How to Start an Etsy Shop Step by Step in 2026 💻 (Etsy Shop for Beginners Setup Tutorial)

About this video

A step-by-step walkthrough of Etsy’s initial shop setup, presented by a creator who says she has sold on Etsy for 10 years and reached the top 1% of shops. The flow covers: shop preferences (language, country, currency); naming the shop (4-20 characters, no spaces or special characters, with availability check); and ‘stock your shop,’ which she frames as only a placeholder first listing that can later be drafted or deleted. Using a candle example, she fills in category, physical vs digital, who made it, finished product vs supply/tool, when made, production method, tools, and production partners — noting print-on-demand providers count as partners to disclose. She then covers title, up to 10 photos and one video (noting Etsy’s claim that listings with video get twice as many orders), description with SEO keyword phrases woven in, personalization box with character limits, price, quantity, SKU, variations with varying prices, attributes, materials, and the 13 tags. Next are shipping profile creation (fixed vs calculated, processing time, free shipping, handling fee, weight and packaged size), a 30-day returns policy option, shop sections, featuring up to four listings, and automatic vs manual renewal — she recommends automatic, noting listings expire every 4 months and renewal costs 20 cents. Setup finishes with payment/bank connection via Plaid, identity verification via Persona using a government ID and selfie (1-3 days possible), billing info with a one-time setup fee shown as $29 at filming, an Etsy Plus offer at $10/month, and two-factor authentication.

Key takeaways

• The first listing in setup is a placeholder to get through the steps — it can be put on draft or deleted once the shop is open
• Shop names must be 4-20 characters with no spaces or special characters, and production partners such as print-on-demand providers must be disclosed
• Fill strategic SEO areas — title, description and all 13 tags — with researched, relevant keyword phrases, and complete relevant attributes and materials
• Choose automatic renewal (20 cents every 4 months or after a sale) to avoid forgetting to renew expired or sold listings manually
• Completing setup requires Plaid bank linking, Persona identity verification with government ID and selfie, billing details, and two-factor authentication

Episode details: published March 4, 2025 · 26:59 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Kate Hayes’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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