Ok so you are wanting to sell your products online and you’ve heard Etsy is a great place to ‘join a creative marketplace where more than 33 million buyers around the world shop for unique items’.

Well, that may be the case but is it right for you and your small business?

I want to walk you through the pros and cons as it really depends on where you are at with your business and how much success you want to achieve!.

Back in 2004, I used to have a physical shop and also an e-commerce business, I was one of the first sellers on eBay and sold on Amazon too!  I understand first hand what it is like to work with 3rd party platforms and how it can affect you and your business and want to help you.

To make it simple I’m going to break it down as it will depend on what stage you are at with your business…

1. The Start Up and Short Term Plan

The Pros: If you are just starting out in business then Etsy is quick to set up, it allows you to market on an established platform and can be a great place to test out a business idea with minimum commitment.

You can research and gather information to test what works well for you.

The Cons: However in addition to you – there are many other sellers competing on the same platform so you need to know what you are doing in terms of understanding your keywords and phrases to use and how to get seen in their ever changing algorithm (how they show and share your products with the world)

2. The I’ve Got a Business and Want To Grow Plan

Ok so you may have established a pretty good following on Etsy by now but you are now realising that the confusing and costly fees are eating into your margins?

The Pros: Well if you want to keep your following and are still making money from selling on Etsy, the next stage would be to incorporate your Etsy Shop into a website, so that you can at least direct people to your own bricks and mortar site (even if they are still transacting through an Etsy shop)  If you set up a WordPress website you can do this using the following plugin: Etsy Pro Plugin

The Cons: However you will still need to pay Etsy costs (approx 10% of your sales) YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT 10%!!!! and you DO NOT OWN YOUR BUSINESS on Etsy either – They do!

They can change the search at any time, change the costings, remove you completely, your competitors can easily access the same platform.  It is not your bricks and mortar – you are building your business on borrowed land.

So it’s time to consider what it is you want for you and your business?

Here’s what the lovely Vicki Nicolson – Brand Creative has to say…

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You can check out Vicki’s fabulous shop here: www.vickinicolson.com

3. I’m Going to Save Money and Make More Money Plan

So what’s the plan!.. well I want you to think about the margins and money you are actually paying to Etsy?

The Pros: It’s great to still have a presence on Etsy if you are making money and getting traffic there but as a long term plan it’s about getting them over to your own online platform – Your Website!

The Cons: It’s costly and they own it!

Think about how else you could be spending that money?

Do you want to always be driving your customers to a platform you don’t own or do you want to spend it on…

Investing in your own website? Buying More Stock?  Re-investing in other marketing that will deliver long term results? Booking a Weekend Away? Going on an all inclusive holiday to the Bahamas?

If you have your own website you can build up your OWN SEO, you can grow your OWN online shop, you can build your OWN following, you will be in control of your OWN business and will be creating your OWN business success!

4. The Creating Success With Multi-Channel Sales Plan

I’m NOT saying move away from Etsy or any other platform completely!  The best plan when selling on other platforms like eBay, Amazon and Etsy is to use them to gather your crowds and customers but move them onto your own website.

Back in 2006 80% of my traffic went to eBay and 20% to my website and by 2009 I had completely flipped this around with 80% direct to my website and only 20% to eBay but eBay still helped me market and drive my business forward just in a managed and controlled way without giving them all my money!   Through repeat custom and the ability to invest in ads and other marketing campaigns I also increased my turnover from £25k to a whopping £960k!!! and I really want to share this to help you – it’s time for you to save oodles of money by educating your customers and visitors to come to your website and use multichannel sales to help and support your growth!

Sound good?  So how can you get started? Well I recommend you get a WordPress website, it’s the ultimate platform for your website (in my opinion) and if you are feeling like you can’t do it on your own I have a couple of simple solutions that will help!

You can grab a pre-made WordPress website with Jet Set Websites or

Learn how to create a bespoke WordPress website in The Web Design Academy

I also offer done for you services too!  You can check out the 3 ways you can earn money with an online shop here:

Make More Money With An Online Shop

And I can’t wait to help you to save money and sell more products online more of the time!