Don’t know if your product can be sold on Etsy? Etsy is a marketplace for handmade goods, vintage items, and craft supplies, but what does that really mean? It means that if your items fall within one of those categories, you are allowed to sell it on Etsy, but let’s take a close look at those categories:
Handmade
Handmade items are items that are made or designed by the seller.
Items made by you means that you are involved in the process of making the items with your own hands (or tools). Etsy calls these sellers Makers. A maker is a seller who is physically making the items listed for sale in their Etsy shop. A great example would be a handmade scarf.
You can also sell items that you design. Etsy calls these sellers Designers and defines these as someone who has come up with an original design, pattern, sketch, template or prototype. An example here would be a t-shirt that you designed the graphics for, but you did not manufacture or print. As a designer, you are allowed to rely on outside assistance to help physically product the item.
You need to agree on the following terms to sell handmade items:
- All handmade items are made or designed by you. If you work with a production partner, you must disclose that production partner in your relevant listings.
- You accurately describe every person involved in the making of an item in your shop in your About section.
- You are using your own photographs—not stock photos, artistic renderings, or photos used by other sellers or sites.
Vintage items
Etsy allows you to sell manufactured or ready-to-use items, but only if those items are vintage. Etsy defines a vintage item as anything that is 20 or more years old. Vintage items can include almost anything, such as jewelry, chairs, and even playing cards. Vintage items do not have to be handmade, nor do they have to be functional, but they must be at least 20 years old at the time the seller lists them.
Etsy may ask for additional information about the item when you list vintage goods such as:
- Where do your vintage items come from? How do you source them?
- How did you determine the age of an item?
- Who is the designer? Which of their collections is this item from? What year did that collection debut?
- For clothing: What fabric is the garment made of? Does the garment have a brand label or care instructions? What material do the zipper or buttons appear to be made of?
Craft supplies
If you make or sell the raw materials that people need to make their creations, you can also sell those on Etsy. Etsy defines craft supplies as tools, ingredients, or materials whose primary purpose is for use in the creation of an item or special occasion. For example, you can sell tools that jewelers might use to craft handmade necklaces, but you cannot sell mass-produced necklaces that have been made by a manufacturer.
Some examples of craft supplies include:
- Blank canvases
- Blank aluminum cuffs
- Blank nesting dolls
Hopefully, this clears things up. You can always check out Etsy’s policies page for more information.
