillating Listing Titles 154Story Time: Telling a Story with Your Listing Description 154Uncovering your item\'s story 155Describing your item 155Composing your listing description 157SEO Speedwagon: Using Search Engine Optimization to Drive Traffic 158Choosing the best keywords 159Using SEO with your listing title and description 160Understanding tags and attributes 161Proofread, Please! Proofreading Your Listing 163Chapter 13: Selling Like Hotcakes: Listing Your Items 165Lister, Lister: Listing a New Item 166Starting the listing process 166Uploading images of your item 168Describing your item 168Adding the price, quantity, and SKU 171Adding variations 172Setting shipping options 174Previewing and publishing your listing 174Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: Editing a Listing 175Copycat: Copying a Listing 178Renewable Resources: Renewing a Listing 178Renewing a sold listing 179Renewing active and expired listings 179Pull the Plug: Deactivating a Listing 180Rearrange Your Face: Rearranging the Listings in Your Etsy Shop 181Feature Comforts: Featuring an Item in Your Etsy Shop 183Chapter 14: Wrap It Up: Closing the Deal 185You\'ve Got Sale: Finding Out You Have a Sale 185Baby Got Track: Keeping Track of Sales 186Guided by Invoices: Handling Invoices 188Show Me the Money: Receiving Payment 189Chapter 15: The Ship Hits the Fan: Shipping Your Items 191The Right (Packaging) Stuff: Obtaining Shipping Supplies 191Package Deal: Showing Your Love and Care with Packaging 192Protecting the item 193Using attractive, brand-friendly packaging 193Including extras in your parcel 193Ship Shop: Comparing Shipping Carriers 194Crafters without Borders: Shipping Internationally 196Ship Happens: Choosing Etsy Shipping Options 197Profile Pick: Saving and Selecting a Shipping Profile 200Print It to Win It: Printing Shipping Labels on Etsy 203Printing a USPS label 203Printing a FedEx label 207Deliverance: Sending Your Package on Its Merry Way 208Marky Mark: Marking the Item as Shipped in Etsy 208Part 4: All Up in Your Bidness: Handling Business Matters 211Chapter 16: High Exposure: Marketing Your Etsy Business 213Brandy, You\'re a Fine Girl: Building Your Brand 214Composing a tag line 215Creating a logo 215Working your brand into all you do 216Poetry in Promotion: Using Etsy Tools to Promote Your Shop 216Advertising your shop 217Creating coupons 220Posting Shop Updates 222Saving Facebook: Promoting Your Etsy Shop on Social Media 225Go Postal: Sending an Email Newsletter 230Chapter 17: You\'ve Been Served: Providing Excellent Customer Service 231Pros and Convos: Accessing Etsy Convos 231Let\'s Talk: Communicating with Buyers 233Answering customer questions 233Giving thanks 234Finding out how they found you 235Communicating with foreign buyers 236Covering all your bases in one short, pleasant message 236Shipping it quickly 237Bungle Fever: Handling a Bungled Transaction and Other Tough Issues 238Prompting a buyer to pay up 238Dealing with lost shipments 239Responding to a negative review 240Dealing with a reported case 240Issuing refunds 242Canceling an order 244Dealing with a difficult customer 245Refusing service to a buyer 246Chapter 18: Business as Usual: Managing Your Etsy Store 247Paradise by the Dashboard Light: Using the Shop Manager Dashboard 248\"I\'m Just a Bill\": Paying Your Etsy Bill 249Taxing Matters: Appeasing Uncle Sam 251Collecting sales tax 251Paying quarterly income tax and filing your annual tax return 253Identifying tax deductions 254Recording Artist: Keeping Accurate Records 255Using QuickBooks for Etsy 256Using spreadsheet software to manage your shop 257One Track Mind: Tracking and Analyzing Shop Stats 258An App a Day: Using Etsy Apps to Run Your Store 260Too Legit to Quit: Making Your Business Legit 263The Artist Is Out: Switching to Vacation Mode 265Hanging It Up: Closing Your Etsy Shop 267Chapter 19: Growing Your Etsy Business 269You Got the Whole(sale) World in Your Hands: Selling Wholesale on Etsy 269Howdy Partner: Finding Shop Helpers and Production Partners 275Hiring shop helpers 275Using Etsy Manufacturing to find production partners 276Pattern-Cake, Pattern-Cake: Building a Custom Shop with Pattern 283Going Mobile: Taking Your Etsy Show on the Road 285Part 5: Commune System: Exploring the Etsy Community 291Chapter 20: Community Building: Joining the Etsy Community 293Talk among Yourselves: Using Etsy Forums 293Accessing Etsy forums 294Viewing and responding to posts in a thread 295Starting a new thread 298Go Team! Exploring Etsy Teams 299Searching for an Etsy team 300Joining an Etsy team 301Starting your own Etsy team 303Event Horizon: Staying Apprised of Etsy Events 304Miss Manners: Respecting Community Etiquette 305Chapter 21: OMG, Did You Hear? Keeping Up with Etsy News 307All the News That\'s Fit to Print: Exploring the Etsy Blog 307Mail Bonding: Signing Up for Etsy Email Newsletters 310Sifting through different types of email newsletters 311Subscribing to email newsletters 311Social Skills: Staying in Touch Using Social Media 313Proto Baggins: Joining Etsy Prototypes 314Chapter 22: A Love-Love Relationship: Showing Your Love for Other Etsy Sellers 315Por Favorite: Favoriting on Etsy 316Favoriting items and shops 316Viewing favorited items and shops 316Organizing favorite items 319Removing a Favorite 321Follow Me! Following Others on Etsy 322Following another Etsy member 322Viewing your Etsy \"circle\" 323Checking your activity feed 324Chapter 23: Help! Getting It When You Need It 325Handy Dandy: Reading the Seller Handbook 325Search and Rescue: Searching for Help on Etsy 326People Person: Getting Personalized Help 329Using the Questions forum 329Contacting Etsy Support 330Part 6: The Part of Tens 333Chapter 24: Ten Terrific Tips for Etsy Sellers 335Have a Place for Everything 335Save Time with Twosies 336Organize Your Paperwork 336Use What You Discover from Other Shops 336Offer Service with a Smile 336Network, Network, Network 337Send an Email Newsletter 337Learn to Say No 337Never Give In 337Have Fun! 338Chapter 25: Ten Strategies for Marketing Your Etsy Shop 339Offer Tiered Pricing 339Understand That Giving Begets Giving 340Provide a Guarantee 340Consider a Loyalty Program 340Impose a Deadline 340Create a Great Email Signature 341Connect with Social Media 341Make Google Your Best Friend 341Use Your Items in the Real World 341Help Your Community 342Index 343