Have you heard of ChatGPT? It’s a super smart AI chat bot that helped me write this product description for an imaginary cat-shaped bath bomb:
AI is growing every year and ChatGPT is the latest breakthroughs. Because it's here to stay, Etsy sellers like you and me should take advantage of this opportunity and use it to grow our Etsy shops.
In this article, you’ll see how you can use this revolutionary tool to speed up your workflow by automating tasks like writing listing description and customer messages.
What Is ChatGPT
ChatGPT is language model chatbot developed by OpenAI. It’s capable of surprisingly human-like conversations. It’s also capable of answering complex questions and requests. It’s much more powerful than previous AI tools.
One of the features of ChatGPT is that it remembers what you said earlier in the conversation. That means it allows you to modify or build on top of previous answers. We will go through examples of this later in this guide.
How Much Is It To Use ChatGPT
ChatGPT is free at the time of writing this guide, but it is likely to become paid in the future.
You can register here to use ChatGPT, but there are times that they stopped accepting new users because of the high demand.
How Can ChatGPT Help Your Etsy Business
Being a powerful chatbot with a huge set of data from the internet, there are many ways ChatGPT can help you with different Etsy shop tasks. In general, you’ll get the best results if you give it a detailed prompt, and further modify the answer with follow-up prompts.
After testing it extensively, here are some aspects that I find it particularly good at:
- Idea generation and brainstorming
- Speed up monotonous tasks
- Link your fragmented ideas together to become coherent text
Let’s get into some use cases of how ChatGPT can help your Etsy shop:
Write Product Description For Etsy Listings
Prompt:
I sell (describe your product) on Etsy. Can you write a product description for me?
One of the ways you can use ChatGPT is to write your Etsy listing description. In general, it follows good copywriting best practices:
- Uses ‘you’ to address customers directly
- Focuses on the benefits of the products
The first product description it generates could be a bit generic as it addresses multiple potential products. In your follow-up prompt, you can ask it to write for a specific product. Make sure to give it more details about the product like its style, colour, flavour, size, etc. ChatGPT will adjust the product description accordingly to fit your product using a similar structure to the first answer.
Some follow-up prompt ideas include:
- My product is targeted towards (your target customer group). Can you rewrite the product description to reflect that?
- Can you add a list of benefits of (your product)?
- Can you make the paragraphs shorter?
Example:
Reply To Customer Messages
Prompt:
Write a reply for this customer question about (describe the product): “(message from customer)” The answer should be: (your stance, decision in point form).
ChatGPT can also be a capable customer service assistant. It can help you reply to your customer enquiries when using the right prompts.
If you want the best results, I recommend giving it some key points to work with. If not, it’s possible that ChatGPT would generate an answer that contradicts your intended decision.
You can further modify the response with follow-up prompts like:
- “Add (information) in your answer”
- “Add at the end (the action you want the customer to take)”
- “(Detail in the answer) is not correct. Change it to (correct information)”
Example:
Generate List Of Potential Questions
Prompt:
I sell (describe your product). List 20 potential questions that my customers on Etsy would ask me.
This is a good way to anticipate some general questions that your customers may ask you. You can use these questions to set up the Etsy message saved replies. This way you can speed up the day-to-day process of running your Etsy shop. You can even ask ChatGPT to answer specific questions with follow up prompts.
Example:
Brainstorm Etsy Listing Tags
Prompt:
I sell (describe the product) on Etsy. Can you give me a list of listing tags?
In my experience, usually the tags generated are quite generic and overly competitive. But it could serve as a good starting point for brainstorming long-tail keywords that you may have missed.
If you’d like more tailored answer, you can try “Here are some extra information about my product: (more description about your product like style, colour, material, etc). Can you give me more specific Etsy listing tags?”
Example:
Write Instagram Post Captions
Prompt:
Give me Instagram post and reel ideas for my Etsy shop selling (describe your products)
ChatGPT is also capable of generating Instagram post and reel ideas. It can give you some general directions to follow when creating your social media marketing content.
