Ep 164 | Lizzie's in the Etsy Coach Hot Seat --with Preston Cox

Summary

Podcast Summary: "How to Sell Your Stuff on Etsy" - Ep 164 | Lizzie's in the Etsy Coach Hot Seat with Preston Cox

Release Date: January 16, 2025

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1. Introduction of Guest and Background

In this episode of "How to Sell Your Stuff on Etsy," host Lizzie Smiley welcomes Preston Cox, the owner and creator of 277 Creative Designs based in Texas. Preston shares his journey from struggling with initial Etsy sales to achieving substantial monthly revenues. He recounts how Lizzie became his first Etsy coach and the pivotal role her guidance played in scaling his business.

2. Choosing Etsy as a Platform

Preston delves into his decision to launch his Etsy shop over other platforms like Shopify or a personal website. Initially attempting to sell signs through a WordPress blog with minimal success, he was encouraged by a friend to try Etsy. Despite his doubts about being an “artist” or deserving of Etsy's marketplace, he took the plunge, ultimately finding Etsy to be the most accessible and profitable platform for his needs.

Preston Cox (07:36): “I got on Etsy because I tried and I couldn’t sell anything... someone said, why don’t you just put these on Etsy?”

3. The Importance of SEO and Finding Demand

A significant breakthrough for Preston was understanding Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and identifying customer demand. Initially struggling with low sales, he invested in a course that taught him effective SEO strategies, enabling his listings to appear in relevant searches. This knowledge transformed his monthly earnings from $25 to $6,000 within six months.

Preston Cox (13:52): “I cracked demand. I cracked SEO, and that was game, set, match.”

Lizzie adds that understanding SEO and demand is crucial for new sellers to position their products effectively and attract the right customers.

4. Dealing with Market Saturation

The conversation shifts to market saturation and how to identify if a product niche is oversaturated. Preston explains that saturation occurs when there are more sellers than buyers for a particular product. He advises using tools like eRank and Ever Bee to analyze competition and demand.

Preston Cox (16:01): “The easiest way is using a tool like Ever Bee, where you can look at the tags of the bestseller and you can click Filter.”

Carrie, another participant, raises concerns about missing out on trends and whether pursuing saturated markets is futile. Preston counters by emphasizing that with the right strategies, such as trend combining and targeting micro-niches, sellers can still find success even in competitive areas.

5. Efficiency in Creating Listings

Preston shares efficiency hacks for creating Etsy listings, which is particularly beneficial for sellers managing physical products alongside other commitments. He recommends:

• Creating Listing Templates: Having draft listings with pre-filled descriptions and dropdown options to streamline the listing process.
• Using Mockups: Creating digital mockups for products to avoid the need for physical samples until a sale is made.

Preston Cox (24:27): “I create listing templates for myself...having mockups and having a template listing can help a lot.”

Carrie echoes these strategies, mentioning her use of Canva for creating patch listings and the effectiveness of copying and tweaking existing listings to save time.

6. The Role of External Websites and Email Lists

The discussion moves to whether Etsy sellers should invest in an external website or focus solely on Etsy. Preston advises that new sellers should concentrate exclusively on Etsy during the initial phase to avoid spreading themselves too thin. He suggests that only after achieving a stable income should sellers consider expanding to other platforms or building an email list.

Preston Cox (30:36): “In the beginning, like up until you’re ready to go full time in your business, all you need is Etsy. No social media, no website.”

However, Lizzie and Carrie stress the importance of building an email list once a seller has reached around 100 sales. Preston highlights tools like Mailchimp and Google Forms for collecting and managing customer emails legally and effectively.

Preston Cox (33:21): “You cannot use their emails from Etsy...you have to ask what is like, is there some sort of legal thing there to get people to opt in?”

7. Navigating Etsy Fees vs. Other Platforms

Preston addresses common frustrations regarding Etsy fees compared to other platforms like Shopify. He argues that despite Etsy’s fees being a point of contention, the platform offers unparalleled advantages for new sellers, including access to a vast pool of active shoppers and built-in SEO benefits.

Preston Cox (42:17): “If you’ve ever tried to run your own website...Etsy is a dream. It’s still the easiest way for a new person to break into e-commerce and make really good money.”

He emphasizes that all e-commerce platforms have transaction fees, but Etsy's comprehensive services—like built-in traffic and customer base—justify the costs for many sellers.

8. Etsy's Changes and Future Viability

Preston and Carrie discuss recent changes in Etsy’s policies and how they impact sellers. Preston defends Etsy’s evolution, acknowledging that while changes may not please all users, they reflect broader market demands and the need for Etsy to remain profitable.

Preston Cox (51:03): “The reality is that both the economy and the market has changed, but also the demand has changed. So Etsy could no longer sustain itself, not adding in print on demand and digital products.”

He remains optimistic about Etsy’s future, believing that its ability to adapt by incorporating new selling formats ensures its continued viability. However, he also mentions emerging platforms like Go Imagine and Michaels’ Maker Place as alternatives for sellers seeking a more handmade-focused marketplace.

9. Preston's Goals and Tips for Etsy Sellers

Towards the end, Preston outlines his personal and business goals for 2025, including assisting his wife Robbie in generating $50,000 from their physical product shop and exploring new niches like AI-generated coloring pages. He offers to share his expertise through workshops and collaborative efforts with Lizzie to help other sellers succeed.

Preston Cox (56:12): “My biggest goal with Etsy’s physical product shop is to help Robbie...I would love to build that to a five to ten thousand dollars a month income.”

10. Conclusion and Parting Advice

In wrapping up, Preston encourages sellers not to stress over badges like "Star Seller" and to focus on continuously adding listings to stay relevant in Etsy’s algorithm. He advocates for leveraging Etsy’s strengths while planning to diversify income streams once a solid foundation is established.

Preston Cox (37:37): “Yes, it is important because it’s one of Etsy’s badges and it creates social proof and gives you credibility... the best thing you can do is add new listings.”

Lizzie concludes the episode by reaffirming the abundance of opportunities on Etsy and encouraging listeners to access more resources through her website.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Preston Cox (07:36): “I got on Etsy because I tried and I couldn’t sell anything... someone said, why don’t you just put these on Etsy?”
• Preston Cox (13:52): “I cracked demand. I cracked SEO, and that was game, set, match.”
• Preston Cox (16:01): “The easiest way is using a tool like Ever Bee, where you can look at the tags of the bestseller and you can click Filter.”
• Preston Cox (24:27): “I create listing templates for myself...having mockups and having a template listing can help a lot.”
• Preston Cox (30:36): “In the beginning, like up until you’re ready to go full time in your business, all you need is Etsy. No social media, no website.”
• Preston Cox (33:21): “You cannot use their emails from Etsy...you have to ask what is like, is there some sort of legal thing there to get people to opt in?”
• Preston Cox (42:17): “If you’ve ever tried to run your own website...Etsy is a dream. It’s still the easiest way for a new person to break into e-commerce and make really good money.”
• Preston Cox (51:03): “The reality is that both the economy and the market has changed, but also the demand has changed. So Etsy could no longer sustain itself, not adding in print on demand and digital products.”
• Preston Cox (56:12): “My biggest goal with Etsy’s physical product shop is to help Robbie...I would love to build that to a five to ten thousand dollars a month income.”
• Preston Cox (37:37): “Yes, it is important because it’s one of Etsy’s badges and it creates social proof and gives you credibility... the best thing you can do is add new listings.”

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Key Takeaways

• SEO Mastery: Understanding and implementing effective SEO strategies is crucial for Etsy success.
• Demand Analysis: Identifying in-demand products and niches can significantly boost sales.
• Efficiency: Utilizing listing templates and mockups saves time and streamlines operations.
• Platform Focus: New sellers should concentrate on Etsy before expanding to other platforms or building external websites.
• Navigating Fees: Despite frustrations, Etsy offers unmatched advantages for new e-commerce ventures.
• Adaptability: Etsy’s evolution reflects market demands, and sellers must adapt to stay relevant.
• Continuous Learning: Leveraging tools and resources, such as workshops and courses, can empower sellers to scale their businesses effectively.

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For those looking to enhance their Etsy endeavors, this episode offers invaluable insights from a seasoned seller who transformed his Etsy shop from modest beginnings to substantial monthly revenues through strategic SEO, understanding market demand, and efficient listing practices.

