I decided to start my own art business and opened my Etsy shop in December 2023. In these series of posts, I will share what I learned, my flaws, and how much I earned.
Open for business
On December 17, 2023, I opened my Etsy shop. Initially, I uploaded only four art prints, mostly as a test to gauge interest.
Well, they didn’t.
It turns out that art prints alone don’t sell well. I had to earn my buyers’ trust, which wasn’t easy when only selling relatively expensive (€15) items. Despite multiple price changes and offering free shipping within Hungary, nothing helped.
I already had many ideas in my head for new items, so I designed my first bookmark, and this really put me on the map! I sold 10 of them within 24 hours, and a total of 22 in January! ✨ As more and more people started trusting me, my sales increased. Here’s a list of the items I sold in January (I had zero sales in December):
| Name of the item | Total sales |
| Bookmarks | 22 |
| Sticker sheets | 1 |
| Single stickers | 2 |
| Art prints | 1 |
| Greeting cards | 1 |
My current net profit on Etsy for this month is €112.78 (Etsy’s fee has been already deducted), plus, I have €17.34 in payment reserve, for what ever reason for 90 days.
I have to be honest, this is more than I could have dreamed of for my first month!
What I learned so far
I can’t rely solely on Etsy. It’s merely a platform where I can upload my items and handle payments, but with high competition, customers won’t easily find me. To reach more people, I need to be active on social media and build a community.
Also, shipping. I’ve had to adjust the shipping fees multiple times, and I’m still uncertain if I have the correct settings. In Hungary, we have three categories: packages under 50g, maximum 500g, and maximum 2kg. Furthermore, there’s the option to add priority and tracking, which increases the prices.
As I mentioned, I have a reserve on my payment account, and I don’t know the exact reason, based on the list of potential reasons provided by Etsy, it seems that I didn’t provide tracking numbers with my orders – which costs a lot – so I’ll have to consider this aspect as well. (I also think it’s meaningless to provide a tracking number for a €4 bookmark and within the EU, so I won’t be doing that).