Have you started selling printables on Etsy? Or maybe you’ve been thinking about starting? Either way, you and I are kindred spirits. I built my printables business to 20K in one year on Etsy, and want to help you do the same! But, I’ve been making some big mistakes over the years that I want to share with you so you don’t make the same mistakes I did. Here’s 3 Mistakes I’ve Been Making on Etsy Selling Printables.
Please note, this page contains affiliate links to products I recommend. If you purchase something from this page, I may receive a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. For additional information, please see my privacy and disclosures page.
Learning As You Go As an Etsy Seller: 3 Mistakes I’ve Been Making on Etsy Selling Printables
When you first start selling printables (or anything else on Etsy), you’re just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. Amiright? That’s probably why I started coaching people to sell printables on Etsy, because I didn’t have that kind of guidance as I grew my shop. But I want you to feel supported selling printables on Etsy.
One of the things that I like to share with my students is all the things they SHOULD do. But sometimes, we forget to throw in all the things that they SHOUDN’T do! So today, I’m going to tell you the 3 Mistakes I’ve Been Making on Etsy Selling Printables so you don’t make the same mistakes!
Mistake #1: Selling Copyrighted Items and Listing them as “Inspired by”
Have you ever wanted to sell or HAVE sold something that was “inspired by” Harry Potter, Mickey Mouse, Disney’s Zombies, or something else? Here’s the thing. I used to think that if I didn’t use any of the clipart from the brand, or the same font, but just used the same colors and titled the listing with “inspired by” it would be okay to sell on Etsy. In actuality, it’s not. And this is honestly a recent learning. And the reason it’s not okay is you’re still using the brand name to bring in customers. Now if something truly was inspired by a branded item, I could maybe still sell it by using similar colors and fonts, but I wouldn’t be able to use the actual name in my listings. Make sense?
And how do I know it’s not okay. Well, I got caught. More times than I want to admit, in fact. So stick with your generic items when you’re selling on Etsy because believe me when I tell you, it ain’t worth it!
Mistake #2: Creating “Custom Listings”
You guys. The first mistake I’ve been making has been going on for years. I have been making this mistake since the very start of opening my Etsy shop back when I was selling handmade party decorations. I only recently started correcting it.
So you know how you might be making sales on Etsy, and then a customer reaches out to you and tells you that they would like a variation of the item you sell? What I was doing was creating “custom listings” with a title that said, “Let’s make something custom just for you.” Why was a I doing this? Well, because in some cases, I would get scammed by people asking me to create something, and after I created it, they would decide that they no longer wanted it. That was a problem. And as a new seller, it might be something you’re concerned about. And I totally understand and relate to that.
Custom Listings Can Jumpstart Your Quality Score on Etsy
However, if the item they asked for is likely something that other people will want, then I recommend that you actually create a whole new listing just for that new item, instead of a custom listing. And the reason for that is that Etsy ranks your items based on your quality score. So many people think it’s based solely on your SEO. However, that’s just not the case. Remember that your search engine optimization makes you eligible to be ranked. While you quality score determines how high up you will rank.
So what determines your quality score? People liking, buying, and reviewing your stuff. So I only want to sell items that I will actually sell again. That’s why creating one-off custom listings isn’t a good idea. Because we aren’t using the quality score that Etsy gives us from that sale. It’s okay to do a few custom listings for items you’ll never sell again. However, if you plan to sell it to more people, don’t make a custom listing.
3 Mistakes I’ve Been Making on Etsy Selling Printables: Mistake #3
The last and final mistake I want to introduce to you about selling on Etsy is not doing enough (if any at all) A/B testing. For those that don’t know, an A/B test is like a science experiment for websites or ads. We change something and see which version makes more people click or buy, so we know what works better and can make things to make more improvements to sales in the future.
So what do I mean by this? I mean in regard to your titles, tags, descriptions, photos, and yes, even your product. When we do the right testing, we can finally figure out what the best SEO options are to use in our listings, and it can help us better understand what to change and how to list our items in the future. And it can even help us identify what kinds of products we should and shouldn’t be making for our customers, based on these A/B tests.
I think if I would have done more A/B testing in the beginning, and even now, I would learn so much about the things I’m selling. And not just related to my SEO, but in regard to my specific products. For example, what if I sold the exact same printable in two different fonts? The results of that A/B test are going to tell me a lot about people’s font preferences. And as I teach all my students, sometimes the fonts that we like, are NOT the fonts that our customers prefer.
So all that to say, A/B testing can make a dramatic difference to our Etsy shops, and that’s why NOT doing it has been a big mistake for me and something I am going to commit to a bit more moving forward.
Thanks for Reading 3 Mistakes I’ve Been Making on Etsy
What’s another mistake that people make on Etsy? Not having the right habits to consistently grow their shop. If we don’t have the right habits, when it comes to anything in life, we’re not going to get the results that we want. If you want to learn the 8 habits that have made me see consistent growth in my Etsy printables shop, head over to my free training.
Thanks so much for reading about The 3 Mistakes I’ve Been Making on Etsy. I love to help you celebrate life through printables and personal development! But above all, I’d love to connect with you. Reach out to me on Instagram and let’s chat.
xoxo, Lindsay
Related Articles
You might also be interested in the following articles:
The Best Side Hustle for Introverts
The Best Ways to Make Passive Income on Etsy