Transcript

[Lizzie Smiley]

Hey, my name is Lizzie Smiley and I absolutely love helping people connect with their calling and all the tools they need to kick roadblocks and excuses right out the door so they can cultivate the life they dream about. If you want to launch, grow, pivot, or scale your Etsy shop, or you've always wanted to develop the mindset and skills to run your own business, then I'm your girl. I've had that entrepreneurial spirit going strong since my very first lemonade stand. And now I'm a work at home mama with multiple online companies and a full time Etsy shop, all while being present with my kids for the everyday chaos and most important milestones. On this podcast, we'll talk about all things business, mindset, Etsy creativity, dazzling our customers, and so much more. There's plenty of room at this table for you, so scooch on in and let's go. I'm holding nothing back. Welcome to how to sell your stuff on Etsy. I'm so glad you're here.

[Preston Cox]

Hey, I invited Preston. Hey, guys. How's everybody today? Hey, there's my guy.

[Carrie]

Oh, my goodness. Can you hear me?

[Preston Cox]

Yeah. Can you hear me?

[Carrie]

Sure can. I'm wearing my old school headphones.

[Preston Cox]

You are? Your wired.

[Carrie]

It's more reliable than the used AirPods that I use on a typical basis.

[Preston Cox]

Do you think the sound's coming through my AirPods?

[Carrie]

Yeah, I think so.

[Preston Cox]

It sounds like a mic because I did one of these, like, over the summer with Gold City Ventures. The audio was terrible because my AirPods never like.

[Carrie]

No, it sounds super clear. It kind of has that. What's the word?

[Preston Cox]

Studio.

[Carrie]

Studio effect on it. Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

Okay.

[Lizzie Smiley]

Carrie.

[Preston Cox]

Hi. You're so cool. Do you know Carrie Preston?

[Carrie]

We do.

[Preston Cox]

Okay. I'm like, you all need to be friends. You guys, you all need to be friends.

[Carrie]

We've already shared curse words in our DMs, and so we're best friends now.

[Preston Cox]

Implied. You cannot have a conversation. Oh, thank you so much for the. Oh, thank you so much for the sound. You can't exchange more than six words with Carrie without getting some really good cussing. I feel like. I feel like Preston, you. You keep it pretty pg.

[Carrie]

I do, yeah. I, you know, and that's just the nature of my work that I do normally. And so, you know, you gotta keep it. Keep it clean for the kids.

[Preston Cox]

Such a freaking Mary Poppins. I can't help it. No, you're.

[Carrie]

It's okay. It's totally fine. We. Yeah, I try to keep it, you know, on the real super profesh. Don't want to be weird. Don't want to come across too bad for people.

[Preston Cox]

I actually don't mind cussing at all from other people, but I always feel really guilty when I do it. Like, I really feel like. I feel like I have to.

[Carrie]

What kind of. What kind of ramp have we got ourselves off?

[Preston Cox]

I.

[Carrie]

Well, already undiscovered.

[Preston Cox]

No, but this is why people. This is why people come and this is why they say so. So I think it's good. I think it's good. How is it going? How were your holidays?

[Carrie]

It was wonderful. Thank you for asking. We actually got a break, which was nice. I think I mentioned in the podcast that we did that I was coming up on a super busy season for my real jobs, got through those without too much stress and did two super large community events here in town and had a few days off for Christmas and worked my butt off in my Etsy bet. Had a really good run in December and so super awesome. It was. Yeah, it was super, super great. How about you?

[Preston Cox]

Did you. Well, did you have really good sales for your product, for your patches?

[Carrie]

Yeah. December was my best month and so, so cool.

[Preston Cox]

We just tried our laser engraver with leather last night. We had like, they sent a sample and so, P.S. like, so I. I bought a bunch of hats from Preston, you guys, because we're now in this small town on a farm. So, like the one he's wearing, I had him make special ones for us. Everyone's obsessed, like my husband and my aunt. They will not take them off, except for they won't work in them. They're like, I have to protect this as my. This is my city hat. And I'm like, I can buy more. I happen to know the maker. We can get more. But it made them all geek out about laser engraving. And that's cool. Don't worry. I would never copy. We're doing. We're doing like wood boxes, but there's plenty.

[Carrie]

But anyway, plenty of space, the market, I think, and we'll talk about that a little bit.

[Preston Cox]

But yeah, yeah.

[Carrie]

You know, it's funny because I have. I'm. I literally have different hats that I wear for different jobs because I'm. I am on camera a lot for my work that I do. So I think I mentioned that I work in a movie theater. I actually have a hat with our logo that I wear when I'm doing grand theater stuff. I have one when I'm wearing chamber commerce stuff. I wear this one when I'm usually doing 277 creative stuff. So, like, it literally is. I'm a person who wears many hats, and I'm actually.

[Preston Cox]

I'm, like, loving your background, but I'm kind of missing the gaming one, too, that you usually do when you're on video.

[Carrie]

I'm back in the office again. Didn't have time to light it all up today. So you're getting Preston au natural still?

[Preston Cox]

No, but it still looks super, like, intentional and legit. Whereas me, with my, like, random wall. I can't. I can't. I have no way to set up the iPhone.

[Carrie]

So.

[Preston Cox]

Are you holding it? Are you just holding your phone?

[Carrie]

I got a tripod.

[Preston Cox]

Oh, okay. I guess I need a tripod. I probably have one. I do have one. I have one right over there. I just remembered. That's right. I'm just gonna hold.

[Carrie]

I was gonna do the computer screen. My webcam not so good. So phone is a little bit better.

[Preston Cox]

How do you do it on the computer? Can you go live on the computer?

[Carrie]

I think so, yeah.

[Preston Cox]

Through the app.

[Carrie]

Look at us. A bunch of old people trying to figure out things.

[Preston Cox]

I am way older than you, Preston. All right, so you guys. Preston's gonna bring the heat today. He. He initiated this. Thank you, Carrie. She likes my coquette earrings. They're cute. Preston's gonna bring the heat today and ask me questions. I kind of know what they're gonna be, but Lord knows where we'll end up. Since we've already talked about cussing and patches and gamer backgrounds.

[Carrie]

Well, yeah, I feel like we had a good response from our last one, and people know that we're off the rails usually, and so we'll. We're just gonna go wherever the rails take us today.

[Preston Cox]

Okay, I'll do my best. We'll see. I'm not usually the one being interviewed, so we'll see if I can hang.

[Carrie]

This is awesome. So, everybody, if you don't know me, my name is Preston Cox. I am the owner and creator at 277 Creative Designs here in Texas. My business is hats, patches. How I got here was. Lizzy was my Etsy coach, and we found out on the pod. And I meant to write down. Was it 156 that I was on? That's a great question. You can go back and listen to it. Just scroll back a little bit. I talked a little bit about my Etsy journey and getting kicked off in the world of patches and hats and lasers and all sorts of stuff. But as I was kind of reflecting on all that, I started thinking, and especially since you said I was your first client, Our first coaching client. Yeah, I said, I said I want to hit Lizzie with some hard hitting questions because you're always in the interviewer seat, you're rarely in the interviewee seat. You've done some FAQs, pods, and you did that. Wonderful. 20, 25 goals. One I just finished this morning. It was so good. I have some follow up questions for you on that one.

[Preston Cox]

Did you think it was too intense? Like, was I kind of mean? Okay.

[Carrie]

No, not at all. Okay, we're gonna get, we'll get mean today and we'll see how mean you get. So. But Lizzy, one of my big. You and I have known each other for a couple years now.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah.

[Carrie]

One of my big questions is you've talked before about your sign shop getting started, but there was an origin point for Lizzie at some point when you decided, I'm making signs and I'm going to put them on Etsy. What, what was that decision? Like, what, what, what prompted you to say, yeah, I'm going with Etsy. I'm not going with Shopify or my own website or whatever. What was that, that point where you're like, this is the platform that I want to use?

