How To Make Money From The Etsy Affiliate Program!
Would you like to know how to make money from the Etsy affiliate program? Good! You’re in the right place :).
The Etsy affiliate program opened it’s doors in 2015, not too long ago!
which also happened to be the year I started blogging and learning about affiliate marketing and creating websites.
The Etsy affiliate program was actually one of the first programs I ever joined.
One of the first websites I created was in the home decor niche and kids related.
I thought that Etsy could add something a bit different to the main program I was using at the time, (the Amazon affiliate program).
Etsy has a large amount of unique, handmade, individual items that can be great if you have a blog in a variety of niches.
Popular items on Etsy include things such as; jewellery, clothing wear, toys, artwork and collectable items…
As well as plenty of vintage items and craft supplies.
The particular program is actually housed at AWIN, (previously affiliate window) which is a large affiliate network, housing many different programs.
once you’re part of AWIN, you can also apply to multiple other affiliate programs that they also have under that roof. Other advertisers can also contact you and invite you on to their program.
So, at the moment, some of the other affiliate programs that I am connected to on there are: Fiverr, Truffle Shuffle, Topcashback, John Lewis and wayfair.
If you dont recognise those names, it’s likely that you’re not in the UK!
But don’t worry, AWIN is home to thousands of affiliate programs worldwide and holds many big brand names.
Each affiliate program is different and will have their own terms and conditions, so it’s worth going through all these for every affiliate program you apply to.
How to Apply To The Etsy Affiliate Program
Step 1 – is to sign up with AWIN here.
This is very simple to do, but they do charge $5 to your credit card. Don’t panic though, this isn’t actually a payment!
They do it to verify who you are and then they return the $5 into your AWIN account. You will be able to withdraw it with your first payout.
So, while it’s slightly annoying aspect of AWIN, this is not money that you lose.
After AWIN verify your identity, it shouldn’t take very long for them to approve you.
I believe it took around 24 hours for me.
Once you’ve been verified, you can go aheard and search for affiliate programs to apply to.
Simply go to the main dashboard, go to “Advertisers,” at the top. Then scroll down to, “join programs.”
on the left will be a search bar, where you can search for ETSY.
From here Etsy will come up in the list, simply click on the name to find out the full details.
In a box to the left, you will see that you can “join,” the program.
You will then be able to enter your details, plus there is a section where you can add some text to backup your application.
So, here you could explain how you’re planning to promote ETSY, (e.g. organic traffic/email list/social media/Facebook Ads etc) and why you feel your blog/website is a good fit for them.
You don’t have to fill out anything in that section, but it can just help speed up your application.
There are also separate affiliate programs for the UK, US, Canada, Sweden, Germany, France and Australia… so, just make sure to apply to the one where you are located.
When you search for the Etsy program, you can find out everything you need to know about the program from here.
It’s worth taking your time to look through each section and make sure you’re clued up on the rules.
The last thing you want is to get accepted on to the program and then get kicked off for some error on your part.
This is the section where you can also check out their commission structure.
A great aspect of the Etsy affiliate program is, they have a 30 day cookie set.
That means, if someone clicks your affiliate link and then purchases something on Etsy up to 30 DAYS later, you will still get credited.
There are some scenarios where this won’t happen.
For example, if that person then clicks someone else’s Etsy affiliate link during that time, or if that person clears their cookies during that 30 days prior to purchasing anything.
Those are just things out of our own control.
But the good point is that there IS that cookie in place to begin with, as some affiliate programs give you a much smaller window for a purchase to be made.
For example; the Amazon affiliate program only has a 24 hour cookie.
I know that sounds ridiculously small, but Amazon is also awesome at sales and is so popular, that you still have a pretty good chance of someone purchasing something when they get there….
Plus, you get credited for anything they purchase, not just what you linked them to.
I always enjoy looking at what completely random things people have bought, many times totally unrelated to what got them there.
In any case, the 30 day cookie makes it easier for us to get a sale. The more time we’re given to actually make a sale, the better right?
So, once you’ve done all that application stuff, you just have to sit…. and wait…..
I seriously cannot remember how long it took for me to get approved to the Etsy program.
I seem to remember I did have a small wait and it may have been a few days, or even a week.
