Selling Crafts Online
As we hurtle toward 2025’s end while preparing for the arrival of 2026, many artists and crafters will be considering the best ways to reach their audience and sell more handmade items. Most craft sellers will be aware of the opportunities that the internet offers but not all may know how to take full advantage of them. In this blog, we have put together some suggestions to help both the unititiated and the seasoned online seller who wants to grow their craft business to make 2026 the year that they take their place in a successful community that is selling crafts online.
What is best for those who are new to selling crafts online?
For those who are new to selling crafts online, Etsy is a good place to start.
Etsy is a marketplace platform where customers come to shop for handmade and creative products. If you have never sold on Etsy before, you’ll be relieved to know that only minimal technical knowledge is required to get going. You start by creating an account and opening an online “shop”. There you can list your products with photos, descriptions, and prices.
The Etsy platform handles everything regarding search visibility and basic payment processisng which is good news! The other good news is that Etsy offers you a built-in audience and low upfront costs.
Etsy also offers you the option of running Etsy Ads for which you can control the budget. You have to pay extra for the ads but the minimum spend is actually only £1 per day. The ads will appear in Etsy search and on external platforms (like Google).
For those starting on their online journey, it’s worth noting that, with Etsy, competition is high
And you have limited control over branding and customer data (with your own website you can build and establish your brand thoroughly and also use your own site analytics to understand your audience better.)
What about those who want to grow their online business by selling more crafts online?
For those who have experience of using online selling platforms such as Etsy, you’ll have had the opportunity to test and see which of your handmade products are the best online sellers before investing in your own website or Google Ads. This is great news!
In order to increase your online presence and start selling to a wider audience with more control over how you grow your online business there are options that Google offers to businesses for free.
One option is to start selling via Google Merchant Centre with Google Ads
Google Merchant Centre is not a marketplace itself like Etsy, what it does is to connect your product listings to Google Shopping Ads and drive traffic to your own website or online store.
Needless to say, you will need to have your own website, and when you have one, you will need to set up a Google Ads account. The website might cost you something to build (there is a wide range of possibilities and prices available). However, setting up a Google Ads account will cost you nothing! It’s relatively straightforward, just persevere and reach out to Google when you get stuck. There is a lot of online help and advice when it comes to Google Ads, especially on YouTube. You’ll need to set up a Google Ad Shopping campaign but there are a few steps you need to go through to do this:
You need to set up an online shop linked to your website and a lot of people report that “Shopify” is the easiest to use. Your site must clearly show prices in GBP (£), shipping costs (UK + international if offered), returns & refunds policy (Consumer Contracts Regulations), contact details (email required; address recommended) and offer a secure checkout (HTTPS)
Then it’s time to create a Google Merchant Centre Account. Again, this is free of charge! You sign up with your Google account, select the United Kingdom as your target country, then verify and claim your website. You’ll need to enter your business details (sole trader is fine)
You’ll have to list your products. For each handmade product, you’ll need the following product info: Product title (include “handmade” naturally); Description (materials, size, care instructions);
Price in GBP; Stock status (in stock / made to order); High-quality images (minimum 100×100px, ideally much larger). Lastly, and very important for handmade items, you will not need to add a GTIN / barcode! Google will ask for one and reject products that don’t have one but you can specify that the item is handmade.
Then it’s time to create and upload your product feed
Your product feed sends product data from your website to Google. The Shopify & YouTube app is rumoured to be the easiest to achieve this. Once you have set up your feed you can set up shipping in Merchant Centre and add UK shipping rates (flat rate or weight-based). Only add international shipping if you ship abroad (obviously). It’s important to ensure that shipping prices match your website exactly.
If you are not VAT registered you can show your prices without VAT, so do not add VAT in the Merchant Centre. If you are VAT registered then prices must include VAT with VAT consistent across your site and feed.
If you turn on “Free Listings” in Merchant Centre your handmade items can appear on Google Shopping at no cost! This means slower traffic, but zero ad spend! Great if you want to test Google visibility.
Finally, it’s time to run your Google Shopping or Performance Max Ads. Connect your Merchant Centre to your Google Ads campaign and you are away. A typical starter budget for ad spend is £5–£10 per day.
Focus on your best-selling or high-margin handmade items and use specific titles such as “Handmade Oak Jewellery Box – UK Made”. You can monitor product approval by checking diagnostics in Merchant Centre regularly. When products are approved they will start to appear online when people are searching for items of that nature. N.b. Niche products (with specific rather than generic names) perform best.
Phew! Now, after all that hard work you can sit back and wait for the sales. It is a bit complex to set it all up but if you can push through, the rewards are waiting for you on the other side. You’ll have full control over branding and pricing and your business will scale. Just be aware that ad spend is required but you can spend more at times of the year when you expect people to buy (Christmas for example) and your ads will become more visible and then you can drop your spend at other times.
So, to all those planning to take the leap in 2026 and start selling crafts online, we hope that some of these tips will help you to sail gracefully through digital waters! And if you need help with insurance for your online craft business, please do give us a call and Samantha or Naomi will be delighted to help you.