[Preston Cox]

I, I'm so excited you asked that question. I don't even remember if that was on your list. And I think it just wasn't intimidating enough for me to worry about. But you guys, literally, this is so interesting. I got on Etsy because I tried and I couldn't sell anything. I had a WordPress blog that was semi viral. I used to do a lot of like, faith blogging. I'm actually, I'm actually getting ready to sunset that blog because I don't even agree with basically anything that I believed back then or thought. But I had a ton of moms who read about my marriage and faith and parenting stuff. And I had shared on social media a couple of signs that we had just DIY'd for my daughter's nursery when I was pregnant. And some of them were like, how do I, how can, like, do you sell those? I want one of those. And I was like, oh, really? Okay, well, I like a side hustle. So I just added them to my blog and I couldn't sell a thing. I tried for months and then somebody I like went to. I was doing a little bit locally because I was pretty active on Facebook and someone said, why don't you just put these on Etsy? I was like, etsy? I don't know anything about Etsy. I'm not an artist. I'm just a hack. I don't belong on Etsy. So that was a decision point. And then it took a good three months. I think in the first three months, I made like $25. I sold maybe one sign, and I finally found a actually pretty terrible, in retrospect quality course that I bought from another Etsy seller. It was a guy, no shade, but it was, like, super masculine. Like, that kind of approach. Not relational at all. But I learned SEO, which was the big thing I was missing. And then from there, I scaled. Within six months, I was making up to like, $6,000 a month.

[Carrie]

With six months, that's how fast it went.

[Preston Cox]

It was pretty fast.

[Lizzie Smiley]

I started.

[Preston Cox]

I scaled the first. Yeah, the fir. It was very, very slow the first quarter. And then it took another three months for me to kind of figure that out. And that's when. From there, it was like six. My. And my best month ever was between 13 and $14,000.

[Carrie]

What was that? What was your feelings like when you. From the moment you hit publish on that first sign listing to that first sale? What kind of emotions did you feel in that window?

[Preston Cox]

Like, I mean, that was so long ago, Preston. That was 2015. I was a baby. I think mostly I was curious, because you need to know, I have tried so many side hustles and failed at so many side hustles. Etsy was the first one to work for me, so I wasn't feeling anything intense. I think when I started getting, like, cha chings more than one day in a row, like, you know what I mean? That's when it was just like, oh, we're onto something here. So that's when it was just like, I think hope, really. I really got fueled with hope. And then that first, like, you know, like, two to $3,000 a month, you're just like, oh, my gosh, we can do anything now.

[Carrie]

That's crazy. Like, rocket success. No, it really is, though, because you talked about on your podcast this week, like, the. That sometimes it takes months, maybe even a year. I mean, I'm a good example of that. That it's taken me two years to even have any, like, remedial success at my Etsy shop. So to have that kind of success up front, you. You hit. It was your background.

[Preston Cox]

Of course it was an SEO. You're like, if I had sat there and tried to hack it away. And I'm not even trying to sell anything with that. I'm just saying, literally all it was was, I didn't get SEO, but but.

[Carrie]

What I'm saying is, like, your. You took a step to advance your sales, and it worked. And I feel like that's what I've done with the materials that you've given me.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah.

[Carrie]

Is, you know, being able. You and I both share a background in marketing, and so it helps. We have kind of a frame of reference for SEO and what it means and, like, how to utilize it well. And then to apply that to Etsy made all the difference, I think, for me. And there's just so many other things. What was. Was the SEO? Was that the biggest hur. Or was there other things that you had to overcome?

[Preston Cox]

No, seriously, like.

[Lizzie Smiley]

Well, okay.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah, there's another piece. Okay. So I did not understand that other. That people. Maybe this is really good for the beginner. That people would describe my product differently than I would.

[Carrie]

Oh.

[Preston Cox]

So all I knew is that I watched a lot of Joanna Gaines. She. She's my homegirl. Are we allowed to say that anymore? Is that sure it's okay to say homegirl? Okay. Tell me. Yeah, you got to tell me, Preston, when I'm. Because I really don't mean to be offensive. I'm just. I'm basically a boomer, a millennial body. Okay. So she was like. She was my girl, and I loved everything she did, and I was just like, okay, reclaimed wood is in.

[Carrie]

Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

And so we started. So I was just typing in, like, reclaimed wood signs was, like, with what I would put on my listing and then whatever the heck I felt like making. And so when I was a little girl, my dad would always sing I love you a Bushel and a Peck, which is a song that probably most of you have never even heard of. But again, boomer, I put that on a sign, and of course, nobody bought it. So when I figured. So first of all, even if someone was looking for, I had the wrong terms in my titles because it was literally reclaimed wood sign, which P.S. nobody was searching for at that point, even though it was on trend on hgtv. The second part was I wasn't creating what people wanted. So when I figured out. When I learned also from that course, that you need to find out what's in demand. So it taught me to study the best sellers in my niche. So then I started finding the really, really big sign shops, and they're making things like, today is a good day for a good day. This is before we had SEO tools. Okay. There was no way for me to, like, crank up my ever be, which now literally fuels my entire life, and see how many Searches there were. All I could go by was the best sellers. So I started adding to my shop my own renditions on the signs of what and using like the SEO from. From those, I would look at like three to five bestsellers, and that's how I would create my SEO and that's how I would decide what to make. And Preston, once I did that, I cracked demand. I cracked SEO, and that was game, set, match. I still had some pretty mediocre pictures, by the way. Like, I feel like you can actually get away with a lot there. But that was something else I had to level up down the road. But that was what turned it from $25 a month to like 6k a month. Demand. What are the best sellers and SEO the right words on your listing that people are actually searching?

[Carrie]

Yeah. So thinking about demand, because I'm in this stage right now with my shop, I'm looking for those items that are in demand. I'm trying to expand my product line, first of all, but also the way in which I use patches. And so with demand, how do you know that it's not saturated yet? You know what I'm saying? You and I talked about a little bit about saturation, that it's not even. I hate using it. You know what I'm saying? But how do you know that you haven't already missed it? Because I feel like somebody has said before, I can't remember. It was your podcast or somebody else.

[Preston Cox]

Do you listen to other people?

[Carrie]

Yeah, all the time. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be cheating on you.

[Preston Cox]

I'm glad you do.

[Carrie]

Somebody had said, like, if you already see a bestseller tag on it, you've already missed it or, you know, like, I don't know if I agree with that, but what's your take on finding those things that are in demand before they. Before what's the word? You know what I'm looking for? Like, how do you know you have missed it?

[Preston Cox]

Where have you missed it? You're coming on too late. So first of all, for people listening, what we mean when we say saturation is there are more sellers and more products available than there are people who want to buy it. Market saturation. And a lot of new sellers make the mistake of using keywords or selling something that's very saturated, that, like, if you want to have a shirt that says mama on it, more than likely it's going to be very saturated. However, there are. There are ways around that when you trend combine. But I digress. So that's a really Interesting perspective that you've already missed it. And I could see how when you are like, you think of like a Bailey design company. So Bailey is, you know, there's this place where you transition into becoming a thought leader on Etsy and you have enough people who come back to your shop all the time where you can just create more of what you want and they will buy it. But in the beginning, you have to be a little bit more of a follower and follow the demand.

[Carrie]

Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

So I could see that. But I don't think the majority of people, 99% of people listening, don't need to worry about if it's already a best seller, you're too late. I don't think that's true. So here's some ways to find out, because the question you asked me was, how do you figure it out?

[Carrie]

Sure.

[Preston Cox]

The easiest way is using a tool like Ever Be, where you can look at the tags of the bestseller and you can click Filter. I filter by competing listings. If you go to my YouTube channel, you could look at like, I just did a video about this for Print on Demand. There's one for wreaths, there's one for jewelry. I'm going to do all of the niches eventually. But you can actually see me do this in real time. If this is hard to follow verbally. But. But what I'm looking for is that there's under 5,000 competing listings. So on Ever Be, it'll show it to you as green, and that means it's an undersaturated keyword. If you don't want or can't afford a tool, a little workaround. It's not as effective, but it will help you is look for best sellers from new shops. So if a listing has a bestseller and the shop has like under 500 reviews or under 100 reviews, which you can see like literally on Etsy on the listing, there'll be these little parentheses, like in the. In the search results next to the title.

[Carrie]

Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

And the parentheses shows how many reviews that shop has. If they have under 500 views, under a thousand reviews or under 100. I love it when it's under 100. That's a newer shop or a really slow growing shop that has a bestseller. And then you can kind of. You're more likely to know that it's like something that's. That's not saturated yet. Does that make sense? That was really technical.

[Carrie]

No. And. And I want to give a shout out to the Ever Be folks because I've been subscribed for a Couple months now. You told me get subscribed for just a little bit so that you can test it out. I'm probably gonna use it for another month as I'm digging around trying to get some stuff going. I'm saving lots of things.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah.

