Outsourcing Products For Etsy

Etsy With Sourced Product

Most people don't realize that Etsy is a huge and growing platform in its own right.

The thought is, " well I don't make anything so how can I sell on a handmade marketplace".

The truth is there are a lot of alternatives, that can be listed as handmade, you just have to add that you have a production partner.

This works the same way that it works with Printful or any other integration.

Let's look at a few things that may get your creative juices moving.

In The Eye Of The Beholder         

Art is and always will be in the eye of the beholder. Many things can be called art, including handmade.

The handmade revolution is actually pretty strong now, with folks looking for more of a quality or homespun motif.

 The majority of the Etsy customer base are educated smart women that are more interested in the product, the artist, or shop owner and the store policies, than price.

Shipping costs are not a factor, as long as they are reasonable.

Starting to see a pattern...

Digital

This is a big and cool market, imagine, not video, but prints or photographs.

There are so many different products that can go that way. I think even T shirts could be digital if you approached it differently.

Digital in the way of a download product. I'm not sure how this works on Etsy, but I assume its a link to another server containing the files for download after payment is made.

That could be one way, after all, you would need to do some editing sometimes.

A Few Digitals

For digitals make sure you have the appropriate rights to sell.

A few products come to mind for me :

• T-shirt Designs 
• Mock-Ups
• Posters
• Wall Hangings
• Photographs

Just to name a few of the items that can be sold digitally.

Like home sweet home.

DropShip Items In            

I have seen mention of this, sourcing on one of the Chinese marketplaces like Aliexpress. 

This can get tricky, I did a few tests from Ali a year or two back and found it to be so so. It worked a bit better after I got to know a couple of merchants and built trust up.

Shipping times were also a bit tough, you have to pick something that sends through e-packet, making it around 3 weeks, unless they have made the system better, be prepared to take some flak on the times.

  

Products To Consider

 With this model, you could do anything I think. A few items that come to mind for me are:

• Throw Pillows
• Costume Jewelry
• Beads
• Tye Dye Tees etc
• Charm Bracelets
• Headbands
• Hats

A lot of this can be sourced with a US-based POD fulfillment, but you may want to add things to a product that isn't offered here. Also, your margins should be a lot better.

Just take care and know the materials etc used, TRUST is an issue, for both parties.

Flipping From Amazon And eBay

This is also a dropshipping method.

You find the products that fit your store, at a lower price on these platforms and flip them through your store on Etsy. 

Same as with the Chinese connections, you simply buy and fill in the appropriate addresses and names.

Just make sure you are aware of delivery times. These should be clearly marked in your shop settings. 

You don't mention that they are Dropship,  just mention the times to process and send are X.

Are They Classed As Handmade           

Definitely, when you list, list as I made them with a production partner. You will have to name that partner.

So that's about all you have to worry about there.

They are goods, like POD, made for you by someone else, with possibly your designs and ideas. It's your idea, so that's what counts.



You can generally find a ton of dropship products at your fingertips these days.

It's not as hard to set up wholesale accounts and dropship scenarios, either by email or in most cases the seller wouldn't even know it was drop ship unless they dug into things, which most don't and would do anyway, a sale is a sale.

As long as your not messing up the product or company name from who you are sourcing.

Amazon and eBay are really good sources for the flip scenarios. Drop shipping occurs daily, merchants actually just flip between the two platforms for their e-com business models, quite successfully.

Hopefully, this gave you a few ideas and will help you in your future business plans.

If you have comments or questions leave them below and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

All the Best
EJ