As a business owner, you think carefully about appealing to shoppers when branding, marketing, and promoting your items, and it’s essential to be just as strategic with your approach to shipping and order fulfillment. Preparation is key—from how you’re presenting shipping prices to encourage conversion and reduce surprises at checkout, to setting clear expectations around return policies and ensuring a positive customer experience.
This checklist covers the essentials of shipping successfully on Etsy, informed by buyer research and supported by tools to help streamline the process from start to finish. You’ll also find information about the Etsy search visibility page, and learn why listing quality factors like shipping price and having a return policy are so important. Let’s get started!
At a glance
❏ Improve your visibility with competitive shipping prices
❏ Set up a shipping workstation
❏ Leave your mark with branded marketing materials
❏ Add shipping and processing time to share estimated delivery dates
❏ Save time with shipping labels on Etsy
❏ Ship globally to grow your buyer base
❏ Double check your processing times
❏ Review your processing schedule
❏ Accurately mark orders as complete
❏ Keep customers in the loop as things develop
❏ Revise your ship-by date if a shipment is going to be delayed
❏ Maintain a policy for returns and exchanges
Start with the basics
❏ Improve your visibility with competitive shipping prices
Shoppers come to Etsy with expectations based on their other online shopping experiences and our research shows that presenting a lower shipping price to buyers can help you make sales.*
To help make sure that buyers see shipping prices that better meet their expectations when shopping on Etsy, and help encourage them to make purchases, starting October 1, 2024, we’ll be updating how shipping price is factored into search for US domestic listings. This means that listings with shipping prices lower than $6 will be prioritized in search (with some exceptions). Learn more.
We understand that shipping costs are outside of your control, and there’s an important distinction to make between shipping cost and shipping price: Shipping cost is the cost you pay to ship an item to a buyer, while shipping price is the price a shopper sees and the price they pay to receive your item.
Our data shows that high shipping prices can prevent buyers from making purchases. This means that shifting some of your shipping costs into your item price while keeping the total price the same can be an effective way to improve your sales. Our new tool is designed to help make it easier for you to set more competitive shipping prices by letting you optionally move some of your shipping costs into your item price.
While there will always be costs to package and ship items, you may consider ways to build those into your product pricing strategy in order to recover those costs while meeting customer expectations. To learn more about popular formulas for recovering shipping costs, read How to Price for Profit, Conversion, and Growth.
As you’re developing a competitive shipping strategy, you may also be wondering how free shipping fits into the equation. While search will prioritize all eligible listings with US domestic shipping prices less than $6, our data shows that free shipping leads to a higher purchase rate. If it makes sense for your business, consider free shipping as part of your shop’s shipping strategy to help with your search visibility and increase your chances of making a sale. Set up a free shipping guarantee.
❏ Set up a shipping workstation
Depending on the products you sell in your shop, your general packaging supplies will vary. A few good basics to start with include:
- Scale to determine the weight of your shipments
- Measuring tape to gauge the dimensions of your package
- Printer, for generating shipping labels and packing slips at home
For other packaging supplies like mailing envelopes, boxes, and fillers like bubble wrap or packing peanuts, it pays to do a bit of your own research online, especially if you’re interested in eco-friendly options. Buying supplies in bulk can also help reduce your costs. Read How to Set Up a Shipping Workstation for tips from other sellers.
❏ Leave your mark with branded marketing materials
In addition to the supplies needed to ship your item safely and securely, you may want to incorporate branded packaging and marketing materials, like business cards and thank-you notes. Think about the information you’d expect to receive as a buyer, as well as special details from past purchases that have resonated. For more ideas, read Leaving Your Mark With Branded Materials.
❏ Add shipping and processing time to share estimated delivery dates
Based on your listing’s processing time and shipping profile information including shipping services like carrier and mail class, and zip code, we’ll show shoppers an estimated delivery date range of when their items should arrive, making it easier to manage your orders and reducing the volume of messages from customers.