After using the above prompt, you should get a few post and reel ideas. You can then ask it to elaborate on a particular idea that you like by typing “Can you give me a detailed instruction for point x?”
Another useful follow-up prompt would be “Can you write a fun post caption for idea x?”. You can also ask it to generate relevant hashtags for the caption.
Example:
Best ChatGPT Prompts For Your Etsy Shop
Other than the use cases above, I've also experimented using ChatGPT for other aspects for yourEtsy business:
- Craft an about section to build your brand
- Write engaging emails for your email list
- Creative new product ideas
- Innovative ways to market your products
- Create brand identity
- Craft your Etsy shop announcement
- Plan your social media promotions
- Handle unhappy customers and negative reviews
I’ve put together the best ChatGPT prompts in this ebook - ChatGPT Magic For Etsy Sellers: Best 25 Prompts For Speed & Creativity. The prompts are tested to generate highly usable results.
This ebook is exclusive to members of GYCEtsy Academy.
What Are The Limitations Of ChatGPT
As you can see from the examples above, ChatGPT can be a very helpful tool for your Etsy shop, but it’s not without its limitations:
ChatGPT Can’t Do Market Research
It doesn’t have access to current market data on Etsy, which means it doesn’t know whether a niche is too competitive or not popular enough. As you can see from the ‘Listing tags’ example, most of the tags that it generated are highly competitive, like “digital planner” and “organiser”.
If you use the keywords generated directly from ChatGPT in listing titles and tags, it’s unlikely that you will see an improvement on Etsy search ranking.
As an Etsy seller, you’ll need to do market search yourself to find the long-tail keywords that are high demand with manageable competition in your niche. You can use Etsy SEO tools to do that, or learn how to improve your sales in our GYC Etsy Academy.
Text Generated May Be Too Wordy
Etsy shoppers are unlikely to read if they see a big wall of text in product description, shop announcement, about section, etc. ChatGPThas the tendency to generate paragraphs of text. Sometimes you would need to step in and re-format the text generated by ChatGPT to make it more readable. Some ideas to do that include:
- Break up long sentences and paragraphs
- Turn some information into bullet points
- Add headings and subheadings
- Separate into different sections
Information Could Be Wrong Or Outdated
As ChatGPT has limited knowledge of events after 2021 at the time of writing, some of the information it generates could be outdated. I asked it about the fees of selling on Etsy:
Here, other than the outdated transaction fee of 5% (it increased to 6.5% in 2022), the information about Etsy payment, direct checkout and digital product fees are also inaccurate. You can check out this guide for the most up-to-date information.
Sometimes ChatGPT can be very confidently wrong. Take this funny math question for example:
Try ChatGPT Today
Despite the limitations mentioned here, ChatGPT is still a powerful tool that can help you and your Etsy shop. It is a great opportunity for Etsy sellers like you to become more productive in your creative workflow.
So go try out ChatGPTfor your Etsy business today! And be sure to grab my ebook - ChatGPT Magic For Etsy Sellers: Best 25 Prompts For Speed & Creativity - by joining GYCEtsy Academy.
FAQs
What should I put in my Etsy FAQ? ›
Such as the details about your packaging, materials, shipping information, etc. In order to save your time, you can create FAQ's, where you can explain everything about it. Moreover, you can add frequently asked questions on Etsy on each of your pages.
How do you write a good description on Etsy? ›- Create an inverted pyramid. ...
- Short paragraphs and bullet points are your friends. ...
- Keep an eye on your shop stats. ...
- Maintain a consistent brand voice. ...
- End with a link.
- Handmade and personalized jewelry.
- Jewelry and craft supplies.
- Printables.
- Digital artwork.
- Stickers.
- Notebook and journals.
- Party decorations.
- Wedding products.
- Handmade Jewelry. Since ancient times, Jewelry has been a symbol of social status and wealth. ...
- Stickers and Personalized Cards. ...
- Collectibles. ...
- Photography. ...
