This is the most informative, efficient, life saving, generous, time saving, kind human shit I’ve ever seen. It is truly wonderful to know that there are still people out there who want to share what they know for the sake of taking care of a community specifically our photo community. I am exhausted from taking on too many shoots and having zero time and my one goal this next year is to work smarter and more efficiently. I have spent months researching the best options for passive income as a photographer and you have just(in a matter of however many fast talking crystal clear minutes) answered all my questions and plenty more. I can’t tell you what a breath of fresh air that is. This is my first RUclips comment IN MY LIFE. Truly, thank you Alex
Holy crap. Alex. THANK YOU! Seriously - I think I'm going to print your comment as inspiration for the future, man! Let me know if you have questions - jerredz@gmail.com and I'll help you out (if I can!). Have a great day.
As someone just starting to set up a shop to sell prints, I really REALLY appreciate your thorough walkthrough. You’ve saved me hours of work. Bless you sir
Thank you Jarred for this video. This is perhaps the most useful and practical how to video I have seen in a long, long time. You just saved me a bunch of time trying to figure out how to list my photos on Etsy. Good luck with your adventure and thank you again. I posted a question here but then I looked at your other videos and found the answer. You rock my friend.
Thank you for this. I’ve been wanting to sell my photography for a while but I get so overwhelmed thinking about the process of doing it. This make it so simple for me.
This video was amazing and super informative. I have been wanting to start an Etsy shop but had no idea where to start and kept putting off doing this. I have a ton of automotive photography that I would love to try to sell as wall art for man caves, gorges, and offices but had no idea how to even try to sell these images. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to make this video and help others out.
I am so inspired after watching your straight forward, clear and honest approach to selling photograph images on Etsy! Having reached a deep dip in my economic situation I decided to research this as a way to pick it up a bit and thankfully yours was the first video I found. WOW! and look at every comment you have received! I am obviously not alone in appreciating your beautifully real approach to making selling on Etsy a possibility. There are not enough thumbs ups I can give you for what you have done for informing and inspiring me to put my 30K images to work (ok, after critique, maybe now only 300 - but still, they need a job, too). Thank you Jarred and many blessings for your continued successes!
As a father and husband who just made a massive change in my life by walking away from my full time job,finding this vid is a blessing as I love and have lots of photos paper and digital that I’ve been collected through the years. This could be a very passive way to earn some money. I love all your tips and look forward to watching more of your content. Thank you
Thank you so much for your very informative video! I am an amateur photographer. I have been encouraged by others who see the photographs in my house to sell them. I have been looking into setting up my own etsy shop, but I truly had no idea where to begin. I feel much better about where to start after watching your video! Thank you!
After coming across your video by chance, this is the first video on the topic of etsy and photography I've ever watched. And it was very inspiring!! I value your take on it not being get rich quick. As well as your honesty with your accomplishments and setbacks. Humble. Helpful. Genuine. Keep it up out there!
SCOTT! Thank you for making my day, friend. I'll try to make some more content like this because I agree there isn't a lot of honest talk around this stuff out there!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, ideas and expertise! For me, as a long time photographer and designer looking for ways to generate some (mostly) passive income from my personal archives, it was pitched perfectly. I really appreciate the time and energy you've put into making this.
Thank you very much for this video. My goal is to start selling photos on Etsy, but I wasn't sure how to get started doing this until I watched your informative video!!!
. I been wanting to do a beach theme /nature photography store front, but I haven't had the courage to do it. This is so helpful , thank you for sharing!
Your video really helped me getting started on Etsy. I've made six sales in the first month. So thank you. Etsy should promote your video. Happy new Year, Jon Albert.
Jon!!!!! You made my day, man. Seriously - thank you for letting me know, and CONGRATS on six sales in the first month. I am pretty sure it took me like 4 years to get six sales! LOL! Good luck in 2023, friend!
Thanks Jarred, I have been considering how to sell my work, purely to contribute to my photography costs as you suggest is part of your motivation. I will certainly be looking into Etsy now and working out a pilot plan. Great work and thanks again for sharing your experience and insights. Go well.
Hey, Bernard! That's awesome - it takes some time initially, but then it goes a little on autopilot if you are short on time and just want some side money to add up over time. If you have any questions, let me know - I'm not an expert but I'll share my knowledge!
Jarred, great intro to selling on Etsy. I have done photography for most of my life, have thousands of photos and would like to share those images with others. If they want to buy some, great. Thanks for your insights.
You are amazing. Thank you for taking the time to create this video. It is clear, easy to understand and speaks to me as someone who is just starting Etsy. Big Hug. You saved my day, actually you saved me a couple weeks of work
Thank you so much for doing this video. I have so many pictures I have taken and have wondered what I could do with them. I do have an Etsy but have never actually thought of this. Your pictures are beautiful.
You are too cool my friend. Love your presentation and willingness to help. Your art is awesome and your demeanor helps all of us comfortable and inspired to watch and listen. I’m just starting to look at the web for ways to sell photos. Lots of ideas in this vid. Thank you sir. Your awesome. F
AWESOME How To Etsy Video. I Love how you break is all down. QUESTION: 1) Can you recommend some great Print direct Photo online companies for Drop-Ship. 2) How can I protect Digital File Orders vs just sale on demand print orders? Also for LARGER prints what Mega Pixel should a Photo be when printing Large Photos? Thanks for All that you do Jerred.
