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First off, there is no “average” person that defines your typical Etsy seller. That’s because I’ve learned that people who sell on Etsy run the gamut.
You can get a sense of this based on the array of guests I’ve hosted on the Etsy Conversations podcast. My guests have ranged from solo business owners to married couples, from students to hobbyists, from trained artisans to self-taught makers to experts in vintage and antique items.
So with that wide range of interests and skills sets it’s not so easy so pinpoint who or what is “average” but there are some stats that I’ve drawn from this spectrum of sellers.
So How Much Does The Average Etsy Seller Make?
Etsy Seller Earnings Ranges
A few years ago I polled my podcast audience so I could better determine what type of content and information they wanted.
One of the questions I asked was how much they were earning on Etsy (on average) per month. The poll was anonymous because I wanted people to feel comfortable answering honestly.
Earnings ranged from $500/month to over $10,000/month. The majority of sellers that responded earned between $1,000-$5,000/month. Please be aware that this poll was taken from people who listen to my podcast, not all Etsy sellers, so I’m sure some sellers who don’t listen to my podcast could possibly fall outside of these income ranges (on both ends of the spectrum).
Earning a Living Wage From Selling on Etsy
For anyone considering selling on Etsy and wondering if the income they earn will be worth their while. I can say definitively that your income from selling on Etsy will be commensurate to the time and effort you put into the following:
- Creating a quality product or line of products that stand out from the crowd (and its a maddeningly loud crowded crowd on Etsy… in pretty much every niche)
- Learning “How to Sell on Successfully Etsy” because winging it will only get you so far for only so long
- The Etsy Seller Handbook and Help Center are two great starting points and they’re 100% free
- Devoting focused time to constantly working on your shop, this includes doing things like testing and tweaking your tags and titles, zigging and zagging when Etsy zigs and zags (it’s not a bad thing at all, “adaptability” is the name of the game and its how you stay on top)
- Picking a marketing strategy for your shop, yes “A” marketing strategy, not multiple marketing strategies, focusing in on it and getting really good at it
- This could be social media marketing (pick one, maybe two, but preferably one platform to own and dominate on)
- Blogging is another great marketing strategy that has worked and does work for many Etsy sellers
- Finally, filter out the voices in your head… Yes, including mine.
- Pick one or two people to trust as your go-to sources for information about selling on Etsy and stop chasing every “wind of Etsy-Selling doctrine”. If you don’t you’ll go C-R-A-Z-Y trying to do everything that everyone with an opinion tells you to do
Stay tuned for my next post in the Etsy Q&A Series and if you have a question you don’t yet see answered feel free to leave it in the Comments section below.
Want some hands-on training about how to sell successfully on Etsy? Sign up to be notified about my upcoming live online and in-person workshops.