- Paintings. ...
- Custom Made T-Shirts. ...
- Custom Mugs. ...
- Digital Art.
Illegal items, items that promote illegal activity, and stolen items are not allowed on Etsy. Neither are certain items that are subject to complex legal regulations or registration systems. We require sellers to follow all applicable laws for the items they list.
What are key words on Etsy? ›They type a few words in the search bar and are matched with unique products. The keywords you add to your listings are an essential tool for matching your listings to those searches. Etsy search is designed to help shoppers find what they're looking for and inspire them to click “Add to cart.”
How do you write a good selling description? ›- Focus on your ideal buyer. Understanding how to write product descriptions requires putting yourself in the shoes of your audience. ...
- Entice with benefits. ...
- Avoid “yeah, yeah” phrases. ...
- Appeal to your readers' imagination. ...
- Seduce with sensory words. ...
- Tempt with social proof. ...
- Make your description scannable.
- Party Supplies.
- Invitations & Paper.
- Wedding Decorations.
- Wedding Gifts.
- Wedding Accessories.
- Wedding Clothing.
- Wedding Jewelry.
Yes, absolutely. You can learn how to make money on Etsy. Now, we'll be completely honest here — Etsy isn't a get-rich-quick scheme. In fact, approximately 65% of sellers are earning less than $100 per year.
How many items do you need to start an Etsy shop? ›As a new seller, it's advised to upload at least 10 listings when you're opening your Etsy store. Make sure to preview all listings before publishing. You don't want customers to see a less-than-perfect listing when they're viewing your products for the first time.
How much does the average Etsy seller make? ›
How Much Does The Average Etsy Seller Make? The average successful seller on Etsy earns between $43,000 and $46,000 per year which is a fantastic foundation to build on as top earners make over $65,000 per month!
What are the best digital products to sell on Etsy? ›- Cosmetic Labels. Small business owners who want to start a handmade business look for labels for their products. ...
- Thank You Cards. ...
- Printable Planners. ...
- Digital Planners. ...
- Logos. ...
- Business Cards. ...
- Etsy Shop Assets. ...
- Social Media Templates.
...
Here are the biggest issues plaguing the brand.
- Etsy is losing money. ...
- Amazon is building a huge competitor. ...
- Counterfeit goods are running rampant.
Etsy creators who fail to obtain the proper license for their online business are subject to a first-degree misdemeanor charge punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Additionally, they could be ordered to pay restitution or complete probation.
Is Etsy worth the trouble? ›Selling on Etsy is worth it in 2023 because it's one of the quickest, cheapest, and easiest ways to get your handmade products online and hooked up with a shopping cart function. It's also a low-risk option when compared to building a website.
What can I sell to make quick money? ›- Jewelry and watches. ...
- Video game consoles. ...
- Old phones and accessories. ...
- Purses, wallets, and backpacks. ...
- Yard equipment. ...
- Jeans, workwear, and designer clothing. ...
- Furniture. ...
- Baby gear.
- Planner.
- Home decor.
- Product labels.
- Order inserts.
- Business cards.
- Invitations.
- Fitness and habit trackers.
- Self-improvement printables.
- Sticker.
- Notebook and journal.
- Jewelry.
- Home decor.
- Digital designs/Graphic designs.
- Posters.
- Toys & baby items.
- Vintage items.
- gifts.
- graduation gifts.
- indian gift.
- personalised gift.
- personalized gift.
- personalized gifts for mom.
- self care gift box.
- teacher gifts.
- Choose an Etsy Shop Title That Describes Your Products and Includes Keywords. ...
- Do Etsy Keyword Research and Choose Your Keywords. ...
- Use Keywords in Your Product Titles and Descriptions. ...
- Use All the 13 Product Tags in Each Listing. ...
- Select Specific Categories. ...
- Add Relevant Attributes. ...
- Establish Competitive Shipping Costs.
What are good selling words? ›
...
13. Value
- Great.
- Awesome.
- Incredible.
- Maximum.