Thank you! As for question 1 - I personally love Finerworks - really good quality and the prices are fine too. On that front, you could also talk to any local printers around you to see if they’d be willing to do this for you as well. I have a great guy that also does this for me, and it just depends on what people order which person I use to ship. 2 - You can’t really protect your images. once you decide to do digital print-at-home files, you are releasing them to the public. All you can really do is make sure the listing talks about your strict and limited licensing. 3 - You should target 200-300 resolution (generally and depending on the printing surface) at the target file print output. So if you want to print at 20x30, if you crop it to those dimensions, go to Photoshop and “Image - Image size.” The resolution shown will be your output. That is what should be 200 or above (depending on the surface… canvas prints at lower resolution generally, for instance). hope this helps!
I don't offer digital downloads yet.. but if I do that, it won't be with my "best" photos - and there's nothing you can really do if someone wants to steal something. If you want to register your work with the copyright office, that's the best that you can do, then if someone steals it you have a stronger case for actual damages to sue for!
Thanks Jerred! I love photography and I am seriously thinking about taking a course. I feel that I have an eye. TEacher here, your video on quitting after 18 years led me to your channel. Thanks for your content!
Really really appreciate you making this video, you're such a kind human! I'm starting an Etsy store to sell my photography prints too as a side business and this was incredibly helpful, I needed to be walked through 'cause it can get confusing. Thank you thank you thank you! You've got yourself a new subscriber :)
Thank you!! Thank you!! For the helpful information. I’ve been wanting to start my shop with my photography prints but wasn’t sure how to do it. I’ve been looking for awhile trying to find someone to explain this better on the how to. I can across your video and I was like finally a photographer that is explaining what I’ve been looking for.
Hey brother! I am following you after watching your Why Inquit teaching video. I have been trying to leave for years. Please talk about jobs teachers can do.
Hey!! Thank you for watching. You know... it's tough. I want to do more teacher videos because I think it could help people... but I'm also not sure if I want to keep getting back into that mental space! As for jobs teachers can do... that's a good one. I got lucky, I think - but I've talked to others who have left and landed on their feet. If I were to do another teacher video, this might be one I could do!
Excellent video, honest and informative, thanks for sharing. Do you also do the shipping? or you just pass the order to the local shop and they print and ship it for you? Thanks. 🙂🙏
Very helpful video! I have considered selling prints online for years, but haven't felt comfortable about taking the plunge. The returns are what concern me the most. Some larger prints can cost a lot of money and having to eat the cost of just 1 or 2 returns could wipe out any possible profit for the year. Ugh...I'm still not sure if I'm ready for that gamble!
Well... that's one of those things. I don't think you should let that hold you back. I've only had one return done in all my years doing Etsy, and I just gave the woman a refund. In the scope of things, I've made far more than the drawback of a return or two!
Thank you so much for this informative video Jarred. I love what you said on your website: You walked out to pursue your passion for photography and creativity after 20 years of being a high school teacher. I think you are still an educator and someone who inspired people but to a different audience :). I am very inspired to start my journey of expanding my photography of many years and to share it with others on different platforms such as Etsy. I feel you have given me a good head start on the platform. Thank you :) I have a question regarding different sizes of images. I generally shoot raw images, and when you corp to 5x7 or 8x10, the image looks slightly different due to cropping. Do you show your image in full format, or do you display the correct size when someone is selecting a size to order?
Thank you so much!! For me, I don’t show the different crop sizes. I just state in my description that, “Different crop sizes will have a different crop than what appears here, where the photographer makes the final judgement on dropping…” or something like that. I might not even say it in that long of a way. I’ve been doing it for years and no one has been upset yet!
thank you very very much for all this important information . I was thinking about selling my photos in Etsy , but I didn't know how to start , or how to do so many things to get to that , so I lived the project for the future . but thanks to your video , I may be able to do it a lot sooner . thank you very much in did : ) pd : I think that your Idea of doing your shop , a little more open , in terms of deco in general , is going to be a lot better for you and your sales . is less narrow the path for people to find you . your photos are great , anyone will want to have one , knowing , or not knowing where the photo was taken , you can reach by far much more people , by putting your shop in a more generic term , in the sense of , not only about Nebraska . I think you are going to have really good change in that direction... best regards sorry for my English , is not my first language : )
Chad - actually really good so far. My customers have all been happy, and I've even gotten a review where the people commented on the professional packaging, so that's awesome. I had some stuff delivered to my home, and it did look great! So right now two thumbs up!
Fantastic, thank you Jerred. Super down to earth and practical advice. I'm in the process of getting my first ten listings, tweaking along the way as I learn more information from the videos I'm watching. I'm also looking to buy a new camera, which equipment do you use? Thanks again!
First off, this video is super informative and very much appreciated. Thank you! I have a question about the quality of photos. I want to get started building a brand and would love to get a few products on Etsy to test the waters. My concern is if the photos I've taken will still be quality once made larger. Any tips? Sorry for the dumb question, I am new!
Well, you just need to print them, right? I’d reach out to a printer and ask if they would do samples. Sometimes they’ll do them for free, and sometimes they’ll do them “at cost” so you can test the waters. That has worked well for me in the past when checking out how well my photos would look at different photo labs. Good luck!
This was really helpful. The biggest question I have is fulfillment. Could you share how you work with your printer and the logistics of an order to communicating with the printer and shipping it to the customer?
Thanks, Mike! For me, I keep it simple. I see the order come in, so I contact the buyer and say "thank you." I send the file to my printer, who gets it, prints it, boxes it up and ships it out. I have him include little "thank you" cards that I write out here - they are small 5x5 or so prints that I write something nice on the back of. Then he sends me the tracking number - I then input the tracking number into Etsy, tell the customer "thank you," and that's about it! My volume is not high though - if I had a lot to print every week, I'd maybe think about something else? But for me, this works right now. Thanks for watching!