[Carrie]

But it's kind of been a little bit. I haven't really known how to use it and shout out to them because they got some really great videos on YouTube. I don't get paid by them and so I can shout them out but not worry about getting affiliate links. But it was really helpful. I don't know the gal's name that does the, the trainings, but really, really.

[Preston Cox]

Was it Jenny from the shop?

[Carrie]

Maybe she does be.

[Preston Cox]

She does her social media. I don't know if she does their YouTube. Whoever did it, I think, I think they have an employee who does it.

[Carrie]

It's really good. I watched one on, on like searching for. What was it like? It was basically what you just described and talking about how to utilize the tool back end. It was very helpful for me because I hadn't really known how to crack it yet. But yeah, I agree that everybody is worth it, especially if you're constantly mining for stuff. I think that's really. It's a really important tool to have. I've used that. I've used sell Samurai as well. You know, use Google Trends. Everybody seems to be, you know, why not use Etsy tools, right? Like, you know that, that they have, that are specific for them. So. So when you were going, it sounds like there was. It was all gas, no break at one. You know, was there ever any slumps in the shop? I mean.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah.

[Carrie]

What was that like? Because I'm sure a lot of people are coming off the holidays scared to death. I haven't made a lot of sales, to be honest with you, this first few days of the year. What do you tell the people that are in a slump right now that are worried about has my shop gone dormant now? Why is it quiet? Am I going to ever get another sale? What do you tell those people that are in that kind of. That sump? What was your experience like?

[Preston Cox]

Okay, so, so this is interesting. So for me, actually in the sign shop, January was really, really busy because people are taking down their holiday decor and they're wanting to put up fresh decor. So it will always depend on your niche and what you sell. Interestingly, every October. So you have a really heavy. Like we would have a. This is specific to signs. Okay. So some people are heavy in summer because maybe they do Summer themed things. I was so slow during summer. In fact, I put my shop on vacation mode, usually for a month or two and just, you know, forgot about it. But you come back in the fall and August, September would be really busy, September especially. And then October would be so slow. And every year I panicked, Preston. Every year I was like, oh, crud, what did I do? Am I like, are there too many sign makers now? I would worry every time and then come November, it would pick up again. And I just, I just learned that people spend a lot of money on Halloween and they don't shop. They don't shop for stuff. You know, I don't see for me again, January was busy, but for a lot of people it's not. It's kind of like summer. And I think, like, I even think some self reflection can help. Like, are to the people listening, are you buying a lot of things right now? Are you going on, you know, Amazon and on Etsy and buying like, you were right 30 to 60 days ago. Our own spending can sometimes shed some light. Like, no, we are tightening our belts because we just spent a bunch of money on the holidays we're trying to recoup. So I think it's just like, I mean, sometimes is it a sign that you have a problem?

[Carrie]

Sure.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah. Like, I think, you know, all of this is. Business is constantly a risk. Business is constantly adjusting, constantly growing. The minute you get complacent, you start to fall behind. I don't say that to scare anyone. I say that because you deserve to know the truth. So, like, you know, restaurants, they go through slumps when things are quiet and they're dead and they're, you know, whatever. So all I say is when it gets slow, the very best thing you can do for both for the slow time, but also for when feast comes again, is to be working on your shop. So rather than you're not filling as many orders, this is a great time to get to adding a whole bunch of new listings. This is a great time to be sharpening your skills and doing some learning. Whether it's YouTube or some course you bought or a book you want to read or anything, you know, whatever you want to do. Go binge the podcast.

[Carrie]

Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

Sharpen your tools. So just you. But the best thing you could do, honestly, better than any of that, the best thing you can be doing is adding new listings because it will, first of all stoke you up in the algorithm or it'll keep you relevant in the feed and when people are searching, you'll get found.

[Lizzie Smiley]

Are You a print on demand or digital product Etsy seller who's tight on time or still learning all of the Etsy secrets. I totally remember the days of having no idea what product to create next before I learned how to make those informed decisions. So I can really identify with where you're at. I know how stressful and frustrating it can be to just create listing after listing and see little to no results. You wonder what you're doing wrong and just you just want someone to tell you what to create that's actually going to sell. Where are those opportunities? So let me give you a leg up with my weekly trends and opportunities report. You just join my membership and every Monday I'm going to send you an email with a list of exactly what is trending right now with a video tutorial showing you how I found those trends and how to apply them in your shop. We're taking guesswork and time, extensive time off of your table. I'm also going to send you five print on demand and digital product opportunities that are growing in demand right now, helping new shops make sales and still have very low saturation in the marketplace. So your tight schedule, your newbie status doesn't have to hold you back anymore. I'm going to help you earn while you learn. You can grab my free demo to start and see an example of what the weekly trends and opportunities email looks like right from the show notes. See what you're going to get and I will see you on the inside soon.

[Carrie]

That's kind of the stage that I'm in right now. I've been working this morning on while the laser was running, trying to create a listing while the laser's running. And so I'm trying to get in that rhythm talking about that what are some efficiency hacks in terms of creating new listings, you know, determining new products. And I asked that because my even as good as I am on Canva and at SEO and chatgpt those things creating a listing takes time.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah.

[Carrie]

What's some things that you do that helps you pump out those listings? Like what you do. I think you mentioned you try to get five or six a day, right?

[Preston Cox]

Sure, but I never do. Especially now that I've got a two year old. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like I am, I'm preaching to myself over here. No, but that's a great question. So a couple of things. First of all I create listing templates for myself. So right now this is something I'm kind of like you guys like in the learning phase with my newer shop that I opened in October. I sell PNGs and Tumblr wraps and I have, I keep them in drafts, like just a template listing. And it doesn't have any title. It'll just have like PNG in the title, for example, for the PNG one. And it'll just have like a space holder photo in the photos. Space holder photo in the delay deliverable. That's going to go. The digital file is going to go to the buyer.

[Carrie]

Yep.

[Preston Cox]

But I have the description filled out. I have all the little dropdowns filled out, I have the price filled out and, and that's it. And then when I do go in to create my listing, it still takes time, but I'm just putting in title tags, doing a little updating to the description, you know, because I do, I do a little keywording in the beginning. I do like a little, a little one to two sentences that incorporates relevant keywords and that's it. So I don't have to go copy and paste it every single time I have the template. The other thing that is so helpful, and I did this with the signs as well, is to use mock ups. Like even for physical products, we're going to do this for the boxes. We are going to have mockups and I am not going to make a single box physically until I sell one. They're all going to be digitally created. And that's how I did it in the signs. I didn't, I tested it before I made it. It's not going to work for every product, but it works for a lot. I know you're doing that too. I don't know that any of that is like, is like groundbreaking for you, Preston. You're probably doing a lot of it. But yeah, like this is part of the reps. Right. We have. It's going to take some time, but using mock ups and having a template listing can help a lot.

[Carrie]

That question came across in our group that you, that you run on Facebook, which pitch for how to sell stuff on Etsy. It's a nice, friendly group where questions are allowed and you can talk.

[Preston Cox]

I kick people out who are nasty.

[Carrie]

Yeah. And we don't need any of that. But somebody had asked, you know, something about, you know, reaching that, that Hunter listing goal and like, how do you keep listings coming out? And one of the things that I had mentioned was I have a, a deck on canva of kind of like how I like my patch listings to look.

[Preston Cox]

Yes, that's a good point.

