Summary
Selling on Etsy from Ukraine is possible: for this, you need to choose the right niche, create a shop, connect Etsy Payments via Payoneer, list items in English, and plan shipping and advertising. This article covers 10 key steps that will help you start selling and avoid common mistakes at the beginning.
Who this article is for
- For Ukrainians who want to open an Etsy shop from scratch.
- For sellers of handmade, vintage, craft supplies, and digital products.
- For those who want to sell abroad and accept payments via Payoneer.
Key point
To start selling on Etsy from Ukraine, you need to: choose a niche, study competitors, register a shop, link Payoneer, create quality listings, calculate pricing, organize international shipping, set up advertising, and prepare for communication with customers.
Etsy online store for Ukrainian sellers
So, for those who don’t know, Etsy is an online marketplace where you can create your own online store and offer your handmade products or vintage items, which are goods that are over 20 years old. Imagine: millions of buyers from around the world craving unique goods. The prospects are exciting, aren’t they?
Usually, they sell handmade items because the cost of labor in Ukraine is much lower than in the USA, so for Ukrainians, this platform, this marketplace, is of great interest. Today, a huge number of stores on Etsy sell products from Ukrainian producers – it’s important to seize this niche now and build your financial well-being based on international e-commerce.
Autumn 2023 brought wonderful news for Ukrainian businesses. The Etsy platform finally allowed Ukrainian sellers to operate, meaning the opportunity to officially register shops and trade worldwide from your own store has been restored! Etsy also enhanced the capabilities of its payment system, Etsy Payments, for Ukraine.
Of course, the competition there is quite strong. But enough perseverance and determination are enough to conquer the platform and enter the American market. The main thing is not to miss the moment and act decisively — sales won’t come on their own.
If you’re still unsure — cast aside all doubts. Register, open your store, list your products, use available promotion tools, and conquer the world. The time for your store has come!
How to sell on Etsy from Ukraine in 2024
A little about how Ukrainian entrepreneurs can operate on Etsy. Etsy Payments has launched in Ukraine, but there are some nuances. Payment acceptance on Etsy is only possible through Payoneer. This creates certain difficulties, but these are the rules.
Prepare also to provide documents – sometimes during Etsy registration, they want to know where you are located. And that’s correct – the platform cares about its reputation. Taxes, trade regulations – all must be strictly followed.
The Etsy marketplace is a unique opportunity, a window into a world where millions of potential customers are present, so it’s worth spending time on registration and dealing with documents. However, on Etsy, you can sell to individuals, which means registering a legal entity is absolutely not necessary.
Payments on Etsy: How to accept from Ukraine through Etsy Payments
On the internet, you can find numerous pieces of information about accepting payments on Etsy through PayPal. Forget it, this information is long outdated. You will need a Payoneer account, and not just any account, but properly configured. In your account, all information must completely match the information provided by the seller on the Etsy marketplace during registration.
If you plan to sell on Etsy as a legal entity, you must have a set up and verified business Payoneer account. Properly configured payments are the foundation of your business on Etsy.
Etsy accepts payments through Etsy Payments and transfers them to your Payoneer account once a week or once a month, depending on your individual settings. For buyers, Etsy Payments offers various payment options for purchases, which is much more convenient than the previous system that only accepted payments through PayPal.
Delivery from Ukraine for buyers on Etsy
Let’s talk about something just as important – delivery. After all, what’s the point of a wonderful product if it doesn’t reach the customer? Delivery options include standard and express. For a good store, it’s normal to offer customers different delivery methods with varying costs and delivery times, giving them a choice.
And finally – fulfillment. You send your products to a warehouse in the USA, and after a sale, the warehouse ships the package to the customer in the USA. This fast delivery from your Etsy store will allow you to compete with American shops and significantly increase sales. Fulfillment services are advantageous for sellers of uniform products that can be shipped in batches.
Choose, experiment, and find your perfect solution. Proper delivery is 50% of success on Etsy. Don’t be afraid to try different options. What works for one product may not be suitable for another. Be flexible, listen to your customers.