Jerred - this was amazing! I really appreciate you sharing all those details. I already have a small Etsy store for some of my hand-made jewelry, but I am actually a photographer who hasn't looked at selling my personal travel and landscape work. Funny, eh? I looked at a few store fronts and was trying to figure out how to get those bedroom and living room photos done with one's own artwork, but did not consider Canva. That was the big AHA moment for me. Game changer! Thank you! Thank you! You may have another video on this already, (in which case a link would be appreciated), but my question is this: what is your workflow once you receive an order? I know you said you use a local to you printer, which presumably you upload the file to and place the print order, but then what? Does the lab simply ship it for you? Or do you ship it so you can "brand" your sale? It seems that including extras, like a coupon, business cards, extra print gift, etc. would require you to do it. Which then means you are packing the order and running to the post office or or shipper's office. Obviously there are pros and cons. Just wondering what your perspective is, since you have a very realistic and down-to-earth approach and are not peddling the solution to another "get-rich-quick-scheme". (Another thing I truly appreciate!) Thanks again for your generosity in sharing! Christine
Christine! THANK YOU so much for your kind comment. I love it. Seriously made my morning. Now... for your question... my workflow is basically this: Get the order and figure out which is the best option to get it to the customer. Most of the time it's either FinerWorks.com or my local printer. My local printer is what I use most often - simply because of the reasons you state. Working with him I can get "thank you" cards and freebies in the box (I give him a stack of hand-written ones every so often). He's awesome in this respect. Now... with some of the other print-on-demand solutions (like Finerworks), I sent them my logo, so they do brand each item going out with my logo and their packaging looks good already. I know that for bigger items, shipping is cheaper on Finerworks too. I would totally invest in a larger format printer and do it all on my own if I could charge more. I probably could... but honestly I don't want to do all that work. Sounds lazy, but all of this is a balance of time and cost, right? Right now I don't spend much time at all doing any of this, and I still make a meaningful side income that can literally pay for some of my gas and hotels (or equipment) with little work. I think a video on this topic would be good too though!!!! Thanks again.
This was a great video and very informative. My question is am I better to send an actual print, I am in a small town and there are no printers, or would I be successful selling a digital print that could be downloaded and printed by the customer.
Hey!! So you'd have to print your own stuff, OR you could get a "print-on-demand." service to do it, right? Someone like Printful, Printify - or Finerworks (there are many others). And the digital download thing might work, but there is even more fear here for theft and sharing the files than if someone bought physical prints. However, I've seen several shops doing it very successfully!
Thank you for this video! What website did you use for your product mockups? I can't find a good website to upload my photography in mockup frames/scenes to show off what they'll look like. Thank you!
Well, I usually use Canva - they have a whole section for mockups (smart mockups I think they are called) - but "smartist" is an iPad app that is pretty awesome too!
Thank you for sharing this, Jerred. I’m thinking of selling some of my photos on Etsy - print on demand perhaps to canvas by a company like Printify. Would you mind sharing what you suggest the resolution of my photos should be for the best quality? Thanks so much and best of luck to you.
As far as resolution, almost anything can go to like 20 inches on the long side. So even older stuff works fine. It really just depends on how big you want to go. The rule of thumb for me is to try to get to 250 or 300 resolution at the size I want to print. (you can do that by going to Phosohop - "Edit - Image Size" and then switch to "inches" and see what resolution you get at what size). The larger you go the more resolution you need (in general).
Jarred, thanks for taking the time to make such a helpful and down-to-earth video for regular folks like us! I have a quick question not really covered in the video: what do you use for photo editing? I'm making an assumption that it's Photoshop or some other Adobe product. I was trying to avoid something expensive or with a subscription fee, if possible, but maybe it's worth it?
Hey, Steve! Thank you for the kind comment! As far as photo editing goes, I use Lightroom personally for about 90% of my needs. There are free alternatives to Lightroom out there - and even Apple Photos does a good job. The alternatives might not have some advanced things like masking, but if you're not going to do much of that, then they'd work fine!
Donnie, I don't - but I do know some people who do that with all of their photos. I'm not sure if there is a right or wrong answer to that one, even though I've asked and gotten many different responses!
@@rclproductions5961 That really depends, RCL. It might take time to figure out - for best sellers, you'll need more, but those will reveal themselves in time!
Dear Jerred. Thx for your video. I like your channel. It’s authentic. Do I understand correctly that you do not do drop shipping? Do you accept the order and have the print produced on site and then send it yourself? Does that mean you enter the prices of your service provider in Etsy manually? I'm very interested in this topic and I haven't heard good things about Printful, Etsy and anything related to fees. Many Etsy users have reported that the fees cannot be accurately determined in advance and they have lost on their sales. In addition i like your Fuji content. I am also a big Fuji fan and also make videos about it but in German :) Greetings from Germany Udo
Hello, Udo in Germany! Thank you for your kind comments! Well, I do a mix of drop shipping and working with a local printer. I actually find that Finerworks is GREAT quality, and while not the cheapest, they have nice packaging and the prints look great. They are pretty easy to work with. As far as Etsy fees, they honestly aren't terrible. When you consider the platform brings people there, I haven't found them to be so bad. I adjust my prices accordingly. Maybe I should look into doing a video about the fees - but it wouldn't be a long one - for me it's pretty simple. BUT maybe that's because I don't do thousands of dollars a month?
So one place that I have used and has great quality is "FinerWorks" - they have what seems to be a great service so far, and will even communicate with your etsy store to mark something as shipped with the tracking included - so that is something I love.
I'm planning to do the same thing. A whole bunch of photos but also would like to maximise my financial returns. Would be great I can get a return! Cheers!
Could you sell surf shots to surfers out surfing on a specific day.I would uploading at least 50 shots of the shoot for the surfers to choose which one of them they like.Just wondering if you could do that with Etsy do you think.I would hand out cards advertising that i was thr at the beach taking photos that day of the surfers.
