Successful Etsy Store Strategies for Print-on-Demand Sellers

Successful Etsy sellers thrive by leveraging research, adding value, optimizing listings, and doubling down on effective strategies.

### Success on Etsy: Principles for Building a Profitable Store
* 💼 After losing my job in 2020, I launched an Etsy store and achieved **over six figures in my first year**, prompting me to start a new store from scratch in 2023.
* 💰 In my new store, I focused on personalized items and quickly generated **$300 in revenue within weeks**, followed by **$1,700 in my second month**, ultimately earning **$3,593 in profit after expenses** while only dedicating **a couple of hours per week**.
* 📈 Many aspiring sellers reach out to me, expressing doubts about their chances for success, but numerous others, like a young mom who made **over $11,000 in December**, prove that **success is achievable** through print-on-demand methods.
* 🔍 I emphasize the importance of research, as every decision I made was based on **understanding market demand and identifying profitable items**, using tools like Printify's best sellers page and Everbee for analytics.
* 💡 Adding value to products is crucial; I created **unique designs that stand out in saturated markets**, such as custom sweatshirts with personalized elements, which **significantly contributed to my revenue growth**.
* 🛒 Optimizing listings for clicks involves effective SEO, eye-catching images, and competitive pricing strategies, including **running sales and employing loss leader tactics** to attract initial customers.
* 📊 Lastly, I advise sellers to analyze their own success metrics and **double down on what works**, expanding on popular designs and niches to **maximize profitability**.
* 🌟 Starting a business can be daunting, but with **patience, ongoing learning, and diligent research**, anyone can achieve **significant success on Etsy within a year**.

After losing my job in 2020, I started an Etsy store and grew that to over six figures in my very first year. In 2023, I decided to challenge myself to start all over from scratch, from a brand new store. Now, this new store, I didn't have as much time to spend on it, so I wanted to take as much of what I learned from the first store and apply it to this new one. For me, that meant doing a lot of personalized items, and so I went to work and posted a few listings in my new store. Within my first few weeks, I sold my first $300 in revenue. My second month on Etsy, I had about 30 designs and sold about $1,700 in revenue. Then, the last 8 weeks of the year, I sold $481.15 per week in my Etsy store, and that broke down to $3,593 in actual profit after all expenses. That was all while spending only a couple of hours per week on this store. I wanted to start this new store.

and share this video on my channel because I get comments every single day from people who have started their store in the last few days and haven't gotten any sales yet, people who have had their store open for a few months and only gotten a couple of sales, or people who don't even believe that it's still possible anymore, that if you didn't start your store during the pandemic, then it's just too late for you. But I'm not the only one finding success on Etsy because I get even more comments like this, like this young mom who was able to work on her print-on-demand business for 1 to 2 hours per day and made over $11,000 profit in December, students like Teresa who got her very first sale on January 14th and now, 4 days later, has already hit 10 sales in her new store, Chris who just passed 200 sales in his new store after starting in October, D Norbert that just hit 300 sales, Wendy that just passed 700 sales, and even students like

Valerie, who just passed a 1000 sales in her shop, and the best part is that myself and all these other new sellers are finding success on Etsy without having to actually make or ship anything themselves. We are using a process called print on demand. This is a process where you create designs on your phone or your computer, and you post them for sale on sites like Etsy. And only when someone actually buys the product does your printer—in my case, I use a company called Printify—actually print the item and ship it to your customer. So, you only pay for products after they've already been ordered from you, instead of having to buy tons of inventory and actually print everything yourself. And I'll post my free mini course down below of how to get started with print on demand. And if you haven't checked it out just yet, it'll walk you through creating your first products and posting them for sale. Now, I don't want you to be another commenter who tries this, makes a few simple mistakes, and then goes months without getting any sales. So, I set out to see

for myself, what myself and these other sellers might be doing differently to find success when other people aren't, and I found that it really boils down to four simple principles that you need to learn to be successful selling on Etsy. Principle number one: research is King. Every decision I made for my new store was based on Research. Now, I love that you're watching my video, and I hope that you watch lots more, but I want you to take everything that you hear on the internet with a grain of salt because everything that you need to know about how to be successful on Etsy is on Etsy in the best-selling listings. First, I researched if my product was in demand and would be profitable to sell on Etsy. One easy place to start to make sure that you're selling profitable items on Etsy is to go to Printify best sellers page. When you go over to their best sellers, this will show you the products that are selling the best for other Printify sellers right now. So, this will be a lot easier to narrow down and see.

