In recent years, dropshipping has been proven as a worth-to-try eCommerce business model. Therefore, there is a rise in the number of merchants who want to launch a dropshipping business and earn money. Among many marketplaces, Etsy has both strengths and weaknesses to be a dropshipping platform.
If you are a dropshipper and want to sell creative products, why not check out the detailed guide for Etsy Dropshipping written by LitCommerce? In the coming up sections we will walk you through:
- What is dropshipping on Etsy?
- How to dropship on Etsy?
- Why you should dropship on Etsy?
- What are the winning products to dropship on Etsy?
Let’s explore!
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What is Etsy Dropshipping?
What is drop shipping Etsy?
You might hear about dropshipping. In short, dropshipping is a business model in which a merchant sells things without needing to produce them.
On the other hand, dropship on Etsy means if a customer places an order on your store, you then purchase those handmade goods from the suppliers. In the next phase, suppliers will take care of the rest including manufacturing, packaging, and shipping.
Want to make money with Etsy, you might also want to read:
When dropshipping on Etsy, you should pay attention to marketing, customer service, and store management. Based on mentioned tasks, you can define an appropriate plan to run your Etsy dropship business:
- Marketing. Investing in visual aids might help you stand out from other Etsy dropshippers. Since Etsy items are mostly DIY or craft, having stunning images might help sellers attract customers easier. Moreover, other marketing tactics including SEO also help to promote your products and better approach potential buyers.
- Customer service. Making sure the shipping status is real-time updated to your customers. Since some handmade or craft items take time to manufacture, giving your customer access to delivery tracking information might satisfy them. Moreover, you should build a refund policy for your customers in case the item is broken during the delivery process.
- Store management. Running a dropshipping business includes online store operations, product searching, and listing. Moreover, if you want to boost your sales up, a dropship integration plan might be helpful, which means running your dropshipping business across several selling channels.
It seems to be a less risky business model and time-saving as you don’t need to produce items to sell and handle the fulfillment process. However, to do it right and successfully, let’s take a look at the rest of this guide.
How dropshipping on Etsy works
First and foremost, dropshipping on Etsy does not an easy job and Etsy might not be an ideal platform for every dropshipper. However, the marketplace has a huge advantage in selling creative items. Dropshipping on Etsy still sounds interesting and it attracts a group of eCommerce sellers, who want to save time on producing and shipping those products.
Fundamentally, it is possible to dropship on Etsy, although there are concerns related to copyright preventing this type of business. Nevertheless, there are some ways to launch this business model or similar ones such as reselling and or choosing Etsy print on demand.
How to Dropship on Etsy? – 2023 Full Guide
Etsy dropshipping policies
Can you dropship on Etsy?
You can not search for any policy or regulation that specifically mentions dropshipping on Etsy Help Center. Therefore, dropshipping is allowed on the site as long as you adhere to their product criteria.
In this guide, we will walk you through what to notice about listing items on Etsy. You can search for more information from Term of Use for Etsy dropshipping. Before that, let’s see the information that you should take a look at as an Etsy dropshipper.
#1. Handmade items
To be listed in this category, items must be made by you or the products are originally designed by you then outside business helps to physically produce them.
To make sure your goods are valid to be in this category, dropshipper should:
- Be transparent. Including each individual in the process of making items sold in your store is important.
- Use original photos. Displaying images on the storefront which must be taken by you or your team. Using photos that violate copyright is not approved on Etsy.
In addition, reselling is not allowed in the Handmade category on Etsy. Items in this category must be made or involved in the process of making them yourself.
#2. Vintage items
Items must be at least 20 years old in order to be in this category. If products are under 20 years or just have a vintage style, they will not be considered in this category. Etsy also requires that sellers may show some documents to prove the authenticity of the products or just the evidence for the age. Therefore, these might not be best-selling products on Etsy to make money, and it might waste a lot of time and it is complicated to own the documents.
#3. Craft supplies
On Etsy, craft supplies are tools, ingredients, or materials that are primarily intended for use in the production of an item or special event. For example beads, paints, DIY kits, or “blanks” whose primary purpose is for crafting. Craft supplies can be handmade, commercial, or vintage.
#4. Prohibited items
Etsy is not an extremely strict marketplace. However, there are some reasons that Etsy’s policy prohibits some types of products from the platform, which may cause legal dangers to Etsy users; others are incompatible with the values, are harmful to their members, or are simply not in the spirit of Etsy.