Thanks for sharing this synopsis of your Etsy experience! As I consider setting up a shop of my own, the biggest question is fulfillment. I don't know of any local printing companies and wonder if you found any online options during your research. I'd love to find a great quality online partner and potentially purchase my own printer as funds arrive. Thanks again.
Marcus, a few years ago I ordered prints from a bunch of dropshippers to see the quality from them. I was happy with most of them, but I could never shake the idea that I was out of the loop a bit - with the local printer, he lets me know if there's a problem. There are WAY more dropshipping options today than there were just a few years ago, so I would recommend you just try to look at some of those and see how they get shipped and what the quality is. Some even let you put your own branding on the packaging, including inserts. You just send them the stuff and they put those into the box/packaging in fulfillment, which I thought was kind of cool! I wish I had more direct help for you beyond this, but I wish you luck, Marcus!
I do not, Maggie. It's so easy for anyone to remove them anyway, so I find it a waste of time and something that distracts from the image. Others have different opinions though, so it's really up to you!
I just started an Canvas Art store. I am seeing this craft type now in the listing part. Category is Stretched Canvas but under that i can check the craft type. Should i check all the craft types to be seen as much as possible or should i just do the ones that are specific to my item. There are only 5 boxes i can check. Thanks
Thanks Jerred for sharing your experience.❤ Your photo prints look awesome. Out of curiosity have you ever considered selling a printable version of your work? I know that the legal protection of your work could be difficult and ...
Hello! Yes, I've considered selling printable digital files and I've seen a lot of shops that have success that way. I just can't imagine giving my full high resolution files "away." No matter what, they have that file, and it's so easy to give it away.... maybe I'm being paranoid and no one would care.... but I can't shake that feeling!
Hey Jerred, thank you so much for this video! I am currently sorting all my pictures and was wondering something in the meantime: How do you compensate the printing costs? If I am looking for a canvas printing (16x20), that already costs me 20 USD without shipping. I didnt want to overprice, but seems like the margin stays relatively small then :-/
This is tough, right? You have to charge what you need to charge in order to make a profit, which for me means that I won't sell as many things compared to others that are cheaper. I think it's just one of those things -create value and give people something they can't get anywhere else, and they might buy it, right?
You are a fantastic educator! Thank you for your informative guidance!
Thank you for speaking realistically about this. Also, thanks for the content ❤
This is the most informative, efficient, life saving, generous, time saving, kind human shit I’ve ever seen. It is truly wonderful to know that there are still people out there who want to share what they know for the sake of taking care of a community specifically our photo community. I am exhausted from taking on too many shoots and having zero time and my one goal this next year is to work smarter and more efficiently. I have spent months researching the best options for passive income as a photographer and you have just(in a matter of however many fast talking crystal clear minutes) answered all my questions and plenty more. I can’t tell you what a breath of fresh air that is. This is my first RUclips comment IN MY LIFE.
Truly, thank you
Alex
Holy crap. Alex. THANK YOU! Seriously - I think I'm going to print your comment as inspiration for the future, man! Let me know if you have questions - jerredz@gmail.com and I'll help you out (if I can!). Have a great day.
Thank you so much! You are literally the most legit and informative person I have ever watched! Your rock!!!
Ashley! THANK YOU - and go out and sell some images, okay? :).
As someone just starting to set up a shop to sell prints, I really REALLY appreciate your thorough walkthrough. You’ve saved me hours of work. Bless you sir
Jake! Thank you for letting me know, and good luck selling!!!!
How did it go?
Thank you Jarred for this video. This is perhaps the most useful and practical how to video I have seen in a long, long time. You just saved me a bunch of time trying to figure out how to list my photos on Etsy. Good luck with your adventure and thank you again.
I posted a question here but then I looked at your other videos and found the answer. You rock my friend.
Thank you for the wealth of information! You have helped so many of us that are at the beginning stages of Etsy!
Thank you for this. I’ve been wanting to sell my photography for a while but I get so overwhelmed thinking about the process of doing it. This make it so simple for me.
Wow! Thanks for the comment, and I'm so happy I was able to help!
This video was amazing and super informative. I have been wanting to start an Etsy shop but had no idea where to start and kept putting off doing this. I have a ton of automotive photography that I would love to try to sell as wall art for man caves, gorges, and offices but had no idea how to even try to sell these images. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to make this video and help others out.
AWESOME! I’m glad it helped!
I am so inspired after watching your straight forward, clear and honest approach to selling photograph images on Etsy! Having reached a deep dip in my economic situation I decided to research this as a way to pick it up a bit and thankfully yours was the first video I found. WOW! and look at every comment you have received! I am obviously not alone in appreciating your beautifully real approach to making selling on Etsy a possibility. There are not enough thumbs ups I can give you for what you have done for informing and inspiring me to put my 30K images to work (ok, after critique, maybe now only 300 - but still, they need a job, too). Thank you Jarred and many blessings for your continued successes!
I didn’t know Canva had Etsy shop covers? Thank you for this!
No problem, Karen - I wish you well!
Thanks so much for sharing useful info!! Wonderful! You're great! Love your photos too! Blessings to you!
It’s nice to find honest videos out there !
Extremely helpful and motivating. Thanks for the tips and insights Jerred. You answered so many of my questions!
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know, and good luck!!!
As a father and husband who just made a massive change in my life by walking away from my full time job,finding this vid is a blessing as I love and have lots of photos paper and digital that I’ve been collected through the years. This could be a very passive way to earn some money. I love all your tips and look forward to watching more of your content. Thank you
Fantastic! Good on you man! And If you ever need anything, just reach out!
Thank you so much for sharing this! You are a huge blessing
Making my own mockups!! Tip of the month🙂 Can't believe I didn't think of that THANKS A MILLION 😸
You're so welcome!