- Amazing.
A unique selling proposition (USP) is the one thing that makes your business better than the competition. It's a specific and clear benefit that makes your business stand out when compared to other businesses in your market.
What are good sales words? ›- 14 Sales Power Words for Better Connections and More Sales. ...
- You. ...
- Goals. ...
- Opportunity. ...
- We. ...
- Easy. ...
- Success. ...
- Amazing.
The recommended size for listing images is 2000px for the shortest side of the image, and a resolution of 72PPI. Images larger than 1MB in file size may not finish uploading, especially on a slower internet connection.
How to start an Etsy shop with no money? ›How to Start a Business on Etsy with No Money. You can open an Etsy shop without money, but the Etsy platform requires a $. 20 per item listing fee that you'll have to pay when the product sells. If your items are not made-to-order, Etsy shop owners can get started for free.
How many sales on Etsy is good? ›As a general rule, anywhere between 20-36 listings is a good place to start with an Etsy shop, but it's not the end goal. You should have enough listings to fill up the first page of your shop in order to create a look of “fullness” when customers come to your shop's homepage.
What day does Etsy have the most sales? ›The highest single-day sales on Etsy have been recorded on Cyber Monday for many consecutive years now. The Friday following Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, also marks the year's biggest shopping festival. The last quarter holds many such opportunities for sellers to shine on, you'll find out later in the blog.
What is the hottest selling craft item? ›- 1 – Jewelry. The jewelry industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, so there's room for every business. ...
- 2 – Art. Everyone hangs some form of art in their home so it's an industry people spend money on. ...
- 3 – Photography. ...
- 4 – Soap & Candles.
If you're based in the US, you can either operate your Etsy shop as an unincorporated entity — a sole proprietorship or a general partnership — or you can incorporate and form a corporation or a limited liability company (LLC). Sole proprietorships and general partnerships are the two simplest options.
Are there Etsy millionaires? ›Alicia Shaffer, often referred to as Etsy's richest seller, made numerous headlines for raking in $70,000 a month in sales. In 2015, her Etsy shop, Three Bird Nest, earned nearly $1 million on the platform.
How fast does Etsy pay you? ›
Depending on your bank, once a deposit is sent out, funds may take up to 3-5 business days to appear in your bank account. If a deposit day falls on a holiday, available funds will be sent to your bank account on the next business day.
How many items does the average Etsy seller sell? ›Some owners started their shops with only 1-3 items, while some had upwards of 40. On average, the figure was around 10 items. This compares to Etsy's advised figure of 8 items. You want to be sure to have enough in your shop that you look established and customers can see the range and quality of your work.
Why are Etsy sales down 2022? ›Both online and offline retail companies have taken a significant hit in recent months as US consumer retail spending has slipped. E-commerce stocks, such as Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY), fell faster during the beginning of 2022 as the sharp rise in interest rates lowered the discounted value of its expected future cash flow.
How much do small Etsy shops make? ›The money you'll make on Etsy depends on a lot of things: the effort you put it, the uniqueness of your product, the demand for your product and how well you market yourself. Some people make a steady $50 per month, while others make a full time income and quit their jobs to sell on Etsy.
Do you need tax ID for Etsy? ›An EIN is required if your business is registered as an LLC or partnership for reporting taxes to the IRS. If you're operating as a sole proprietorship, which the majority of Etsy owners are, you don't need an EIN.
Why am I not getting sales on Etsy? ›Your Items Aren't Being Seen
Please understand that probably 90% of Etsy customers use the search field to look for the items they want. If you aren't optimizing your listings to be found in search, you won't make any sales. I see people with listings that literally have 3 or 4 words in the title and random tags.
Overall fees
The most obvious reason why most of the sellers are deciding to leave Etsy is the number of fees you need to pay in order to sell on the platform. Fees charged to Etsy's artists and craftspeople have certainly doubled (or even tripled) over the last couple of years.
