If you’re an artist looking for a new way to sell your artwork, look no further than Etsy. Not only is Etsy an excellent platform for connecting with customers who appreciate handmade items, digital art, and original art pieces, and it also offers many advantages—from convenience and affordability to scalability.
This complete guide will walk you through all the necessary steps, from setting up your shop to navigating fees so that you can successfully create an income stream through selling your art on Etsy.
If you are trying to develop some DIY projects for Etsy, check out 22 Creative Things To Sell On Etsy.
Create An Etsy Shop Overview
1. Choose your shop name carefully
Your shop name is how you’ll be known on Etsy, and it’s the first thing buyers will see when considering your work online. So take some time to choose a name that reflects the type of products you sell and is easy to remember and pronounce.
2. Set up your shop
Now it’s time to set up your Etsy shop. You’ll need to choose a shop location, payment methods, and shipping options. A successful Etsy shop starts with the basics, well-written shipping options, and store policies.
3. Create attractive listings
When creating product listings, use high-quality photos and descriptive text that include Etsy keywords that accurately describe the product. This will help your products stand out from other Etsy sellers and attract buyers.
4. Promote your shop
Once you’ve created your listings, it’s time to start promoting your Etsy shop. There are many ways to do this, including social media, blogging, online advertising, and participating in Etsy teams.
5. Provide excellent customer service
If you want buyers to keep returning to your Etsy shop, it’s essential to provide excellent customer service. This includes responding quickly to buyer inquiries, offering refunds or exchanges if necessary, and shipping orders promptly, and using the proper packing materials to ensure the product arrives safely.
6. Keep your prices competitive
Keeping your prices in line with those of other sellers in your market is essential. If your prices are too high, buyers may look elsewhere; you may not make a profit if they’re too low. Use Etsy’s pricing tools to help you determine what price point is right for you.
7. Stay organized
Selling art on Etsy can be a lot of work, so staying organized is important. This means keeping track of inventory levels, orders, listing renewals, and more. Many software programs and apps can help with this; find one that works best for you and your business.
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Sell Art On Etsy With High-Quality Images
Sharing high-quality images online is crucial. It can not emphasize enough if you are interested in building a successful Etsy shop.
The first step is to purchase a good camera to take great pictures of your work. If you don’t want to spend any money on a new camera in the beginning, use the one on your phone. Smartphones have decent cameras, but if you are interested in selling prints of your original artwork, you need more than a nice camera. You will want to invest in a digital camera.
1. Use a high-quality camera
To sell your art on Etsy, you must use a high-quality camera to photograph your work. This will help to ensure that your photos are clear and accurately represent the colors and details of your artwork. A DSLR camera is a good option, but you can also use a smartphone with a good camera if you don’t have access to a DSLR. Taking the time to create great images of your product will attract more buyers to your Etsy shop.
2. Use natural lighting
Whenever possible, try to use natural lighting when photographing your artwork. This will help to bring out the colors and details of your work. If you’re photographing indoors, set up near a window where plenty of natural light is coming in.
3. Use a tripod
A tripod will help keep your camera steady and prevent blurry photos. If you don’t have a tripod, you can prop your camera up on a stack of books or something similar.
4. Use a plain background
When photographing your artwork, it’s best to use a plain background so that the focus is on the artwork itself. A white sheet or piece of poster board makes a good backdrop. If you’re photographing outdoors, find an area with an open sky as your background.
5. Edit your photos
Once you’ve taken some photos of your artwork, take some time to edit them before uploading them to Etsy. This will help ensure they look their best before potential buyers see them. You can use photo editing software like Photoshop or Lightroom, or many free online photo editors are available.
6. Upload multiple photos
When listing your artwork for sale on Etsy, upload multiple photos from different angles so buyers can get a good idea of what the piece looks like. You should also include at least one close-up photo so Etsy shoppers can see your work’s details.
Best Cameras For Photography:
- Nikon D800 Digital SLR Camera Body (36.3 M/P)
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-G85
- Canon EOS Rebel SL2 DSLR Camera
- Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-RX100 V Digital Camera (20.1 M/P)
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Selling Paintings On Etsy
To Create an Etsy listing, login to your Etsy Store and click Crete Listing.
