What is Etsy? What parents need to know

Etsy is an online marketplace where users can buy items from other users and sell their own creations. The platform focuses on unique items, like handcrafted pieces and vintage goods. This emphasis on creativity and rejection of automated, mass-produced products goes hand-in-hand with Etsy’s principle of reducing waste.

The platform is a popular one, with 1.9 million active sellers and 31.7 million active buyers. With so many users on the platform, some will have bad intentions, and there’s a risk of coming across a scammer.

Etsy is accessible through any web browser. An app is also available for download via the Apple App Store and Google Play. Using the site is free, but to sell on the platform, you must pay a one-time £14 shop set up fee. After this, you must pay a 15p listing fee for each item as well as 6.5% of the total order amount.

You must be at least 18 years of age to own an account. Teens aged 13 to 17 can buy and sell on Etsy if they get permission from a parent or guardian and use the platform under their supervision

The user experience will vary based on whether the user is using the platform to buy or sell.

Buying

When users open Etsy, they immediately see a variety of personalised products, like engraved rings and custom art. The user can filter products by their category, with categories including clothing, pet supplies and jewellery, or search for what they want in the search bar. 

Clicking on a listing will allow you to view more images of the product, see reviews and place an order. User reviews make it easier to avoid scams as you can see that other people have had a good experience with the seller. Etsy also gives a ‘Star Seller’ badge to any seller that consistently earns good reviews. Only buying from sellers with this badge will improve your chances of having a good experience with Etsy.

Selling

When you start selling on Etsy, you fill out a questionnaire about the type of shop you’re setting up and whether you want guidance on topics like branding and pricing. You will then choose your shop’s language, country, currency and name. Once this is done, you can begin listing the products you’d like to sell and start receiving orders from other users.

It’s easy to get started selling on Etsy, and with so many users, sellers can reach a large audience. However, the ease of creating an Etsy shop does mean a lot of sellers are on the site. This means there is high competition on the platform.

Messaging

Etsy has a messaging system that allows users to privately contact each other. Buyers can instigate a conversation with any seller by clicking ‘Message Seller’ on the seller’s shop page. Seller’s can only start messaging a buyer once they have placed an order from the seller’s store. This is to prevent sellers from mass-messaging buyers as a marketing strategy.

Users can also attach documents and images to their messages. This could be used to send inappropriate or explicit images to other users.

There are report and block functions on the platform that allow users to stop specific users from messaging them.

Etsy does not have any in-built parental controls. This is because you must be at least 18 years old to have an Etsy account, although children aged 13–17 can use the platform with a parent’s permission and supervision.

There are some measures in place to prevent people from accidentally viewing inappropriate content on Etsy. Sellers must tag listings that contain mature content and obscure explicit content in the first photo of the listing.

To keep your child safe when using Etsy, you must supervise them yourself and educate them on the risks of online marketplaces. You can also set controls on their device through the device’s own settings.

As Etsy requires account owners to be at least 18 years old, you should not let your child create their own Etsy profile. However, the platform does allow children aged 13-17 to buy and sell under the supervision of a parent. If your child wants to use Etsy, here are some things to consider.

Scammers are active on Etsy. They might misrepresent the product they listed, accept payment and not ship the product or send messages requesting personal info. Only purchasing from well-reviewed sellers will help reduce the risk of buying from a scammer. Managing your messages yourself instead of letting your child use the messaging function will also help prevent them being scammed. Get information on protecting your child from scams.

Shopping online also carries the inherent risk of overspending and impulse buying. With a card already being saved, buying from Etsy can only take a couple of clicks, making it easier for children to make a spur of the moment purchase that might be financially irresponsible. Educate your child on spending to develop good money habits online.

If your child wants to sell their own creations through Etsy, there is a chance that they receive negative reviews on their items. This could damage their confidence, upset them and discourage them from creating in the future.

There are benefits to Etsy though. Selling on the platform can nurture creativity, as it gives a child motivation to create items to sell. In addition to creativity, running a shop can also help a child build their entrepreneurial skills.

Etsy offers a way for a child to earn money themselves. Some children may wish to shop on Etsy due to it being friendlier to the environment than other platforms which sell mass-produced goods.

If your child wants to begin using Etsy, it is important that you manage the Etsy account and shop yourself. You can work with your child collaboratively to run the Etsy account, with the parent handling the account and the child creating the items, and this can be a bonding experience.