what you might be able to sell as well if so many other people are finding this profitable. Now I do have a link for Printify down in the description, and it does help support my channel if you do use this link to sign up. And the best part is signing up and trying out Printify is completely free. Let's use the Gildan 18,000 sweatshirt as our example, but you can use this process on any of the products on Printify. Let's go to Etsy and do the research now. Taking a look through the results, you want to take a look at these best seller badges. That's going to be a great example that these listings are in high demand and selling really well right now. Now you can look through the results manually, or you can use a research tool like Everbee. Everbee is built right into Chrome, and I can click product analytics and actually sort which listings have actually sold the most. So this can make it just a little bit quicker for you. Let's take this listing for example. This listing

has 633 reviews, which means this is sold a ton of times, and their oldest review on this item is from July 30th, 2023. So, this means this listing really isn't that old and has made a lot of sales. Now, if we use everb again to analyze this listing, everb estimates that this listing has sold 2,379 times in only 6 months. Now, looking at what they're selling this product for, they're selling an extra-large sweatshirt for $26.99, and they're charging $8.44 for shipping. So, if we sold our sweatshirt for $35.43 like that seller did, and our cost is $23.22 including shipping, and this is including the Printify premium that I've got a code for you to get that for free for a month down below, then that would be $8.40 profit every single time that you sell this item. So, if we sold that sweatshirt for the same 2,600 times at this profit, we'd make $20,000 in profit.

off of just one listing. Now, that's probably before any advertising fees, but even if you take out some advertising fees, that's still a really hefty profit to make in only 6 months. So, this should give you a really good idea of how you should price your own items to also be successful. The next part of the research is making sure that the niches you're selling in are in demand as well. You could have the best-looking design in the world, but if no one is looking for it, then no one is going to buy it. And I'll say that again because I feel like a lot of people miss the mark on this one: if no one is looking for the item that you're selling, then no one will buy it. The reason why is that Etsy is a search engine, a lot like Google. People come to this platform with an idea in mind of what they're looking for. They type that into the search results, they look through the different listings, and they purchase one. So now, I did that same research for every niche that I

posted in my store. If you're not sure what a niche is, it's just the specific type of design or target market for your item. So, instead of, say, just selling a cute sweatshirt, you'd want to sell maybe a Scottsdale batch the rette party shirt. When you find niches like these that have sold 2,800 times in the last 3 months alone, you'll know that that's a great new niche that a new seller could get into and also make some sales. And it's not like this store is super old either. This store is only 8 months old. But how do you make sure that you can also make sales in these hot niches? Well, that brings us to principle number two too, and that's adding value is more important than driving traffic. A lot of people comment and ask me how are you driving traffic to your store. Well, the truth is, if you do your research in principle number one and make sure that there's thousands of shoppers already coming to Etsy searching for and buying

this product every single month. Then all you need to do is get in front of those same customers and give them a reason to buy your product instead. Now, you won't be able to steal any of this traffic by just being another carbon copy of exactly what's already for sale in that niche. Take this niche, for example. You see a couple of best sellers at the top, but then there are hundreds of carbon copy listings that look identical to that one, trying to sell the exact same thing but getting absolutely no sales. You need to add value. So, let's take this custom mom sweatshirt trend that's selling really well right now on Etsy, where it just says mama and has the custom kids' names on the sleeves. Now, it's not enough to just change the font and change the color and call it good. So, I'll give you a few different ways that I've added value into my own listings. So, for this example, I made this in Canva, where I made custom mom and dad matching custom sweatshirts. So, not only did I do

custom names on the sleeve, but I also did the custom year to add value in that way. The third way that I added value to this listing was instead of just putting the design big in the center, I made it a pocket design where the design is small in the corner where maybe your pocket would go. Another great design placement to add value is adding designs to the back instead. This is really going to help you stand out in the search results. Another good example is adding the same designs to a different type of product. So, most of the search results that I was seeing were on custom sweatshirts. So, in this case, instead, I added the exact same design but to a t-shirt. So, that way, it could look a little different and really stand out in the search results. Now, notice that both of these examples had personalized elements. I know that can take a little bit more time to fulfill your items since you have to custom-make every single design when someone makes a purchase, but I do really believe that adding personalized items into my store

