That is already a small success! I'm also tired of these exaggerated success videos. I like such realistic videos like yours much better. Sorry for my English. Best regards from Berlin.
I've been running my shop seriously for 4 months now, (my shop has been open for a whole year but I didn't do any work) and right now I'm on 29 sales and I couldn't have been happier! Thsi month I had my first money transfer from etsy! It is not much but it gives me hope
I've been an Etsy seller since 2008 and I got so much out of this video! I have a successful vintage clothing shop and I just opened a new shop selling printables. Starting from scratch after all these years has been challenging. Thank you so much, this really helped me and I know it will help others as well.
Hi Dini! This video popped up on my feed and I love it! I have had an etsy shop for 2 years and at first when I didn't have sales I felt like I was doing something wrong since the videos I before said they made a lot of money. It's refreshing to see a realistic video of how etsy works and how much work it actually takes to run a shop.
Hey Dina. This video was really helpful. I've realized that most videos related to this topic is where new sellers make thousands in their first month. This on the other hand offers a more realistic side of selling on Etsy as a beginner. I highly enjoyed this video
Hi Soraine!!! YAY I am SO happy to hear that because I honestly was debating if I should make a video like this or not!! (Like... who's going to listen to someone with 10 sales if there are people making hundreds of sales in their first month?) But I'm so happy you (and other people) have enjoyed this. I will make a 2nd month update soon :)
Congrats on your new shop. I started mine in June, also digital downloads and it was slow at the beginning but I now have over 50 products in my shop and making new things all the time. So refreshing to watch someone with realistic numbers.
@@DinaLu Thank you. It's going fantastic. I am in a small niche but the competition is low and for the last six months I have been doing very little other than working on my shop, so long hours, but it's been super rewarding. In the first month I had different items but the competition was too much and I decided to find a niche market and create some great quality products that woukd be so useful to that small audience. It worked and now I am branching out more and getting a bunch of custom work too. So exciting. Wishing you much success too. Love your video.
Etsy is so hard! It took me a whole year to sell my first physical product! So I've been researching digital products and will hopefully have some up in my shop soon
Hi Catherine! I have my own Etsy shop that sells physical products. And yes it does take a while especially since shipping cost is ridiculous. Don't give up on it. You can always do both physical and digital products.
I rarely make comments, but one thing is for sure. You are doing well enough for a beginner, and that makes it already a success. You were able to manifest the opposite of this saying: "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" because you prepared! everything, from researching, designing and selling. This is proof that one don't need to be a master of something. You just have to PREPARE & START. You showed that success is not equal to perfection! I want contents as imperfect & raw & wholesome & realistic as like this. More power to your Etsy business! PIN ME IF YOU NOTICE THIS! Kidding! 😘
Aww thank you SO MUCH!! And yeah I think for a digital downloads shop on etsy, it is so important to research and plan it beforehand, because once you start on the niche, it's kind of hard to switch. I would love to pin your comment, but I actually pin my own comment on all videos 😅
Thank you for being so real and down to Earth. I am completely overwhelmed by the number of ppl trying to sell a course in all the research I am doing. I appreciate you.
what is the most amazing things about you is when you tell everything so honestly what you did and how you did means a lot this attitude will take you sooooooo high in your goals inn life amen stay like this always ,, really appreciate how easily you guide all ,, and i was so worried i saw so many videos but this was so helpful
Girl, thank you for an honest video on Etsy sells. Other videos of this topic feel like they are unique cases of success impossible for others to reach. I appreciate all the tips you gave and how motivational they are. I agree that it is better not to share the info of your store yet. Looking forward to seeing your progress with the Etsy shop.
Danerys, I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed the video. Yes, I wanted to show a more realistic side of starting an Etsy shop because I've seen those videos too haha.
Dina was the first Etsy video I ran into. Honestly, the other videos seem like con artists trying to build a reputation in hopes that you buy their courses.
I started my 1st ever Etsy shop, and this is how it went! I hope you enjoyed hearing my process and hope you can use some of the tips ❤ Let me know what your thoughts are and if you have any questions! 2nd month update is up! Watch here 👉 linktw.in/bQ9NVc
@@shandrealasco6568 like a bonus page, or a 2-page guide with tips, or a video explaining how to use the template! Just something that is useful to your buyers that makes them want to buy the product even more and helps them. There could be a lot of things you can make for a "bonus gift" depending on your niche
Keep up the hard work. I also saw my first couple dozen sales as a major success, and that motivation kept me going and I never thought I’d be where I’m at now. Keep it up!
you mean have your friends review your shop. So people feel safe of purchase and it's not a scam. LOLs. I always treat them out to food or something or beg them. Please please please haha!
