I honestly think it’s a pretty great time to be someone with a creative spirit and a little ambition. Anyone with an idea and a little time on their hands can open a store in no time, and start selling their way to a better future. For a lot of us, Etsy is the easiest place to begin.
There aren’t a lot of fees (although there are some), you don’t have to worry about web design, and you’ve already got a massive audience of active buyers to tap into without any marketing. Bring a company like Gelato into the mix, and you don’t even need to think about making and shipping products yourself, you’ve got a partner that does it all for you.
If all of this sounds appealing, but you’re sat there wondering how you get started, this is the guide for you. Think of it as the no-fuss set-up blueprint for your brand-new POD company on Etsy.
How to Sell on Etsy with Gelato: The Steps
Before I dive into the (very simple) steps you’ll need to follow, I want to explain why I’m talking about setting your Etsy store up with Gelato (rather than one of the dozens of other POD brands out there). It’s because Gelato is my favorite brand for Etsy sellers.
With Gelato, you get things no other company can give you:
- Consistently high quality (particularly on prints and art pieces)
- Sustainable and fast delivery with 32 production partners worldwide
- Personalization tools you can embed into Etsy (so buyers can customize products)
- Wide ranges of printing options (including DTF)
- Lots of products Etsy buyers love, like posters and wall calendars
Plus, when your company scales, Gelato+ (the premium plan), honestly does give you amazing value, from up to 35% off products, to premium mock-ups, extra branding tools, and useful things like a Price Navigator to help with managing profits.
So, now you know why you should use Gelato and Etsy together, here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Setting Up Your Etsy Account
I’ve seen people put off this step for weeks because they think creating an account is some sort of massive commitment. It’s not. Really, it’s just taking a few minutes out of your day so you have a sort of “front counter” shoppers can interact with.
Signing up is simple. You head to the website, click on “Sell on Etsy”, and share all the details they ask for (basically your email address, store name, and where you’re selling). You’ll choose a currency, add billing details, and create a listing which basically just sits there as a placeholder until you’re ready.
That’s about it, nothing scary. One thing you should keep in mind though are the fees. Even if you’re not using something premium like Etsy Plus or Etsy Pattern, you’ll pay:
- 6.5% transaction fees
- 3% + $0.25 for Etsy payments
- $0.20 per listing once every four months
Not massive costs, but they’re worth budgeting for.
Step 2: Creating your Gelato Account
Once you’re officially part of the Etsy seller community, you can head over to Gelato and create an account there. Again, it’s easy. You can sign up with your email address and a password, or use something like Apple or Google to sign-in.
All you really need to do at this stage (once you’ve created an account), is spend some time exploring. Check out Gelato's product catalog to see if anything catches your eye. Playa round in the design editor, and upload some images if you like.
The great thing about Gelato is your account is completely free, and it stays free for as long as you like. You’re only paying for the base price of products here, nothing else. Still, I would recommend considering Gelato+ eventually, if your business starts to scale. That’ll cost you extra, but it’ll save you a lot of time and money if your business starts growing fast.
Step 3: Connecting Etsy & Gelato
This is the part that people worry about the most, but it’s actually kind of the easiest bit. There’s no code or API elements to worry about. You just go to Gelato, log-in, and visit the “Stores tab”. Find Etsy, and click on it, then you’ll be asked to log in.
When you do, Etsy will ask if you’re happy for the two apps to share data (agree to that), and you’re pretty much ready to go. As soon as the connection is set up, whenever your Etsy store gets an order, Gelato will grab it, and start the fulfillment cycle.
You can even connect multiple Etsy stores to Gelato if you want. Plus, if you’ve used a POD vendor before, Gelato gives you a bunch of ways to migrate listings into its system, from one-by-one linking to bulk CSV imports. The Gelato+ “Velocity Switch” option is particularly useful here if you’re already on a premium account, but you won’t need it if your store’s still small.
Step 4: Picking Products and Creating Designs
Everyone says this is the fun part, but choosing what to sell is way more strategic than people expect. If you walk into this step thinking, “I’ll just upload whatever I doodled last night,” you’re setting yourself up for a quiet shop and a bruised ego.
I’d recommend starting with what Etsy buyer’s already want. I don’t mean “copy what’s popular.” I mean pay attention to categories that consistently attract buyers: prints, mugs, apparel, personalized gifts, pet stuff, and wedding accessories.
No matter what you pick, you’re going to end up with a great product from Gelato (their print quality is excellent). Once you’ve chosen a product, create “Click Order” in the catalog and you’ll visit Gelato’s designer tool. It’s simple enough to use, letting you add images from your PC, or Shutterstock, adjust sizing and placement, and play with fonts.
You even get a notification if something isn’t scaling correctly. Once your design is ready, you can save it as a template, and it’ll be transferred to Etsy as a “draft” listing.
Step 5: Optional: Adding Personalization
Yes, you can skip this step if you want, but frankly, I think you’d be doing your business a disservice. Personalization is where Etsy shoppers lose all self-control. I say this with love. If they can add a name, a date, a pet’s face, or an inside joke to a product, they’re ten times more likely to buy.
Gelato’s Personalization Studio works with Etsy, and makes it super easy to add custom options to products. You just toggle the feature on in the Design Editor, and pick which fields you’d like your customers to tweak.
