Selling Furniture on Etsy: A Guide for Success

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Photo of two nightstands that were sold on Etsy.
Photo of green dresser that was sold on Etsy.

Looking to expand your reach when it comes to selling furniture? Then selling on Etsy may be your solution! No matter where you live, you can reach beyond your local market and offer your product to a much bigger audience. I’ve been selling furniture on Etsy for several years, and want to share all that I’ve learned with you.

I love Etsy because they make the selling part easy and they have a large audience for you to tap into. In 2023 they had over 96 million buyers and over 462 million visits to the site every month. That’s a lot of eyeballs! Plus, you don’t have to worry about collecting sales tax from different states or managing credit card transactions, they just deposit the earnings directly into your bank account.

Are you ready to take your furniture sales to the next level? Let’s do this!

Set up your Etsy shop

First, you need to set up your shop. For the initial setup, you must use a desktop web browser. First, you’ll need to sign in or create an Etsy profile and decide on your shop name. I recommend it being as close to your existing business name as possible. Also, have your bank account information (where you want them to deposit your earnings) handy.

Check out Etsy’s guide How to Open an Esty Shop for step-by-step instructions and a review of their policies. It’s important to be aware of and make sure you are following these policies, otherwise, you are at risk of Etsy shutting down your shop. Make sure you set up your own shop policies. It’s so important to have your policies clearly outlined for the buyer. What you include in these is up to you. Things to consider are a disclaimer that you are selling vintage furniture with some imperfections present and an all sales are final/no returns policy.

Decide how to handle shipping

This is the trickiest thing when it comes to selling furniture on Etsy. Please check out my article on shipping furniture for more details on the process itself. It is expensive and Etsy’s shipping options don’t really apply. When selling on Etsy you can ultimately do two things, which I’ve described below.

List with free shipping and set your shop up with a free shipping guarantee

Now wait, we all know that shipping furniture is not free. However, Etsy prefers shops set up with free shipping; they say shops set up with the free shipping guarantee are prioritized in their search results. Sounds great in theory, but coming up with that number can be hard if you don’t know where your buyer lives. Especially if you are just starting to ship furniture and don’t have a great sense of costs to different parts of the country There is a real risk to lose money on a given sale if your shipping quote comes in high.

List with shipping not included

With this option, you make it VERY clear in your listing description that shipping is not free and will vary significantly depending on where your buyer lives. I usually add a line at the very top of the listing description that makes this clear. Also, ask them to message you with their zip code and then provide them with a shipping quote. If they are okay with the quote, you then go back into the listing and add the shipping before they checkout.

Which option is better?

I’ve done it both ways and prefer the second method. Here’s why – I sell in other places. Through my Facebook and Instagram business pages, on Facebook Marketplace, and directly to my email subscribers. Having different prices is confusing for them and for me. And because of where I live, shipping quotes vary significantly. I’m in Connecticut and shipping to Philadelphia is way cheaper than California or Texas. In my listing description I include a shipping range so buyers aren’t surprised when I come back with a quote (this cuts down on the number of quotes I have to obtain). I do lose out by not having a free shipping guaranteed shop.

Plenty of my refinishing friends prefer using free shipping. Their shops are given priority and they don’t worry about a shipping quote until after a purchase is made. There is no wrong answer here, you have do to what works for your business. And remember, nothing is set in stone. You can always go back and make a change to your shipping policies. No matter what you choose, I recommend using uShip to get shipping quotes and ultimately pick a shipper.

Woman sitting at her computer working with her phone with paintbrushes in the foreground

Create your first furniture listing

To create a listing, you can use your desktop or the Etsy Seller app on your phone. Etsy describes how to create a listing here. When adding listing details, painted/refinished furniture is considered “made by me”/”made by a member of my shop.” According to their policies, commercially available products modified by you are considered handmade. You need to decide whether you want the listing to renew automatically or if you want to manually renew when it expires in 4 months. I generally select the manual option. If your piece hasn’t sold in 4 months, it’s a good opportunity to revisit the listing and make some changes.

Upload listing photographs

I won’t get into all the details here, but having high-quality, staged photographs of your piece is extremely important for sales. Hopefully, you are already doing this if you are selling in other places. For Etsy, remember that these will be all your buyer will see before making the purchase. So you need to make sure the photos paint a complete picture. Lead with a beautiful full-view shot, and include additional photos of different angles, details, and any imperfections that may be present. I like to include a photo of the maker’s mark if there is one. You can also have the option of uploading a video.

Writing a good listing description

Along with your photographs, the listing description is what will sell your piece. You should describe your piece in detail. How many drawers, cabinets, shelves, etc…? Are drawers dovetailed? Is the hardware original or updated? Describe the color (don’t use the paint company’s color name, most people don’t know what that is). Be sure to disclose any imperfections, which you’ve also shown in the photos. Where would the piece function well? Think outside its traditional use and give potential buyers ideas for where they could use it. It may be a dresser, but it could also work great in an entryway for extra storage.

I also reiterate my policies in the description itself. I don’t want to rely on a buyer checking my shop policy page before purchasing. If shipping is not included you need to make sure the instructions for having them contact you for a quote are clear and upfront in the description. Repeating your message in a few different places ensures your buyers see it.

Decide on a price

So many things go into pricing (that’s a whole other conversation)! For the sake of Etsy, you need to decide if you are keeping your prices consistent across platforms. Etsy does charge fees so you need to consider those. Plus if you do want to offer free shipping, those shipping costs need to be added in. I keep my prices the same regardless of where I list them and then add the shipping. At the end of the day, the fees even out. If I sell on Esty I pay their fees, if I sell directly I have to take a portion of the sale price and apply it to our local sales tax. It ends up being about the same.

Marketing your listing

The great thing about Etsy is that you are already part of a community of potential buyers. But that doesn’t mean you can rely on the platform for all of your sales. Make sure you are sharing your listing on any social media that you have. Send it out to email subscribers if you have an email list. Drive traffic to your shop! In fact, Etsy has a feature where you can use a “save and share” link. If a purchase is made using this link, the fee you pay to Etsy is smaller when compared to an Etsy-initiated purchase.

On the other end of the spectrum, Esty offers what they call “offsite ads.” This is Etsy promoting your listing through search engine results and on social media sites. If a sale is made through this channel, you are charged an extra advertising fee. This option can be turned off or on for your shop as a whole or a particular listing. Just be sure you know how your settings are configured.

Etsy also allows you to run promotions. They can be targeted at specific buyers (sending a coupon to potential buyers or repeat buyers) or sitewide (offering a sale price to one or all of your listings). A great option to move inventory if needed.

Customer service

When selling furniture on Etsy, remember to be focused on customer service and your potential buyers. If you are asking them to message you with questions or for a shipping quote, make sure you are responding to those messages. Etsy is great because it encourages your buyers to leave reviews. These reviews instill confidence in potential future buyers. Ultimately, there are no shortcuts – make sure your buyers have a good experience and you will have success.

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Want to take your furniture business to the next level? I’m here to help. I’ve been running my own furniture business for 5 years and managing small businesses for more than 10. I want to help you maximize your potential. Sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss any of my new business-related articles.