[Carrie]

That's what I got. I kind of like you, I had my mock ups already on there. I have a. Two slides. One with like a backpack, a hat and a beanie one's. Another one is like a gun case. Remember portfolio, a padfolio and something else. Something because you told me show people how to use your product. And so. And it's really easy. I have a flat item that can be placed flat on. You know, when you put it on digitally on an item, it doesn't look fake. On the hat you can kind of tell. But like everything else, you can't. As I kind of adjust and stuff like that, that way I'm not having to create those because that's where I got really stuck when I first started. I was like, how am I going to make that many patches? I'm going to waste a ton of money making patches of stuff that's like a. It's like a fake logo that I don't want to make for anybody. And so I was like, oh well, I don't want to use Canva and try to try to do it. And that's worked out. So now I'm kind of like you with your listings. I have a, a 10 slide, 10 or 11 slide deck. I shuffle some sometimes and copy that. And then I can drop the new design in on those patches and you know, adjust it and play with it to make it match. Or if I have, you know, a client that has allowed me to use their logos and stuff like that in my listings, I'll take a picture of theirs and I'll drop those in. That's one hack. Another hack. I picked up from you the kind of the copy and paste your listings and you said it in your 2025 goals podcast. Like it was kind of a revelation for me. You can copy your same listing over and over again. Like, you know, not. I had known that, but it just when you said it, I remembered the time that that clicked for me. Like, oh, just post the same listing again. Change some of the things around in it and save yourself a ton of time. So that's what I did today. I created this listing for a new set of patches. One slide deck is. Or one picture deck is, you know, has different backgrounds on it. And then I copied and pasted it and did it with a whole different style of backgrounds. It's literally the exact same listing, just two different graphic images. And I tweaked the title a little bit. So I'm kind of ab testing it right now. Like, I mean it literally went out this morning. So I think just reminding People that that's okay, right? Like, that's cool to do amended. And I was thinking, like, how do you get to 100 listings? Well, if I'm making, if I'm making one listing and then copy and pasting it and then making graphics, you know, that are a little bit different or tweaking it a little bit, pretty easy to hit that hundred once you kind of get in a rhythm of doing things right. So.

[Preston Cox]

And I don't think you have to crank it as hard with physical products as you do with print on demand or digital like that. I'm not recommending that someone like you do five listings a day. I'm saying maybe, maybe like two to five a week for someone doing physical products. It just helps you. It just helps you stay in the algorithm.

[Carrie]

Just a couple of like advicey questions that we can. You've done so much and I don't want to retread some of the things that you've already talked about, but I think it's interesting to talk about some of these things. What is your take on like having an external website? I'm a web builder. I appreciate web design. My website is not getting any traffic, it gets zero. So my take is as a web designer, I'm going to ditch my website once the renewal comes up or may just keep it as like a landing page that points to Etsy. What's your take on it? Is this something that people need to invest in? I see this conversation happen a lot online, like, what else do I need besides Etsy? Do I need a website? Do I need whatever to sell?

[Preston Cox]

So glad you asked this because I've actually been wanting to talk about this, you know what, and a lot of people are going to disagree with me, but I see so many new sellers get burnt out so fast and it's because we take on more than we can handle. And I think in the beginning, like up until you're ready to go full time in your business, all you need is Etsy. No social media, no website. You might consider working on an email list. But I wouldn't even do that in the beginning. I think that you should Etsy if you are. The one caveat would be if you're selling something really unique that people aren't searching for on Etsy, then it's not. This advice isn't for you. Etsy is probably not for you. Etsy is great for things that people are already looking for.

[Carrie]

Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

So I think new sellers don't do any of it. Don't do any social media. Don't do any website, just figure out Etsy. Like take this next six months to a year and just build Etsy to whatever your goal is. And if you're having problems then you need to go back to the drawing board and A, make sure there's enough demand for what you're doing. B, make sure that you're, if there's demand that you're not creating things that everyone else is creating, that you've got some kind of nuance to it or trend combining to it or you're reaching micro niches so that you can still get seen. Yeah, scale what you've got. It's going to be more than enough work, I promise you. Like if you actually 100% is, yeah. Digital products are like print on demand. If you're having to do five listings a day or more, like Bailey was doing 20 a day when she was building her massive shop, you don't have time for anything else. And so this is the way. And then you're going to have better reward too. You're not going to be spread so thin and all these things that are not going to make you money down the road. We talk about adding the website, adding the social media, adding the email list.

[Carrie]

I've been thinking about email lists. One of the things that I preach all the time to our businesses is here in town. If you're only using Facebook or Instagram, remember you do not own those customers. Technically, Facebook and Instagram.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah, same with Etsy.

[Carrie]

Yeah. In any off, off products, you know, off website, you know. And so I always encourage, you know, having something else, you know, one other thing, to collect data even if you're not using it. Email list. I, I think an email list is great logistically. I've had a. I have a question for you about Etsy. Just legally, are we allowed to strip emails from Etsy from our. Because we get, we get customers emails. Are we allowed to even build a email list with their emails? Are they technically opting into something or is that illegal? Do we have to ask what is like, is there some sort of legal thing there to get people to opt in? Do we need to do it off site? What's the deal?

[Preston Cox]

So you cannot use their emails from Etsy. Those are, that's Etsy only during the transaction period. So if you're trying to DM somebody about a problem with their order and they're not responding, you can email them about the order during the order. After that you cannot contact them without permission. So to address this question in the chat, it says, what do you use to build an email list? Okay, so let me back up just a second. So the very after you've got about a hundred sales, if you are thinking I am going to scale this business, I like this, I'm in my lane, I want to build a brand around this. The first thing to start thinking about is an email list because like Preston said, then you have something, you've got some way to reach people. The cheapest way to do this would be to use mailchimp. Just to answer that question of what do you use? You can use mailchimp. They have a free version I believe unless they've changed, I think 500 subscribers.

[Carrie]

Yeah, it's free.

[Preston Cox]

Great.

[Carrie]

It may be up to a thousand.

[Preston Cox]

Okay, that's amazing. So and so what you would do is in your about section, in your welcome section, in your listing descriptions, maybe on a QR code, in your listing photos, you would say, you know, join my email list. Would you like to join my email list and maybe offer some kind of coupon code or something like that to get them on your email list you have to get their permission and they have to opt in. The other option which streamlines it a little bit but costs more is you can upgrade your ever be to include ever be emailed and it allows you to automate this so you're not having to like yes. Should you have it throughout your shop? Absolutely. But it will actually DM the it's all compliant with Etsy. You will actually DM the customer from the beginning of like the workflow when you take their order inviting them to join the list and sending them. It'll, it'll. You can do a whole flow and send follow up emails and that is incredible. That's the easiest way to go about it. Probably the most compliant way to go about it.

[Carrie]

That's a great answer to that. I legit just didn't know I would suggest another if you're like oh mailchimp, I don't know what are they talking about? Another easy way to just collect those emails is just Google forms and it just drops it into a spreadsheet for you and that way you just have them. At the very least you have them and then whatever you want to do with them is fine. Now you can't automate stuff on you can't do a drip can.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah and I'd be real compareful because if you don't know what you're doing with canned spam laws and you don't have the proper stuff like in the footer of the email, you could get in big trouble.

[Carrie]

Sure, sure, sure.

[Preston Cox]

If you're gonna do that, make sure, you know, like you can't just like send them a note from your Gmail, you know, like you've got to know the rules, right?

[Carrie]

These are stuff that people, people don't know about. And it's probably gonna get kicked to spam anyway, like if you do that. So it happens, happens to a lot of people when you do it that way.

[Lizzie Smiley]

Are you brand new to Etsy, about to get started, or struggling a bit to find your groove? What I'm about to say is just for you, okay?

[Preston Cox]

I can completely relate to where you're.

[Lizzie Smiley]

At because I think I can help you achieve success faster. When I first started my Etsy shop, it was not one of those success stories that we hear on, you know, on the big YouTube channels, even on this podcast where I just had crazy success and it took off right away. All right, I all but failed for my first six months, just like a lot of new sellers. And so it's very relatable. And the issue for me was I didn't understand demand, for one, I didn't understand SEO. I was way too broad in my search terms and I didn't know how to position my product so that customers just couldn't help but click add to cart. And so once I learned those things, I went from making about $25 a month in sales to $6,000 a month and up. And in the holidays, I would even have $13,000 months, like at my shop's peak. And the thing about me, if you've been here for a minute, you already know this. I'm a terrible gatekeeper, okay? When I figure something out, when I crack a code, when I get excited, I cannot help but tell everybody who wants to listen. It's like either my, my best asset or my toxic trait. I can't decide. But I put everything that you need to know to fill that beginner knowledge gap into a low ticket, just under three hours beginner course that I have called Six Figure Secrets to getting started on Etsy. In it, I'm teaching you how to find what's in demand for your niche, how to find and use trends, how to start your shop. If you're worried about that part SEO strategy to find the micro niches where the opportunity is, how to understand the Etsy algorithm, and a ton more. The whole thing is bite sized videos. Not long form, just small bite sized videos, zero fluff and to the point, you could get the course today. Go through the less than three hours over the next couple days. Launch your shop this weekend and have sales coming in as soon as Sunday. So let's get you the few missing pieces of the Etsy success puzzle, those little tweaks you need to make so you can start making the sales that you deserve. Because I have never been more convinced that there is room at this table on Etsy for everyone. And the opportunity is, is so ripe right now. I am in the numbers in the data every day and my mind just keeps expanding on the possibilities. Okay, so as a special treat, use the code save50 to save $50 on the Six Figure Secrets course today. That's $50 off with a coupon. Save 50 and by all means DM me or shoot me an email when those sales start popping because I want to celebrate with you.

