I hope this has helped some of you figure out if this is something you want to commit your time to! If you're just getting started with POD, you can watch my free beginner training here> webinars.cuonline.ca/
You are a great teacher. I needed to confirm this with you since You're from Canada as well. When opening an Etsy shop do I have to use my own address or should I use virtual one if yes how can I get a virtual address. Please help because I really need to open asap and thank you every content you're created for us.
I’m at 6 months and just passed $1200 in revenue. I really thought i’d be at way more than that but i’m so passionate about it! Your advice, tips and own growth has helped me to keep pursuing my shop ◡̈
I started October 2022, and gave up December 2022, no sales. I worked a seasonal job January to June and hit it hard in July and started to get sales. Realized I needed to be in it for the long haul. And research is very important! Thanks for all your content.
You nailed it! I've been doing Etsy for the last two months and haven't sold anything with 165 listings because I'm trying to sell personalized mugs, t-shirts, etc. I should change my focus and get really good at one thing. Thank you for your video!
Love this! Especially the last point.. I just love it too.. wondering when I will eventually not be thinking about my POD shop..almost a year and still enjoying it so much❤
You have such great advice! All of the things you discuss are 100% true! We experienced the same things that you did. 🙂We absolutely LOVE running our shop, too! Almost 4 years now for us and still running strong.
Omg once again, thank you for this encouraging video, I was struggling with picking products and was trying to add all of them 😅. Printify has so many cool products to design on! And it was causing me to burnout and neglect my shop. But I like your idea of focusing on one to start with. Thanks again!
Great video Christina. I started in May 23 and only had 8 sales over Christmas on Etsy. Was getting up to around 200 views a day until September and I believe the algorithm changed and then zero! I do this full time, I have almost 1,000 active listings and around 70 to be renewed Halloween). I do buy quite a few really nice mockups and put a lot of effort in and I abdolutely love doing this. Do you ever do shop reviews Christina? Would really appreciate any advice from you and/or perhaps anyone else if you have the time🙏 TIA!
Thank you for all the information, tips and hints; I really appreciate it. I have so many questions to ask but my main one is this: when creating designs, and you're using stuff that you find on the internet, do you have to have special permission to use those designs? There's a lot that a free, can those be used to create your items? Thank you again. Cathy
Thanks for sharing your experience. I was surprised but pleased that you concentrate only on sweatshirts. As listing is a drag😂😂 But may I ask what is the maximum number of shirt colors you think it's good to offer in your experience?
Soooooo, I LOVE my store! I’m 6 months in and nearing $3k in revenue. However, I am one of those as you described that have done t-shirts, sweatshirts, tumblers, mugs, blankets and luckily, I have sold a little of each. I’m stirring more into the “home decor” path for 2024 but would still like to offer multiple items for home decor. If doing multiple items, do you suggest a limit to how many?
I totally agree that focus is the key to success. May I ask how could it possible to get sales even without the ads turning on? Do you have any videos on strategies that about SEO to guide customers to find your listings also what's the best price should I list for sweatshirt? I am really struggling about this. My first year revenue is about $40,000 and it sounds not bad right? However I spent too much on ads. I have about 1000 listings and I work 4-7 hours per day on this business. I love it so much but the result is not great, in my opinion. Thanks
The best way is to master Etsy SEO. I have searchable keywords on my titles, description, section, and tags. Study the listings on the 1st page of etsy search and take note of how they do their titles. For pricing, I used to offer free shipping for US orders, and have a 10% off sale. Now, I have a fixed shipping fee and then set my sale to 20+% off. The sweatshirt costs around 30-35$ without the shipping fee and with the sale.
As always very helpful. I started around 2 months ago with apparel. Haven't had any sales yet though 😊. I use mock-ups from place it ,but I heard they don't actually work..is that true?should I invest in some other mock-ups?
Placeit it great for AOP products like blankets, and mugs. I use Etsy bought mockups for my apparel products as they really showcase my design well. Invest on a few great eye catching mockups, and then take note which ones bring you more visits. :)
I’m almost at a year mark and I did okay but now motivated to do better & narrow down niches. I am moving in June from San Diego to La and work full time. I’m hoping to not get side tracked with all that I have going on. I’m curious if you have had something Christina that may have kept you away from your Etsy/POD for a little and how you handled it
Love your content. Can you give me some guidance with shipping please. I live in Australia & most products are made in the USA, shipping is high. Should I roll it into the price & offer free shipping or charge for shipping? If so what is a good price? I get even more confused with how to price additional items versus the initial..any advice?