Taxes on Etsy
About taxes and the legal side of doing business on Etsy is also important and necessary to discuss. You can sell your products on Etsy as an individual or as a sole proprietor. Depending on this, be prepared to pay from 5 to 20% in taxes in Ukraine. Etsy is not concerned with Ukrainian sellers paying taxes and fees in Ukraine, so technically, a sole proprietor is not required to operate on Etsy.
You may have come across information about the “Google tax.” Etsy independently deducts and forwards it, so you don’t need to do anything.
When selling to Europe, Etsy automatically deducts VAT from purchases up to 150 euros. Keep this in mind when shipping goods, and follow Etsy’s recommendations by indicating the payment of taxes by the buyer on the package.
Packages valued over 150 euros will be subject to customs duties and taxes not on the marketplace, but in the recipient’s country — your task is to inform the buyer about this before sending the package.
Regarding how to bring the earned money into Ukraine and pay local taxes, lawyers and accountants will tell you best. Our company can help withdraw funds in cash in dollars, in cryptocurrency, and many other convenient ways for you. We work with both individuals and sole proprietors.
Etsy Ukraine: Rules of the game
Etsy has recently become quite strict for new sellers, regardless of the country where your store is registered. There are a few simple rules to follow.
First, learn the process of registering a store on Etsy before registering. This will help you avoid basic mistakes that are difficult to correct later, for example, beginners often choose the currency and language of their country during registration, but you should select the currency and language of the buyers’ country, in this case, the USA, since Etsy is an American marketplace.
The name and design of your shop should be easy for an English-speaking customer to remember and should reflect the essence of the products you sell.
Second, a store on Etsy is essentially the publication of your first listing (that’s what ads are called), and it’s better to decide on your product, prepare photos and descriptions in English in advance. To promote listings, you need to analyze your niche and select the most promising keywords and phrases, a total of 13 keywords will be needed for each listing.
Third, when registering an account on Payoneer, use the same personal and financial details that you used during your Etsy registration. Otherwise, you won’t be able to link these accounts, and you won’t be able to sell.
And no dropshipping! Only products that comply with the marketplace rules – such as handmade, craft supplies, and vintage items. Remember: the main thing is not to violate the rules.
Which products sell best on Etsy?
Popular on Etsy:
Handmade products: unique and creative handcrafted items such as jewelry, textiles, home decor for the kitchen, bedroom, house, and children’s room.
The special niche is wedding supplies – this product category is the most popular and highly competitive on marketplaces.
Vintage items: objects that were made over 20 years ago, including clothing, accessories, and home decor.
Creative materials: craft supplies, fabrics, yarn, tools, materials, blanks, DIY kits.
Digital products: graphic files, templates and designs, resumes, stickers, planners, stickers – everything that customers can download in the store.
These product categories correspond to the specifics of the Etsy platform, where originality of ideas and quality of products are valued.
10 steps to sales
Step 1: How to choose a niche for your store
To start selling on Etsy, first and foremost, you need to identify the niche in which you plan to sell your products. To find your niche, you should carefully observe the sellers who are already selling on Etsy, as well as utilize several of the many online tools that can help determine the popularity of a particular direction.
It is important to understand: you should choose for sale not the product that you personally like, but the product that is interesting to potential customers of your future store.
Step 2: How to analyze competitors
Once you have decided on the product, you should review competitors’ offers again and ensure that there are not too many similar products being sold. Higher competition will make it more difficult to promote your products, especially if your store has no reviews or a large number of popular listings from the start.
You can find more details about choosing a niche and analyzing competitors on our YouTube channel.
Step 3: How to register on Etsy
Register your email, and basically, that’s all you need to start registering on Etsy. Registering on Etsy is quite simple. Come up with a memorable store name in English. All you need to start selling is to connect your Etsy shop to a Payoneer account to begin accepting payments. Without this step, you won’t be able to sell on Etsy.
