# Etsy

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

Etsy buyers come for things they can't find at the mall: handmade jewelry, prints, candles, personalized gifts and vintage home decor. Many orders are gifts, so the buyer judges the wrapping and the delivery date along with 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 shipping labels you buy straight from Etsy, mostly USPS.

## Selling on Etsy from a home studio

You open a shop, add listings with photos, a price, shipping 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 $30 order with $5 shipping, the transaction fee and payment processing come to about $3.58, and the listing fee adds $0.20.

Offsite Ads can take 15% of an attributed order, so price with that in mind if you stay opted in. Share & Save 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 package may be a present.

Fragile pieces such as ceramics and candles need a box with enough fill that they float in the middle. Test-drop one packed order from waist height before you list the range.

## Shipping and processing times

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

Buy labels inside Etsy so tracking uploads to the order on its own. USPS Ground Advantage covers most small handmade orders, and a slim box keeps flat prints and jewelry boxes light.

## 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 labeled boxes by product, and note the box in the listing's SKU field. Give personalized 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 shipping too leaves you short, so build both into your price.
- A busy kitchen counter behind the product cheapens handmade work, so use one plain backdrop.
- Sending fragile pieces in a padded envelope leads to breakage, so use a box with padding all around.
- 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

- [Storage auction garage setup for Whatnot, Etsy and eBay](https://sellersetups.com/us/setups/clearance-lockup-live-and-etsy): Sort a won storage 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/us/setups/etsy-handmade-pet-accessories): A sewing corner that makes and ships bandanas, collars and leash sets on Etsy, with offcuts and seconds cleared on Mercari.
- [Etsy handmade studio setup](https://sellersetups.com/us/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 ship 10 to 40 Etsy orders.
- [Handmade silver jewelry studio for Etsy and Depop](https://sellersetups.com/us/setups/etsy-silver-jewellery-maker): A gram scale, a light box, gift boxes and small flat mailers 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/us/setups/homeware-ceramics-glass-room): A spare room set up for pitchers, vases, dish sets and studio pottery sold on eBay and Etsy, with packing built to prevent breakage.

## Guides

- [Form 1099-K for resellers: the $20,000 and 200 rule](https://sellersetups.com/us/guides/form-1099-k-resellers): Who gets a 1099-K from eBay, Poshmark or Mercari in 2026, why some states ask for less, and the records that keep a form from turning into a tax bill.
- [Hobby or business? Schedule C for home resellers](https://sellersetups.com/us/guides/hobby-or-business-resellers): The IRS factors that separate a selling hobby from a business, why the answer changes what you can deduct, and the $400 self-employment tax line.
- [Reseller storage ideas: organize 300 vintage items](https://sellersetups.com/us/guides/organise-300-vintage-items): A numbering system, two racks and a shelf that let you find any sold vintage piece in under a minute, even at 300 items.
- [Small business packaging setup for 100 orders a week](https://sellersetups.com/us/guides/packaging-setup-100-orders): The kit, stock levels and daily routine that keep packing 100 orders a week from home down to an hour or two a day.
- [Pirate Ship vs platform labels: which to use](https://sellersetups.com/us/guides/pirate-ship-vs-platform-labels): Poshmark's fixed label, Mercari and eBay labels, Whatnot's per-show labels, and the orders where Pirate Ship's free USPS and UPS rates save money.
- [How a resale certificate works for resellers](https://sellersetups.com/us/guides/sales-tax-resale-certificates): When you need a resale certificate, how to use it, and where sales tax still applies.
- [How to start a small business from home in the US](https://sellersetups.com/us/guides/start-selling-from-home): Which platform suits what you sell, what the first kit covers, and a checklist for your first week of orders shipped from home.
- [The July 2026 USPS under-1-lb change for sellers](https://sellersetups.com/us/guides/usps-under-1-lb-change): Since July 12, 2026, commercial Ground Advantage dropped its ounce tiers under a pound. What it costs card, jewelry and accessory sellers, and how to adjust.

## Questions

### What fees does Etsy charge US sellers?

A listing fee of $0.20 per item, which lasts four months. A 6.5% transaction fee on the item price, shipping and gift wrap. A payment processing fee of about 3% plus $0.25 for US shops. Check Etsy's fees and payments policy before you price, since rates change.

### 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 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 per order.

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

Etsy charges some new sellers a one-time setup fee when they open a shop, and the amount depends on the country. If it applies to you, it shows during shop setup.

### Can I buy shipping labels on Etsy?

Yes. US sellers can buy USPS, UPS and FedEx labels in Shop Manager at discounted rates, and tracking uploads to the order on its own. The label cost comes out of your Etsy payment account.

### 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 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 the holidays and Mother's Day.

### Will Etsy send me a 1099-K?

Etsy issues Form 1099-K to US sellers above the federal reporting limit, or a lower state limit where one applies. Etsy also collects and remits sales tax on orders in states with marketplace facilitator laws. Read the IRS guidance or ask a tax professional about your own case.