THE TRUTH ABOUT ETSY 😳 (has Etsy gone too far??)

About this video

Kate addresses four common concerns about selling on Etsy. On suspensions, she cites Etsy’s own article: shops are suspended for suspected policy violations, overdue bills, or missing required information such as taxpayer ID, bank details, identity or bank verification, or seller-info confirmation, plus repeat policy violations; she warns the intellectual property and handmade policies are often violated unknowingly and advises checking phrases on the USPTO trademark search at uspto.gov before creating products. On fees, she says nothing is hidden: the fees applying to every seller are the $0.20 listing fee and the 6.5% transaction fee, plus shipping and Etsy Payments processing, with other fees (ads, offsite ads, Pattern) only in certain cases. On saturation, she argues more sellers came with more shoppers, competition proves demand, and most sellers guess rather than using SEO and strategy. On emails, Etsy does not allow automatically collecting buyer emails, but sellers can build a list with a lead magnet/freebie and a landing-page link placed in the shop announcement, listing descriptions, and about section. Her recommendation is to start on Etsy for its built-in shoppers, then branch out to a site like Shopify.

Key takeaways

• Per Etsy’s article as cited, suspensions stem from suspected policy violations, overdue bills, or incomplete setup such as missing taxpayer ID, bank information, or identity/bank verification — not random shutdowns
• Check any phrase, words, or graphics for trademarks on uspto.gov before creating products, and for handmade listings be the maker or designer (or disclose a production partner)
• Fees are disclosed, not hidden: $0.20 per listing and a 6.5% transaction fee apply to every seller, plus shipping and payment processing; ads and other fees are situational or optional
• Saturation is not a barrier by itself: competition signals demand, and most sellers guess on products, photos, and keywords instead of using SEO and smart strategy
• You cannot automatically collect buyer emails on Etsy, but you can grow a list with a lead magnet (e.g. a coupon or free download) linked from your shop announcement, listing descriptions, and about section

Episode details: published November 7, 2023 · 19:21 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.

← Previous: How to Create PRINTABLES in CANVA to Sell on ETSY (ULTIMATE STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL) · Next: START YOUR PRINT ON DEMAND BUSINESS in 5 easy steps 💸 (Print on Demand tutorial for beginners) →

All Kate Hayes videos · Kate Hayes profile · Kate Hayes on YouTube