The first step is to upload a digital image of your art from your computer.
The recommended image size for listings is 2000px for the shortest side and a resolution of 72DPI.
Etsy allows you to have up to 10 images per listing.
Next, you will add the title of your painting. It is crucial to add keywords in the title description and the tags. More information about keywords will be explained later in this post.
Fill in the about this listing section:
- Who made it
- What is it
- When was it made
Add a category so shoppers can find your Etsy listing.
Decide if you want the listing to renew automatically or manually.
Type of product:
- Physical
- Digital
Description of the product
Next, add the price, quantity, SKU (optional), variations, if any and if you allow personalization.
The last step is to add the shipping information and then click publish.
Space Your Postings
A new Etsy listing will be showcased at the top of the search results for a short period.
The more engagement an Etsy listing receives, the longer it will stay on top.
This little boost gives your products increased visibility, increasing your business brand and your sales.
Consider creating a weekly posting schedule and see what days and times work best for you.
You might find better results if you post an item once every three days rather than posting three things simultaneously. The objective is to have your work seen by as many potential customers as possible.
Brand Your Etsy Shop
To be discovered by people shopping online, you must take the time to market and brand yourself.
Take some time thinking about the background colors, font style, logo, and policies you will have for your Etsy business.
Branding starts with consistency with your listings, so art buyers will begin recognizing your art when scrolling through Etsy. Your images should be consistent, and your products’ descriptions should be similar.
Create a template for your art listings to save time when uploading new products.
The template you create will make it easy for you to stay consistent with each listing.
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Utilize Etsy’s Categories And Tags
Tags (keywords) are shoppers’ words on Etsy to discover new products. When potential customers type in a phase into Etsy’s search bar, a list of related products will be displayed.
Using tags that best describe your product will help Etsy showcase your posts to people interested in purchasing your creations.
Optimize Titles And Descriptions With Keywords
Keywords are the same thing as Etsy’s tags. Adding keywords that describe your art will make it easier for people to discover your products in search.
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Create Etsy Categories
Categories make it easy for your shoppers to discover similar items you offer instead of scrolling down a hundred listings.
There are a lot of Etsy paintings for sale. Make it easy for your viewers to find what they are searching for.
For example, create a category for each group if you paint wildlife, landscapes, and domestic pets.
The categories will make it a more pleasant shopping experience for your buyers.
To learn how to create categories (Etsy Shop Sections), visit How To Create And Manage Shop Sections.
Promote Your Etsy Listings On Your Art Blog
Your art blog will be your traffic-generating machine. Your blog will attract and drive your target audience to your Etsy listings.
When people land on your website, you can direct them to your Etsy shop or a particular sales page.
It takes some time to see blogging results, so it is essential to start it once you open your shop.
When your blog starts to be ranked by search engines, you will notice traffic to your Etsy shop will increase.
The more people you can drive to your artwork, the better your chance to sell it.
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Grow Your Email List
Start building your email list from day one.
Gather emails from opt-in forms on your blog and social media accounts.
Ask everyone who has purchased if they would like to receive updates.
Send out weekly, bi-weekly or monthly newsletters to keep your following updated with your new Etsy listings.
Your email list will be the biggest asset to your online business.
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- Ultimate Email Marketing Guide for Selling Art Online
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Increase Etsy Sales Through Social Media
You can engage with your target audience in new ways with social media. Social networks are perfect for sellers who want their product or service seen by as many people as possible.
Just join different groups related to the products/services that interested parties enjoy using on these platforms, then share photos of what’s available while engaging actively through conversations. It’ll help build a strong brand identity while increasing sales on your Etsy store because customers feel connected when they receive feedback directly from those they’re buying from, eventually becoming loyal customers.
To keep people returning to your social media pages, create a strong brand identity that you want people to remember when they see your posts. And remember to keep things fresh, so mix up your content with valuable items you sell.
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Identify Your Competitors
To run a successful Etsy store, you must first understand how competitive online purchasing is. These words hold little meaning, but looking around your competitors’ shops might provide important information.