The people that make hundreds usually have other shops and experience don’t worry. 10 sales in one month is epic. So many people don’t get a sale for months
Thank you for sharing. Don't be fooled by those loads of other youtubers that tell you they're making 10k in their first month. While it's actually possible, most of them don't mention they already have a HUGE following/purchase base from other platforms and/or paying thousands in marketing. 300$ is a great starting point and an honest one.
Awww thanks!! Yeah that's what I thought, either they have already been doing Etsy for a long time, or they have other means of getting sales other than solely Etsy SEO
I think a lot of people are lying Etsy is difficult it is a grind I have opened 7 shops since 2017 in different niches my experience is about like yours. Thanks for being authentic.
Brad thank you for sharing that! Wow 7 shops, that's amazing. And how are they going so far? I'm glad I could share a more realistic side of starting an Etsy shop, thanks for watching!
Yeah, I am just watching about this, but I am not taking any action about this so this video is very helpful for me after this I am going to open my Etsy shop fast as possible as it is.
I really needed this, I've been watching all those other creators that showed up and I know I want to take smaller steps like you, just seeing your timeline made me feel so much better
Dory, I'm so glad to hear that you found my video helpful! Yes, even for me too it was discouraging seeing other people achieve "unrealistic" Etsy results in the first month. Good luck on your Etsy shop! 💪
Finally! Someone mentioning how long it actually takes to create digital downloads! I tried to create something. Converting the art into actual downloadable products takes soooo freaking long.
Hey Priyanka! So I am actually not converting art into digital downloads - mine are more like templates which I just create on the computer. But I've digitized calligraphy before and yes it takes a while hahaha! Are you selling prints?
I do download Sketching . But how hard I'm thinking to deliver to buyer in a good condition quality 🥺. I have try to scan my sketches on phone scanner and go to printing store and try to print out my sketches in some type of paper that work well hahah. I just want the best for the client. I wish I had found my answer and solution sooner ! 😂
Hi Dina. Can someone please help me? I'm stuck on the create listing. I went to Canva to create something and got an error message when I put it in the create list. Please help me.
I would say yes! I started off with $2/day, then switched to $5/day, and now I'm doing $1/day. So far the revenue from ads has been approx double the amount I spent
I just want to say THANK YOU for being honest about how hard it was to start. I am so tired of seeing these "make $$$$ your first month" and they act like it is sooooooooo easy. LOL.
Congratulations! This is so awesome seriously we're ALL just over these people taking about how they are making 500k a week selling one garbage design and working 10 hours a week. Thank you for this and keep going!!
Thank you so much! Yeah I haven't seen a lot of realistic videos either. But I'm happy for those people who really really made Etsy work for them. This friday, I'll have my second month update video published 😁
Hii lovely!! I just wanted some guidance about advertising please. Where do you advertise? How do you market your listings? Please pleaseeeeee let me know xxx
Any laptop works, as long as you can design stuff and upload to Etsy / manage your Etsy store. Personally I use a Macbook Air M1 (mainly for video editing).... but you can use any basic laptop!
I love how you made a video on your first month, and I love even more that it was a huge amount - its far more relatable (I've been doing myself but been hesitant as all the videos claim quick success) so thankyou ❤️ I also feel you're super genuine and give really helpful tips xx
On my first month I had only 8 visitors and 0$. Four months later I had 56 new visits and still 0$ income. Ahaha 😅 I still upload products on my shop, I’ll not give up! 💪
Hi Dina, your Etsy videos are super useful!!!! You just gave me the biggest motivation to start selling my dream digital products and I already started to research and brainstorming!! 🎉🎉 BIG thank you!!❤ One question to you: I have an Etsy shop already (I guess🤔😅) from many years ago but didn't use it at much and had no success at all...shall I open a total new shop to my digital products? What u think? :)
Most of the people doing digital downloads and Etsy stores always say you need 100-200 products in your store to start gaining momentum but like howwww if it takes soo long to create the products! Taking the mock-ups photos and writing the description is another 2 separate jobs on its own !!
Hey Ava! I've seen some stores with 10, 20, 50 products that are doing really well, so I actually don't know. I think it really depends on the niche. Haha but I've also seen stores with like 300 products. So far, I've got 19 (2 months into it). For some of them, I make slight variations but it's still a different product altogether. I don't take photos actually - I use the free version of Smartmockups to make "mock up photos" The description actually doesn't take me very long, because I have a format I use for all of them and just need to change a few tings. Do you have an Etsy store?
