If you can make something — whether that is art, jewellery, cards, or digital designs — Etsy gives you a global shop window for free. Here is how to get started.
Etsy is a global marketplace with over 90 million buyers, and it is specifically designed for handmade, vintage, and creative products. If you have a skill — drawing, making jewellery, designing graphics, baking, crafting — Etsy gives you a ready-made audience of people who are actively looking to buy exactly what you make.
Opening an Etsy shop is free. Listing an item costs 20 cents (about 16p). When you make a sale, Etsy takes a small transaction fee. That is it. For a teenage fundraiser, it is one of the most powerful tools available — especially if you are creative.
Etsy works best for three types of products:
Create a printable once — a birthday card design, a planner template, or a piece of wall art — and sell it an unlimited number of times with zero additional effort. No postage, no materials, no packaging. Pure profit every time someone downloads it.
Go to etsy.com and click "Sell on Etsy". You will need to create an account. If you are under 18, you will need a parent or guardian to open the account in their name — Etsy requires sellers to be 18 or over, but a parent can run the shop on your behalf.
Choose your shop name. Pick something memorable that reflects what you sell. It can be up to 20 characters with no spaces. You can change it once for free, so do not stress too much — but try to make it relevant to your products.
Set your shop location and currency. Select United Kingdom and GBP. This ensures your prices display correctly to UK buyers and that you receive payments in pounds.
Add your first listing. You need at least one listing to open your shop. Upload your photos, write your description, set your price, and choose your category. See the listing tips below.
Set up your payment method. Etsy uses Etsy Payments, which deposits money directly into your bank account. Payments are processed every week on a Monday.
Write your shop bio and policies. Tell buyers who you are and why you are selling. Mentioning your expedition is a great idea — buyers often love supporting a young person with a goal. Set clear policies for processing times, returns, and postage.
Most new Etsy sellers write short, vague descriptions and wonder why nothing sells. Here is what actually works:
Etsy is a visual platform. Your photos are your shop window. Here is what separates listings that sell from listings that sit there:
Canva (free) has hundreds of product mockup templates. You can drop your design into a frame, a mug, a tote bag, or a wall print mockup in minutes — and it looks completely professional. This is especially useful for digital downloads where there is no physical product to photograph.
New Etsy shops can take a few weeks to get their first sale because they have no reviews yet. Here is how to speed that up:
It is free to open and takes about 30 minutes to set up. Your first listing costs just 16p.
Open Your Etsy Shop →