When I think of Etsy the first thing I think about is physical products.
Mostly crochet blankets, scarves, one of a kind fabrics.
But, did you know that you can sell printables on Etsy?!
Say what?
I didn’t know that either.
I had no idea until I saw a printable planner on the site the other day.
Of course, my mind started going a hundred miles per hour at this point with all of the ideas and things I could try to put together and sell.
Etsy is home to over 54 million members. That’s a lot of potential eyes on your digital products.
Since it’s home to so many potential shoppers I would recommend that anybody that is new to selling digital products starts with Etsy and then work your way to your own shop.
The process to set-up your store is pretty straightforward.
Today I’m going to walk you through how to set-up your Etsy store and how to upload your first digital product.
How To Set-Up Your Etsy Store
Go to the Etsy site and click sell on Etsy in the top right corner.
You will be asked if you want to sign up with your e-mail, Google, or Facebook.
Enter your name and password. Click open your Etsy shop.
Follow the prompts on the screen.
Fill out your shop preferences.
Name your shop (names must be between 4-20 characters long)
4 Tips for Naming Your Shop
- Make it memorable
- Flexible
- Niche Related
- Use Keywords
If your having trouble coming up with a name using your own name is a great way to name your store ( ex: JournalsbyEJ or EJPartyfavors)
If you’re not 100% in love with your shop name, Etsy will allow you to change it once.
List your products (if you don’t have any you can skip this step)
Complete the payment and billing information.
Congratulations you are now the proud owner of an Etsy store!
How To Upload Your First Digital Download Listing On Etsy
Click on Listings in the sidebar on the left
In the upper right-hand corner click on Add Listing.
Add a photo of your digital product.
If you are uploading a crochet pattern include pictures of the finished work, instead of pictures of the crochet pattern.
Make sure your images are named appropriately so that they will show up in the search.
You can use Canva to make mock-ups of your products.
If you don’t know how to use Canva you can check out the free tutorials they offer to help you get started.
Scroll Down to List Details
List Details Section
Title
It’s tempting to use a cute name like, The Mad Woman’s Diary.
But cute names won’t get you found in the Etsy search nor on Google.
Make sure you use keywords in your product title.
You can use the search bar on Etsy to find the most common keywords for your digital products.
About Section:
In this section you’ll fill in all of the details about your product.
Category
Type in printable and then select from the options listed.
If you are selling a crochet,knitting or sewing pattern you should type in the type of pattern you are uploading in this section.
Renewal options
Select if you want your listing to auto-renew or to renew the listing manually, then select digital download.
Description
Explain to your customers what your product is, what’s included, describe ways they can use the printable, what size paper A5, Legal, etc they need to print their printable on.
Custom Orders
Check if you will provide custom orders for your products.
Section (optional)
If you sell different kinds of printables on your site you may want to use the sections tab to keep your store organized.
Tags (optional)
You can add up to 13 tags to your listing.
You should use your keywords in the section along with any other relevant terms.
Materials (optional)
Since this is a digital download, then materials don’t need to be listed .
If you were selling a physical product this is where you would list the material that your product is made out of.
Inventory and Pricing
Pricing
Competitively price your items.
Don’t try to lowball the system to get sales.
Look at other printables in your niche and see how much other people are charging for them.
Inventory
You can set this number as high or as low as you want.
Etsy will charge you a relisting fee (.20) each time your inventory runs out.
Quick tip- Etsy recommends that you have at least 10 listings in your store if your want customers to buy from you.
Personalization
This button is automatically turned off, but if you would like to offer personalized items you will need to switch it on.
Digital Files
Click on the upload file button and upload your digital files.
You can upload up to 5 files.
On the left-hand side, you will see the option to send your buyers a customized note.
DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!
This is an opportunity to thank your customers, but it is also an opportunity to get them to sign-up for your e-mail list, thus making them YOUR customers instead of Etsy’s customers.
Click Preview
Make sure everything looks the way you want it before publishing.
Click Publish
Congratulations your listing is now live!
The great thing about using Etsy is that you don’t have to worry about sending your printables to your customers.
Etsy will take care of delivering your digital product for you.
Additional Steps
Make sure to complete your stores :
About Page
Tell your customers a little bit about yourself and your company.
Shop Policies
Buyers are more likely to trust you if have clearly set shop policies that are easy to understand and find.
FAQ
Since you are selling a digital product this would be a great place to address any printing issues that your customers may have.
Ways to Market Your Digital Product
Now that you’ve created your listing it’s time to make some sales. Getting customers to your store.
Etsy is a competitive market place and you’re not going to get many sells if you just wait for people to stumble upon your shop.
Here are a few ways that you can market your printables.
Word of Mouth
The classic way to promote your store.
Tell your friends and family about your Etsy store and what you sell.
Social Media
Of course, the best way to get your products out there is by posting them to social media.
- Create a business page for your store.
- Create FB ads for your products.
- Post your products on FB marketplace.
- Join FB groups and promote your products on the designated promotional days.
- Create an account for your store.
- Post your products to your Instagram account.
- Create a business account.
- Create pins for your products to circulate on Pinterest.
- Create Pinterest ads to promote your products.
Blog
If you have a blog you can promote your digital products on your blog.
In your thank-you note to your customers, you can send them the link to your blog and get them to subscribe to your e-mail list.
This is a great way to create recurring and engaged customers.
Don’t forget to ask your customers to leave feedback and reviews on your products.
E-mail List
If you already have an e-mail list then you can market your products to your subscribers.
If you completed the customized note section for your product you should be gaining new subscribers directly from Etsy.
If you already have a blog, then you probably already have an e-mail list and an email service provider.
However, you don’t need a blog to grow and e-mail list.
All you need is an e-mail service provider.
I recommend mailerlite.
It’s easy to use and free until you reach 1,000 subscribers.
The paid plans are pretty affordable with the lowest plan starting at $10/month or you can get 30% if you pay for the year.
Final Thoughts
Even though your Etsy store is not a physical store and your not selling physical products you still need to check with your local government to see if you need a business license and if you’re required to pay or collect state taxes.
I hope you found this tutorial helpful.
As you may have noticed I didn’t cover how to make printables in this tutorial.
Simply because I’m not a graphic designer and I’d rather you learn from the pros!
If you’re looking for tutorials on how to design printables using I highly recommend Kara’s site Simplifying DIY Design.
She has a ton of free templates and video tutorials on how to design printables using Canva.
You can also join her Facebook group where you can learn even more tips and tricks about graphic design and making printables and templates to use in your business or sell online.
I’ve personally used many of her templates to help create my Pinterest and social media graphics.
If you crochet you can check out my post on how to create and design your own crochet patterns, it includes a free crochet pattern template.
Now it’s your turn.
Do you sell or have you thought about selling printables? Why or why not? Leave me a comment in the comments section.
As always don’t forget to like and share this post!
Until Next Time,
EJ
Thanks for taking your time to write up great instructions. This is perfect!
Hi Mary! Thank you for commenting. I’m glad you found the instructions useful ?