Etsy Dropshipping Policy Which You Should Strictly Follow

Etsy dropshipping can be a great way to start your business. To have a great experience, the seller must strictly follow the Etsy dropshipping policy. 

In this article, besides providing you with information about the Etsy dropshipping policy, we also tell you its pros and cons, so you can see if you’re a good fit for it. Let’s find out with us!

What is Etsy’s dropshipping?

In case you are still not clear about what Etsy and dropshipping are, we would like to provide some brief information for you.

First, Etsy is a website where you can purchase and sell handmade or antique items. Customers may look for and purchase antique, handcrafted items, and one-of-a-kind arts and crafts that are typically difficult to locate elsewhere! 

Next, dropshipping is a “skip shipping” sales model in which sellers do not need to store goods and instead focus on selecting and selling things. When a consumer puts an order on the vendor’s website, the vendor forwards it to a third-party provider, who fulfills and sends the purchase straight to the client. 

Information you need to know before choosing to dropship on Etsy

Etsy dropshipping policy: dos and don’ts

Any violation of the above guidelines may lead to the removal of your business from the platform. Therefore, if you decide to start dropshipping on Etsy, make sure that you know clearly about Etsy dropshipping policy. Here are some key notes that you should keep in mind! 

Dos

Following the rules of Etsy

When you want to dropship on Etsy, you must follow Etsy’s dropshipping rules:

• All things for sale be handmade, vintage, or craft supplies.
• The seller must make and/or design all products offered in Etsy’s Handmade category.
• When dealing with them, sellers must declare the relationship with “production partners” on product listings.
• Vintage goods must be 20 years old or older.
• Craft supplies can be handmade, commercial, or vintage and purchased from a third-party vendor.
• Every Etsy listing must advertise and sell physical or digital goods directly.

If you have the right goods to sell, Etsy is a simple-to-use sales channel with built-in statistics and data, making it simple to run your business.

Don’ts

Avoid these things in Etsy dropshipping policy

You have to remember and try to AVOID these things in Etsy’s dropshipping policy if you don’t want to be in trouble:

• It is forbidden to resell
• Production partners are not permitted to be Etsy store members or vendors from whom the merchant obtains ready-made goods for resale
• Etsy does not allow AliExpress dropshipping 
• Etsy listings for a referral code or a “similar activity” are not allowed
• Some reselling activities are prohibited.

Specific prohibited reselling activities include:

• Repackaging and rebranding commercial items 
• Curating others’ handmade goods that you did not design or make 
• Selling items made or designed by another seller who is not affiliated with your shop 
• Offering traditional handicrafts or fair-trade things that you did not design or manufacture 

For more details, visit the Etsy dropshipping policy.

If you break Etsy’s Policy, they will most likely delete your listings and ban your account. Furthermore, Etsy will not refund you if they delete your account.

Etsy dropshipping policy: pros and cons

Pros and cons are also an issue you need to keep in mind to decide if Etsy is a suitable platform for you to dropship. Let’s check it out!

Pros 

Dropshipping is widespread across many platforms. People are interested in Etsy dropshipping for the following reasons:

Benefits of Etsy’s dropshipping policy

The best part with Etsy drop shipping is that you can sell handcrafted items (which other dropshipping sites do not allow). Knitted blankets on Etsy may be worth selling if you operate a maternity store.

Cons 

In contrast to the numerous advantages of Etsy dropshipping policy, here are a few drawbacks you should know about:

Disadvantages of Etsy dropshipping policy

• The retail price of things is high: The prices posted on Etsy are higher than the retail price. The majority of online sellers purchase things at wholesale costs. Meanwhile, the pricing on Etsy is frequently much over market value, making it unattractive to the typical customer. Especially when the buyer takes time to do some more research.
• You must pay a listing fee: One of the major drawbacks of Etsy dropshipping is the listing cost required to submit a product to its marketplace. Listing costs are 20 cents each. Listings on Etsy expire after four months. As a result, you must continuously re-adding your item to their marketplace, which adds more manual work than it is worth. And the listing cost is paid each time your goods sell.
• Your drop shipping options are limited: The seller policies on Etsy do not reference “dropshipping”. However, Etsy state that resale is permitted in certain circumstances. This also serves as a fairly accurate definition of drop shipping.

Etsy’s marketplace contains handmade, vintage, and craft materials. Reselling is only permitted in the categories of vintage and craft supplies.

So, you can resell or dropship, but you’ll be restricted.

Etsy’s dropshipping has some disadvantages

• Etsy isn’t sustainable: Perhaps you don’t want to sell things on Etsy but rather from Etsy. That has some massive drawbacks as well. Dropshipping Etsy items is difficult since the things available for dropshipping do not sell well. And if you find that great, life-changing winning product, your Etsy supplier won’t be able to keep up. Every day, full-time and huge manufacturers may have to handle tens of thousands of orders. However, a handcrafted product by a part-time Etsy vendor cannot manage the same volume. 
• The wholesale option got shut down: Etsy still permits dropshipping, but the company has made actions that may make dropshippers fearful about future policy changes.

Conclusion

Dropshipping is one of the most sustainable business models for a long-term business, especially on the Etsy platform. However, if we want to have a good experience with this process, we must follow Etsy’s dropshipping policy. This article has provided everything you need to know about the Etsy dropshipping policy, as well as the pros and cons of this. If you find it useful, please share this article so everyone can read it.

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