The WILDEST, MOST UNTRUE things we've heard about Etsy

Things are about to get spicy...we are pushing back against some of the craziest myths we've heard about selling on Etsy, from fees to paying for ads to everything being "too oversaturated," to Etsy hacks that don't work. If you've heard some of these myths and you're wondering if they're true, keep reading or listen for our take as top 0.01%-ranked Etsy sellers.

Before we get into it though...you probably want to take our FREE training on how to grow your handmade business using Etsy, where we share our 6 figure etsy strategy!

 Listen here: 

#1 Etsy takes too much in fees

Every time we talk about how great Etsy is and how affordable it is, 99% of people who comment on our social media and say Etsy is so expensive and shopify is better will also say “I don’t have an etsy shop, I’ve just heard it’s too expensive.” It’s not.

The truth is, Etsy brings you customers and it's never going to be free to get access to an entire audience of shoppers. Etsy's fees are surprisingly low and they have around 90 million shoppers on their platform. Learn more about Etsy's fees and why Etsy is NOT too expensive.

#2 You need a following on social media before you start an etsy shop

There are a ton of Etsy sellers doing really well without a large following. We made more than $80k before we started an instagram account.

We have students in our course, Dream, Create, Sell, who have 400-500 followers on instagram but are making several thousand dollars a month on Etsy. You don’t need a large following. 

Why?

 1) SEO + dream customer alignment

2) your audience needs to be engaged, not necessarily large

This should be a huge sign of hope for anyone who is listening to this who has felt that it’s impossible to be a successful handmade business owner without a large following. You can absolutely do this without going viral.

#3 You have to pay for Etsy ads

You probably shouldn’t be paying for ads, unless you already have a product that is selling really well and has good SEO. Ads don’t work on Etsy unless you have a product that is already ranking high in the search algorithm.

#4 Etsy randomly charges you for advertising

NOPE. Etsy isn’t scamming anyone or sneaking in any hidden fees. All the fees are super clear.

Paying for advertising on Etsy is totally optional and as I just said, you probably shouldn’t do it. Now…there is one tiny exception to that. Etsy offsite ads. This is advertising that Etsy does on your behalf on sites like google, Instagram, Tik tok, where they advertise products and if you make a sale, they charge a percentage on the transaction for the ad.

However…Etsy offsite ads are optional if you have made less than $10k on the platform. They’re required after $10,000 but again, this isn’t random, it’s clearly disclosed by etsy.

If you’re unclear about what Etsy is charging you for, you can look at your finances tab in the shop manager and see every single fee and what it was charged for. So yeah, not scammy, not random, just clear business practices.

#5 Etsy charges too much for shipping

Y’all. Ugh. This is something we’ve seen in the comments on our instagram. Ok first. Etsy doesn’t charge you for shipping. The postal service does. 

You can buy your postage through Etsy at a discount, which we highly recommend, or you can buy directly from the USPS or any other third party postage app.

However, Etsy’s not making up random shipping rates and you should NOT be losing money on shipping. You need to know how much your products weigh, what they cost to ship, and how much you need to charge your customer or roll into your price in order to cover shipping.

A lot of Etsy myths we hear about are really sellers not taking the time to learn what how etsy works and they’re not being the most responsible they can be with their business. I really hate to say that, but it’s true. If you feel like you’re making zero profit because of fees or shipping, you need to learn how to price your products. 

#6 Etsy is too oversaturated & you can’t get found in the search

I love a saturated niche because it tells me there are a TON of people making money over there, doing what they LOVE.

If your niche is “oversaturated” - GREAT NEWS! This just means someone else did the work FOR YOU of validating your market over and over.

A saturated niche is only a problem if you don’t know how to sell.

You have to learn how to shift your perspective from “this is too hard,” to “this is a great opportunity.

Once you learn how to shift your perspective, a whole world of possibilities opens up. 

Instead of blaming slow sales on niche saturation, try this…

Study your own style. Learn your own brand. What makes what you sell unique? What’s your special perspective? Who are you serving?

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You need to learn how to tie everything you do from the product to your packaging, to your photos, to your marketing together in a way that makes sense to your dream customer and is authentically YOU. 

Etsy is not a hard platform to sell on, you just need to become aware of the missing puzzle pieces that are holding you back from making weekly and daily sales.

If you're there yet, and you're tired of googling "how to get more traffic and sales on Etsy," we created this FREE Etsy Seller masterclass just for you.