Look for artists whose work is comparable in size and substance to yours to obtain the most knowledgeable view on what sells.
The next aspect to consider is the price of their services.
To avoid being overpriced, you must promote the work of art at reasonable costs. Many artists are forced to charge excessive amounts since they are time-consuming to produce, shipping costs are high, and materials are costly to buy.
Study Other Artists
One of the best ways to learn is by watching others.
Take some time to research other artists on Etsy and see what they are doing to build their business.
After researching a few different Etsy artists, you will discover some common strategies they are using.
Take note of these and see if you can incorporate them into your strategy.
Do not try to invent the wheel. If a strategy is working, use it.
Another great feature Etsy offers is the Etsy Community.
You can join a team, browse the forums, or start a discussion.
It is easy to find the answer to any question in the Etsy Community.
Build Your Reputation
Selling art is a customer service business.
You are providing products and services to people.
Take care of your customers, and they will take care of you.
Strive to provide excellent customer service.
Everyone who purchases from you will have nothing but good things to say about you and your Etsy Shop.
How To Make Money Selling On Etsy
Making money selling your art starts with knowing the costs of doing business.
You will create a profitable pricing strategy when you know how much it costs to create and sell your products.
Art Business Costs:
- Cost of supplies
- Cost of shipping supplies like bubble wrap, tape and boxes
- Shipping charges
- Marketing costs
- Home business costs (internet, electricity, etc.)
Your selling price will be determined by how much it costs to create the product and how much profit you would like to earn for each piece.
For example, if it costs $15 to create your art and you would like to make $20, you would have to sell it for $35.
You will have to consider knowing what people are willing to spend on products similar to yours, known as market value.
Before you start listing your items for sale, you should take some time to research what other artists are charging for their paintings.
Search for artists who are selling art that is similar to yours.
Write down all of the prices you have gathered and price your art within that range.
You might not be able to sell your products at the price you are hoping for, but your art’s value will increase as you build your brand.
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How To Sell Prints On Etsy
Selling art prints on Etsy or digital downloads of your original paintings is an excellent way to supplement your income.
Esty makes it easy to sell giclee prints from print-on-demand sites like Printful.
You can easily integrate Printful into your Etsy shop, and when a buyer purchases a print, Printful will fulfill the order and ship the product directly to the buyer.
You can even print your prints at home and sell them on Etsy, just like you would with your original paintings.
How To Make Art Prints For An Etsy Shop
There are a few ways to create reproductions of your paintings to sell on Etsy.
The first way is to invest in a printer to print high-quality prints.
You would print the print at home and ship it to the buyer when an order arrives.
The costs of a good printer, ink, and paper can add up, and if you do not sell enough prints, you might not make a profit.
To read more about printers, visit 7 Best Printers For Printing Fine Art Prints.
The other option is to outsource the printing job.
If your art prints are in demand, you might consider having prints made at a local printing shop.
You might get better deals if you purchase bulk at local printing stores. The downside is that you will lose money if the prints do not sell.
The best solution is to outsource your printing jobs with print-on-demand services.
Professional print-on-demand services like Printful offer high-quality giclee prints on different-sized archival paper, frames, and prints on canvas.
To learn more, visit, How To Sell Art Prints On Etsy With Printful.
Outsourcing the printing to professionals will free up your time so you can create more artwork.
Some artists are doing very well selling digital downloads of their artwork on Etsy.
All you have to do is create a digital download listing, and when a buyer purchases a digital download, Etsy will send them a link for the download. When the buyer receives the link, they can print prints from their Etsy purchase.
To learn more visit, Selling Digital Art On Etsy Complete Guide.
Be Consistent
The last tip I would like to cover is staying consistent with the quality of your art and art marketing strategies.
Building an online presence will take some time, but you will speed up the process if you are consistent with your efforts.
Keep in mind that everything you do today will reflect the growth of your business tomorrow.
Final Thoughts On How To Sell Art On Etsy
It takes more to sell art online than just publishing new art.
Your job starts after you have uploaded your images.
You will have to work daily on marketing your art for your business to grow.
The artists you see online selling art are those who learn how to market their art.
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