Etsy Shop: How to make $5,000 Income your first year

My Story

Using my Cricut, I made a personalized apron for my hairstylist as a gift. She loved it and still wears it to this day. This got me thinking, is there a market out there for personalized hair stylist aprons? It was easy to make, the products were affordable, and the end result was fantastic. So, I got to work and designed a few options I was proud of.

After doing some research and watching youtube videos, I felt confident to open my own Etsy shop. But first, I needed to cover all my bases before I went live. With that knowledge, I was able to earn $5,000 in revenue within my first year.

Your Etsy Shop Should Have

Each Product Listing should have

1. Create a Product

Obviously, in order to have an etsy shop, you need to have something to sell. I would say this is the hardest part. If you have a product in mind that you think someone would pay for, it takes a lot of creativity, and confidence to move forward from this point. But once you have something in mind, it’s time to do some research.

2. Find your competition

On Esty, I searched for “personalized aprons” and found quite a few shops selling them. The prices seemed reasonable like what I could post; however, the aprons lacked the spark that most hair stylists are looking for. The designs on the aprons were not something I would purchase for my hair stylist. I also found holographic htv on Amazon, which is a little more expensive, but no one in the market had it.

3. Calculate Costs

After finding a market and not too much competition, I calculated the profit-to-cost ratio. I looked on Amazon for all the material I would need – Aprons, htv (heat transfer vinyl), I already have a Cricut, package envelopes, packing tape, tissue paper, tags, and thank you stickers.

My Material Costs List

After gathering the materials to make and ship the product, I divided the materials into a cost per completed product. I adjusted my design to have an exact number for each roll of htv so as not to waste any. The htv scraps were kept for personalization requests.

When you discover the cost to complete and ship the product, you can investigate Etsy shop fees. As I am posting this blog, Etsy has a $0.20 listing fee, a 3% sales fee, and the shipping fee is deducted from the sale. Add to your TOTAL COST and start deciding possible listing prices you can charge customers and still make a profit.

To calculate income per product sold, you will first need to divide each material by the amount you will need to cover 1 product. For example, I purchased 12 aprons for $25. I need 1 apron for 1 sale. I divide $25 by 12 to get the cost per 1 apron. ($25 / 12 = $2.00 cost per sale). See my calculations below for each item.

Once you calculate the costs of each item you need for 1 sale, add them together as your TOTAL COST. From here, you can determine your item’s reasonable price. Subtract the TOTAL COST from your Item’s Listing Price to find your income. Leave room to make money when you promote a sale.

$35 (list price) - $10 (total Costs) = $25 (Income per product)

TOTAL COSTS BELOW = $10.00
Apron $25 / 12 = $2.00
Holo HTV: $13 / 12 = $1.00
Packaging: $18 / 25 = $0.75
Etsy Shop Listing Fee = $.20
Etsy Sales Fee: $35 * 3% = $1.05
Shipping Fee = $5.00

4. Listing Title & Description

Each product needs a few key words in the title, and tons of information in the description.

Titles with Tags

For the listing title, use various descriptions and words that pop! The text box allows 140 characters, so it’s a good idea to play around with spacing and content. Write in similar words to your competition, so you show up on the same search queries as the rest of them.

Tags can also be useful. Again, your competition already did the work for you. Go to a few of their similar product pages and scroll to the bottom; you will find their tags there. When your tags match your competition, the more likely your shop will appear at the bottom of their product pages. I appeared in 2,819 other Esty pages in a year, which is double the Etsy shop search results.

My Listing Title:

Personalized Hair Stylist Apron | Holographic Hair Stylist Apron | hairstylist gift | stylist apron | hairdresser apron | hairdresser gift

The description should be laid out clearly and look pleasing to the eye. I also like to use unique HTML icons as bullet points. Find a comprehensive list here: HTML ICON LIST

Main points in a Description

My Etsy Shop Product Description:

A personalized Iridescent/holographic hair stylist apron is a perfect gift to show your favorite hairdresser or stylist that you appreciate them. The product pictures are all of the same hairdresser aprons at different angles reflecting the light, which catches the eye at every turn.

You can personalize this product by adding the stylist’s name on the pockets, a hashtag, or both the stylist’s name and their salon name. The font styles on the hairdresser apron for the personalized section (name and salon) can be changed but at an additional fee.

This adjustable stylish apron is made with waterproof material and comes with two large pockets, great for holding hair tools to help make you look fabulous and functional.

☼ Comes with an adjustable neck strap and long ties to fit most sizes

☼ There are 2 large pockets in the middle of the apron for easy holding

☼ 100% Polyester and waterproof material that covers from chest to knee

☼ Dimensions: 33.07 inches x 27.17 inches

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ CLOTHING CARE ◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

☼ The design is ironed onto the fabric. Place a piece of parchment paper over the design before ironing.

☼ To extend the longevity of your item, it is recommended to hand wash in cold water and hang to dry.

☼ Machine wash cold with mild detergent (no bleach or softener) which resists wrinkles and shrinkage.

