How to List an Item in Your Etsy Shop

Today I am going to share with you all the steps that I took to list a new item in my Etsy shop. Listing an item in your Etsy shop has some tedious steps to follow but it is doable.

I am writing specifically about listing a digital product. Other than setting up shipping, I am sure that the process is the same for setting up a listing for a physical product.

Ready?  The first step that I took was to create my Healthy Hair Habit Coloring Book in Canva.

If you don’t know how to use Canva, I provide Canva training and you can speak with me about my training sessions, HERE

This blog post is not about Canva though!

Anywho, once I created my coloring book journal, I downloaded the PNGs from Canva one by one and uploaded each one to my Notion app.

I downloaded a total of 20 PNGs!  I then uploaded all of my PNGs into Notion, returned to Canva and saved my coloring book journal as a template.

I then took the Canva template link, added it to my page in Notion where I saved the PNGs.  Next I exported my Notion page as a PDF.

I know I’m telling you all of the extra steps and I hope that you are able to follow along.  I just hate reading articles with missing steps which is why I am being as detailed as I can be. 

The next thing I did was head over to Etsy to add a new listing!  Adding a new listing only works if you already have an Etsy Account.

To add a listing, click the edit shop button over in the top left.  

Under Shop Manager, you will see the listings icon, 3rd Icon down.

Once you click on listings, you will see “+ Add a listing” in the top right corner.  I clicked the button to add my newest listing.

From this point is where the “Hell” I mean excitement began.  I only said Hell because I couldn’t recall the correct size of the thumbnail.  

I Googled the best size for an Etsy thumbnail and found a Youtube video.

 I saw online that the thumbnail size should be 570 X 456.  

Then I read that the listing images size should be 2000px.  This was VERY confusing. 

Then I read that the main image size should be 3000px tall X 2250px wide. 

I went back to Canva and resized the listing cover image as 3000px X 2250px, downloaded it, and uploaded it to Etsy to see if I would have any thumbnail size issues.  It was fine.  Then I went ahead and downloaded the remaining images as the same size. 

The image below shows where you can upload up to 10 images and one video of your product. (New version of Etsy).

I ran into an issue when uploading the remaining PNGs.  I was trying to be lazy and not change the size from 3000px X 2250px but they were the wrong size.  

Etsy recommended images to be 2000px so I went BACK TO CANVA and resized my remaining color pages.  

I uploaded the 2000px images to Etsy and they were the correct size. 

This was a learning experience for me.  I knew that going forward, for 2023 anyway, that the acceptable thumbnail size for Etsy was 3000px tall x 2250px wide.  The remaining images were acceptable at 2000px.  

I then recorded the short 5 to 15 second video for my newest Etsy product from my phone. I recalled getting a “video too tall” notification when uploading a previous product video to Etsy.   Damnit!  I uploaded the video into Powerdirector, my video editing software, to crop it down. 

Etsy recommended a 4:3 or 3:4 ratio.  I cropped the video to 3:4 in Powerdirector.  I uploaded the video to Etsy and it was the correct size.  

As you can see, there was a lot of trial/error and frustration in the product creation process.

If you haven’t clicked off to somewhere else and are still reading, I appreciate you!  I will quickly tell you the remaining steps I took to add my new listing.

I used the old version of Etsy to create my listing.  They do have a new version so if you don’t have an Etsy account already, you will probably be provided with the new format to start your listing.  I’ve included screenshots from both formats because the new version is missing some of the steps.  They are coming soon! 

The first step in the old format was to tell about the listing – who made it, what is it, and when did you make it?  Then select the category. I selected journals and books as my category.

Next thing I did was select between digital and physical products.  I am in the printables business so my products will always be digital.  I also never change the renewal options.  I always leave it on automatic. (The image below is Etsy’s old format).

The next thing I did was add in my description. (New version of Etsy image below).

I did not add any personalization.  

After adding my description, I added my pricing and inventory.  I always enter my inventory amount as 999. (New version of Etsy image below).

Adding my tags was next on the list. 

You can add up to thirteen tags to help customers find your shop.  I added tags such as coloring book, digital journals, but you will add tags related to your product. (New version of Etsy image below).

The final step (old version of Etsy) was to upload the digital file, then hit preview, save as a draft or publish.

Returns and exchanges aren’t eligible for digital files in Etsy so that doesn’t apply to me.

I saved my Etsy listing as a draft and won’t you believe that it didn’t save?  I went back to it and the listing was gone!

All of my hard work uploading the photos and picking out the tags was gone.  I was so upset! 

All because I wanted to upload the video from my phone instead of my laptop.

I ended up having to re-upload all my images, re-write the description and all of the remaining steps again.  This was by far my most FRUSTRATING Etsy experience.

  I documented my steps for myself so that I could remember when it’s time to create a new listing.  I also documented for you in case you are thinking of starting an Etsy shop. I want you to have less headaches!

Now that I documented my process in this post, I can refer to it the next time that I need to make an Etsy listing. The amount of time and frustration should be significantly cut down!

Wow, I’ve said a lot!  If you need clarity on how to start your own Etsy shop, feel free to Book a call with me Here!

If you are all clear, let me know what you thought of this article! 

Relatable Links: Why I’m No Longer Tarafied of Etsy

about-tara-hayes (1)

Tara Martina Hayes is author of the free 22-page report, “Panic To Picnic: 15 Natural Alternatives for Anxiety Management”. Drop by http://www.panictopicnic.com for your free copy.