[Carrie]

Is Star Seller really that important?

[Preston Cox]

That's a great question. So yes and no. It is important because it's one of Etsy's badges and it creates social proof and it gives you credibility. So when someone comes to your shop and you're especially you're a newer shop, but it doesn't really matter when and they see any kind of badge, a star seller badge, a bestseller badge, a popular now badge, a this is a rare fine badge, any of them, it gives, it lends credibility to your listing and to your shop. Also, some shoppers, probably not many, might use that filter that's super obvious now in the browser. It's at the top rather than hidden in the, in the filter menu. They might click that. Especially if there's someone who's had a bad experience on Etsy and they want to make sure that they're working with someone's got really good customer service. I think the vast majority of shoppers have no clue what that even means.

[Carrie]

Gotcha.

[Preston Cox]

So yes, in the sense of anything you can do to give yourself credibility, you know, sales give you credibility, reviews give you even more credibility, badges give you credibility. Great. I wouldn't stress about it. Like people who literally like are in the, not my Facebook group, but other groups losing their mind over Star Seller. I'm like, oh my gosh, like little perspective here. Let's just not, let's don't worry about it. Let's just get back, let's just create more listings. Let's just keep, keep moving forward. Oh, someone asked another question.

[Carrie]

I think somebody had posted that another option for physical products would be to add it to your packaging list.

[Preston Cox]

That's great.

[Carrie]

Tina and I dropped, yeah, I dropped business cards in My, my package always like with my email. It's got my email and website, my phone number on it for people. I mean, it's the same thing I hand out when I'm here in town. And I mean, I've had a couple people message me offline and I usually point them back to Etsy just because, you know, I want the sales on Etsy to help kind of bolster some stuff. But it's. They, at least they have my contact information at that point.

[Preston Cox]

Wondering if I've got one of my old ones around here. Probably, it's probably not unpacked yet, but we had really, really pretty ones we got printed from vistaprint and I had like a picture with. Thank you so much. Look at how. But how actually awful my situation is, all this storage in this old barn. All right, keep on.

[Carrie]

I'm on threads quite a bit.

[Preston Cox]

Oh yeah, I didn't know that.

[Carrie]

I like threads. The algorithm on threads is incredibly aggressive.

[Preston Cox]

Really? Okay, no, tell more about that.

[Carrie]

So aggressive it'll create the biggest echo chamber that you can ever imagine. And so, but it's, you're gonna see a lot of the same stuff, the same thematically, the same thing because the algorithm is just.

[Preston Cox]

Oh, you like this? That's very Etsy.

[Carrie]

Right? But not aggressive in the way that Facebook is aggressive. It's a different, different type. So that being said, on my business side of my threads, I get a lot of Etsy content. It's crazy. And so the number one of the number one things that I see is, and I'm sure you hear it a lot too, and we probably talked about a little bit Etsy fees. Lots of complaints from people about Etsy fees are too high. They're just a corporate shrill trying to steal our money. You know, I'm, I'm getting off Etsy. I'm going to open a Shopify. I'm gonna. Whatever. Is the concern and the beef with Etsy fees legitimate. And then if it's not, how do you rationalize fees as a coach to a new Etsy seller?

[Preston Cox]

Okay. I was waiting to see if you had anything else to add. Okay. We could spend an hour on just this, Preston. So I'm going to try to be succinct. Let me just start with my personal opinion as someone who's run Shopify sites, websites, you know, paying for SSL certificates, dealing with all the tech of when you get whatever happened to your own site building in the E Commerce, you know, having to drive your own traffic. Etsy is a dream. Like, is it Perfect. No. Do I want to wring their neck sometimes? Yes. But there's nothing else like it. It's still the easiest way for a new person to break into E commerce and make really good money. I don't think it should be your end all. Be all. We need to stop treating Etsy like it should. Like the government that should take care of me. Etsy's a company. It's a for profit company. It's not a nonprofit. Never claimed to be. Has their culture changed? Yes. Do I love all the ways it's changed? No. Do I think I should be able to get customer service? Yes. Do I understand capitalism? Yes. Also. So. So bottom line, after my little mini rant is if you've ever tried to run your own website, so Shopify example, if you will pay for the whole year in advance, the minimum is going to be $29 a month, which means what's 29 times 12? Are you good at math?

[Carrie]

No.

[Lizzie Smiley]

Me neither.

[Preston Cox]

Someone do the math. 29 times 12. It'll be here in the chat in any second. Now, 29 times 12 is what you're gonna have to pay up front to get started.

[Carrie]

Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

Do you know what I pay up front to get started on Etsy? $15.20. Yeah. There's a $15 startup fee, by the way, on Shopify, they're not gonna send you any traffic. Thank you, Carrie. $348 they get started on Shopify. So if a. You're having to figure out the tech. Shopify is not too bad on the tech because they have the SSL and the shopping cart and all that built in for you. That's great.

[Carrie]

Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

Better than when I had to do it on WordPress with WooCommerce. Oh, Lord, help me. Yeah, it's so much easier. Is that great? Yes. But you're having to build out the whole website, build up the whole. I mean, there's a lot more you've got to build out for sure. Then you've got it. So you're figuring out how to position your product, how to price your product, how to do SEO, how to take pictures, how to do all these things, how to have all the compliant website stuff so you don't get sued, and then you've got to go figure out how to market it. You've got to actually drive all the traffic to your own site. You're either paying for ads or you are literally like you're having to build a social media following, which takes an enormous amount of time. I'm trying to. Okay, so like, my Instagram right now is like, my saddest place. I have, like 3,800 followers. I have been trying so hard to grow it for years. It will not grow. TikTok's much easier. We'll see if it stays around. YouTube is easier. Building social media is so hard. So when you actually look at it from that perspective, the alternative, I pay. Oh, also, let me add this. Transaction fees, which people really gripe about. It's like 3%, something like, per transaction that goes. It's the payment processing fee.

[Carrie]

Yep.

[Preston Cox]

That's gonna happen no matter where you are.

[Carrie]

Exactly.

[Preston Cox]

Where has it, Shopify has it. Amazon has it. Ebay has it. Everywhere has it. It's. You're paying the credit card company to trans. To transact the money. So Etsy charges 20 cents per listing. And then when you make a sale. So when you make money, they make 6.5%. To me, to offset all of that other crud where I've got to have the tech, I've got to have the social media, I've got to push my traffic. I've got to have this huge learning curve. To me, it's like games that match. Like, are there problems with SE? Yes. There's also 95 million active shoppers there looking for my products. I don't have to do anything other than target them. Yep. Okay, I'm done. So, I mean, extrapolate out any more of that that you want, but, like, I'm just like, stop whining. Stop whining about the fees. You. This is. You can go. Just be quiet and go make money or go somewhere. Like, if it's not for you, I have so much respect for that. Like, then it's not right.

[Carrie]

Just say that, you know? Yeah, just say, like, I don't like it.

[Preston Cox]

Well, and then do it better the other way. Teach you, like, be me for Shopify.

[Carrie]

Sure. And I say that as a web bill.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah.

[Carrie]

Like, you know, like, I would. I would love to have people build websites and sell your product.

[Preston Cox]

You want me to rant?

[Carrie]

No, but you don't. People don't understand the work that goes in. Will you save money? Yes, but at what cost?

[Preston Cox]

Yeah. And really, really with advertising, like, what is that? What's that ramp gonna look like?

[Carrie]

Yeah, I'm looking at mine. I've made a 308 sales on my. On my shop in, like, three months. But that's like, I wouldn't have even dreamed of making that on online, like, if I was. If I was trying to sell patches online just off of a square, you know, square squarespace website or a square website. There's no way, man. Like, like I probably paid, yeah, $800 in stuff this last month covering all my fees and my transaction fees. Sales tax is another thing. Like in Texas you have to, I don't know how it is in other states. I got to report my sales tax on all physical items sold. Etsy already does that.

