The Etsy Starter Checklist That Will Jumpstart Your Side Hustle | AllBusiness.com

August 11, 2025 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Starting an Etsy shop can be one of the most rewarding and creative ways to turn your hobby into a thriving side hustle. Whether you’re a crafter, baker, vintage treasure hunter, or digital product creator, Etsy offers a built-in audience and user-friendly platform for new entrepreneurs.

But launching your business successfully takes more than just uploading a few items and waiting for sales to roll in. With competition fierce and customer expectations high, the key to standing out and making money is preparation.

Here’s your complete Etsy starter checklist—created with insights and research assistance from ChatGPT—to help you launch your shop the right way and jumpstart your side hustle with confidence.

Online Sales Alternatives to Etsy | Business News Daily

July 23, 2024July 21, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Etsy has become a household name for crafters and shoppers alike, but it’s not the only option for those with handmade crafts to sell online. Many other marketplaces cater to sellers and buyers of handmade goods, antiques, art and other creative items. As a seller, you may prefer an Etsy alternative’s fee structure, interface and user experience. We’ll explore 13 top Etsy alternatives that might be a better fit for your craft business.

13 Etsy alternatives you can join today

Crafty entrepreneurs who want to start selling online have excellent options. Here are 13 Etsy alternatives that are affordable, easy to use and popular with shoppers.

Etsy sellers explain why they’re going on strike | Mashable

April 8, 2022April 7, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Etsy’s reputation as the feel-good home of whimsical goods and small businesses is being put on blast — by Etsy sellers themselves.

On April 11, thousands of Etsy sellers, many of whom work full-time selling their merchandise on the site, plan to go on strike by putting their shops in “vacation mode” and not selling their goods for a week.

The shop owners are protesting a number of business changes Etsy has made over the past few years that sellers say have degraded the platform and made it harder for them to run their businesses and earn a profit. Most directly, the strike is in response to a bump in the fee Etsy charges sellers: On April 11, it goes from 5 percent to 6.5 percent — a 30 percent increase — as announced in February.

Etsy Sellers Avoiding Supply Chain Shortages, CEO Says | Small Business Trends

November 4, 2021November 1, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

As supply chain issues continue to disrupt major retailers in the US, smaller businesses, which are less reliant on complex global supply chain procedures, are less predisposed to disruption this holiday season.

An example of small businesses avoiding supply chain issues can be found at Etsy. According to Josh Silverman, CEO of the ecommerce company, the vast majority of Etsy sellers are businesses that source raw materials locally.

As such, they are not susceptible to the supply chain issues currently hobbling larger retailers.

Etsy Sellers Avoiding Supply Chain Shortages, CEO Says

Silverman’s unveilings show the resilience and agility of small businesses. They also offer confidence to small business owners as we move into the holiday season that their business won’t be adversely affected by the widely-hyped supply chain disruption.

Etsy Did Nearly $20,000 in Sales Per Minute Last Cyber Monday. Here’s How Its Engineers Plan to Survive the Surge This Year | Inc.com

November 28, 2019November 27, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Cyber Monday is like the Super Bowl of shopping for e-commerce sites. As such, it’s usually not the day to roll out changes to website code. After all, a golden four-hour window during Cyber Monday could make or break or sales.

Etsy takes a different tack. For the 14-year-old marketplace, the biggest online shopping holiday of the year–when Etsy sees double the sales and search activity that it does on a normal day–is not off limits for code tweaks. Etsy continuously deploys code onto the site, sometimes as many as 30 times a day, says chief technical officer Mike Fisher. Continual deployment, he argues, helps keep the staff in the rhythm of making fixes quickly too. “I think that’s the best way to keep things stable.”

8 Steps to Starting a Business on Etsy | AllBusiness.com

January 8, 2018 ~ jvelezcustombpscom ~ Leave a comment

8 Steps to Starting a Business on Etsy

making handmade jewelry

Since its launch date in 2005, Etsy has become a well-known, respected, and hugely popular platform for creatives to share their handmade or vintage items with the world. Accommodating products that range from clothing, accessories, and jewelry to craft supplies and tools, Etsy enables freelance crafters to pursue their dreams and also make a living. If you want to start an Etsy shop that stands out from the crowd follow these tips:

Source: Read More

24% Of Americans Have Now Worked In The Platform Economy | Co.Exist

November 28, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Fully 24% of Americans have participated in the peer-to-peer or “sharing economy,” according to a new Pew Research report. Which is perhaps bigger than we thought.

Pew counts everyone who’s taken a task on a digital platform (like TaskRabbit), sold something to another community member (eBay), made something and sold it online (Etsy), driven their own cab (Uber), or rented a house (e.g. Airbnb). “These platforms also allow users to earn money in a range of other ways, such as sharing their possessions with others or selling their used goods or personal creations,” it says.

Which is the Best Online Marketplace: Amazon, Etsy or Ebay? | Small Biz Trends

June 27, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When you sell crafts online, choosing the right platform is paramount. There are plenty of different options available to handmade business owners. Three of the most popular are Etsy, Amazon and eBay. But each one offers different options and benefits for handmade shop owners. Here are some comparisons and basic information that can help you make the best decision when it comes to choosing Handmade at Amazon, Etsy or eBay.

Etsy Brings Together Small Designers, Big Retailers With “Open Call” | Small Biz Trends

June 13, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ 1 Comment

What if you could pitch your products to a dream retailer like Nordstrom?

Etsy, known for being an innovative online marketplace for consumers to source handmade and other items from independent designers for their homes, wardrobes and more, is set to help members of its Etsy Wholesale community do just that. The company is bringing together small designers and heavy-hitting retailers from across the country via its Open Call program.

Now in its second year running, the Etsy Open Call program brings together buyers from top retail stores in the country and fresh talent from the Etsy Wholesale community through a series of live and online events to create pathways for valuable business partnerships.

15 Successful African American Entrepreneurs on Etsy | Small Biz Trends

April 13, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Since its launch back in 2005, Etsy has grown into a huge ecommerce market for handmade and vintage goods. Browsing through Etsy, you can see products from a huge variety of sellers.

If you’re just getting started or thinking about joining Etsy, it can be inspiring to look through the shops of those who are finding success on the platform. Below are many successful African American entrepreneurs who are finding success selling their handmade products on Etsy.