is what helped me grow my new little shop to over 50,000 in revenue in just my first few months. I'll link a video down in the description on how to manually fulfill these items for yourself. That'll be super helpful in showing you how this process works. Or you can use a software like Hello Custom that'll do it for you. I plan to connect all of my personalized listings to this software in 2024 to make this process as seamless as possible. It's super simple. You post your design from Printify and post it to Etsy. And then you go on to Hello Custom's website. You add in your design and tell it which parts of it are customizable. And then connect it to that listing. And boom, just like magic, every time you get a sale on that listing, Hello Custom software will automatically edit the name or the date or the address and then fulfill it on Printify for you. You just need to go in once a day to approve those to make sure that they've gone through correctly. And you do get a

free 2-e trial to try out hello custom, but if you use my link down below, you'll get an extra 30 days to make sure that this is right for you. This principle is one that I feel that people miss the mark on most often, so please do yourself a favor and do the research of what other Etsy stores are doing to add value in their niches and take what you can and see how you can implement that into your own designs. So, we talked earlier about how people come to Etsy with already having something in mind they search for and then they buy it. So, how do you make sure that you come up in the search results when they search for your niche? You can do that by focusing on learning principle number three, which is optimizing for clicks. When listings are first uploaded to Etsy, they get something called a Halo period or a test period where Etsy shows them to more customers to see how people react to them and decide how they're going to rank them in the search algorithm. Basically, the more people that click

your listing favorite your listing and buy your listing. The higher you'll show on Etsy when people search for that niche. Etsy is here to make money as well, so it makes sense that they would show the listings to customers that have a really high chance of someone clicking on it and then buying it. Since starting my new store, I've been able to convert listings at over 8%. A more average listing would be about 3 to 4% conversions of how many people actually see the listing and then click it. I was able to achieve this by, again, optimizing my listings for clicks, and that breaks down to three main parts: number one, the SEO; number two, the main image; and number three, the price. This is because when customers are searching through the search results, these are the only things that they see. So, let's go over number one, the SEO. This stands for search engine optimization. It just means the words that you use in your title, your tags, and your description that tells Etsy what your item is and who to show.

it to when getting to this step. It's really important that you followed principle number one and first made sure that there was demand for that niche. So once you found an in-demand product, an in-demand niche, and you've added value to your design, it's time to come up with your SEO. This really doesn't need to be over-complicated. It breaks down to as simple as you look at the top 5 to 8 bestsellers in your niche, you see what they use for their titles and tags, and then you bring all of those keywords that they're using into your own listing to make it make sense with your design. Since obviously, if all of those listings are getting great sales, it's because people must be searching those types of terms to find it. But a quick reminder here to always check your trademarks, and I'll link my video down below that shows you how to check trademarks with the new USPTO system. So that brings us to number two of optimizing your listings, and that is the

main image. The main image is two things: it's your actual design and then your mockup that the design is shown on. And if you don't know what a mockup is, it's a blank item of what you're selling, and then you digitally add your design over top of it to pretend that it's already made when you post it in your store. You can buy these right on Etsy, and if you do your research, you'll notice that all of your competition are using these beautiful photos of the items. So, that means that you need to as well. Do your research and see what types of mockups are converting well for your item. Are there people wearing the items? Are they folded, sitting on a table? And what types of colors of that item are they using for the main image? For the Gildan 18,000 sweatshirt, the ones you'll see most often are the color sand and the color military green. That can be a good indication to you that those are really popular colors that you might want to include in your main image as well. Then

again, the other half of your main image is your design. It's easy when making your designs to think that they're always going to be this big and bold and easy to read, but make sure that you make it a habit to zoom out of your designs to make sure it's going to look great in that tiny thumbnail on someone's phone. Make sure it can be understood in 2 seconds or less at a glance; otherwise, you're not going to be able to get them to stop the scroll. That brings us to number three of optimizing your listings: the price. Now, the price breaks down to its own three different parts you need to pay attention to as well, but trust me, it's super simple. Number one is running a sale. Number two is using a loss leader. And number three is pricing low. So, running a sale in your shop. One thing you'll notice when you're looking through the search results is a green countdown. If stores use a sale that is 48 hours or 24 hours, there'll be

