Applying for Outside Manufacturing with Etsy

As most seasoned sellers already know, Etsy opened its doors to outside manufacturing partners about a year ago. In a nutshell, this means that sellers can work with manufacturers to help create their finished products – completely redefining what we view as ‘handmade’. This ranges anywhere from simply having someone print your existing designs, all the way to helping you design products and even drop shipping them for you.When I was looking to expand my print shop, I learned that Etsy requires sellers to complete an outside manufacturing application. Many hours of research later, I still couldn’t find many articles on how to ‘successfully’ fill out a manufacturing application. Having submitted my application and been approved, I decided to write about my experience so that others may learn from it. Please note that circumstances and businesses vary, and what I experienced may not be the same for everyone.

So before I get into it, I’ll provide some background. I opened my Etsy shop back in September of 2016 and up until January 2017 I sold only digital art prints. This allowed me to be very “hands-off” with my business since Etsy already automated things like transactions and file delivery. Having gotten into the swing of selling digital prints and seeing sales grow about 30% month over month, I decided to see what I could do to expand.

The answer to my needs came in the form of outside manufacturing – specifically those that could also complete order fulfillment for me. This is commonly known as “drop shipping” and essentially means that I send my designs to the manufacturer, they print them, and then they mail the product directly to my customer. This means I never ship anything, and all the printing work is left to the professionals.

I began my research of companies that could both print and ship products, which included ordering samples, and I began filling out my application. Now the application is broken down into two parts:

1. Proving the originality of your designs
2. Stating why you chose the specific manufacturer

Arguably, the most important part of your application is part 1. If Etsy thinks your designs are not your own, it doesn’t matter what manufacturing partner you choose. The best way to prove originality is to be detailed about every step of your design process. For me that meant walking them through how I make my paintings, what materials I use, how they’re applied, and how many cats sit on my workspace. Then I went into how I digitize my art and what programs and edits I use. I included photos of my original paintings, the scanned copies, screenshots of my editing programs (Lightroom and Photoshop), and finally the finished print in a framed mockup. The more details and photos you can provide, the better!

For part 2 of the application, I eventually decided I would apply using this manufacturer. Their quality of products was great, orders were easy to process, and their prices were competitive. I filled out the manufacturer portion of the application with as many details as possible and hit every question that was stated.

Now I’m going to be honest here: my initial outside manufacturing application was rejected. Not only that, Etsy couldn’t tell me exactly why. But eventually I figured it out: the manufacturer didn’t make all their products in house. This means that they outsourced to other out-of-country facilities for certain products, likely to keep costs low, and that’s a huge no-no for Etsy. After a lot of back and forth discussion with their application team, I was directed to the Etsy Manufacturer list here.

The Etsy approved-manufacturer list is essentially a list of partners that have already proved to Etsy that they make all their products in-house. Though, they have not been thoroughly vetted to show that they meet Etsy manufacturing Policy to the letter. So this is still something you would want to confirm before choosing one of these. I ended up re-applying with Printed Mint.

I contacted the Etsy application team (the same ones who contacted me about the rejection) and they reopened my application for me. I made almost no changes to part 1 of the application – since the originality of my work was not the problem. I completely rewrote part 2 of the application giving all the details I could about Printed Mint and their process and policies. I included details such as the following:

• What their facility is like and how many employees they have (I emailed them)
• Any ‘green’ practices they use
• How orders are processed (packing slips, etc)
• They type of packaging and branding they offer
• How they meet each section of Etsy policy

It took approximately 2 days after submitting for my application to be approved – which is record time. Approvals usually take an average of 4 weeks.

Once you’re approved for outside manufacturing, you can add additional manufacturing partners. This is done in your shop settings, and you do not have to fill out a whole new application. BUT, the same rules still apply: any manufacturer you add must meet Etsy policies – the most important of which is that they make everything in house. The Etsy team will check added manufacturers periodically, and if they find you’ve added one that doesn’t meet policies you will be forced to remove them from your shop and any associated listings.

To summarize the major points:

• Proving originality of your work is the most essential step for applying
• You will be approved faster and more easily if you choose a partner off of Etsy’s manufacturer List
• If a partner doesn’t produce in-house, don’t even bother with them
• Always, always, always order samples first – you need to know what your customers are getting (many manufacturers will send you free or reduced samples if you ask!)
• If you don’t love the finished product – move on and find another manufacturer
• Make sure any manufacturers you add to your shop later also meet Etsy policy – they will check!
• Customers will pay for quality – don’t be afraid to pick the more expensive partner

Have questions or want to share your experience? Post in the comments or head to the contact page!

More reference links:

Clarifying Our Guidelines on Outside Manufacturing

https://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/discussions/discuss/13808625/

https://www.etsy.com/manufacturing