Just like a shipping profile lets you assign shipping details to multiple listings, processing profiles let you set a processing time for multiple listings or multiple variations. Your processing profiles will either have a “Ready to ship” or “Made to order” label based on your listing details.
Plus, if you’ve added shipping services like expedited shipping to your listings or shipping profiles, we'll adjust the estimated delivery date shown to buyers pre-purchase with more accurate info based on carrier delays. We’ll also let them know if the shipping carrier you’re using is experiencing delays that may extend their estimated delivery date once their order is en route. Review your shipping profiles.
❏ Save time with shipping labels on Etsy
Purchasing shipping labels on Etsy gives you access to a variety of benefits, from postage discounts to integrated tracking for many of the labels available. If you’re in the United States you can even save up to 30% compared to retail postage rates by purchasing USPS or FedEx shipping labels on Etsy!
In addition to tracking, shipping labels on Etsy help automate a variety of important steps in the fulfillment process to save you time. When you buy a domestic or international label on Etsy, we’ll fill in the buyer’s address and automatically mark the order as shipped. Plus, purchasing a shipping label on Etsy is a great way to help ensure your order’s eligibility for Etsy’s Purchase Protection program. To purchase a label, you’ll just navigate to the Orders & Shipping section of your Shop Manager, where you can then print your shipping label from the comfort of your own workspace, or visit the post office if you don't have a printer at home.
Bonus: Learn how experienced sellers are streamlining their order fulfillment process to make managing shipments easier and more affordable in this Case Study.
Sellers based in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom can also save time by purchasing shipping labels on Etsy and printing them at home! For sellers in other countries, you can purchase shipping labels through your preferred shipping carrier. Many shipping carriers offer shipping labels that you can purchase online and print at home.
❏ Ship globally to grow your buyer base
Whether you’re a new shop owner or have been selling for years, offering international shipping is a great way to open yourself up to a huge client base. Because most international buyers only see items that ship to their country while searching on Etsy, you'll allow them to find you by offering international shipping. Learn more.
Deliver on customer expectations with on-time shipping and tracking
Once you’ve made the sale, it’s important to fulfill and ship orders on time to help meet buyers’ expectations and needs. Etsy’s customer service standard is to ship at least 80% of orders on time within the review period. Shipping on time means your order is handed off to a shipping partner and you’ve marked it complete on Etsy by your order's ship-by date.
Plus, shipping at least 95% of your orders on time with tracking will also earn you a Star Seller badge for Smooth shipping, which is a great way to stand out to shoppers!
Here are some ways to keep your on-time percentage high and ensure your customers have a great fulfillment experience:
❏ Double check your processing times
Processing profiles indicate how much time you need to package or prepare an order to get it ready to ship. The processing time helps set expectations with buyers, and accurate processing times help you reliably ship your orders.
Quick delivery is an important factor for shoppers. Throughout the purchase experience, we’ll share updates with your buyers about their orders progress based on information you’ve provided, including your processing times and shipping service (mail class and carrier). Try adjusting your stated processing profiles to give buyers what they want, while staying realistic and accurate about the time it will take you to prepare the item and coordinate shipment.
If you’ve accounted for shipping times or potential delays in your processing profiles, we recommend removing that buffer. We’re closely monitoring the latest information from shipping carriers so if delays do occur, we’ll take care of adjusting the estimated delivery date accordingly.
❏ Review your processing schedule
Since every seller’s schedule looks a little different, you have the option to set an order processing schedule based on whether you’re packaging and preparing orders on the weekend. For sellers in the US and Canada, you can also set your processing schedule to include holidays.
By default all holidays are processing days but you can customize these settings according to your unique schedule. This added flexibility for weekend and holiday order processing helps ensure buyers get a more accurate estimate of when their packages will arrive. Keep in mind, if a ship-by date falls on a day when post offices are closed—such as Sundays or postal holidays—we’ll move it to the next business day for you.
