Imperial Trends
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Etsy shop management

Your Etsy shop, run within Etsy's rules.

Digital downloads, print on demand or things you make. We set up and run your Etsy shop: listings, orders, buyers and account health.

Talk to us See how we run it

The market in numbers

A marketplace for things people make and design

How we run your Etsy shop

What an Etsy shop can sell, and how we run yours

Every item on Etsy has to be made, designed, handpicked or sourced by the seller. These are Etsy's Creativity Standards, and they decide what your shop can sell. We run three kinds of Etsy shop inside them.

Source: Etsy, Etsy's Creativity Standards, June 2025 (opens in a new tab)

Digital downloads

Your own designs, sold as files: printables, planners, templates, art prints and the like.

How it works

You bring the designs. We set up the listings and run the shop. Buyers get the file as soon as they pay (an instant download), or you make it to order and upload it when it's done.

Who it suits

Designers, illustrators and anyone with original work to sell as files.

Good to know

  • No stock, no postage and nothing to pack.
  • One design can sell again and again.

Watch out for

  • It has to be your own work. Bundles or PDFs of someone else's work, and AI prompt bundles, aren't allowed.
  • If a design is made with AI tools, the listing has to say so.

Sources:Etsy Seller Handbook, How to sell digital downloads on Etsy, January 2026 (opens in a new tab)Etsy, Etsy's Creativity Standards, June 2025 (opens in a new tab)

Print on demand, with a production partner

Your designs printed onto products, such as T-shirts, mugs or wall art, by a production partner that prints and ships each order.

How it works

We add your production partner to your shop and to each listing, and set each listing to show where the partner ships from, as Etsy requires. When an order comes in, the partner prints it and sends it.

Who it suits

Designers who want physical products without holding stock.

Good to know

  • No stock to buy up front.
  • Buyer-personalised items are allowed too, when the buyer's own text or image goes on the product. Custom and made-to-order items are about 30% of Etsy's sales.

Watch out for

  • The design must be yours, or the buyer's personalisation. Ready-made products don't qualify.
  • White-label manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers don't count as production partners.
  • Print quality and dispatch are in the partner's hands, and their price sets your margin.

Sources:Etsy, Etsy's Creativity Standards, June 2025 (opens in a new tab)Etsy Help, Working with production partners on Etsy, July 2026 (opens in a new tab)Etsy, Inc., 2025 annual report (Form 10-K), February 2026 (opens in a new tab)Etsy Help, Drop shipping and reselling on Etsy, January 2026 (opens in a new tab)

Things you make, sent from Leicester

Your handmade stock, stored in our warehouse and sent from there.

How it works

You make the stock and send it to us. We list it, and when it sells we pick, pack and send it with tracking. Orders in by 12 pm are sent the same day on working days.

Who it suits

Makers with steady sellers who'd rather make than pack.

Good to know

  • You make. We pack and send.
  • £2 an order, less at volume, and no storage fee.

Watch out for

  • The items still have to be made by you, or designed by you and made by a disclosed production partner.
  • You make the stock before it sells.

Source: Etsy, Etsy's Creativity Standards, June 2025 (opens in a new tab)

Vintage, craft supplies and party supplies have their own place on Etsy too. Tell us what you sell and we'll plan it with you.

Source: Etsy, Etsy's Creativity Standards, June 2025 (opens in a new tab)

The tools behind it

The work behind every listing

People run your shop. Our tools work in the background: they check new listings for brand risks and match every fee to its order. They never log in to your account.

  • Brand checks

    We brand-check every product before it's listed, to avoid brands known to report sellers.

  • Fees worked out first

    We work out Etsy's fees and your profit on each product before it's listed.

Your dashboard

Sign in any time to see every order we handle, what it sold for, what it cost and what you made. One login covers all your shops. You get one statement a month, and it never changes once it's sent. A late refund goes on the next one.

Log in (opens in a new tab)

What's included

Everything we do on Etsy

  • New shop set-up
  • Product research
  • Brand checks on every product before it's listed
  • Listings, managed day to day, with production partners and AI use disclosed where Etsy requires it
  • Orders sent with tracking, from Leicester for the stock we hold
  • Buyer messages, returns and refunds
  • Account health checks
  • Suspension and restriction appeals, quoted before we start
  • Storage in Leicester, with same-day dispatch for orders in by 12 pm
  • Your dashboard, and one statement a month

How you pay

  • Store management: an agreed share of the profit. In a month with no profit, our share is £0.

  • Full management: priced to fit your shop. Talk to us for a quote.

  • Fulfilment: £2 an order, less at volume. No storage fee.

Questions

Etsy questions, answered

Is dropshipping allowed on Etsy?

No, apart from craft and party supplies. Etsy doesn't allow reselling ready-made items either, except craft and party supplies, vintage items over 20 years old, and themed gift baskets you put together yourself. Print on demand is allowed when the design is yours, or the buyer's personalisation.

Can I sell digital products on Etsy?

Yes, if they're your own original work. Buyers can download the file as soon as they've paid, or you can make it to order. Someone else's work and AI prompt bundles aren't allowed, and anything made with AI tools has to say so.

Do I have to say who prints my products?

Yes. Etsy requires you to disclose a production partner on the listings it makes, and to show where the item ships from. Buyers can see the partners you work with in your shop's About section.

What does Etsy charge?

For a UK shop: a listing fee of US$0.20 (about £0.15, depending on the exchange rate), a 6.5% transaction fee when it sells, and payment processing of 4% + £0.20. There's also a 0.48% regulatory operating fee, a 15% fee on any sale made through Etsy's Offsite Ads, and a one-time set-up fee for some new shops.

Can you store and send my handmade stock?

Yes, from our Leicester warehouse. Orders in by 12 pm are sent the same day on working days. It's £2 an order, less at volume, with no storage fee.

Sources:Etsy Help, Drop shipping and reselling on Etsy, January 2026 (opens in a new tab)Etsy Seller Handbook, How to sell digital downloads on Etsy, January 2026 (opens in a new tab)Etsy, Etsy's Creativity Standards, June 2025 (opens in a new tab)Etsy Help, Working with production partners on Etsy, July 2026 (opens in a new tab)Etsy, How to sell on Etsy United Kingdom, July 2026 (opens in a new tab)

Talk to us

Tell us about your Etsy shop

Five quick questions. We'll come back to you with a straight answer.

Or email us at support@imperialtrends.uk

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