How To Sell On Etsy Without The Etsy Fees

Selling handmade products on Etsy is a great way to ignite your solo entreprenuerialism and make additional income using handmade skills that you already have.

For our SuperWAHM’s who are already selling on Etsy, you already know that Etsy fees have increased dramatically over the recent years.  For some handmade sellers these inflated fees have chewed into profits so much that it’s hard to distinguish if their business truly is a handmade business or is it now falling into the ‘hobby’ category?

I wanted to share with you today what the top 1% of Etsy sellers are doing to increase their profits along with digital marketing specialists. If you’re looking to make more money from home, this is a great strategy to look into.

I did it myself by building a 6-figure handmade business within 6 months and you can do it too.

 

Is It Worth Selling On Etsy to Make Money Online?

Being an online marketplace, Etsy has huge amounts of customers browsing, with credit cards in their hand ready to purchase.  So yes, Etsy is still worth it.

It’s online marketplaces such as this or Amazon Handmade that hold a lot of traffic.

And when your handmade business is set up well with good Etsy SEO principles you can claim a portion of this traffic.  Traffic is gold.

Unfortunately, when physically selling on Etsy there’s no way around paying Etsy’s sellers fees.

But what if I told you that you could steal Etsy’s traffic and take all of the sales?

 

What are some Etsy Alternatives for Selling my Products Online?

To keep up your solo entreprenuerialism, here are plenty of options for setting up your own handmade ecommerce store to sell online such as Shopify or Wix.

These alternatives also come with their own fees which are even higher when connected to an ecommerce store.

The only fee-free Etsy alternative platform is to use WooCommerce which is set up on a WordPress website.

 

So After All Of That, Is Etsy Worth It? ……Really?

Yes.  Steal (ethically, of course) Etsy’s traffic and make the sale on your own WooCommerce handmade website.  Avoid those inflated Etsy fees whilst still enjoying their ‘ready to buy’ customers.

Take a slice of Etsy’s traffic by getting potential customers onto your marketing list.  As per Etsy’s T&Cs you cannot direct someone to purchase off their website. But, you can direct them to sign up to your mailing list.

The value of this is huge as it’s much easier to make a sale to someone that has already purchased from you once before. 

 

Tips to Guiding Etsy Buyers Onto Your Marketing List

So, here are some simple tips you can use to grow your marketing list and earn more money from home.

Firstly, you can entice buyers to sign up to your list with a 20% off discount coupon.

Give them something of value.  Know your ideal customer and make it worth their while getting on to your list. 

If you craft handmade jewellery, then you can look at throwing in a free pair of studs with their first order.  Giving 5 or 10% off on a first order just doesn’t cut it any more as this is common and expected. Understand your customer and give them what they want.

List your offer on your Etsy store banner, on your announcement, in all listing descriptions.  You can even create a listing image dedicated to this offer. Put it everywhere. You want them to see it.  You want them to take it up.

 

What’s Stopping Handmade Customers From Buying On Etsy?

Nothing is physically stopping the purchase on Etsy.  Customers may still choose to purchase there.

But, from the moment they sign up to your list you gain control as you can then persuade and guide them to your own handmade website.

You can set up a strategy for ongoing marketing, both via email and social media. Doing this, you can educate buyers not only on your products features and benefits, but also where they should purchase (i.e. from you!).

 

Using your Solo Entreprenuerialism to Create a Successful Handmade Business At Home

In marketing terms this is called a funnel.  Using Etsy as a funnel is a quick win to get traffic.  Using social media channels as funnels are also great.  Remember to understand your ideal customer , where they hang out and select which social media channels you’ll add to your funnel based on that.

This is how to sell on Etsy and take advantage of their traffic. Grow your own website into a valuable asset all whilst avoiding those increasing Etsy fees and building your successful 6 figure handmade businesses from home.