Build Your Own Creative Business: Why Sell on Etsy? {Day 10}

Welcome back to the Build Your Own Creative Business 31 Day Series! This is {Day 10} of the program (click here to catch up from Day 1). Today we’re going to discuss Etsy, and why you should consider using that marketplace.

This article may surprise a few of my long-time readers, as it’s no secret, Etsy and I don’t always get along. <- That links to my infamous shop suspension story for Handmadeology, and it’s also the article that’s gotten me interviewed by both the Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine.

Nevertheless, I still sell on Etsy, and I regularly encourage other creative businesses to create an online storefront there as well. Why?

Etsy is a recognizable website

And that makes customers trust it. While many people are still unfamiliar with (my own) Energy Shop Jewelry, millions are familiar with Etsy.com. With all of the creative businesses popping up online every day, selling on Etsy adds an extra dose of reputation and accountability to your site.

People aren’t sure who to trust online, but when they shop sites like Etsy, Ebay, or Amazon, they know they have a place to report fraud, non-delivery, and offer feedback. When you’re building a brand from scratch, selling on a recognizable website adds instant credibility.

Etsy is well-organized

Well, it’s well-organized for a new business with low inventory, anyway. It’s clean, simple, and does its job in showcasing your products, brand, and reputation (i.e. your feedback, previous sales, and admirers). Sometimes new creative business owners think they’ll do better off on their own rather than lumped in an already-crowded marketplace. The problem with this is that your site will lack uniformity, and you need your customers to make sense of who you are and what you’re selling upon arrival.

It offers simple set-up

If you have a product and a few good pictures of it, you can create an online storefront for free and open shop today. Etsy is extremely user-friendly, and it will take even the most technically-challenged individual less than an hour to start their own creative business.

Once open, Etsy has more user-friendly shop tools that will help you keep watch of your site’s views, sales, and income earned. It also provides tracking information, allowing you to see the sources of your traffic and keywords used. These stats help you to identify which of your marketing efforts are working and what your customers are looking for – invaluable research for a budding creative business.

It has tools that make selling easier for the beginner

One of my favorite aspects of selling on Etsy has always been the seller apps they offer to help with the running and marketing of your business. There are nine pages (and counting) of tools that connect and enhance your selling experience, and those apps are created to add ease and function to your new shop. Which leads me to my next point …

Etsy is a starter home

For me, it was like a gateway drug to the world of creative entrepreneurship. It’s a brand- and reputation-builder. It’s made as a place for creatives to build, but it’s very possible to outgrow its 26-pages of rules that are ever-evolving, but limiting (and sometimes vague) all the same.

When it comes down to it, one look at Etsy’s home page will tell you whether this website is or isn’t for you. It’s fresh, clean, organic, and artsy. If that’s your style, it’s going to be a perfect start for your creative business. That does it for Day 10, but before we go, please share:

Why do YOU sell on Etsy?

P.S. In honor of the 31 days to Build Your Own Creative Business Series, I’m offering my complete business-boosting e-program, Shop Fundamentals ($57) for $31 while it runs! Click here to learn more.