- Craft Supplies;
- Wedding Stationery;
- Vintage items;
- Accessories;
- Personalized Clothing;
- Craft Kits;
- Home & Livings;
- Graphic designs and printables.
Yes! We absolutely think it is worth it to sell on Etsy. In fact, we think it can be highly profitable and you can make lots of money selling on Etsy! We specifically recommend selling digital products on Etsy since they have low overhead cost.
How do I make an Etsy FAQ? ›To add an FAQ just go to your shop home page and click on "Edit shop" button on the top of the page (right next to your shop logo). Now go to the very bottom of the page to "More information" block and there you'll find a "Frequently asked questions" section.
What should I write in my Etsy section? ›
Your shop's About section is where you can share the story of your business. Shoppers can learn more about your creative process, the story behind your products, and any teammates or collaborators you work with. Share your shop story through a video or photos that show off your workspace or demonstrate your process.
What should I put in my Etsy message to buyer? ›The Message to Buyers is a short note you can include in the Etsy order confirmation email that your buyers receive after purchasing. Consider using your message to thank your customer for their purchase, inform them about standard shipping practices, or provide any other information you think they may need to know.
How much inventory should you have to start an Etsy shop? ›Cordero recommends keeping your shop as full as possible, with at least 20 products. However, the process may take a while, so don't fret if you only have a few items to start. Just keep adding as you go, as often as you can. “You want to treat your Etsy store as a brick-and-mortar shop,” he said.
How many items should I start my Etsy shop with? ›As a new seller, it's advised to upload at least 10 listings when you're opening your Etsy store. Make sure to preview all listings before publishing. You don't want customers to see a less-than-perfect listing when they're viewing your products for the first time.
How many products do you need to start an Etsy shop? ›When you're first starting your Etsy shop, you can include as many listings as you want. Etsy recommends at least 10, as the more listings you have, the more likely customers are to find you.
How do I start an Etsy shop checklist? ›- Establish if your idea is a viable business opportunity.
- Create an Etsy account.
- Set your shop preferences.
- Choose your shop name.
- Stock your shop.
- Add product listing details.
- Organize deliveries.
- Check international shipping requirements.
...
To add sections to your shop:
- On Etsy.com, go to your Shop Manager.
- Select Listings.
- To add a new section, select Manage.
- Select Add Section.
- Name your new section and choose Save.
As a general rule, anywhere between 20-36 listings is a good place to start with an Etsy shop, but it's not the end goal. You should have enough listings to fill up the first page of your shop in order to create a look of “fullness” when customers come to your shop's homepage.
Can I write off Etsy expenses? ›You're required to report Etsy income on your income tax return. However, the good news is that you can claim deductions for business expenses as well. Because your Etsy shop is effectively a small business, you can deduct from your taxable income costs associated with operating your business.
How much should I set aside for taxes Etsy? ›Taxes You Will Need To File As A Seller On Etsy
Self-employment tax equals about 15.3% of your net earnings. To quickly figure out how much you'll owe, use our 1099 tax calculator.
Does Etsy report income? ›
Etsy typically reports your gross income to the IRS on Form 1099-K, but even if you don't receive a 1099-K, you still have to report your Etsy sales income on your tax return. If your state has income tax, you'll need to pay state income taxes on the net income from your Etsy sales as well.
How do I know what sells well on Etsy? ›Etsy search works wonders not just for browsing products but for popular trends as well. Search “Trending now” or “Popular right now” and explore all the top hits within the marketplace. You can also check Etsy's Trend Report with the latest market insights.
How do you write a selling message? ›- Write a catchy headline that grabs your customer's attention. ...
- Hook the reader by identifying what they need and why. ...
- Include bullet points with key information. ...
- Use testimonials or statistics. ...
- Give readers a call to action. ...
- Offer something to the customer that is limited in time or quantity.
- Get found by Etsy search. The Etsy search engine is designed to help buyers find what they're looking for, which is good for buyers. ...
- Dress up your storefront. ...
- Kick it up on social media. ...
- Start a blog. ...
- Be known in your niche.