Thank you so much for doing a realistic month by month from the begining, I've only just started watching the video but had to comment on that already, so I imagine it's only going to get better. :) I'm hoping to start a digital download esty shop soon, and seeing the slower but realistic starting progress makes me feel better about actually starting it. Cheers :)
Thank you for sharing your experience!! I’d like to add an observation though - you mentioned not consuming that many resources, and from how you’ve described your process, you didn’t follow a lot of the generic advice here on youtube - was that intentional because you don’t agree with some of the advice? What i mean is the typical starting with at least a few listing and adding more pretty quickly (or trying out the same with different product pictures) to boost your products showing up in searches, etc
Hey Z.K.! I think most of the videos I watched at the beginning were about how to do Etsy market research, but even then, I feel like the tools (like erank) weren't super duper useful. The niche for my Etsy shop is something I came across organically and even when I tried to use all the market research tools, I couldn't really come to a conclusion. So I just made 2 listings first to see what would happen, and then I got like 2 sales and then started making more. I also think that because I'm familiar with blogging SEO and RU-vid SEO, I didn't need to watch so many SEO videos because I naturally kind of understand it. It's not that I didn't agree with any of the advice - it's more that I think there's SOOO much advice out there and if you try to listen to all of it, you might get nothing done. And there's always more you can "research." So I just spent the time instead working on my listings. Right now I have 19 listings but I do make different variations of the same thing (like just change colours and fonts) so if it's a variation, it might take 1-2 days to make. Geez I didn't realize I typed so much haha! Hope this helps!!!
thank you!! I'm still taking my time with my first product and I've been feeling so guilty that the listing photos and videos are taking too long to finish!
Hey Angel, I totally relate to you! Sometimes it's the perfectionism that takes up SO much of the time, so I try to let it go sometimes. I hope that helps!
I think I need help with the Etsy reserve! I make sales but I feel like Etsy isn't paying me correctly. I know they retain the 75% for the reserve however do you know when they pay out the 25%? Is there any way I can actually see like a full break down of what's going into my bank account?
I have a question. Why do people atleast to what i have seen? Tend to not tell what they sell? I mean how does telling what they sell make them lose anything? Like if u get what i mean 👍, im genuinely curious about this. So i will be more then happy if someone can answer this question ive had for a while
Well finally a video that looks realistic than "i made 900k a day" you're doing great I just have a question i am thinking of "print on demand" I've read about it a little but the problem that am not good at drawing so how could i include a picture in my design a drawing where can i find a no copyright pics for example that i can use any advice from you ?
I'm glad you enjoyed the video! I'm not quite sure I understand your question. I know what print on demand is, but I thought that print on demand websites usually provide the photos? Or maybe not. There are also websites where you can do mockups, like smartmockups.com. I'm not too familiar with the entire process of marketing for print on demand, sorry!
I am new in all this and i am considering to open my own etzy shop but i dont understand something so if someone could please help me with this, i dont understand how you can sell for example digital illustrations and printebals because anyone can just for example screenshot an image of art that you are trying to sell? I dont know if that makes sence what am trying to ask.
Hi Dina, new subscriber here. I appreciate that you made this video despite the lower sales because it's more realistic for first timers like me, glad you pushed through! Thank you for your advice
Thank you so much for making this video! Its so encouraging and its making me want to go ahead with actually opening a store . Do you create all your templates on canva itself?
Great video, Dina! Going into 2023 and per your experience so far in POD, What are your thoughts on focussing on a single POD vertical like apparels(t-shirts, hoodies, socks) and then creating designs for multiple niches like sports and outdoor enthusiasts designs, dog dad and dog moms, baby & mom tees for this single POD vertical ? Or would you suggest sticking to only 1 niche rather like a POD store for dog owners and selling different POD items like tees,mugs,stickers, hoodies etc for multiple breeds and multiple designs on this store? I believe going into 2023 it will be extremely important as a store owner to go all in on presence on social media channel due to increased competition on Etsy so I am thinking if I focus only on 1 niche then it would be much better for my social media strategies but would like to hear your thoughts on the above since you have years of experience in this POD space, thanks ahead of time!
@@Om-gg5tk ohhh! Okay, makes sense now. I don't actually have experience with print on demand. My Etsy store is digital downloads like canva templates. For successful POD stores you see, how do they organize their store? Is it based on the type of apparel or a certain type of topic? I would take a look at some other stores specifically for POD to see what others do
Wow!!! Good for you! I love your attitude and agree, ‘when you rise I rise, when I rise you rise.’ I have a long way to go with 110 subscribers and your message encourages me. Thank you!!❤
Hey Catargiu, I've actually decided not to share my Etsy shop because I don't want people to click into it and not purchase anything (and affect the Etsy algorithm). The niche is digital downloads (Canva templates) for a certain kind of business owner.