a green countdown in the search results that tells you how much longer is left on their sale. This can be a great way to get more conversions and create a sense of urgency for your listings. So, think about implementing different sales within your own shop. That brings us to number two, which is implementing something called a loss leader. Now, this is where you have one item in your listing that's a little bit less expensive than everything else. The reason why this is a good strategy is because in the Etsy search results, it only shows you the price of the least expensive item in the listing. This is a really common tactic, so I'd recommend doing your research in your own niches to see what other people are doing. A lot of people will make, say, just the size small in white $3 or $4 less than the other items. Now, I do recommend being honest with this process and not just having a fake item for sale for less expensive, but again, do your own research on what other people are doing in your same niches or your same products and

see if this is something that you want to implement in your own listings. Then number three is pricing low. When I first list items for sale in my shop, I priced them a couple of dollars lower than I did my research for, just to try and get them those first few initial sales to show Etsy that this listing has a good conversion rate. Then after it's sold a few times, I'll raise the price back up to my researched price. Then that leads us to our fourth and final principle, which is doubling down on what's working. This means not just doing research on what's working for other people, but doing research on what's working well for you as well. Take a look at your Etsy stats and see what your customers are typing in to find your products. Are they typing in things that are similar but you don't actually have available? That can be a great place to get ideas of other types of sayings or other types of products that your customers might be interested in. If one listing is selling really well, then I'd recommend adding

that same design to other types of products, maybe offering it again but in different colors or even making different designs entirely for that same niche. My bestselling niches over the years, I have eventually had hundreds of listings for one singular niche because I've tried adding value in lots of different ways. I hope this video provided you some good insights on what principles I used to grow my first store and then now again my second store, and I hope that you can take some of these and implement them into your own business to have an amazing 2024. I know starting your own business can feel really overwhelming in the beginning, so just remember that it's not a race, and it's normal to not be good at it right from the beginning. Be patient with yourself and commit to learning and getting better every single day, and most importantly, doing the research, and trust me, you'll be so proud of where you are even just one year from today. And as always, thank you so much for watching all the way until the end, and if you

watch this video to this point. Please put the name of your pets down in the description. I always love hearing cute and funny pet names. And for anyone who saw my cat in last week's video, his name is Jack. But I do also have three golden retrievers: Leaf, pancakes, and pickles, that I love very much as well. But they would be too crazy to have in the background of my videos. So again, thank you for watching. Please subscribe if you want to see more videos like this in the future. And I'll see you in the next one.

I Built a PROFITABLE Etsy Shop In 60 Days!

Cassiy Johnson

After losing my job in 2020, I launched an Etsy store and made over six figures in my first year.

In 2023, I started a new store with limited time, applying lessons from the first one and focusing on personalized items.

Using print on demand, I achieved $3,593 in profit in the last 8 weeks of the year, while also highlighting the success of other new sellers on Etsy.

Using Printify's free sign-up, you can explore profitable products like the Gildan 18,000 sweatshirt.

Researching Etsy's best-selling listings and using tools like Everbee can help identify high-demand niches.

By pricing your items strategically and targeting popular niches, you can potentially make significant profits, even with a new store.

Adding Value to Stand Out in a Competitive Niche

To succeed in a competitive market, it's essential to offer something unique and add value to your products.

Customizing designs, using different product types, and offering personalized elements can help you stand out in search results.

Using software like Hello Custom can streamline the fulfillment process for personalized items, making it easier to manage orders and grow your business.

Offering a free trial of Hello Custom can give you an extra 30 days to explore its benefits.

To rank higher in Etsy's search results, focus on optimizing for clicks during the Halo period by increasing listing favorites and purchases.

Key factors for optimization include SEO, main image, and pricing, with a strategy of using keywords from top bestsellers in your niche.

Optimizing Your Online Store's Main Image and Pricing

The main image for your product should include a mockup and your design, with research on competitors' successful mockups and popular item colors.

Zooming out of your designs is crucial to ensure they are easily understood in a small thumbnail.

To optimize pricing, consider running sales, using a loss leader strategy, and pricing items low to create urgency and attract customers.

Principles for Successfully Selling on Etsy

Pricing items lower initially can help gain early sales and improve conversion rates.

Researching your own Etsy stats and customer search terms can provide valuable insights for expanding your product offerings.

Doubling down on successful listings and adding value in different ways can lead to a thriving business in a specific niche.