Thank you so much for this video. I really appreciate how plain spoken and straight forward you are. I'll be looking for more of your videos!!
Thank you so much for your very informative video! I am an amateur photographer. I have been encouraged by others who see the photographs in my house to sell them. I have been looking into setting up my own etsy shop, but I truly had no idea where to begin. I feel much better about where to start after watching your video! Thank you!
Thank you for this clear and straightforward video! This helps me a lot.
After coming across your video by chance, this is the first video on the topic of etsy and photography I've ever watched. And it was very inspiring!! I value your take on it not being get rich quick. As well as your honesty with your accomplishments and setbacks. Humble. Helpful. Genuine. Keep it up out there!
SCOTT! Thank you for making my day, friend. I'll try to make some more content like this because I agree there isn't a lot of honest talk around this stuff out there!
Absolutely fantastic advice! What a change to have realistic advice instead of all the get rich quick garbage. Thank you so much!!
Oh man. I agree. I want to do some more videos just because I absolutely hate the "get rich easy" people. Thank you for your comment!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, ideas and expertise! For me, as a long time photographer and designer looking for ways to generate some (mostly) passive income from my personal archives, it was pitched perfectly. I really appreciate the time and energy you've put into making this.
Thank you so much! I live In Council Bluffs I recognize a few of your awesome photos!
Hey, Kathy! Thank you! And hello from across the water - I bike ride through that area all the time!
Thank you very much for this video. My goal is to start selling photos on Etsy, but I wasn't sure how to get started doing this until I watched your informative video!!!
. I been wanting to do a beach theme /nature photography store front, but I haven't had the courage to do it. This is so helpful , thank you for sharing!
Glad it was helpful!
Just started an Etsy shop and this info was SO helpful. Thank you!
That's AWESOME, Johanna! Sell a ton, okay!
Your video really helped me getting started on Etsy. I've made six sales in the first month. So thank you. Etsy should promote your video.
Happy new Year,
Jon Albert.
Jon!!!!! You made my day, man. Seriously - thank you for letting me know, and CONGRATS on six sales in the first month. I am pretty sure it took me like 4 years to get six sales! LOL! Good luck in 2023, friend!
Thanks Jarred, I have been considering how to sell my work, purely to contribute to my photography costs as you suggest is part of your motivation. I will certainly be looking into Etsy now and working out a pilot plan. Great work and thanks again for sharing your experience and insights. Go well.
Hey, Bernard! That's awesome - it takes some time initially, but then it goes a little on autopilot if you are short on time and just want some side money to add up over time. If you have any questions, let me know - I'm not an expert but I'll share my knowledge!
Jarred, great intro to selling on Etsy. I have done photography for most of my life, have thousands of photos and would like to share those images with others. If they want to buy some, great. Thanks for your insights.
Thank you very much for taking the time to make such a detailed and informative video! You've really helped me understand the market!
You are amazing. Thank you for taking the time to create this video. It is clear, easy to understand and speaks to me as someone who is just starting Etsy. Big Hug. You saved my day, actually you saved me a couple weeks of work
THANK YOU for letting me know! If you have any other questions, let me know and just email me!
Thank you Jerred !
Amazing video, thank you so much. I have been researching how to sell my prints on Etsy and your video is great. Thank you !!
Awesome! I'm glad you found it helpful!
Thank you so much for doing this video. I have so many pictures I have taken and have wondered what I could do with them. I do have an Etsy but have never actually thought of this. Your pictures are beautiful.
Thanks so much! YES - get them on Etsy and start to make some money on your beautiful work. If you need help, let me know!
You are too cool my friend. Love your presentation and willingness to help. Your art is awesome and your demeanor helps all of us comfortable and inspired to watch and listen. I’m just starting to look at the web for ways to sell photos. Lots of ideas in this vid. Thank you sir. Your awesome. F
So cool, Freddy! Get on there and sell your work, my man! Thanks for the compliments - if you need anything, just reach out!
Very nice shop and great photos!
AWESOME How To Etsy Video. I Love how you break is all down. QUESTION: 1) Can you recommend some great Print direct Photo online companies for Drop-Ship. 2) How can I protect Digital File Orders vs just sale on demand print orders? Also for LARGER prints what Mega Pixel should a Photo be when printing Large Photos? Thanks for All that you do Jerred.
Thank you! As for question 1 - I personally love Finerworks - really good quality and the prices are fine too. On that front, you could also talk to any local printers around you to see if they’d be willing to do this for you as well. I have a great guy that also does this for me, and it just depends on what people order which person I use to ship. 2 - You can’t really protect your images. once you decide to do digital print-at-home files, you are releasing them to the public. All you can really do is make sure the listing talks about your strict and limited licensing. 3 - You should target 200-300 resolution (generally and depending on the printing surface) at the target file print output. So if you want to print at 20x30, if you crop it to those dimensions, go to Photoshop and “Image - Image size.” The resolution shown will be your output. That is what should be 200 or above (depending on the surface… canvas prints at lower resolution generally, for instance). hope this helps!
Jerred, this is great stuff. You motivated me. Thank you.
Awesome! Thank you! Go and sell some stuff - and remember it takes TIME - lots of listing and time is important!!
Thank you! This is really helpful information! I didn't know about Canva!
Only 8 minutes in but loving this. I actually use Canva at work, and never though of it for this! Looking forward to enjoying the rest
Love your work and really enjoyed your video regarding Etsy.
Thank you so much!
TY bro
Putting my photos out there
Just put together my banner on Canva
Much love
Hey, much love back. GO sell a BUNCH of photos, my man!
Thank you so much! I’ve been sitting here for a week trying to figure out how to create mock-ups. 🤗
Sheba - how awesome! I'm glad it helped - if you need anything, let me know!
