Why I almost QUIT Etsy and why I'm glad I didn't | ETSY SELLER TIPS

About this video

Kate Hayes recounts nearly quitting Etsy and why she is glad she did not. She says she started her first shop in 2015, had seen uneven success, and by fall 2019 seriously considered returning to a full-time job, giving herself about one more month. A month later, she says, she created the best-selling product she has ever had. She organizes discouragement around three causes. First, inconsistent sales: Etsy is an ebb-and-flow, seasonal business, especially in the first years, so sellers must learn their niche’s peak and slow periods; the upside is momentum — a few sales can lift a listing in search, producing more sales and a possible best seller. Keep releasing new, trend- and season-aware products. Second, lack of time: building a full-time Etsy income may mean working a paying job alongside the shop and investing effort up front, like a farmer sowing seed before a harvest. Third, a saturated niche: Hayes argues saturation proves demand, though it takes more work to get found initially. Her remedy is building the shop’s foundation with small daily improvements — better photos, branding, reviews and listings — aiming to get 1% better each day rather than fixating on the whole business at once.

Key takeaways

• Hayes says she started on Etsy in 2015, nearly quit in fall 2019, and created her best-selling product a month later
• Expect inconsistent, seasonal sales early on and learn your niche’s peak and slow periods
• Etsy momentum can compound: early sales lift a listing in search, which can create a best seller
• Reaching full-time income may require working another job while investing up-front effort in the shop
• Treat a saturated niche as proof of demand, and build the foundation with small 1%-better daily steps

Episode details: published January 25, 2021 · 8:37 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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