The Complete Guide to Etsy Shipping

Etsy is an online Aladdin's cave of unique handmade, vintage, and art items. The global marketplace is free for sellers and crafters to join and set up their e-commerce store.

The creative marketplace is one of Shiptheory's newest e-commerce channel integrations. As a small business owner it can be to stay on top of everything, so let us show you how we can take the extra load off with automated shipping.

In this guide you will find Etsy international shipping tips and quick ways to ship on Etsy for beginners and beyond.

Etsy Shipping vs Shiptheory Shipping

If you carry out all of your shipping within Etsy, there are several steps you'll need to follow.

Steps to shipping an order on Etsy:

1. Type in the individual product weights and dimensions (including the packaging) under in the shipping options.
2. Enter shipping costs, this can be a flat fixed rate or Etsy can calculate this for you. Buyers will see the shipping cost based on location/weight/dimension.
3. Purchase Etsy shipping labels in 'Orders & Shipping' which lists all of your orders. Click on the delivery van icon on the label that says 'Get shipping labels'.
4. Create your shipping label by choosing your shipping method, package type, dimensions and weight.
5. Select the ship date and confirm and buy.
6. Download and print the shipping label. As soon as this is printed, the customer is notified that their order is on its way and they are moved to completed.

Fast-tracked Etsy shipping:

1. Set up shipping rules to choose which shipping labels generate for orders.
2. When an order is made, your shipping rules run in the background to generate the correct Etsy shipping label.
3. Have your shipping labels printed instantly. Alternatively, view and manually print your shipping labels as a PDF file within your Etsy dashboard.
4. Your package is ready to ship and a tracking notification is sent to your customer.

International Shipping

As an e-commerce seller, there's no reason to limit yourself to shipping within your own country. A great advantage to having an Etsy store, is that you can sell to customers across the globe without needing to move a muscle.

If you are shipping internationally, you will need to attach customs forms or commercial invoices. These documents ensure that your packages meet the customs requirements to enter that country.

Without these, (or if your forms are filled in incorrectly) your packages can be held in customs for weeks on end or sent back to you. This can be a costly mistake, not just financially, but also for your customer service.

Etsy International Shipping

When you ship internationally with Etsy, you need to find the customs forms for your delivery carrier, depending on the mail class, destination and package. These are then printed separately to your shipping labels and need to be attached to your packages.

Automatic International Shipping

You can speed up your shipping to other countries, without compromising on the accuracy, by using the Shiptheory as your shipping management software.

With Shiptheory, CN22/CN23 customs forms and commercial invoices are automatically generated for international packages. The documentation is then pre-filled with the correct information and sent directly to your printer.

Some carriers, such as UPS and DHL, support paperless customs forms and invoices which are sent digitally to the destination country.

Advanced Etsy Settings

Shipping from Etsy is made even easier with several advanced settings in Shiptheory. These settings give you even more freedom to define how your Etsy orders are shipped.

Download Paid Orders

Prevent preparing packages for orders that haven't paid yet by choosing only paid orders to be sent to Shiptheory.

Buyer Messages

At checkout in Etsy your customers can add notes for delivery, a.k.a buyer messages. This can be anything from 'call when outside' to 'leave by the back door'.

If you turn this setting on, these messages will be transferred to Shiptheory and sent on to the chosen delivery carrier.

Shipping Notification

Tracking notifications can be automatically sent to your customer with an advanced option.  This is a great way to keep up with your orders and improve your customer service.

Etsy Shipping Packaging

High quality branding and packaging gives a great first impression to your customer. Wow your customers and leave them with a clear perception of what your brand is about with integrated labels.  

Using the drag-and-drop editor you can include your company logo, order details and a personalised customer message.

Returns on Etsy

Returns come part and parcel with selling on any online marketplace. As the seller, it's up to you to decide whether you accept returns, the cut off date to carry out a return, and who is responsible for postage costs.

Etsy has a case system to resolve any problems with returns or refunds and protect sellers and buyers.

Creating a return label

To create a returns shipping label in Etsy you must purchase a new shipping label and change the postage address to your own. This will then be ready to download and print, or instantly printed if you have automatic printing set up.

Try automating your Etsy shipping today with our free trial.