I have to say, writing this title feels a bit like when you were in grade school and had to write out “I will not…” over and over again. Because spoiler alert: these are all mistakes I made and I’m here to share so you can learn from my errors!

In this post I’m sharing five mistakes to avoid when opening your Etsy shop, from listing your products to coming up with ideas. This list is specifically tailored to all the digital download sellers out there but the concepts will likely apply to almost any industry. With that, let’s dive in!

1) Going all in without proof of concept

We know about the importance of finding good keywords, but what about doing all that research, creating products…then crickets? A mistake I’ve made when venturing into new categories is not testing the idea before going all in. For example, I would design a wedding invitation bundle and design the whole thing, soup to nuts. Invitation, programs, save the dates…you name it.

But if buyers weren’t favoring my design, all the effort went a bit to waste. This isn’t to say that the listing can’t be revived with different keywords, more so that I’ve found posting just one item and seeing the response is usually a better way to decide how far to take an idea. What I do now instead is just posting a listing for what I have the best keywords for, then if that sells well I’ll design out the rest of the “product line.”

2) Not realizing the importance of mockups

Rewind to me starting my shop and thinking “oh! I’ll just make nice consistent gray backgrounds for everything. Easy and cohesive.” It certainly was both easy and cohesive. However, when selling a digital download you have to work hard to bridge the gap in allowing the buyer to imagine that product in real life.

Take a look at the top listings in your category and see how they’re showcasing their items. I’ve found that showing the items in context of the environment they’re going to be used in and making sure the product itself is well lit/noticeable is the key to success. The good news about mockups is that places like Creative Market are full of reasonable digital mockup bundles that you can use to uplevel your digital product listing images.

3) Spending time doing things that feel important, but aren’t

You might be thinking “well, duh” but let me explain. Building momentum is key to creating a thriving Etsy shop, which means creating new products reigns supreme. Always remind yourself to focus on the things that move the needle forward most. I would refresh my Etsy stats countless times a day and look at the same things over again because it felt important but my efforts would’ve been much better off focusing on just creating more products!

At the beginning I would get distracted by “important” things that I thought I needed to do but could realistically deprioritize (like setting up Google Search Console when there was absolutely no traffic on my site 🤦🏻‍♀️). It’s not to say it wasn’t important, but my efforts would’ve been much better utilized elsewhere. I started using the simple Canva board I created below to prioritize what I was going to focus on each week because I found my to-do list would spiral to be way too long. If I get my 4-6 tasks done on my priority board, then I make time for my other low priority tasks. Nothing like staying focused and making it pretty, right?

4) Not taking the Etsy fees into consideration when pricing

When you list products on Etsy, they charge you $0.20 cents per listing (starting a shop and want 40 free listings? Sign up through my link here). Big digital download sellers often have items listed on sale as low as $1, so it can be tempting to lower your prices to match your competition. Keep in mind that Etsy charges two fees after purchasing: a transaction fee of 5% of the item total and a processing fee of 3% of the order + $0.25. Painful, I know.

This information is helpful to know when calculating your pricing and having sales so you can reach your revenue goals. Also remember that pricing can turn into a race to the bottom: it’s important to be competitive, but it might be an even better strategy to consider how you can position yourself to provide more value than your competition and win sales that way.

5) Being in a rush

I’ve listened to podcasts, seen social media posts, and read blog articles on starting an Etsy shop. While helpful to learn from, sometimes seeing the success of others can induce a sense of panic that you need to “catch up” to them. Remember that building a valuable brand is a marathon, not a sprint.

Anyone who is pushing haphazardly designed products in search for a quick buck aren’t going to last the long run. Etsy is not a get rich quick scheme, it takes a lot of hard work and learning. As a designer I know that the aesthetic and design quality is everything and good design can’t be rushed. So take a deep breath, follow your creativity, and know that putting in the time will be worthwhile in the long run.