Thank you! Blessings Always! ❤
Thank you so much, it’s clear and so helpful, did you think about selling digital downloads and how you protect your work from copyrights?
I don't offer digital downloads yet.. but if I do that, it won't be with my "best" photos - and there's nothing you can really do if someone wants to steal something. If you want to register your work with the copyright office, that's the best that you can do, then if someone steals it you have a stronger case for actual damages to sue for!
Wow excellent video with great information!! Thank you very much!!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks Jerred! I love photography and I am seriously thinking about taking a course. I feel that I have an eye. TEacher here, your video on quitting after 18 years led me to your channel. Thanks for your content!
Oh, Monique! How cool - thank you so much! And if you need anything, let me know - I love helping people feel confident in their photography! :)
Really helpful! And you come across as a really nice guy btw. Im going to start to set up an Etsy account today. Cheers for the help.
William!!!! YOU ROCK! Good job opening an account - if you need me, just ask!
Thanks for this man, such a well made video, no BS ! Love that Jarred , you'll go far on youtube i think
Thanks, Soren! I hope so. It's been fun, and I appreciate your encouragement far more than you know!
Thank you for such a thorough walkthrough! This is really helpful and makes everything feel doable.
You’ve covered a lot of useful points, thanks for posting.
My pleasure!
Really really appreciate you making this video, you're such a kind human!
I'm starting an Etsy store to sell my photography prints too as a side business and this was incredibly helpful, I needed to be walked through 'cause it can get confusing. Thank you thank you thank you! You've got yourself a new subscriber :)
Awesome! I'm glad I was able to help - and YES,it can all be so confusing, right? Nothing is easy - but I'm glad I helped a bit!
Thank you!! Thank you!! For the helpful information. I’ve been wanting to start my shop with my photography prints but wasn’t sure how to do it. I’ve been looking for awhile trying to find someone to explain this better on the how to. I can across your video and I was like finally a photographer that is explaining what I’ve been looking for.
Sonya! I'm so glad it was helpful - if you have questions, let me know!
Hey brother! I am following you after watching your Why Inquit teaching video. I have been trying to leave for years. Please talk about jobs teachers can do.
Hey!! Thank you for watching. You know... it's tough. I want to do more teacher videos because I think it could help people... but I'm also not sure if I want to keep getting back into that mental space! As for jobs teachers can do... that's a good one. I got lucky, I think - but I've talked to others who have left and landed on their feet. If I were to do another teacher video, this might be one I could do!
This is such a great video, thank you!!!!! You are a great person
Thank you for this helpful video!
Thx for the inspiration Jarred!
Hey - I'm glad it helped! Go sell some art!
I'm thinking to make an Etsy account after getting stuck on Shutterstock. Thank you for this, kind Sir!
You are welcome!
This helped me a lot! Thank you so much!
Awesome! I'm glad. Go sell some photos!!!
Excellent video, honest and informative, thanks for sharing. Do you also do the shipping? or you just pass the order to the local shop and they print and ship it for you? Thanks. 🙂🙏
Mostly the local shop ships for me - rarely do I ship out stuff myself!
@@JerredZ good to know that, thanks! :)
Very helpful video! I have considered selling prints online for years, but haven't felt comfortable about taking the plunge. The returns are what concern me the most. Some larger prints can cost a lot of money and having to eat the cost of just 1 or 2 returns could wipe out any possible profit for the year. Ugh...I'm still not sure if I'm ready for that gamble!
Well... that's one of those things. I don't think you should let that hold you back. I've only had one return done in all my years doing Etsy, and I just gave the woman a refund. In the scope of things, I've made far more than the drawback of a return or two!
Thanks@@JerredZ! I took the plunge and started my Etsy store. Just promoted today on my socials and already have a couple of sales!
Your video is super helpful! Love it! ☺️How can I place a copyright notice in my photos?
Great video! Thank you!
You are welcome!
Great video, thank you
Thank you so much for this informative video Jarred. I love what you said on your website: You walked out to pursue your passion for photography and creativity after 20 years of being a high school teacher. I think you are still an educator and someone who inspired people but to a different audience :). I am very inspired to start my journey of expanding my photography of many years and to share it with others on different platforms such as Etsy. I feel you have given me a good head start on the platform. Thank you :)
I have a question regarding different sizes of images. I generally shoot raw images, and when you corp to 5x7 or 8x10, the image looks slightly different due to cropping. Do you show your image in full format, or do you display the correct size when someone is selecting a size to order?
Thank you so much!! For me, I don’t show the different crop sizes. I just state in my description that, “Different crop sizes will have a different crop than what appears here, where the photographer makes the final judgement on dropping…” or something like that. I might not even say it in that long of a way. I’ve been doing it for years and no one has been upset yet!
This definitely helped me .
thank you very very much for all this important information . I was thinking about selling my photos in Etsy , but I didn't know how to start , or how to do so many things to get to that , so I lived the project for the future .
but thanks to your video , I may be able to do it a lot sooner . thank you very much in did : )
pd : I think that your Idea of doing your shop , a little more open , in terms of deco in general , is going to be a lot better for you and your sales . is less narrow the path for people to find you . your photos are great , anyone will want to have one , knowing , or not knowing where the photo was taken , you can reach by far much more people , by putting your shop in a more generic term , in the sense of , not only about Nebraska . I think you are going to have really good change in that direction...
best regards
sorry for my English , is not my first language
: )
Great info, thanks Jarred.
Hey - I'm glad you got something out of it!
Brillant idea doing it by states! How has your experience been with Finerworks?!
Chad - actually really good so far. My customers have all been happy, and I've even gotten a review where the people commented on the professional packaging, so that's awesome. I had some stuff delivered to my home, and it did look great! So right now two thumbs up!