The list includes:
- Alcohol, Tobacco, Drugs, Drug Paraphernalia, and Medical Drugs
- Animal Products and Human Remains
- Dangerous Items: Hazardous Materials, Recalled Items, and Weapons
- Hate Items: Items that Promote, Support, or Glorify Hatred
- Illegal Items, Items Promoting Illegal Activity, and Highly Regulated Items
- Internationally Regulated Items
- Nudity and Mature Content
- Violent Items: Items that Promote, Support, or Glorify Violence
Do the policies impact your dropshipping job on Etsy?
Etsy policies might limit the products that drop shippers can list and promote on the platform. So how do dropshipping on Etsy despite of mentioned policies? As mentioned above, Etsy might not an optimum platform for drop shipping. However, Etsy is still promising as the platform has around 2.1 million sellers and nearly 40 million buyers.
On the other hand, the policy has stated clearly what product or what category can be sold. For example the craft supplies category, sellers can find appropriate suppliers and sell them on Etsy. By doing this, you can save more time on finding winning products and easier-to-reach customers who might be interested in your products are all around on Etsy.
So how can you dropship on Etsy? Let’s find out herein
Selling outsourced products on Etsy storefront
Dropshipping from AliExpress to Etsy
There will be obstacles to dropship from AliExpress to Etsy storefront. AliExpress seems not to fit with the listing requirements on Etsy. As mentioned above, Etsy requires sellers to join in the process of making items. On the other hand, AliExpress’s products are usually mass-produced.
There are some sellers who sneak their way in, commonly by adding their logo on the products’ images. However, it will be risky, and getting caught will have sellers banned from the platform due to the Etsy selling policy.
Dropshipping from Amazon to Etsy
Just like AliExpress, Amazon can not meet Etsy’s requirements for listing. Amazon items are often mass-produced and do not reflect the high quality of handmade, vintage, or crafted goods that Etsy strives to keep on its site.
So is it still possible to dropship on Etsy? Dropship on this platform is not super easy, but for dropshippers who are really into selling creative stuff, let’s explore in the next sections.
Selling Etsy products on your online storefront
Technically saying, this method for dropshipping on Etsy is not really the correct model but it is a walkaround. Mentioning product sourcing, Etsy is a potential marketplace. There are thousands of products and sellers, so you will have a lot of choices.
Dropshipping from Etsy to Shopify
In order to dropship from Etsy to Shopify, sellers need to build a Shopify store first. It is noticeable that this Shopify store does not share any information with Etsy. Moreover, these two platforms do not share the same terms of use. Therefore, the above listing policies are not applied to your Shopify store.
After having a Shopify store, you might find trending products on Etsy and suppliers. You can choose any Etsy seller with good design products to place orders and then list them on your Shopify store. It is recommended that you should work with sellers to come up with a good deal so that you can earn more profit. However, on Etsy, you are basically a buyer. Reselling products from other providers on your Etsy store is not allowed.
On the other hand, this method is not exactly the model of a dropshipping business since you need to handle the product and send it to the customer.
Dropshipping from Etsy to eBay
Dropshipping from Etsy to eBay may work the same as Etsy to Shopify. However, eBay is a marketplace, so sellers might not have the ability to design their storefronts in their own style.
The merit that sellers can have from eBay is that this marketplace has a long-time reputation in the eCommerce industry. There will be a large number of buyers on the floor. You should invest in taking good photos of your products, optimizing content for search engines, and offering competitive prices.
It is recommended that if you want to boost your sales, you should keep both stores on the marketplace and your own website. eBay store might help you approaches larger audiences and Shopify allows you to build a selling website with personal style. However, it will be challenging to manage both stores if you don’t have an appropriate plan to do so.
For example, after choosing products to sell, you will need to list on both channels and listing manually will take forever to do. In addition, during the sale season, if you do not manage inventory counts well, there will be conflicts between stores.
LitCommerce is a smart tool to streamline data and allow eCommerce sellers to control everything in a dashboard. You can easily list any products from Shopify to eBay and have the inventory count updated automatically. There is a free plan available that you can start with it first. After that, you can choose a tier that fits your business.
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Why Dropshipping on Etsy?
The pros of dropship on Etsy
#1. Low competition
Because it requires more attempts to dropship on Etsy, there will be fewer dropshippers on this marketplace, which means you will have fewer competitors. Dropshipping on Etsy is not a bad idea if you want to build an online store that sells creative products.
Based on the mentioned methods to dropship on Etsy – the top-notch online marketplace, there are some highlighted points to make it more competitive.