Step 4: How to link your Payoneer account to your Etsy shop
You need to log in to Payoneer, create and verify an account there, and during the registration process on Etsy, link your Payoneer account to your Etsy shop. For this, the data on both platforms must match exactly.
The Payoneer payment system, the only one available for sellers from Ukraine, will also request personal data, documents, and bank information for account verification. If everything is done correctly, the linking process takes less than a minute.
Step 5: How to sell on Etsy
Once you have completed registration, proceed to create listings, that is, product cards. It is important to create product descriptions in English. Try to describe the product as simply and detailed as possible.
Tips on photographing, writing effective descriptions, headlines, as well as optimizing listings for search on Etsy – all this information is also available on our YouTube channel, as well as in the materials on our website.
Step 6: How to find out the product price on Etsy
Pricing is an important part of the process. When you’re about to sell, you need to understand that your prices should be competitive. Therefore, carefully calculate the selling price based on how much money you will receive in the end. Study the demand and supply on Etsy; this will help you understand how much you can earn from a particular product.
Step 7: How to send a package to the USA
Re-shipment and its cost are also something buyers pay attention to. Shipping goods to the USA is not cheap, but it’s also not as expensive as it might seem at first glance. Western Bid offers the lowest prices for shipping your parcels worldwide from Ukraine. Check out our calculator and see for yourself. It’s simple enough to enter the parameters and weight of the parcel to access available shipping options and their costs, then compare.
Step 8: How to Promote Products on Etsy Using Etsy Ads
After you’ve listed your products on Etsy, you need to start promoting your store, i.e., advertising. Built-in advertising tools on Etsy are very effective. Using Etsy Ads, you can set up internal advertising on Etsy, run advertising campaigns, analyze keyword effectiveness, and control your advertising budget.
It’s also important to actively engage on social media, participate in various communities, offering community members your products. It’s essential to participate in promotions and special offers on different advertising platforms, including Google, Pinterest, and others.
Step 9: about supporting buyers and sellers
When you have clients, they will start asking questions, so it is necessary to establish a certain working mode to respond to these questions quite quickly. Buyers may request additional information about the product, extra services (for example, including a note or postcard in the package). You also need to prepare for negative reviews and learn how to work with them.
For example, you should not rush to respond to a review publicly. A buyer can change their review only if the seller has not yet responded to it. For beginners, positive reviews are very important. Communicate with your buyers; almost any review can be improved.
Support for sellers on Etsy is provided through the built-in chat and email correspondence. Etsy also has a developed community of sellers, and if your English allows, you can always find answers to any questions there.
Step 10: How to get money from Etsy
When you make your first sale and receive money in your Pioneer account, you can transfer funds from Pioneer to Western Bid to arrange for product delivery. Additionally, you will be able to use your WB account to pay for components you purchase to create products and your advertising campaigns. You can also pay for materials necessary for manufacturing your products, and accordingly, you can withdraw the remaining funds in a way that is convenient for you.
The commission fee of Western Bid is only 4% of the amounts you use, and the costs of fulfillment center services, shipping, training, and advertising marketing services are the lowest on the market. Moreover, Western Bid has a very large number of reviews.
Don’t forget that when you start a business, at some point you will need to grow it, so avoid selling things that are difficult and time-consuming to produce and that cannot be scaled up. It is essential to remember that you plan to expand your business, and for that, you will need to automate processes, including advertising, find assistants, and assign tasks. When building your business, think about this immediately — don’t leave it for later.
Quick Checklist Before Launching Your Store
- Chosen niche with demand.
- Verified competitors.
- Prepared English store name.
- Created and verified a Payoneer account.
- Prepared product photos and descriptions.
- Calculated final price including expenses.
- Thought through international delivery.
- Ready basic advertising plan.
Most often, an Etsy shop does not grow not because of the platform itself, but due to poor preparation: choosing the wrong niche, incorrectly set up payments, weak listings, or overlooked shipping. A strong start is already half the sales.
Want to start selling on Etsy from Ukraine?
Start with the right niche, prepare your shop for launch, and check shipping and payments before your first sale. This reduces mistakes and speeds up your start.