[Preston Cox]

Exactly. That's nice.

[Carrie]

They remit all that for me. And so that's nice. Like I sell hats locally. I got to go in and pay, I figure out how much sales tax I charged to and pay the government, you know, my sales tax, which I'm cool with. It's part of doing business. And I tell them new businesses that a lot like is exactly what you said. You're gonna pay credit card fees no matter what. Can you mitigate them? Sure. Like if you want to have just.

[Preston Cox]

A cash out, they're a little less on cat on. They're like a percent less.

[Carrie]

Yeah. If you want to have a cash option, if you want to try to Venmo, there's ways to get around some stuff and still make some money. But it's, man, it's gonna be hard. You're gonna be uphill battle. And I'm not trying to be a homer for Etsy by any means because I know there are other, other things. But it's like, man, why not go where the tools are already being used? They're doing the hard work for you. You're literally building the listings and figuring out the SEO. Like that's, that's enough work as it is to try to figure out all that. Why waste all your other time doing everything else? So for me, Etsy's worth the money they can now. If you know, who knows what will happen if it goes crazy high, then we may need to have a conversation about how the fees are being spent. But I laughed this morning because I saw a page talking about this and they were like, get ready because Amazon is starting a Makers and vendors branch and then Michaels has theirs. I'm like, if you're worried about corporate shills and you're talking about, you're going about Amazon, you're talking about Amazon and.

[Preston Cox]

I would love to go. You know, it's great.

[Carrie]

And so, you know, it's just funny to me. And so I think you're like, Michaels.

[Preston Cox]

Isn'T corporate at all. Right. They're coming on. We're gonna have Makers place on in a few weeks.

[Carrie]

And I love Michaels too. I was just there Last night shopping around and so. But you know, everybody's making money. Everybody's gonna make money on this deal. There's nothing gonna be free for you.

[Preston Cox]

Let me just add this breaston. Like here's the thing and this actually isn't my attitude. I am such a. Like let's make everyone win. Like how can this be a win? Okay, but let's say you're not. Let's say you're more skeptical and I respect that. That my entire family's like that. I respect that. So let's say you're just like, well Etsy's just using you. Okay. So use them like they're using you. You use them. Use them to figure out the business. Like I'm not saying stay there forever, although you could. I don't like, I'm just like whatever. But like use them. Make money. Get your seed money to be able to do the website, build your. Use them to build your email list, use them to seed your wallet, use them to learn e commerce and then like flick them off and go to your website and make a million. A million times more like. But use them to get started because it'll save you time and money.

[Carrie]

And we talked about this a lot is multiple streams of income.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah.

[Carrie]

There's nothing wrong if you have the finances to be able to sell to multiple on multiple streams. Go for it. Carrie asked have either you tried to sell on Go Imagine. I haven't. She said she'd been approved there and never listed. Like I don't even know what it is.

[Preston Cox]

Oh, competition too. So they actually came on the podcast several months ago. The founder is wonderful. Very worth checking out that episode. I will link in the show notes because I can't remember what number it is. Sure. I don't remember what the fees are for that or. And I haven't even interviewed Michaels yet. That's. That's in two weeks. So I don't know what they are yet. I believe they're both less fees wise from Etsy. They are handmade only. So the big complaint about Etsy selling out to print on demand and digital products and AI and whatever so you can go there and that they don't have remotely the customer base. They're paying for Google Ads. So are Etsy's. Etsy. They're showing up first like name recognition. Do you ever get skeptical when you go to a site you've never heard of? Like Go Imagine. I mean I think it's great and I'm giving the benefit out. In fact this year since we're launching these boxes. We're gonna put. We're gonna start go Imagine and a maker place. So I will be able to tell everyone my experience on both. I'll be able to create if. Assuming I can even sell anything if there's enough traffic there. Because here's the thing, all those sellers are pushing their own traffic. It's like. It's basically like having your own website. That's what I'm seeing in the groups. Now. We all know groups can be. Can be negative nellies. So let's see. I want to see what they will do, what they will send me without me having to do anything. Like on Etsy. Interesting.

[Carrie]

I look forward to that because yeah, I would. I think me. And it's as well as lots of other people would like to know.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah. Physical products should try. Let's. Let's do it. Let's try it together. We can start a whole separate Facebook group and share our experience.

[Carrie]

You're talking about the Etsy culture that exists right now. I sent you a link to a video about. It was probably seven or eight months ago, maybe a little bit longer. The news story from CNBC that talked about the title of the video is has Etsy Lost Its Way? Now, you and I both know that Etsy has made some significant changes in the last 12 months for sure, but especially in the last six months from what you can tell from your research. One is, is Etsy still going to be viable moving forward? Kind of taking your. Your bias hat off, just like looking at it as an option. What are some of the changes you're excited about that you've heard about? What are some things that you're wondering about, like how it's all going to work out? Give me your perspective on kind of the Etsy culture right now and what we can expect.

[Preston Cox]

Yeah, that's great. Okay. And also, guys, Carrie just dropped in the chat that the Go Imagine episode was number 134, if you want to listen to that. And then Preston's interview, which was great, was number 150. Okay. So, yeah, I took a look at that video. I tend to like, stay out of the hate because I just. Because I don't have time, but also because I like to protect my energy. But I did watch that. That video so I could comment on it. The biggest complaint, like they were. They were kind of.

[Lizzie Smiley]

And you know how these things can be a little.

[Preston Cox]

I don't like to say clickbaity, but like they're. They're sensationalist, right?

[Carrie]

Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

And their Biggest thing was this big change in 2024 was that Etsy added a 15 fee just to open a new shop. And it was funny because they're kind of talking out of both sides of their mouth on that one. They were like, I can't believe they're charging this. But then they're like, I can't believe they're letting all these drop sellers and fake shops coming on. And I'm like, well, I hear you. Like, makes it a little less accessible. But that also means that people who aren't really serious are less likely to start trying to sell there because they have to pay for it. So I think, like, did it, does it help pad Etsy's wallet a little bit? Yeah, like, you know, and, and I think that it's an extremely expensive company to run and they don't make enough money from sellers. I don't, I just, I think even with the scale of sales and sellers and shoppers that it's, it's not a high, high profit company. So. But I think mostly it was to create a bit of a barrier to sift out people who really can't compete on the platform. Okay. You asked me specifically. I see. I personally, and obviously this is my livelihood too, so I care very much about Etsy's sustainability as a company. Do I love all of their choices? No. Like, you know, when they have made those massive layoffs and then, and then they said to sellers, like, you have to have this exceptional customer service and respond to this, you know, in 20, 24 hours or you're going to get penalized. But we won't let you talk to anyone even if we take away your livelihood. Yeah, no, yeah, no, that's not okay with me at all. I will say the majority of those shop suspensions get resolved. The ones that should, the ones, you know, a lot of people don't read the terms of service.

[Lizzie Smiley]

How many of us do that?

[Preston Cox]

Like you join a game or you, you download an app or you do a new. And most of us never read a lot of those. And this is one where you really have to. Because. Or don't complain if you get shut down because you have broken a rule.

[Lizzie Smiley]

And you just didn't even know.

[Preston Cox]

And unfortunately in the law, like, you can't just be ignorant and that's your, that's your case. Do you know what I mean?

[Carrie]

Like, exactly.

