Starting an Etsy^® Business For Dummies^®, 3rd Edition

      Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

      Copyright © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

      Published simultaneously in Canada

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      Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and may not be used without written permission. The term “Etsy” is a registered trademark of Etsy, Inc. This publication has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by Etsy. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

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      Library of Congress Control Number: 2017946007

      ISBN 978-1-119-37896-9 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-37901-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-37882-2 (ebk)

      Introduction

      Does this sound like you? You hate your day job. You trained as a teacher, but what you really want to do all day is knit. Or you wait tables, but you dream of starting your own jewelry-making business. Or your background is in law, but what you really love is constructing handbags out of gum wrappers. There’s just one problem: You have bills to pay. It’s not like you can just ditch your day job to hand-craft sweaters or earrings or purses, right? Wrong. Thanks to Etsy (www.etsy.com), plenty of people have done just that. And armed with the information in Starting an Etsy Business For Dummies, 3rd Edition, you can, too!

      What’s Etsy? Etsy was created in 2005 to help artists and craftspeople sell their handmade wares online. (Since then, Etsy has evolved to allow the sale of vintage items and craft supplies.) Etsy allows creative types to channel their passion for their craft into their life’s work. If your dream is to “make a living making things,” then Etsy is for you!

      Starting an Etsy Business For Dummies, 3rd Edition, is a reference tool. You don’t have to read it from beginning to end; instead, you can turn to any part of the book that gives you the information you need when you need it. And you can keep coming back to the book over and over. On the other hand, if you prefer to read things in order, you’ll find that the information is presented in a natural, logical progression.

      Sometimes we have information that we want to share with you, but it relates only tangentially to the topic at hand. When that happens, we place that information in a sidebar (a shaded gray box). Even though it may not be mission critical, we think you’ll find it worth knowing. But you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to.

      Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy – just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

      When writing this book, we made some assumptions about you, dear reader. We assume that you want to run your Etsy shop as a proper business. Sure, it’s possible to build and manage an Etsy shop with minimal effort, but that will yield only minimal results. We’re guessing that you’re serious about making your Etsy shop a success and that you’re willing to invest the time and energy to make that happen.

      We also generally assume that you reside in the United States. Although most of the information discussed applies regardless of your geographic location, certain tidbits – such as matters related to taxation – are specific to U.S. residents.

      Icons are those little pictures you see in the margins throughout this book, and they’re meant to draw your attention to key points that can help you along the way. Here’s a list of the icons we use and what they signify.

      In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web. Check out the free Cheat Sheet at www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/startinganetsybusiness for tips on creating an eye-catching Etsy storefront, pricing your work, taking beautiful product photos, and more.

      Glance through the Table of Contents and find the part, chapter, or section that flips your switch. That’s the best way to begin. If you’re just trying to get a sense of what’s available for purchase on Etsy, turn straight to Chapter 5. If you’re itching to launch your own Etsy shop, Chapter 8 walks you through the process of building it from scratch. If your shop is up and running but you’re not sure how to handle business matters – say, paying taxes or choosing the right structure for your business – then you’ll want to flip right to Chapter