- On the one hand, you sell outsourcing products on the Etsy storefront. It is possible to sell products like craft tools which are mentioned in the Etsy policy that commercial quantity is also approved. By finding a good manufacturer from other places such as AliExpress, you can compete with better prices and sell tools to many Etsy buyers.
- On the other hand, if you want to sell in other places, Etsy is a great place to find suppliers for handmade items. For example, if you want to sell phone cases on eBay, you can find unique products on Etsy, contact the seller for permission then list them on eBay.
#2. Niche business support
Dropshipping niche products might bring both advantages and disadvantages. For niche markets, sellers might be expertise in selling their products instead of facing many challenges to be an expert in every field. However, it will be hard to reach potential buyers and challenging to find suppliers.
Some creative or craft products are also considered niche. Even so, Etsy is a comprehensive platform for mentioned items.
#3. Comprehensive handmade marketplace
Etsy is optimized to buy and sell handmade items. Customers literally can find what handmade products they are looking for with the search bar, categories or Etsy’s suggestion. Since the marketplace is working this way, so sellers will be able to approach customers better even though there are thousands of products on the floor.
The cons of dropship on Etsy
#1. Extra fees
Etsy charges a deposit and it is not ideal for new eCommerce sellers. The fees to sell on this marketplace include:
- Subscription fee: Free or $10/month if you want more features.
- Listing fee: 20¢ per item, plus 20¢ per sale (renewal fee).
- Transaction fee: 5% will be changed to 6.5% total cost of each transaction.
- Payment processing fee (only when using Etsy payment): 3% + $0.25 (for US).
- Advertising fee: 12% or 15% depending on annual revenue.
For more cost-effective, you can take a look at Etsy Pattern. With Pattern, you can build a basic branded eCommerce website, which costs $15 per month.
#2. No wholesale option
Etsy has discouraged dropshipping by shutting down the wholesale offering. The marketplace encourages sellers to join in the making process, which means it might require more time to produce with limited stock.
However, dropshipping business is expected to exclude the manufacturing process and the products to dropship are usually sold and bought in large quantities. As a result, the Etsy wholesale program, which makes it easier to dropship on Etsy, is no longer available.
#3. Challenges to grow
The point of the Etsy business is the store sells products that are not mass-produced. Since the products are carefully made, Etsy suppliers can not provide you with a large quantity. This makes it more difficult to expand your firm and increase revenue.
Top Winning Products to Sell on Etsy for Dropshipping Business
#1. Phone cases
Phone accessories have shown a consistent development in five years, peaking in the winter months and then remaining in demand the rest of the year. Screen protectors or phone cases are in high demand.
#2. Home decor
The global value of home interiors, decor, and furnishings is expected to exceed $202 billion by 2024. Search interest has remained consistent over the years, with minor peaks in January and July. Numbers have reached an all-time high in 2020.
#3. DIY craft fabrics
Etsy allows sellers to list DIY materials. Therefore, this item might be a potential for dropshippers. Finding a good supplier and listing on the marketplace with an affordable price can help you better stand out from other DIY material providers.
#4. Ceramic vases
Ceramic vases are potential in the home decor category. There are thousands of styles that you can find on other platforms. Moreover, you can sell some blank vases that buyers can create their own by painting.
#5. Frames
You shall not sell vintage frames since the policy for vintage products is complicated. Instead, selling pre-made frames would work. It is also the craft supplies category, you are not limited by the Etsy policy.
Do you want to set your dropshipping business up for success? Check out the list of best-selling dropshipping products with LitCommerce!
Etsy Dropshipping: FAQs
- Can you dropship on Etsy?
The answer is Yes! However, you can not search for any policy or regulation that specifically mentions dropshipping on Etsy Help Center. Therefore, dropshipping is allowed on the site as long as you adhere to their product criteria.
- Is Etsy dropshipping worth it?
Etsy might not an optimum platform for dropshipping. Nevertheless, Etsy is still promising as the platform has around 2.1 million sellers and nearly 40 million buyers.
- Is Etsy available globally?
Etsy is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods, offering anything from handcrafted items to vintage pieces.
Final words
Etsy dropshipping might require more effort than other platforms. Thus, it is not an ideal platform for everyone to start a dropshipping business. However, if you are into creative products such as handmade items, craft materials, or vintage pieces, this platform might be a good fit for you. By reading this dropshipping Etsy guide, dropshippers who want to sell the mentioned products might have more insight into starting their own business.
On the other hand, if you are interested in eCommerce and want to find a successful solution for your Etsy shop – one of the best selling platforms, drop us a message! Otherwise, you can explore our community to stay up-to-date with many winning strategies or eCommerce trends.