Lessons
An Introduction to Etsy
14:56 2The Etsy Sales Process
03:46 3How We Use Etsy and Why We Love It
10:11 4Setting Up Your Etsy Shop
22:34 5Shop Settings & Policies
10:24 6Payment Methods
17:17 7Chart of Accounts and Expenses
14:41 8Other Expenses
25:32Consumer Tax and Understanding VAT
13:48 10Bookkeeping Process
22:26 11Deposits and Payments
33:13 12Profit and Freelance Rates
24:25 13Business Profit
19:36 14Understanding Statistics & Web Analytics
18:27 15Wholesale
15:17 16Digital Products
08:55 17Sustainable Wages
02:59 18Pricing
15:21 19Sales, Coupons, and Discounts
16:32Lesson Info
How We Use Etsy and Why We Love It
I would love to open up, etc and I would, like tio, show the broader world, the fabulous, etc shops and products that our studio audience puts together. Um, so annette, would you like tio maybe tell the rest of the world a little bit about yourself a little bit about your business and maybe, uh, what you're hoping to get out of class today, so I have often the business? Uh, I'm photographer, uh, designer, graphic designer artists and lovely lady isn't as I say, er and what I would like to get from this class, I'm just learning like, from every day and this is good experience and, um, I just wanted tio no, everything of course. Um, so this is probably oh, so how long have you had your business for, um for serious it's like for one year? So originally I'm from ukraine and we moved here to two years and six months ago with my husband and I could my job in ukraine I was very sad about this, so this isn't a home you worked for me all things about texas. Oh, gosh, yeah, I really want to know...
everything, so this is very important for me to hear a fantastic attitude to take. I love having enthusiastic students who are here and you know, like I said, it's the sort of an information sponge and we're going to squeeze that out and it sounds like maybe you're kind of like a sponge on the other and you're going to soak it all back in yeah so no no, no information lost in that transfer that's awesome. I'm so happy to have you here. Um do you have a favorite item in here something that you love and pretty secular that you have really enjoyed making? Um I love them all you love them you love them all equally it's like choosing a favorite child. How could you? Well, I think that your products are just lovely. I'm really looking forward to going through all of this a little bit later. Your photographs are beautiful. I especially love the's candy colored well, I mean, I know this is actually candy, but also the wine glasses are candy colored are fantastic. Uh, I'm gonna favor your shop right now because I'm gonna go back and look at it later on dh if people out in the broader world like what they see, they can favorite the shop to or the individual items uh let's look at stephanie's so looks like you have just started this shop just got opened after thanksgiving last year you've only had this for like a month it's true right? Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and uh what you make and what you're hoping to get out of class today okay um I'm an illustrator and comic artist mosul of what's in my shop are like small prints and there's a holiday card in there and a comic but um it's available online but I also printed a version for a convention to sell their and so that's all of what's in my shop um what I'm hoping to get out of class today is just kind of how to really get started taking your our business seriously because it's been really like difficult um just kind of putting myself out there and saying I am an artist I want us all my work I want to make money doing my artwork and um being taken seriously as well so um for what you're doing well that's great um I think it's really tough for us I agree it is it certainly was for me when I was first starting out to just say that sentence I am an artist right? That was so hard people would ask me so what do you do for a living? And when I was running my own business I would say things like well, I was a teacher but now I'm starting to get into extra you know, I didn't just come out and say like I'm a toy designer e I'm an artist I think that was so hard for me to own up to, um, and I think it's so great that you're, uh, really taking control now at the early stage, I mean, you were really doing it right? If you want to be serious about your business taking a bookkeeping course a month after you started your dressing that way to go well done, you're definitely off to the right foot on the right foot on that. So I'm really excited to have you here, and I hope that, uh, you are able to learn all of the things that you need to learn today. Do you have a favorite thing that you like working on the comics versus the card sources? The illustration? A do love marching on comics, but the hard thing with working on comics is I don't want to just work on comics, but there immensely time me, and so I've like, and I'm trying to do a lot of different things because I enjoy them all that's great, and I think that that's really common tio I think most creative professionals are not just doing one thing all the time. Um, and we talked about in the book keeping for crafters course as well, which is in the catalog, if anyone cares to watch that, uh, is that it's very important, tio when you're looking at profitability to supplement the things that you really love to do but maybe aren't making you a ton of money, like making those comics with other income streams like the greeting cards like posters like small prints that can really pad that out. So we looked at people like quilters, for example, who might make a, you know, couture quilt. We looked at denise schmidt as