Fantastic, thank you Jerred. Super down to earth and practical advice. I'm in the process of getting my first ten listings, tweaking along the way as I learn more information from the videos I'm watching. I'm also looking to buy a new camera, which equipment do you use? Thanks again!
That's awesome that it helped! I shoot with Fuji X and Fuji GFX mostly, but any modern camera will do AMAZING things!
Thanks!
You're welcome!
Thanks !!
Thanks
First off, this video is super informative and very much appreciated. Thank you!
I have a question about the quality of photos. I want to get started building a brand and would love to get a few products on Etsy to test the waters. My concern is if the photos I've taken will still be quality once made larger. Any tips? Sorry for the dumb question, I am new!
Well, you just need to print them, right? I’d reach out to a printer and ask if they would do samples. Sometimes they’ll do them for free, and sometimes they’ll do them “at cost” so you can test the waters. That has worked well for me in the past when checking out how well my photos would look at different photo labs. Good luck!
@@JerredZ makes sense. Thanks for that insight!
This was really helpful. The biggest question I have is fulfillment. Could you share how you work with your printer and the logistics of an order to communicating with the printer and shipping it to the customer?
Thanks, Mike! For me, I keep it simple. I see the order come in, so I contact the buyer and say "thank you." I send the file to my printer, who gets it, prints it, boxes it up and ships it out. I have him include little "thank you" cards that I write out here - they are small 5x5 or so prints that I write something nice on the back of. Then he sends me the tracking number - I then input the tracking number into Etsy, tell the customer "thank you," and that's about it! My volume is not high though - if I had a lot to print every week, I'd maybe think about something else? But for me, this works right now. Thanks for watching!
Jerred - this was amazing! I really appreciate you sharing all those details. I already have a small Etsy store for some of my hand-made jewelry, but I am actually a photographer who hasn't looked at selling my personal travel and landscape work. Funny, eh? I looked at a few store fronts and was trying to figure out how to get those bedroom and living room photos done with one's own artwork, but did not consider Canva. That was the big AHA moment for me. Game changer! Thank you! Thank you!
You may have another video on this already, (in which case a link would be appreciated), but my question is this: what is your workflow once you receive an order? I know you said you use a local to you printer, which presumably you upload the file to and place the print order, but then what? Does the lab simply ship it for you? Or do you ship it so you can "brand" your sale? It seems that including extras, like a coupon, business cards, extra print gift, etc. would require you to do it. Which then means you are packing the order and running to the post office or or shipper's office. Obviously there are pros and cons. Just wondering what your perspective is, since you have a very realistic and down-to-earth approach and are not peddling the solution to another "get-rich-quick-scheme". (Another thing I truly appreciate!)
Thanks again for your generosity in sharing!
Christine
Christine! THANK YOU so much for your kind comment. I love it. Seriously made my morning. Now... for your question... my workflow is basically this: Get the order and figure out which is the best option to get it to the customer. Most of the time it's either FinerWorks.com or my local printer. My local printer is what I use most often - simply because of the reasons you state. Working with him I can get "thank you" cards and freebies in the box (I give him a stack of hand-written ones every so often). He's awesome in this respect. Now... with some of the other print-on-demand solutions (like Finerworks), I sent them my logo, so they do brand each item going out with my logo and their packaging looks good already. I know that for bigger items, shipping is cheaper on Finerworks too. I would totally invest in a larger format printer and do it all on my own if I could charge more. I probably could... but honestly I don't want to do all that work. Sounds lazy, but all of this is a balance of time and cost, right? Right now I don't spend much time at all doing any of this, and I still make a meaningful side income that can literally pay for some of my gas and hotels (or equipment) with little work. I think a video on this topic would be good too though!!!! Thanks again.
This was a great video and very informative. My question is am I better to send an actual print, I am in a small town and there are no printers, or would I be successful selling a digital print that could be downloaded and printed by the customer.
Hey!! So you'd have to print your own stuff, OR you could get a "print-on-demand." service to do it, right? Someone like Printful, Printify - or Finerworks (there are many others). And the digital download thing might work, but there is even more fear here for theft and sharing the files than if someone bought physical prints. However, I've seen several shops doing it very successfully!
Thank you for this video! What website did you use for your product mockups? I can't find a good website to upload my photography in mockup frames/scenes to show off what they'll look like. Thank you!
Well, I usually use Canva - they have a whole section for mockups (smart mockups I think they are called) - but "smartist" is an iPad app that is pretty awesome too!
@@JerredZ Thank you very much!
Thank you for sharing this, Jerred. I’m thinking of selling some of my photos on Etsy - print on demand perhaps to canvas by a company like Printify. Would you mind sharing what you suggest the resolution of my photos should be for the best quality? Thanks so much and best of luck to you.
As far as resolution, almost anything can go to like 20 inches on the long side. So even older stuff works fine. It really just depends on how big you want to go. The rule of thumb for me is to try to get to 250 or 300 resolution at the size I want to print. (you can do that by going to Phosohop - "Edit - Image Size" and then switch to "inches" and see what resolution you get at what size). The larger you go the more resolution you need (in general).
Thanks for the response.
Jarred, thanks for taking the time to make such a helpful and down-to-earth video for regular folks like us! I have a quick question not really covered in the video: what do you use for photo editing? I'm making an assumption that it's Photoshop or some other Adobe product. I was trying to avoid something expensive or with a subscription fee, if possible, but maybe it's worth it?
Hey, Steve! Thank you for the kind comment! As far as photo editing goes, I use Lightroom personally for about 90% of my needs. There are free alternatives to Lightroom out there - and even Apple Photos does a good job. The alternatives might not have some advanced things like masking, but if you're not going to do much of that, then they'd work fine!