I was super desperate to get accpeted on to it at the time and I just remember feeling huge relief when I got that acceptance email.
As soon as you’ve been accepted, you can get started adding affiliate links to your website right away… woohooo 
How To Add Etsy Affiliate Links
Now, even though AWIN has that annoying charge at the start – thankfully, they do make adding links to your site very easy.
Having been a member of multiple affiliate networks now, I find that some of the platforms feel really outdated, clunky and confusing to use?
Not very user friendly!
However, Awin have got something called convert-a-link.
It sounded a little confusing at first for me to set up, but bear with me because, it was actually REALLY simple to set up.
Convert-a-link removes the need for you to use affiliate links, because it automatically converts all your links for you.
As you may imagine, this saves tonnes of time.
I just had to upload a plugin via wordpress, (it’s free) check it was working by following their simple instructions and hey presto… any direct link I’d add to my site from Etsy, is automatically turned into an affiliate link.
It’s not just with Etsy though.
If you added ANY link on your site, (regular, not an affiliate link) that was an attached to a program you’ve joined with AWIN, it automatically changes to an affiliate link!
Even better though, is that if you add a link to your site to a website where you haven’t joined their affiliate program, but they happen to be on AWIN – Awin will apply to them on your behalf!
What I love about this is, you don’t have to leave your site and fiddle about creating links. It’s all just done for you behind the scenes.
Also, if you have tonnes of Etsy links on your website already, (from before you joined the affiliate program) the convert-a-link tool just converts all those to affiliate links as well.
This will certainly save a huge amount of time if you’ve already been blogging for a while and means that you don’t have to worry you’ve missed any links.
It also ensures that all your affiliate links are correct – as, there isn’t that room for human error on your part.
What If You Don’t Want Convert-A-Link?
There may be a couple of reasons why you may not want to install convert-a-link.
For example; because you don’t use AWIN all that much in your blog, then it’s also easy to create links manually.
The way to do this, is to go to the deep-linking tool.
Go to: “links & tools” in the main menu and then go to “link builder,” in the drop down menu.
1. Choose your affiliate program from the drop down menu under “advertiser..” In this scenario, I picked Etsy.
2. Put the URL you would like your visitor to get to in the “Destination URL.” This would be your link directly to the product in question you’re promoting.
3. The deep link will appear in the large box. By clicking the “create a shortlink” link at bottom right, you will make the link a bit more user friendly and less scary looking! You don’t have to do this, but this is something I do personally.
Browser AWIN extension
This is something I only just realised existed… after being with AWIN for two+ years!
If you have Chrome or Firefox, you can download a simple browser extension that allows you to create affiliate links, without having to navigate away from your website.
Simply go back to “links and tools,” and scroll down to “MyAwin,” under “Browser Extenstions.”
You can download the browser extension in seconds.
From the extension, you can also share your affiliate links via social media.
Extra Perks Of Etsy
Etsy often has affiliate competitions that they run.
In my first year of being an Etsy affiliate and having a pretty new website, I decided to enter a contest over Christmas to win £100 Etsy vouchers, (I’m in the UK, but no doubt they also have similar promotions in other countries).
I just had to create a post, based around their Xmas gift guide basically and I think there were some conditions on word count and things like that.
I created my post based on kids craft gifts and… the awesome thing is, I won!
The draw was actually totally random, so I can’t say it was my awesome post that won me the prize, (ha!).
But I imagine that the number of entrants were actually quite low, so I would highly recommend entering them when you can.
As a brand new affiliate, (and as someone who often entered competitions anyway) I was really pleased to find this additional way you could potentially benefit from having a blog.
After that, I noticed Etsy often run affiliate competitions throughout the year, so make sure you’re subscribed and check your emails.
Have you already signed up as an ETSY affiliate? Let me know in the comments!
How I Started Affiliate Marketing
I joined Wealthy Affiliate back in 2015 and that’s where I started to learn about affiliate marketing and making money online in general.
It’s also where I learnt various other skills, such as how to navigate WordPress, SEO skills and keyword research.
If you’re finding aspects of affiliate marketing confusing, or you’d just like to join a community of people who are all in the same boat, then click here to learn more!
Let me know how you get on with Etsy! I’ve really enjoyed being a part of their affiliate program and find that it converts pretty well!
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