# Etsy

> Buyers looking for handmade, personalised and vintage pieces. Your setup is about making, photographing and wrapping each order well.

Etsy buyers come for things they can’t find on the high street: handmade jewellery, prints, candles, personalised gifts and vintage homeware. Many orders are gifts, so the buyer judges the wrapping and the delivery date alongside the item.

Etsy charges more fees than the clothing apps: a listing fee, a transaction fee and payment processing on every sale, plus Offsite Ads on some orders. Your setup needs a tidy making and packing bench, a repeatable product photo spot and postage you can buy straight from Etsy through Royal Mail or Evri.

## Selling on Etsy from a home studio

You open a shop, add listings with photos, a price, postage settings and a processing time, and buyers check out through Etsy Payments. Etsy is for handmade items, craft supplies and vintage, so check its rules on what each of those means before you list.

Pick a tight niche: hand-poured candles in one scent family, name necklaces, illustrated house portraits. A focused shop is easier to photograph, price and pack.

## Working out your fees

Add up the fees on a typical order before setting prices. On a £25 order with £3 postage, the transaction fee and payment processing come to about £3.14, and the listing fee and regulatory operating fee add a little more.

Offsite Ads can take 15% of an attributed order, so price with that in mind if you stay opted in. The Share & Save programme refunds part of your fees when sales come through links you share yourself.

## Product photos for Etsy search

The first photo shows in search results as a small square, so the item needs to fill the frame against a clean background. Follow it with a scale shot in a hand or on a table, a close-up of the detail and a styled lifestyle photo.

Use the same backdrop and light for every product so the shop page looks like a collection. A light tent or a white board by a window covers most small handmade items.

## Packaging for gifts

Many Etsy orders go straight to someone else, so wrap the item in tissue inside a rigid mailer box and add a printed card with care instructions. Leave out any price slip, as the parcel may be a present.

Fragile pieces such as ceramics and candles need a box with padding on every side. Test-drop one packed order from waist height before you list the range.

## Postage and processing times

Set a processing time you can keep in your busiest week. Etsy uses it with the postage service to show buyers an estimated delivery date, and late orders hurt your shop’s standing.

Buy Royal Mail or Evri labels inside Etsy so tracking uploads to the order on its own. Large Letter postage suits flat prints and jewellery boxes; anything thicker goes as a small parcel.

## A making and packing bench

Keep making and packing on separate surfaces if you can, so glue, wax or glitter stays away from finished stock. A shelf of mailers by size, a roll of tissue and a label printer above the packing bench keep each order to a few minutes.

Store finished stock in labelled boxes by product, and note the box in the listing’s SKU field. Give personalised orders a clipboard or tray of their own so the details stay apart.

## Common mistakes

- Setting a processing time you can’t meet in December leads to late orders, so plan for your busiest month.
- Forgetting that the transaction fee covers postage too leaves you short, so build both into your price.
- A busy kitchen worktop behind the product cheapens handmade work, so use one plain backdrop.
- Sending fragile pieces in a padded envelope leads to breakages, so use a box with padding all round.
- Leaving Offsite Ads out of your margins can turn a sale into a loss, so price for the fee or opt out while you can.

## Setups

- [Clearance lock-up setup for Whatnot, Etsy and eBay](https://sellersetups.com/setups/clearance-lockup-live-and-etsy): Sort a cleared unit into four zones in a weekend, open mystery crates live, and keep the 20 year old pieces back for Etsy.
- [Handmade dog bandanas and collars on Etsy](https://sellersetups.com/setups/etsy-handmade-pet-accessories): A sewing corner that makes and posts bandanas, collars and lead sets on Etsy, with off-cuts and seconds cleared on Vinted.
- [Etsy handmade studio setup](https://sellersetups.com/setups/etsy-handmade-studio): A light box for clean product photos, plastic-free packaging that feels like a gift, and a spare room laid out to make, wrap and post 10 to 40 Etsy orders.
- [Handmade silver jewellery studio for Etsy and Depop](https://sellersetups.com/setups/etsy-silver-jewellery-maker): A gram scale, a light box, gift boxes and Large Letter postage for makers selling their own rings, studs and pendants from a bench in the corner.
- [Vintage ceramics and glass from a spare room](https://sellersetups.com/setups/homeware-ceramics-glass-room): A spare room set up for jugs, vases, tea sets and studio pottery sold on eBay and Etsy, with packing built around zero breakages.

## Guides

- [Cheapest way to post a parcel in the UK](https://sellersetups.com/guides/cheapest-way-to-post-a-parcel): InPost lockers, Royal Mail and Evri compared on our checked prices: which service is cheapest for a flat item, a 2 kg parcel and a heavy box.
- [HMRC and selling online: reporting rules and records](https://sellersetups.com/guides/hmrc-selling-online): The platform reporting rules in plain English, when selling becomes trading, the £1,000 trading allowance, capital gains on valuables and the records to keep.
- [Royal Mail sizes and prices explained](https://sellersetups.com/guides/royal-mail-sizes-and-prices): Large Letter, Small Parcel and Medium Parcel limits, our checked online prices, how to measure, and the band mistakes that cost you money.
- [How to start a small business from home in the UK](https://sellersetups.com/guides/start-selling-from-home): Which platform suits what you sell, what the first kit costs, and a checklist for your first week of orders from home.

## Questions

### What fees does Etsy charge UK sellers?

A listing fee of 0.20 USD per item, converted to pounds, which lasts four months. A 6.5% transaction fee on the item price, postage and gift wrap. A payment processing fee of 4% plus 20p for UK shops. UK sellers also pay a 0.48% regulatory operating fee, and VAT applies to Etsy’s fees. Check Etsy’s fees page before you price.

### How do Offsite Ads fees work?

Etsy advertises your listings on other sites and charges a fee only when a sale comes from one of those ads. Shops under 10,000 USD in sales over any 365 days pay 15% and can opt out. Shops over that line pay 12% and must stay in. The fee is capped at 100 USD per order.

### Is there a fee to open an Etsy shop?

In some countries Etsy charges a one-time set-up fee when you open a shop, and the amount depends on where you are. If it applies to you, it shows during shop set-up.

### Can I buy postage labels on Etsy?

Yes. UK sellers using Etsy Payments or PayPal can buy Royal Mail and Evri labels in Shop Manager. Royal Mail options include 1st and 2nd Class, Signed For and Tracked 24 or 48. Evri offers Shop to Home Standard and Next Day. Etsy adds no extra fee for the label beyond its usual fees.

### How long do Etsy listings last?

Each listing runs for four months or until it sells. Turn on auto-renew and Etsy relists it for another 0.20 USD fee, which also applies to each extra unit sold from a multi-quantity listing.

### Should I make to order or keep stock?

Both work on Etsy. Made-to-order needs an honest processing time in your listing, since buyers see an estimated delivery date before they pay. Ready-made stock ships faster and suits gifting dates such as Christmas and Mother’s Day.

### Does Etsy report my sales to HMRC?

UK platforms, Etsy included, share seller income details with HMRC once you pass the reporting thresholds. Reporting alone does not mean you owe tax, so read HMRC’s trading income guidance for your own case.