The Etsy Shop Setup Checklist: What to Have Ready Before You Click Open

Etsy walks you through opening a shop screen by screen, and the screens are not hard. What makes the evening long is everything the screens ask for that you don't have yet: a name you haven't settled on, an About section you haven't written, bank details in a drawer somewhere, policies you meant to think about. You stop, go and find the thing, come back, and the sitting turns into three.

This checklist is the other way round. You gather and draft everything first, in a document, and then the setup is one short sitting of pasting things in. The shop looks finished on day one instead of half-built for a month. Etsy's setup steps change over time, so this post doesn't walk through the clicks; the Seller Handbook does that and stays current. What it gives you is the preparation.

Details to gather first

Before you sit down, have these to hand:

• Your legal name and address, and whatever identity details Etsy currently asks for. Check the Seller Handbook for the list.
• Bank or payment details for receiving payouts.
• A payment method for paying Etsy's fees.
• Your shop name, with two backups in case the first is taken.
• A shop icon, even a simple one, and a banner if you want one.
• Your About section, your policies and your first listing, drafted in a document so you can paste them in.

The last one is the point of this post. The rest of it is how to write those three things well.

One honest line before you start: whether you need to register a business, and what that involves, depends on where you live. An accountant or your local business advice service can tell you in ten minutes. It is worth asking before the first sale rather than after.

Choosing a shop name

Your shop name sits on every listing and in your shop's web address, and Etsy has rules about it: which characters are allowed, how long it can be, whether and how you can change it later. Read the current rules first so you don't fall in love with a name that breaks one.

Then run each candidate through four tests:

1. Can someone spell it after hearing it? Say it aloud to a friend and ask them to type it. If they hesitate, so will a shopper.
2. Will it still fit in a year? A name tied to one product boxes the shop in. "Willow & Thread" works for embroidery hoops today and for patterns and kits later. "Wildflower Hoops Only" works for one thing.
3. Is it already someone's? Search Etsy, search the web, search the social platforms you might use. Avoid anything the same as, or confusingly close to, another business, especially a known brand.
4. Are you happy to see it every day? You will see it more than anyone.

Write down five to ten candidates, say each one, search each one, and keep the first that passes all four. Keep two more as backups.

Simple branding

Branding, for a new shop, is nothing more than the look that makes your listings recognizable as yours. You need four things and no more:

• Two or three colors that suit the products. Copper Fern Studio, one of the shops in the guide, uses a soft green, a warm copper and off-white, and that's the whole palette.
• One or two fonts for the icon and any graphics.
• A consistent photo style: the same background, light and props across every listing. This does more for recognition than any logo.
• A shop icon that reads small. A simple mark or your initials in your colors is enough. Shoppers will mostly see it at the size of a fingernail.

A free design tool will make the icon and banner. If you use a template, a font or a graphic you downloaded, check that its license allows business use; many free ones don't.

For the icon and banner sizes, check the Seller Handbook for current requirements rather than an old blog post, and look at the banner on a phone as well as a computer, because phones crop it.

Your About section, in four parts

The About section is where a shopper finds out there is a person behind the shop. People like buying from a person. You don't have to share anything private; a little warmth and some specifics go a long way.

Cover four things, in this order:

1. Who you are, in a sentence or two. First name, what you make, where you are if you want to say.
2. What you make and how. The materials, the process, one detail that shows care: how you finish an edge, how you test a print before you ship it.
3. Why you make it. The short, true version of how it started.
4. What a buyer can expect from you. Roughly when you dispatch, how you pack, when you answer messages.

Close with a line inviting questions. Then read the whole thing back for big claims. "The best in the world" and "loved by thousands" don't convince anyone, and if they aren't true they're a problem. Describe what you actually do; that's the part people trust.

Shop policies, in plain language

Policies tell buyers how you handle processing time, shipping, returns, damaged items, cancellations, digital files and privacy. Etsy has its own policy framework and may require certain information or offer standard options, so draft yours first and then compare them with what Etsy currently asks for before you paste them in.

Clear policies prevent arguments, because everyone knows the rules before the order. Write them short and in plain words. Nobody reads policies for pleasure.

Go through these headings and decide each one:

• Processing time. How long from order to dispatch, and how long for custom orders.
• Shipping. Where you ship, which service, whether tracking is included. Say plainly that delivery times are the carrier's estimate, not yours.
• Returns and exchanges. Whether you accept them, on which items, within what window, in what condition, and who pays return postage. Decide separately about custom and personalized items.
• Damaged or faulty items. What a buyer should send you (usually a photo, within a window) and what you'll do: replace, refund or repair.
• Cancellations. Up to what point a buyer can cancel, and what happens after you've started making.
• Digital downloads, if you sell them. Files arrive instantly, so say what your refund position is and that you'll help with any download trouble.
• Privacy. That you use the buyer's details only to complete and talk about their order.

One thing your policy can't do: remove rights that consumer protection law gives buyers, such as rights to cancel or return in some places. Those depend on where you and your buyers are. A local consumer advice service or a lawyer can tell you what applies; the guide can't, and neither can this post.

Payment, payout and security

Etsy takes payments through its own system and pays out to your bank on a schedule it sets. The options, the timing and any holds on new accounts can change and vary by country, so read the current payments and payout pages rather than relying on what a seller told you last year.

Then do two boring things carefully. Double-check your bank details, character by character, because a typo here delays your money. And turn on whatever extra sign-in security Etsy offers, with a strong password you don't use anywhere else. Your shop will hold buyers' details and your payouts; it deserves a proper lock.

The order to do it in

Put together, the preparation takes an evening or two and the setup takes one sitting:

1. Read the Seller Handbook's current setup steps and note what Etsy will ask for.
2. Gather your identity, bank and payment details.
3. Choose the shop name with the four tests. Keep two backups.
4. Pick two or three colors and one or two fonts.
5. Make the icon, and the banner if you want one. Check both on a phone.
6. Draft the About section, four parts, no big claims.
7. Draft the policies, heading by heading, and check them against Etsy's current requirements.
8. Ask locally whether you need to register a business.
9. Open the shop: enter the details, paste in the About text and policies, set up payouts and billing, double-check the bank details.
10. Turn on extra sign-in security.

Don't list anything yet. Listings are the next job, and they go better when the shop around them is already finished.

If you'd like this as a printable list to tick off, the free Etsy shop starter checklist at /start has it, along with the rest of the first-month steps.

Do this today

Open a blank document and give it seven headings: Details, Name, Colors and fonts, Icon, About, Policies, Register? Fill in whatever you already know. The empty headings are your to-do list for the week, and when all seven have something under them, the shop takes an hour to open.