❏ Offer shipping upgrades
With shipping upgrades, you can offer your buyers more shipping options, like the option to pay for expedited shipping during checkout. To confirm shipping upgrades are enabled for your shop, visit the Rates & upgrades tab in your shipping settings.
❏ Accurately mark orders as complete
When you complete an order, either by purchasing a shipping label on Etsy or by completing it manually, you must set a ship-by date for when you expect to hand the item over to the shipping carrier. An email is automatically sent to the buyer letting them know their order is in transit on the ship date you set.
- If you buy your shipping labels on Etsy, your order is automatically marked as complete. The buyer is then notified on the ship-by date you provided when purchasing your label—if your ship-by date is set for the same day, they’ll be notified right away, and if you set a ship-by date that’s in the future, you’ll see a note in your completed orders tab referring to the scheduled message.
- If you’re manually marking an order as complete, only do so once the package is handed off to the carrier.
Have a plan in place for unexpected hiccups
Chances are, you won’t encounter an issue when shipping an order, but sometimes things go wrong that are just out of your control. We understand that these issues can be expensive and frustrating for small businesses, so we want you to know we’re here to help when the unexpected happens. Learn how Etsy’s Purchase Protection program can give you peace of mind.
Note: Orders over $250 USD (including shipping and taxes) are not eligible for Etsy Purchase Protection. Because of this, we strongly recommend purchasing insurance when fulfilling your orders over $250.
Here are some tips for navigating shipping snafus:
❏ Consider shipping insurance
Purchasing shipping insurance can offer peace of mind against financial loss, especially for higher priced items. It can also provide a safety net in case an item is lost or damaged during shipping, making it simple to issue a refund to your buyer. You can learn more about how shipping insurance offerings vary by carrier here.
❏ Keep customers in the loop as things develop
Good communication shows your buyers that you’re moving forward with their orders and answers common questions. For example, don’t be afraid to confirm an address with a buyer if it appears to contain a misspelling. It’s also important to be transparent with your buyers if you can’t fulfill an order or meet your processing time. If you learn that an item is delayed in transit, tell your buyer as early as possible via messages so they’re not left wondering why their order didn’t arrive when expected.
Here’s an example of a message you can share with your buyer if you think an order may arrive later than expected:
I wanted to keep you updated on the status of your order. Due to potential shipping carrier delays, there’s a chance your package may not arrive on the originally estimated date. Rest assured I’ll keep you updated along the way as I get new information from the carrier. Please feel free to message me if you have any questions.
While it’s important to personalize the messages you send, you can save time getting started by using saved replies to keep a library of frequently used responses on hand.
❏ Revise your ship-by date if a shipment is going to be delayed
If there’s an unexpected delay and you won’t be able to ship an item on time, update your ship-by date for the existing order and add a note for the buyer about the delay.
You can edit the ship-by date once, as long as the original ship-by date hasn't passed, and the buyer has agreed to the new date. The new date must be within three weeks of the original date. Orders completed by their updated ship by date are still considered to be shipped on time. Learn more.
❏ Maintain a policy for returns and exchanges
Your listings should include a return policy so that buyers know whether you accept returns or exchanges before they make a purchase. While you don’t have to offer returns or exchanges on your items unless it’s required where you live, returns can be a great way to ensure a positive customer experience and encourage confidence with potential buyers. Add or review your shop’s return policy.
Note: If you enter into a transaction with a buyer that is located in the European Union, you are subject to comply with the EU Directive on Consumer Rights.
To see your shop’s personalized search insights and recommendations, check out the Etsy search visibility page in Shop Manager. Want to share your thoughts about the new Etsy Search Visibility page? Let us know here.
*Based on Etsy market research of a nationally representative survey of 6,000 US adults in Q1 '24; these findings are from a subsample of 2,052 respondents.
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Words by Etsy Staff
