# How To Sell Your Art On Etsy in 2017 - review & insight | Gareth B. Davies Source: https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/how-to-sell-your-art-on-etsy-in-2017/ [← All courses](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/) Business & Marketing · Solid intro · Rated 4 /10 # How To Sell Your Art On Etsy in 2017 Updated August 2026 Melanie Greenwood · Designer & Founder of Vision City Studio All levels · 260 min A step-by-step 2017 Etsy walkthrough for nervous first-timers, but half the platform details are now outdated. [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fhow-to-sell-your-art-on-etsy-in-2017%2F1374353367) New to Skillshare? Your first month is free, enough to take this course at no cost. ## What it actually covers This is a screen-recorded walkthrough of opening and configuring an Etsy shop, built around Melanie Greenwood's own experience selling art prints. The first stretch of lessons is pep talk and platform orientation: why she chose Etsy over a standalone website, reassurance that "your art is good enough," and her own origin story of listing twelve black-and-white prints and eventually landing a licensing deal with a children's retailer. None of this teaches a skill, but it does set real expectations before the mechanical sections begin. The middle third is the seller-policy section, and it is the most substantive part of the course. It explains, with specifics, that everything sold must be handmade, vintage (at least 20 years old, not merely used), or a craft supply, and walks through the outside-manufacturer approval process for artists who use a print shop. This is genuinely useful groundwork that a lot of hobbyist sellers skip and later run into trouble over. ## The production and photography sections A run of lessons is dedicated to product photography: camera choice, image dimensions, lighting, framing, and cropping for 2D artwork specifically. The advice stays basic (use natural light, keep backgrounds consistent, shoot straight-on) and is illustrated with the instructor's own mistakes, including a display error she owns up to. It is honest but thin compared to what a dedicated product-photography course would offer. ## The shop-setup walkthrough The bulk of the runtime is a click-through of the Etsy seller dashboard: naming a shop, setting up billing, building a first listing, filling in all 13 search tags, setting a SKU, pricing and quantity, and configuring shipping profiles as a Canada-based seller shipping internationally. This is where the course earns its keep for a true beginner, since it removes the guesswork of a first-time Etsy signup. It also covers promoted listings, Google Shopping integration through Etsy, Etsy Pattern (the built-in standalone-website tool), building an email list with Mail Chimp, and rearranging shop items. ## Where it falls short The course was updated for 2017 platform changes, and that dating is now its biggest liability. Etsy's fee structure, listing interface, advertising dashboard, and Pattern product have all changed materially since then, so a chunk of the click-through instructions no longer match what a viewer sees on-screen when they log in. The promotion and advertising material is also thin: the instructor admits she is "not really that much of an ad kind of person" and offers only cursory context on Etsy's promoted listings and Google Shopping credit, not an actual strategy. There is also very little here on pricing strategy, competitive research, or growing beyond the first sale. The course teaches setup, not sustained growth. Anyone who already has a listing live on Etsy, or who sells anything other than handmade goods, vintage pieces, or craft supplies, will find most of this redundant or irrelevant. For a genuine first-timer intimidated by the signup process, it still works as a calm, encouraging walkthrough, provided they cross-check the platform specifics against Etsy's current interface rather than trusting the screenshots as current. The standout The manual shipping walkthrough, choosing fixed international shipping rates and per-additional-item costs as a non-US seller, is the most concretely useful segment for anyone selling outside America. ## What you will learn - · How to register an Etsy shop, name it, and set up billing and payment information - · Which categories of goods (handmade, vintage 20+ years, craft supplies) qualify for a legal Etsy listing - · How to shoot and edit consistent product photos of flat artwork using lighting, cropping, and framing choices - · How to write a listing with 13 search tags, a SKU, pricing, and a fixed manual shipping profile - · How to apply for outside manufacturing approval and use the Etsy Manufacturing directory - · How to build a personal seller profile, rearrange shop items, and try Etsy Pattern for a standalone storefront Best for: A total beginner who has never opened an Etsy shop and wants someone to click through the signup and listing forms alongside them. Skip it if: Anyone who already has an active Etsy shop, sells outside the handmade/vintage/craft-supply categories, or wants marketing and SEO strategy rather than a form-by-form walkthrough. Helpful Examples Clarity of Instruction Actionable Steps Engaging Teacher [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fhow-to-sell-your-art-on-etsy-in-2017%2F1374353367)