I live in Canada and most of my buyers are from US. I used to offer free shipping fee for US orders and then bake the fee on the actual product price. Now I run a bigger shop sale (now at 20+%, used to be 10%), and to cover for that bigger sale, I have set a fixed price for shipping fee which is around 4-5 USD. You can try both ways and see which works better for you.
I totally agree with having to love the process. My go to is watching a ton of crime documentaries on the side 😂 one thing i have been struggling with is back and neck pain from too much sitting in front of my lap top screen, anyone else struggling? Also, I thought you outsourced the customer service aspect? Or are you back to doing it yourself?
Mine is watching rom coms! I recently got a standing desk and walking pad so i can get up from sitting all day as well. But even just taking breaks to walk around and seeing how youre sitting to make sure your neck isnt strained helps! I did customer service for the first year and a half but now have it outsourced :)
@@c.u.online lol! I sometimes watch spanish telenovelas to take a break from crime haha. Would love an updated video on the outsourcing of your customer service, how you manage sharing your log in details without being scared to get copied or money stolen from you? Do you employ someone full-time, or certain days/ hours per day... etc. Because customer service is not a constant in my shop I wouldn't know how to structure it and how to trust. eeeek!
Puff now I am so confused, how do you know where to go if you have started and low sales? How do you choose only sweatshirts or tote bags. I am lost now....
Can we use your Printify Premium affiliate link if we already opened a Printify account or is it for new only? Which sweatshirt style and which printify provider do you trust? I used to sell Gildan 18000.
How did you advertise in the beginning? Did you do Etsy ads or ads on social media? I've tried doing a little advertising on etsy in conjunction with a sale, but haven't seen much return on the investment.
How much time do you spend on personalization now? It would be a great problem to have but so many products are personalized now and it takes me a long time to do (I’m still new so still slow :)
HelloCustom can help you automate personalization more. I just started offering personalization in 2023 and people do love it but it can definitely take extra time. A few minutes extra for each personalized order. Im working too at moving all my personalized products to hellocustom
@@c.u.onlineThanks for this. Yes I need to look into hellocuatom… I just opened in October so was trying to master other things first. But most of my products are personalized as I’m trying to break into a tough market! Not sure how I’d manage it without something like hellocustom once I start getting more orders!❤
Amazing Video!! All 5 points are valid. I also am fond of making my products (handmade right now, but contemplating a POD store for Q3 to prepare for Q4) to true crime podcasts and Real Housewives series+. Nothing more fun! When I see my Cha-chings, I get the dopamine rush, plus say to myself, "I'm having a blast learning, creating, and maintaining this shop I made AND I am getting paid for it. Like seriously? 1st year under my belt and just had my first $1100 month in handmade with only 140 listings. Really proud of myself. You're right, it takes time to learn all the steps to make a successful store. I'm only at month 14 and still making mistakes and learning. I have to optimize photos from last year that are super sub-par. I left them up like that to remind myself how far I have come. Thanks 😊
I made -10$ with my Etsy account getting permanently suspended (appeal denied with no specific reason😢). Please, what should I do next if I want to stick to POD?
Send them a message, a lot of people get shut down when they first start. Contact etsy support and you should be able to get it back in a few days to a week
Do you think I can make a living by staying in the Christian niche alone? That’s what I have built my brand around. I’m about 5 weeks in and I have a few sales. Nothing crazy.
I love doing evergreen niches rather than holiday related ones. Christmas niched products would only likely sell during Q4. I'd start slowly adding and testing Evergreen niches for your shop
Sorry, I misread that! Christian niche is a great one. I've seen subniches for this and I believe there's a lot of room for personalized Christian themed products.
Thank you for this food for thought. I'm with ya...I LOVE working on my store. I have heard a lot about focusing on one type of product, but what if you are just concentrating on one niche? If you just have one niche, would you recommend adding a few more product types to your store? Thanks for all you do! I know making these videos takes a lot of time and we all appreciate it!
Thank you! Comments like these make it worth the time filming. :) If you decide to stick with one niche, you can add more types of products as long as they are related, such as all being drinkware, for example. However, I would recommend testing each product first and doing lots of research. You can also explore sub-niches, to maintain your branding while expanding your scope at the same time.