Hi thank you for this great video. Do you send your images as CMYK or RGB to print on demand companies?
Hello! I just use RGB!
That’s cool brod!❤️
Thanks for the info. Should we copyright our photos before we put them on Etsy?
Donnie, I don't - but I do know some people who do that with all of their photos. I'm not sure if there is a right or wrong answer to that one, even though I've asked and gotten many different responses!
You on to something awesome brother #bingo
Thanks, Mic.
Thank you ❤️.
This is exactly what I've been looking for.
Also new sub 🙏
Awesome - I'm glad you found something useful in this - appreciate you!
@@JerredZ Okay Jared ,
I have a shop up and running on Etsy now. But I'm confused about how much quantity per item i should keep?
@@rclproductions5961 That really depends, RCL. It might take time to figure out - for best sellers, you'll need more, but those will reveal themselves in time!
so cool
Thank you Jerred , it was helpful.
I got I question and it is if I need to buy all the frames and deliveries?
Yes, you do - if you are offering that and are not working with a dropshipping platform, you need to do that yourself!
thank you
Very informative video. How do I place my Canva store front like yours on Etsy?
Sam, if you go into your shop settings, you can upload the storefront from there.
Dear Jerred. Thx for your video. I like your channel. It’s authentic. Do I understand correctly that you do not do drop shipping? Do you accept the order and have the print produced on site and then send it yourself? Does that mean you enter the prices of your service provider in Etsy manually? I'm very interested in this topic and I haven't heard good things about Printful, Etsy and anything related to fees. Many Etsy users have reported that the fees cannot be accurately determined in advance and they have lost on their sales.
In addition i like your Fuji content. I am also a big Fuji fan and also make videos about it but in German :) Greetings from Germany Udo
Hello, Udo in Germany! Thank you for your kind comments! Well, I do a mix of drop shipping and working with a local printer. I actually find that Finerworks is GREAT quality, and while not the cheapest, they have nice packaging and the prints look great. They are pretty easy to work with. As far as Etsy fees, they honestly aren't terrible. When you consider the platform brings people there, I haven't found them to be so bad. I adjust my prices accordingly. Maybe I should look into doing a video about the fees - but it wouldn't be a long one - for me it's pretty simple. BUT maybe that's because I don't do thousands of dollars a month?
@@JerredZ Thx a lot Jerred 👍🏻
Is there a source to find a on-demand printer? I use Prinitfy for physical merchandise but I don't have a source for printed photos. Great Video!
So one place that I have used and has great quality is "FinerWorks" - they have what seems to be a great service so far, and will even communicate with your etsy store to mark something as shipped with the tracking included - so that is something I love.
Thank you great information .
My main concern is are people still buying prints?
They are - if it's the right print at the right cost for the right customer - YES.
I'm planning to do the same thing. A whole bunch of photos but also would like to maximise my financial returns. Would be great I can get a return! Cheers!
Good luck, Chris - I'm sure you'll have tons of sales!
Could you sell surf shots to surfers out surfing on a specific day.I would uploading at least 50 shots of the shoot for the surfers to choose which one of them they like.Just wondering if you could do that with Etsy do you think.I would hand out cards advertising that i was thr at the beach taking photos that day of the surfers.
Thanks for sharing this synopsis of your Etsy experience! As I consider setting up a shop of my own, the biggest question is fulfillment. I don't know of any local printing companies and wonder if you found any online options during your research. I'd love to find a great quality online partner and potentially purchase my own printer as funds arrive. Thanks again.
Marcus, a few years ago I ordered prints from a bunch of dropshippers to see the quality from them. I was happy with most of them, but I could never shake the idea that I was out of the loop a bit - with the local printer, he lets me know if there's a problem. There are WAY more dropshipping options today than there were just a few years ago, so I would recommend you just try to look at some of those and see how they get shipped and what the quality is. Some even let you put your own branding on the packaging, including inserts. You just send them the stuff and they put those into the box/packaging in fulfillment, which I thought was kind of cool! I wish I had more direct help for you beyond this, but I wish you luck, Marcus!
@@JerredZ Would love to see a follow up to this topic here!
Thanks for the vid. Do you watermark or copyright your photos?
I do not, Maggie. It's so easy for anyone to remove them anyway, so I find it a waste of time and something that distracts from the image. Others have different opinions though, so it's really up to you!
I just started an Canvas Art store. I am seeing this craft type now in the listing part. Category is Stretched Canvas but under that i can check the craft type. Should i check all the craft types to be seen as much as possible or should i just do the ones that are specific to my item. There are only 5 boxes i can check. Thanks
Specific to the item, Michael! Give Etsy specific ways to serve the right item to the right person!
Thanks Jerred for sharing your experience.❤
Your photo prints look awesome.
Out of curiosity have you ever considered selling a printable version of your work?
I know that the legal protection of your work could be difficult and ...
Hello! Yes, I've considered selling printable digital files and I've seen a lot of shops that have success that way. I just can't imagine giving my full high resolution files "away." No matter what, they have that file, and it's so easy to give it away.... maybe I'm being paranoid and no one would care.... but I can't shake that feeling!
@@JerredZ You are right, It is a big risk of reselling your photos or sharing them on the internet.
Hey Jerred, thank you so much for this video! I am currently sorting all my pictures and was wondering something in the meantime: How do you compensate the printing costs? If I am looking for a canvas printing (16x20), that already costs me 20 USD without shipping. I didnt want to overprice, but seems like the margin stays relatively small then :-/
This is tough, right? You have to charge what you need to charge in order to make a profit, which for me means that I won't sell as many things compared to others that are cheaper. I think it's just one of those things -create value and give people something they can't get anywhere else, and they might buy it, right?