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ SHIPPING ◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

☼ It normally takes up to 3 business days to make and ship your package.

☼ Shipping is usually 2-4 days. I recommend ordering at least 1 week before your order is needed.

☼ If you have a specific need-by-date, please message me. There is an added cost for expedited shipping.

☼ Make sure your address on file with Etsy is correct unless you make prior arrangements with me in writing.

☼ Don’t be alarmed if it looks like your package hasn’t moved since its shipping day, as that’s not uncommon at all! The Post Office is not the best at scanning the packages as they move around the country.

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ REVIEWS ◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

☼ I love feedback reviews from my customers! Your reviews help me become a better small business owner.

☼ If for some reason, you are disappointed with your order, I would appreciate it if you contact me first before leaving a public review. I would love a chance to make it better with you and I am positive we can come up with a solution to do so!

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦ GIVING BACK ◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

☼ I donate 5% of every order to the ASPCA whose mission is, “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals.”

☼ If you would also like to donate, here is the link: https://bit.ly/2IkoSh

5. Make 10 Photos

Use all 10 photo spaces for every product to rank higher in Esty searches. I also write on all the photos like “personalized options available”, whatever the feature is – “adjustable straps”, “large pockets”, “gift wrapping”. I usually use photoshop to add text, but you can use Canva or a similar app.

Remove backgrounds to make your photos look clean. Clipping Magic puts your product on any solid color background with a click. You can also add shadows, reflections, etc. No sign-up is required.

Add a watermark of your logo and Esty shop name in case this comes across on social media, or a google search. This way people will know what shop the product images are from. Freepik gives unlimited downloads to their millions of assets like textures and templates. FlatIcon is my recommendation for icons and icon-like graphics.

The recommended photo dimensions are 2,700 pixels wide and 2,025 pixels tall with a 4:3 ratio. Again, you can use Canva to create these dimensions, then have your photos fit inside.

Photo Ideas:

My Product Photos

6. Shipping Details

There are unique packaging envelopes if you prefer that over regular manilla envelopes. You can also wrap your products in tissue paper to seem more like a gift.

There are two options for shipping:

Take packages to the post office with a post-it note or writing to indicate which address each product goes to, have them print each packing slip at the post office, then ship.

I don’t recommend this because I would have to mail at least 10 packages at a time. That will not only get confusing, but you will spend a lot of time waiting at the post office. Also, you can only go when they are open.

Or purchase your packing slips from Etsy and tape them to your packages, then drop off your packages at the nearest post office.

In order to purchase a packing slip from Esty, you will need to weigh your completed package. To print your packing slips from Etsy’s website, you need the package’s weight, length, width, and height.

Use one completed package as a test. the post office can get all these measurements, Or use a ruler and your bathroom scale / kitchen scale and do it yourself.

Add An Extra Touch of Customer Care

Now It's Time to List Your Product!

Every product list should have:

7. List the Right Price

When you open your shop and it is up for a month without any sales, put in a low sales price. This will drive buyers to take a chance on your shop and discover they love it!

If you go above and beyond with customer care, exceed shipping times, then follow up to request reviews, you will get 5-star reviews! The more positive reviews you have, the more orders you will have. After I received at least 5 great reviews, I removed the sale and went to my original price and it was consistent throughout the year.

When online sales at major stores hit throughout the year, follow the trend and put your items on sale as well. You will get so many more orders because so many potential buyers are intentionally buying things that are in their carts. The most popular sale weeks are Amazon prime day in July, Labor Day, & Black Friday.

Have the sale for a week. Also, as people save your product and you put out a sale, they receive a notification and are prompted to purchase. You only need to take 10% to 20% off and your sales will soar!

8. Market Your Listings

Social media: Post your listings on social media. Add links to your shop in comments to other accounts. Use hashtags. Add links to your Etsy shop on your profile pages.
Pinterest: Post every single product, image, and video on Pinterest with the same title as your Etsy listing. Make sure the link goes to that product. Then save it to your Pinterest boards.
Blogs: If you have a blog, add it as a sidebar link or bottom page item.
Craft Shows: You don’t need a booth, just a QR code. Have samples and when you meet people, they can scan your QR code to the shop online right there.

TIP: PREPARE FOR DECEMBER. December is crazy. In November, I premade as many of my best-selling items as possible. The only thing I couldn’t do until to do when the item was ordered is the personalization, but with everything else done it no time at all.

My orders in December were double (without any discounts) and received tons of messages to make sure I got the product to the customer before Christmas.

I knew it would be busy, and with that in mind, I shipped my products within 24 hours, even though my shop’s shipping time said within 5-7 days). The shipping reviews were phenomenal and set me up for a successful January.

Watch Etsy Shop Tutorials on Youtube

Before I had any confidence in my shop at all, I did what any other person would do; Watched a lot of Youtube Videos. The three videos I included below were some of my favorites. I found tons of useful information on Youtube that helped me navigate the world of Etsy.