an example um, and that might sell for thousands of thousands of dollars, but you only sell that like, once a year, right on dh, then you can take that design and you can turn it into a quote where you have production help with that or maybe you just take the colors of the patterns that you've been working with and turn them into a licensed fabric or you print your own fabric. So I think a lot of people use multiple not only products and revenue streams but also different businesses. I know a lot of people who make original art, they also sell digital products, maybe they do consulting on the side. Um, I'm no exception. I currently sell wholesale products, I sell them on etsy a seldom excuse me through distributor to retailers um I also do a lot of consulting and original artwork that I sometimes show in galleries and museums, so you know, I don't think I've ever had just one thing that I've been working on either and I think pretty natural for us is creatives to want to always be learning new things always be trying new things um you wouldn't be a creative professional if you did the same thing all day every day, right? You probably work in an office or you work in a factory to be very content and you be very happy but the reason we're not content to work in those situations is because we always need to be learning and growing and doing new things and putting new stuff into the world that's what's exciting about being a creative um so let's go teo amanda amanda, please tell everyone a little bit about yourself and what you make and what you're hoping to get out of today sure, so I am a hand letter and calligrapher and um I have been on etc I think for about, like, ten months maybe on like, maybe really taking investing more maybe for the last like five months so I kind of just feel like I am I'm just kind of learning as I go and I sometimes still really overwhelmed by what I don't know, so I'm excited for everything that we've been learning, you know, in the previous class and everything we're going to learn today yes, just for everyone who's tuning in today for the first time a man does my ringer she was a student in the bookkeeping for crafters class as well. So welcome back it's so nice to see you here. Um and yeah, she makes some really beautiful stuff and I would like to point out that your styling and the photography here is also really lovely. Um, do you have a favorite thing that you like working on? Um, I think probably about, like, one third of my sails through etc are customs. So I think probably those are my favorites when you know someone has, like, a funny quote or an inside joke. I mean, those are because they're kind of fun because I always wonder the story behind them. Mary, you get the story behind them? Not all the time, because I just guess I e I do a lot of googling sometimes, like maybe this is from the tv show, but all right, awesome. Well, um I would encourage everyone out there if you like, what you see in either amanda or stephanie's shop as well to go on over there and choose some favorites to go back and look at later. I'm not just because these folks are so talented, but also because there giving a lot of their time today to help everyone else learned, uh so that's, really exciting, and I wantto not gonna have time, obviously, right now to look at all of these things. But I'm favoring everybody's shop so that I can go back and look later, because I'm really curious about what you guys making. Everything in all three of your shops is beautiful. I mean, you're some talented ladies. Um, I mean, look at this illustration, and then look at this calligraphy. This is fantastic. And then look at these photographs and these illustrations. We got a double threat over here, man, all right.
Class Materials
bonus material
bonus material
Ratings and Reviews
Ssparrowinflight
This is a meaty course that has you at a run from the moment it opens. If you are like me and you have been wanting to start a handmade business using Etsy, this will be a great course for you! What I like best about this course is the information that is given is not from a sterile corporate perspective. She has been down in the handmade trenches from the very beginning of Etsy so she has seen all the changes. Lauren also shares the realities of business and shows you how to calculate the actual costs that go into your products. She gives you the knowledge and resources to know how to set up your book keeping as it relates to Etsy. The only negative about the course is that there is literally not enough time to cover EVERYTHING that you might run into for your personal situation concerning Etsy, but she does give you enough information and resources through her Extras that gets you in the right direction. I would sincerely recommend this class!
a Creativelive Student
This was so helpful! I have been wondering about so many things the last few months since I opened my shop on Etsy and have found some information, but often it is encrypted in such technical terms that it feels so unclear. I felt like Lauren answered so many of my questions (as well as questions I didn't know that I had) with such clear, easy-to-understand ways! I can't recommend this course enough! Thank you Lauren for making complex processes of bookkeeping seem reasonable and doable. Thank you for sharing experiences to back-up the information that you shared. This was wonderful!
a Creativelive Student
This course has a lot of helpful information, but I do caution that there isn't really enough time to get it all down if you are watching the livestream. Also, quite a bit of time is spent talking about VAT rules which are out of date, and much easier to deal with now.