Start An Etsy Home Based Business

by Ryan Nelson
(Houston, TX)

Some of the best home based businesses stem from individuals’ talents. If you are looking to start a company, but you are not sure what to market, consider a talent that you have. Today, this article will address Etsy home based businesses.

Etsy, much like eBay, allows individuals to sell items online. Consumers type in the product they are looking for in the search engine, find what they are looking for, make a bid, and then, wait to see if they win the bid. Etsy pages differ in that the items listed on Etsy are items individuals have created.

My husband and I have a friend who possesses amazing sewing skills. With a little bit of fabric and her sewing machine, she can create wonders. She sews curtains, “I Spy” bags, purses, dresses, burp clothes, and more. The greatest thing about this is that the business costs her almost nothing. She simply pays Etsy 20 U.S. cents for listing an item and a 3.5 percent transaction fee when she sells an item. Etsy emails her a copy of her bill at the end of the month. She markets her Etsy page on her blog, and promotes her business via word of mouth marketing. In addition, she gets to work from home. Whenever her children are napping or go to sleep at night, she checks her Etsy account and begins working on more sewing projects to sell.

Another friend of mine markets her cards online. She creates really cute cards and scrapbook kits. Sometimes, she makes individual cards. Sometimes she makes a bunch of the same cards to go in a pack. In her experience, she has also created letterhead, wedding invitations, baby announcements, Christmas letters, and more. If she decides she wants to start an entirely different project, she can. She’s not limited to just cards or paper products.

Other individuals sell organic flowers, jewelry, art, woodwork, clothes, shoes, music, candles, pottery, and more. If you have a talent, there’s bound to be a market for it somewhere on Etsy.

Etsy does limit some of the items sold. Obviously illegal substances and / or items are prohibited. Cars are not allowed to be sold, recalled items, and more. On the Etsy website under the “Do’s and Don’ts” of the seller page, individuals can read a list of the items allowed and not allowed.

One of the great things about an Etsy business is that while you post pictures of your products that you have created, and consumers bid on these projects, you can also bid on projects you want to create. Lets say someone wants a particular bag made, but they are unsure of how to do that and they have been unsuccessful in finding it.

They post a request in the Alchemy section. From here, sellers have until the specified date to bid. Whoever wins the bid gets to create the product. As a result, they may learn how to create a new product there is need for and they get a break from the monotony of what they make each day. It’s kind of a cool idea.

Getting involved with Etsy is really quite simple. A seller creates an account with a username and password. The seller agrees to abide by the Etsy terms and conditions, and from there, a business is created.

Starting a business from home does not have to be a really complicated thing. If you possess a talent that you love, why not use it to supplement your income or support yourself full-time? An Etsy home based business is a great place to start.

Ryan Nelson
http://BusinessTM.com/home-business