After that, Gelato gives you two options for how to deal with custom requests:
- Auto-approve: orders go straight to production
- Manual-approve: you check every customization before printing
When I’m confident in the layout and the personalization field is straightforward, I choose auto. When I’m working with anything that might break the spacing, I switch to manual. Saves headaches.
Quick note, there is a small personalization fee, but it’s tiny, and honestly, your customers will probably pay more for those personalized items anyway, particularly if you show mockups on your store to inspire them. Gelato’s Magic Mockup generator is great for that.
Step 6: Publishing Your Listings
This is the point where people get weirdly nervous, like Etsy is going to judge them personally. Etsy doesn’t care. Etsy wants searchable, clear listings that shoppers understand, that’s all.
Gelato will send your product to Etsy as a draft, which is perfect because drafts are where you fix the things Gelato can’t guess for you. Here’s what you want to do:
- Start with the title: I’m not a fan of keyword stuffing that looks like someone smashed their head on a keyboard. But Etsy does need a clue about what you’re selling. So I write titles the way I’d describe the item to a friend, like: “Custom pet portrait print”.
- Keep the descriptions clear: People on Etsy skim. If your description reads like a novel, they’re gone. Just outline what the item is, who might want it, and share a few details (including personalization instructions if you’re offering that).
- Use the tags: Etsy lets you add 13 tags to listings. Use all of them. The more you add, the easier it’s going to be for people to find you when they’re searching on Etsy’s site. Just don’t use the same tag more than once on one listing.
- Perfect the photos: Gelato’s mockups are great, but I usually add a few lifestyle shots or alternate mockups so the listing doesn’t look like a catalog page. If you ever order samples (which you absolutely should eventually), real photos usually convert better.
- Pick Pricing carefully: Gelato’s Price Navigator helps here if you’ve got it. If not, choose a price based on Gelato’s base cost for your product, Etsy fees, and the margin you want. You can consider shipping too if you want to make it free to customers.
When everything feels right, just hit publish.
Step 7: Shipping and Fulfillment
This is the great thing about POD, you don’t actually have to worry about shipping anything yourself. Once Gelato and Etsy are connected, everything runs automatically.
- The buyer places an order on Etsy.
- Etsy shoots that order straight to Gelato.
- Gelato checks where the buyer lives and chooses the closest production partner.
- The item gets printed, packed, and shipped.
- Gelato sends the tracking info back to Etsy automatically.
- You get paid,
- You go about your day.
What I do advise, though, is letting your customers know how quickly they’re going to get their order (thanks to Gelato’s worldwide footprint), and how carbon-conscious it’s going to be. People love getting stuff fast, they appreciate knowing that they’re not hurting the environment even more.
Step 8: Marketing Your Products
This step is really the one that takes the most work. A lot of sellers assume they don’t have to do any marketing because there’s already an audience on Etsy. Sure, there are millions of buyers, but there are hundreds of thousands of sellers competing for their attention too.
Make sure you get your head around:
- Etsy Ads: You don’t need to use them straight away, but if you notice a popular product on your store that could take off with a little extra push, ads can be helpful. Don’t spend a fortune on promotion, just experiment with a few dollars a day.
- Etsy SEO: Yes, it matters, but it’s not as complicated as you’d think. All you really need to do is use clear keywords, keep your descriptions sharp, and make the most of your tags. It also helps to regularly add new designs to boost your visibility.
- Get Social: Social media is the perfect platform for Etsy sellers. Channels like TikTok and Instagram are perfect for showing off your new products. Make sure you draw attention to what makes them unique (like the personalization option or eco-friendly design)
- Use Reviews: Reviews matter more than just about anything else on Etsy. The more you can encourage customers to leave them, the more promotion you naturally have for your store. Consider offering a discount on the next order for anyone who leaves feedback.
Step 9: Scaling Your Store
After a while, you might reach a point where you feel like you’re ready to really start growing. At that stage, I’d probably recommend jumping off Etsy, and onto another “real” ecommerce platform, like Shopify. The other thing you should do, is think about Gelato+.
It’s not for every initial seller, but Gelato+ gives you a lot of benefits that can help you grow faster. Discounts of up to 35% and a price navigation tool to help you master your margins are the first couple of things.
Then you get unique tools like Magic Mockups (Gelato's AI tool for generating lifestyle product images), the Creative Vault (a library of free graphics and design assets included with Gelato+) full of useful graphics and images, and extra branding options.
You’ll also get features like Instant Collections (an AI feature that expands one design across multiple product types automatically), which uses AI to take one idea and spread it across a wide range of products, complete with pricing suggestions and product descriptions.
Selling with Gelato and Etsy Made Easy
Honestly, launching a business with Etsy and Gelato isn’t difficult. A few simple steps is all it takes, and most of them only take a few minutes at most. The really tough parts are mostly just marketing your store, coming up with new ideas, and scaling.
If you love making things and hate logistics, this setup is perfect. Etsy brings the buyers. Gelato does the heavy lifting. You handle the creative choices and the customer experience. It’s a partnership that works surprisingly well once you stop overthinking every detail.
You’ll need to put in a little work to grow, but if your goal is to build something that grows without taking over your entire life, this is the most reasonable path I’ve found after testing far too many alternatives.
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