[Preston Cox]

If, if you poison somebody. Let me just give you an example. If you poison somebody and they die and you're like, I didn't know was poison you. You still go, you still get prison time. Like you still killed somebody, you know what I mean? And that's a little sensationalist, but to kind of bring home the point, if you break their rules or you break the law. Yeah. So the ones that are. The ones that get suspended. This is something that people complain about with the viability of Etsy. The ones get suspended that aren't able to be reversed nine times out of ten. Oh, yeah, the ones that are not able to get reversed, they broke a rule. Typically. Typically they're either doing something really sketchy with their banking or they're not sharing their true identity, which people, you know, do for various reasons. Being suspicious of the Internet, I don't blame you. But you have to share your genuine identity or they're breaking intellectual property laws. The vast majority of people that. And I get these emails all the time. Vast majority of people I'm getting DMs from the. The. What is it called? Do Not Disturb did not work for Etsy notifications. And believe it or not, the DM was. Do you use AI for your art? Yep, I sure do. Sure do. I respond to them later, obviously. Okay. So, yeah, majority of those suspensions get turned around, no problem. And it just takes time. It's annoying. You have to wait a few weeks. I see no reason to question the viability of Etsy going forward. I think we're going to continue to hear people whine, we're going to continue to hear about boycotts or whatever because, and I do understand this, in fairness, people are upset at how much the platform has changed from what it was 10, 15 years ago when it was a handmade crafting space. The reality is that both the economy and the market has changed, but also the demand has changed. So Etsy could no longer sustain itself, not adding in print on demand and digital products. And I'm going to say this other thing, too, and some people are not going to like it. The vast majority of sellers don't want to sell handmade items. So Etsy is actually responding to the majority of its sellers who are saying, we want to be able to sell digital, we want to be able to sell air, we want to be able to sell print on demand. I don't have time to make a handmade product. And so they've made space for all of it. So we could cry baby all day long that. Okay, it's gotten away from its core message. Yeah, okay. It has, because the marketplace has demanded it. And I am thrilled now that Michael's maker place and go Imagine are offering us platforms that will stay true to that as far as we know. Like those are the things that they just want to do. Handmade. But the traffic to them, the traffic they can tell you is indicative of the reason why Etsy had to change. There's just not the demand. Yeah, man. Two rants in one hour.

[Carrie]

Preston, we said this was gonna be the hard hitting questions.

[Preston Cox]

I know, I like it.

[Carrie]

I don't want to take up too much more of your time because you've been so generous with your, your thoughts and I, I know you've, you just love talking about this stuff, so I love being able to chat with you. Just going back to personal Etsy, personalized Lizzie goals for Etsy. What's on your 25? 2025 goal sheet for you? You talked a little bit about what we should all be doing. What. What is Lizzie doing for 2025 right now?

[Preston Cox]

Okay, so, so kind of cute. Like my, my biggest goal with the physical product shop is to help Robbie. So once we get that up and going, I'll bring her on the podcast. You are all going to be so delightfully surprised by her. She's nothing like what you expect, I promise you. So if you're new to me, Robbie is my husband Chris's aunt. She moved to live with us from Michigan a few years ago. The whole goal being to get onto the farm that we're on now. So she put up her house here on the farm. She stays here year round so we can go back and forth from here to Wisconsin. And she's in her 60s and so she gets Social Security, but she just wants to be able to stay on the farm and homestead and not have to go in and get a job. My biggest goal with Etsy is just to, with like our physical product shop is for her to make at least 50k this year. We'll, we'll see. Like, physical products are demanding, so we'll see. I know I can generate as much business as she can tolerate. The question will be where is she going to be like uncle no more. So there's that. I also, the big goal is to, I feel like having physical products again are going to give me a lot of good content for the podcast and be able to feed to you guys information about how that's working, especially with Go Imagine and Maker Place where I can really give you guys content about that and how that's working out. And then I'm super curious to see what I can create with the PNG and Tumblr Wrap shop. The AI art. And I would love to build that to a five to ten thousand dollars a month income. A, to prove that you can, and B, you know, I really need to renovate this old farmhouse. It's in bad shape. So that's my. My job is to renovate the farmhouse. And so that'll help. That'll help towards that budget. Those are my love that I want to figure out. Did you guys hear about this? I want to figure out coloring pages. AI coloring pages.

[Carrie]

It's funny that you mentioned that. Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

I demand on Etsy coloring pages if you can do it right. So I'm trying to crack mid journey right now or another AI art to. To make good ones because they're usually way too detailed. Like they're not fun to color.

[Carrie]

Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

So more on that. I have a link for if people want to. Want me to do an AI workshop once I've got that to teach you exactly how to start a coloring page business because then you can also put them on Amazon and people are making ridiculous money with freaking coloring books and coloring pages. And you could do kdp. You could do digital downloads. You could put them on because Creative market.

[Carrie]

I tried to jump on the coloring book train really early on. I mean, that was probably 2019 or so. That was when I first started trying to figure it out. I'll send you my. My two that I made because I'm pretty proud. I'm pretty proud of them.

[Preston Cox]

And by the. You just made them with Canva?

[Carrie]

Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

Oh my gosh.

[Carrie]

It may be time to. To republish them because I think I've taken them off my other shop and so. Yeah, I'd be curious to see because they're. They really are. Once you figure out how to make them, they're really easy to make.

[Preston Cox]

Really. Just in case. Okay, so when we. Let's. When. If we do a workshop. Why don't you do. We'll do it together and you do a segment of it that's how to just use Canva and I'll do the AI segment.

[Carrie]

I would love that because there's some. There's a lot of the similar hacks that I use to create patches can be used to create black and white coloring pages. So I'll send you my stuff that I made a while back. It turned out really cool, but I. I mean I sold like maybe two copies of it and then I was trying to do Amazon KDP and it got way too out of hand and you know, one thing led to another and blah, blah, blah. And I just haven't messed with that shop yet, so. But yeah, I think that'd be. That's cool that you mentioned that, because I think there's some skills that I've attained. Now I just gotta figure out what the. You know, what the demand is for that. That could be a fun little.

[Preston Cox]

I don't wanna mess with kdp. I think that that becomes more trouble than it's worth. But, you know, hundreds of pages and of coloring pages, then why not add that stream once you've got it up? It's just passive income, right?

[Carrie]

Exactly.

[Preston Cox]

And Amazon's a much, much bigger marketplace than Etsy, believe it or not.

[Carrie]

Yeah. More demanding, right? In a lot of regards sometimes. Well, Lizzy, this has been lots of fun. Thank you so much for even building this for me. I wanted to learn some things directly from you. This gives me. Oh, kdp before we close out. It's kdp.

[Preston Cox]

What's kdp?

[Carrie]

Yeah. Kindle Demand. Kindle Direct Publishing. Is that what it's called?

[Preston Cox]

Direct Publishing?

[Carrie]

So it's like you submit a file and they do all of your book printing for you. It doesn't have to be coloring pages. It could be any type of book, ebook, stuff like that. You just submit according to their files, their specifications of their files, and they print a book for you and you never even touch it. I wrote a kid's book. When was that? 2019. I didn't do it through KDP. I did it through an organization called IngramSP Spark. I mean, it's great, like, if you're. If you're a book person, like, you want to write a book or you want to publish a workbook. It's a great way to do that. Just. It's a little bit of work on the front end to try to make sure all the formatting's right, but it's a great side income because you. It's kind of like drop shipping. You never touch any of the inventory unless you want to. So that's what KDP is for. So. But anyway, listen, just. Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you for all your advice for. For me personally and for all of us here, man. It's just. It's so good to be able to tune into the podcast and listen to the stories that you guys tell. It's very inspiring and I'm just so blessed to know you as a friend and as a coach. And here's to 500 sales in the next month, so.

[Preston Cox]

Oh, you're gonna have to get another laser. Oh, you've got two now.

[Carrie]

I'm just kidding. I would like to make 100 sales. And so we're gonna shoot for it and 100 listings by the end of January.

[Preston Cox]

All right. Well, Preston, thank you for floating this. You've become such a dear friend. And we'll keep it up. I think we could do these somewhat regularly. It'd be fun. It could be like an extra episode every month or something.

[Carrie]

Love it.

[Preston Cox]

All right, so, guys, you know how it goes, right?

[Lizzie Smiley]

We love you.

[Preston Cox]

Thanks for being with us. And until next week, what do you say, Preston?

[Carrie]

Keep it. Keep it cool.

[Preston Cox]

You have to say, I don't know what my something awesome. Oh, you can have your own sign off.

[Carrie]

Yeah.

[Preston Cox]

Are you gonna say keep it cool?

[Carrie]

No. I don't know. One that doesn't sound fun. Okay, go make something awesome.

[Preston Cox]

Bye, guys.

[Lizzie Smiley]

And that's a wrap on this episode of how to Sell youl Stuff on Etsy. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today. If you're looking for more resources, head on over to howtosellyourstuff.com where you'll find podcast show notes, all the links from today's episode, the blog courses, coaching, and more.

[Preston Cox]

If.

[Lizzie Smiley]

If this episode was helpful to you, awesome. The greatest compliment I can receive from you is a rate, review and subscribe on this podcast. Not only will it allow us to connect again on a future episode, it lets me know I'm providing you with value and helps other people find this content more easily. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support. Have a great day and see you next time.