I made some mistakes and bought some things that I really didn’t need at all, like designer packaging. I’ve come to discover that as long as your packaging is of good quality, no one really cares what it looks like. I also subscribed to some “paid for services” that were a total joke. So through expensive trial and error I discovered the 3 essential Etsy shop tools you’ll need to have a successful and profitable Etsy shop. These tools apply to every Etsy shop no matter what you make as long as you ship your items. If you sell digital items, then tools 2 and 3 won’t apply to you at all.
(This post contains affiliate links. This just means that if you purchase something by clicking one of my links I may receive a small commission at no fee to you. This just helps me to keep posts like this one coming your way.)
Etsy Shop Tool Number 1
One of the most frustrating parts of Etsy is shipping. You will, without-a-doubt, under-estimate shipping on something at some point during your Etsy journey. When this happens you’ll end up having to pay out-of-pocket for the difference. That’s just the worst! One way to avoid mishaps like this is to purchase a good quality scale. Using a scale to weigh items before you list them will help ensure you always have the right shipping price. Etsy makes it really easy and will even calculate shipping for you if you know the item weight and dimensions. It’s a good idea to make an item and weigh it along with the shipping material you’ll use so when you’re entering the info into your listing you’ll have the exact weight and Etsy can calculate the exact shipping…no muss, no fuss!
Etsy Shop Tool Number 2
Next up on the essential Etsy shop tools list is my Photo Light Box. Everyone knows exactly how important good photos are. Without good photos your items simply will not sell as well as they could. Photos can literally make or break a shop. I don’t have a fancy camera and I’m not trained in photography but that’s okay because I have a secret weapon. I have this photo light box from Amazon. With this I get a clean crisp background with no shadow or glair on anything and all of my photos can share the same consistent look which is very important for branding your Etsy shop. Check out this post on branding your Etsy shop. And here are some before and after photos using the light box vs. just natural light. Also, this is another tax write off so keep that in mind.
Etsy Shop Tool Number 3
Coming in last (but by far my biggest time saver) on the essential Etsy shop tools list is my Dymo Label Printer. OMG I cannot even begin to express my love for this thing. It took me a long time to pull the trigger and buy this. I mean it’s expensive and I couldn’t see spending that much money on a label printer when I could just buy these label sheets and print off the shipping labels using the printer I already had. There were several problems with the label sheets though.
For one, after I printed them I had to cut them out which took a little extra time. If I didn’t have an even number of packages to ship then I was left with an extra label (since they come 2 to a sheet) which meant I was taping the left over half a sheet to a full sheet of paper and sending it through the printer that way. And again, that takes a little extra time. The other issue I had with the label sheets was that if I forgot they were in the printer and I went to print something like decal instructions I’d waste all the labels because I printed the instructions on them. Overall it was not cost-effective or time-saving since I was using extra time to cut and extra money to buy labels when I accidentally printed something I didn’t mean to print on them.
I went through this hassle for a year and a half before finally giving in and buying the Dymo Label Printer. Now I just select “format for label printer” when I’m in the shipping tab in Etsy and it automatically formats to a 4×6 label. I select the right size “paper” from the print menu and this little guy prints the perfect sized label. All I have to do now is print, peel and stick and my package is ready to go. You’d be surprised at how much time this actually saves. Time you don’t even realize you’re wasting until you stop wasting it. And you guessed it, this is yet another tax write off. Just gotta love those!
So there you have it. If you looking for some essential Etsy shop tools to make selling on Etsy easier and more profitable I highly recommend purchasing a good quality scale, getting this photo light box (or one like it) and getting this Dymo Label Printer. Save your time and your sanity while making more money on Etsy.
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