S
Starter Story
Business Idea
Start An Etsy Business
About
Starting an etsy business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell esty, or selling esty online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Want to learn more? You can check out our full guide on how to start an etsy business ➜
Key stats
market size
$330B
starting costs
$37.4K
gross margin
73%
avg product price
$0
time to build
6 months
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
| Office Space Expenses | $35 | $3,250 |
| Employee & Freelancer Expenses | $0 | $5,500 |
| Equipment & Supply Expenses | $500 | $5,000 |
| Website Costs | $232 | $6,500 |
| Business Formation Fees | $5,600 | $20,400 |
| App Creation Costs | $1,000 | $20,000 |
| Software Expenses | $150 | $3,044 |
| Advertising & Marketing Costs | $0 | $2,750 |
| Other Expenses | $0 | $800 |
| Total Startup Costs | $7,517 | $67,244 |
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
eRank | erank.com | #4,432 |
|
Reporter Cyprus | reporter.com.cy | #53,557 |
|
Aurora Designer | auroradesigner.com | #356,444 |
|
Seller Tools | seller-tools.com | #402,321 |
|
Essity | essity.com | #430,828 |
|
eShop Marketer | eshopmarketer.com | #501,729 |
|
Workers' Compensation Insurance | texasmutual.com | #604,593 |
|
Easy Fashion | easyfashion.com.bd | #678,307 |
|
Rochester Brainery | rochesterbrainery.com | #1,015,110 |
|
|
eBusiness | ebusiness.go.ke | #1,060,931 |
|
VectoriaDesigns | vectoriadesigns.com | #1,356,433 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
| Flexibility | You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own. |
| Ability to start your business from home | It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning! |
| Scalable | With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers. |
| Traffic to your website | A etsy business gives people a reason to visit your website and to keep coming back to you! |
| Meaningful business connections | You never know who you will meet as a etsy business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity! |
| High customer retention rates | Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer. |
| Cons | Description |
|---|---|
| Motivation of employees | If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees. |
| Longer Sales Process | A etsy business can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers. |
| Taxes | As a etsy business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it. |
| Niche Market | A niche business is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be the key to your success. However, it can be more challenging and time consuming to find the perfect niche market and target audience. |
| You may need to charge sales tax | If you are selling your products in various states, you may be required to charge sales tax. Although this may not impact your financials specifically, it can be a headache to create a process and procedure for this. To learn more about sales tax, check out [this article](https://www.thebalancesmb.com/do-i-need-to-collect-sales-taxes-in-my-state-398913) |
| Difficult to build trust with your customer | With starting an etsy business, there can be minimal face-to-face interaction, which means it can be a lot more difficult to establish trust with your customers. You'll need to go the extra mile with your customer to grab their attention and business. |
Marketing Ideas
-
1
Affiliate program
An affiliate program is a way to reward people outside your organization to share your product.
-
2
Word of mouth
The most tried and true way to grow a etsy business is through word of mouth - some entrepreneurs would say it's more important than all social media.
-
3
Partnerships
Starting a etsy business is all about building relationships and becoming an integral part of your community.
Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking they can do everything on their own. In reality, other businesses (even your competition) and members of your community can be a huge piece of your growth strategy.
When forming any type of partnership, a lot of energy and time can go into this.
"An amazing network of founders that truly want to help each other grow their business."