Should I use my personal bank account if I’m just trying to make some money on the side. Not planning on taking it serious or if I want to start a business, should I use a different bank account to keep money there for tax stuff too? Or what.
I would recommend talking to an accountant! The rules about using personal bank accounts or business bank accounts might differ depending on where you live!
That's awesome! I've been on Etsy for 2 months and haven't made a single sale. Making sure it's. I just subbed your channel wish you the best of success.
Hey Dina, I opened a digital products Etsy Shop a month back and so far I have 70ish views and got my first sale only a couple of days back. But before the sale, I was very much disheartened seeing myself put so much effort and getting no outcome! The sale encouraged me a bit, that a added a few more listings and optimised my listing titles a little more. But I would really love to know where I m lacking as I m giving it my best. Is there anyway to contact you take your suggestions on my shop? P.S I dont want to take a course just yet
Congratulations on your first sale, that's amazing! Celebrate that! Unfortunately, at this point I don't help people for free via email or Instagram DM. There are a lot of etsy Facebook groups you can check out. Maybe you can get the support you need there for now!
Marketing is very important. Set up a pinterest account and post some pics of your products. Also watch some youtube videos about how to promote your etsy store with pinterest. Doing some marketing will make such a difference! :)
Yes I did and I just posted my 2nd month update video which explains the results of my $1/day, $2/day, and $5/day ad spend experiment! You can check it out by clicking to my channel and finding the video I just posted
is it really a bad idea to have your etsy shop linked on different platforms? i can see how it can mess up the algorithm but i've also seen a lot of people use instagram to promote their shops and it seems to be working quite well for them. so isn't it a loss of potential/sales? you're obviously being successful without doing so, but it might not be that easy for people who have chosen a large niche with a lot of competition, so i'm genuinely curious. i've also seen people who sell their etsy products on a separate website and promote that website instead of their etsy shop. i'm really lost as to what path i should follow, the niche that i've chosen is quite small too.
I think it's a great idea to sell your products on multiple platforms, like using Instagram and also Pinterest to link to your Etsy shop. For me, I just don't really want to manage another Instagram account. I do plan on trying Pinterest though!
Ayo, I have an important question should I pay to upload my stuff online (to sell, I mean) when I asked Google it said I must pay 0.20usd for every item I list and then these listing expires after 4months and can/will be renewed for 0.20 usd per item??? This is confusing..
WOW!!! Thanks so much for posting this video Dina. You addressed all the basics of my concerns (especially mindset and action vs motion). I've actually had huge success as an illustrator many years ago and Etsy/online sales of my work is the best next step for me. And for resurrecting my massive archive of artworks! So thanks again and am subscribing to you!
This is amazing! Congratulations! I just signed up on Etsy and within a few hours got suspended. Still waiting for a response from Etsy as I made a digital download which I created from scratch and had not broken any rules. :(
Phew!! Just saw my listing go active. The suspension has been removed but I am worried as I have no idea why my account was suspended in the first place. I did not receive any communication from ETSY. For now I will take this as a win and get back to working on the shop. Thank you for sharing your experience as it feels good to have someone to look up to for guidance.
I really appreciate that you uploaded this and is was so real and honest. Sometimes it’s overwhelming watching videos of people that have just started Etsy shops and are making insane amounts of money. I really want to start and Etsy shop and do digital downloads since I’m in highschool and don’t want to be totally overwhelmed with school and a job making physical products. Thank you for the realistic video , it really helped motivate me!
Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed the video ♥️ wow, I wish I started my business in high school hahaha, you are so ahead of so many people!
How do you do a video for a digital download? I just listed my first printable but didnt do a video. Not sure how to make a video of a non-physical product. Lol
I'm specifically here because you're talking about actually starting your store, rather than "you can make millions a month doing this". I wanted to see how many sales can realistically be expected with digital downloads, so thank you! I've had two etsy stores in the past, bespoke costumes, cosplay print store, but this is a new area for me 😊
I'm not an accountant, but this is my understanding. There are different business structures that you can consider like sole proprietorship or corporation (I have a corporation), and yes you need to report your Etsy business income whether it's as a sole proprietor or corporation. I would ask an accountant about the details! If you want a DBA (doing business as) name, you'll have to register as sole proprietorship. If you want to register a social proprietorship or corporation in Canada, I have an affiliate link for Ownr, the service I used to register my business and I highly recommend it. The link is in most of my video descriptions
