Do you sell various types of products? If so, you’re probably wondering how to open a second shop!
Opening a second Etsy store requires a brand-new email address and a separate account. It’s essentially like launching your first store, but you need to closely consider Etsy’s terms and conditions on duplicates to avoid closures.
Luckily, I’m going to take you through everything you need to know about opening your second Etsy shop, including a step-by-step tutorial!
Here’s What You Need to Know Before Opening a Second Etsy Shop
Before jumping straight into how to open your second shop, you need to be aware of Etsy’s relevant terms and conditions. I’ve listed the most pressing ones below:
- You need to use a different email address when creating your second Etsy shop. One email address cannot be connected to multiple accounts.
- You can’t log in to two separate accounts using the same browser. For example, you’ll need to use Chrome for your first shop and Firefox for your second store if you want to sign in to both simultaneously.
- Etsy doesn’t allow duplicate shops. Therefore, your second store needs to sell completely different products from your first one.
- All your shops must comply with Etsy’s Seller Policy.
How to Open a Second Etsy Shop
Right, you’ve got everything you need to know under your belts. So, it’s time to jump right into opening your second Etsy shop.
I’ll go over the entire process step-by-step below. But, as you probably expect, it’s very similar to opening your first one!
#1 Make a New Etsy Account
To start with, you will need to make a new Etsy account. Yes, an entirely different one — email address included.
So, log out of your first shop and click register. Set your new email address up ahead of time, so you’re ready to get straight down to business.
#2 Click Sell on Etsy
Once you have successfully created and logged in to your new account, head to the profile drop-down menu. It’s located at the top of the page.
Click “Sell on Etsy” from the menu.
#3 Open Your Second Etsy Shop
Now, you can open your second shop!
As you may remember from opening your first shop, you will need to set your store’s preferences, including:
- Language — This will be your shop’s default language. Keep in mind that you can’t change this later. However, you can always add translations in your product descriptions or other information.
- Country — Select the correct country from the list.
- Currency — Ensure you choose the currency you’re comfortable selling with. If your bank’s currency is different from your second Etsy store’s currency, you will have to pay conversion fees.
- Time commitment — Your answer doesn’t affect your second shop’s setup. However, you need to inform Etsy whether your shop is your full- or part-time job.
#4 Name Your Second Etsy Shop
Of course, your second shop needs a different name from your first one. Whatever you call it, ensure it reflects your products and style and meets the following Etsy requirements:
- No special characters
- No spaces
- Doesn’t infringe on somebody else’s trademark
- Between 4 and 20 characters
Interesting tip: You can change your store’s name up to five times. So, don’t panic if you want to rebrand down the road.
#5 Add Your Products
Once you’ve named your second shop, fill it with the relevant products. Remember that Etsy will close your shop down if you list the same items on both stores.
#6 Choose Your Payment Methods
After adding your products, you’ll choose how to get paid. Provided you’re in an eligible location, you will use Etsy Payments, which consolidates all shop transactions in a single interface.
If you can’t access this feature, you can use a PayPal account to accept money.
#7 Set Up Billing
Depending on your country, you might need to enter a debit or credit card to pay Etsy’s fees. You can use the following:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Discover
- American Express
Finally, click “Open Your Shop,” and your second Etsy store will launch! It’s really that simple.
Let’s Talk Bank Accounts: Do You Need to Use a Different One per Etsy Shop?
Thankfully, Etsy’s rules dictate that you do not need to use a different credit card or bank account when creating your second store. In fact, you can use the same one for multiple stores (i.e., if you decide to open more than two).
Bear in mind that you should use the same taxpayer ID and address when applicable too.
Can You Have Two Etsy Shops on the Etsy App?
Since you can’t log in to two separate accounts on the same browser, you won’t be able to sign in to both shops on Etsy’s app either.
I won’t lie — logging in and out of the app can become very tedious. So, you’d be better off using the app for your first store and your phone’s browser for your second shop.
The Pros and Cons of Having Two Etsy Shops
You now know Etsy’s guidelines for opening your second shop and how to do it. However, having two shops certainly isn’t for every seller.
Here are the pros and cons so you can decide whether it’s right for you:
The Pros
- Easily sell different product types — Are your products in completely different niches? If so, you massively benefit from opening a second shop. After all, people are easily put off by stores that seemingly sell a bit of everything.
- You have both digital and physical products — Unfortunately, buyers don’t always read listing descriptions. Therefore, they could mix up your digital and physical products, resulting in buying the wrong one. Selling all physical items in your first store and strictly digital products in your second one can avoid dozens of people asking the same “why haven’t I received anything in the mail” question!
- You’re selling items with distinct terms of use — If you sell some products for personal use only and others strictly for commercial use, separating them into two shops could be ideal. That way, your customers won’t be confused, regardless of whether they read your terms and conditions properly.
- Fees stay the same — The fees for your second shop will be precisely the same as your first shop. You don’t come under any financial fire for opening multiple stores. Although, bear in mind that’ll you’ll essentially be paying double. While the fees aren’t higher, you now have two shops to pay for.
The Cons
- Two separate logins — You have to log out of your first store to log in to your second one, which can be a tedious task. If you want to sign into both at the same time, you’ll need to use two different browsers.
- Two sets of business cards, branding, email addresses, social media accounts, and logos — You’ll need to consider your second store as a completely separate business. Thus, you’ll have two sets of everything, costing time and money.
- Manual uploads — Consider the time it takes you to manually upload your items to your first store. You’ll have to do that again with the second one.
- Multiple shop management — Managing more than one shop takes time and an incredible amount of effort. It’s double the work!
- Un-automated systems — Since you can’t automate both stores simultaneously, you risk mismanaging inventory, orders, and shipments.
- Human errors — Maintaining multiple stores yourself leaves you open to countless human errors, which can turn into nightmares if left uncorrected.
Do You Have to Disclose Your Second Etsy Shop?
Etsy’s terms and conditions do say that it’s a good idea to disclose your second shop in your first store’s public profile and vice versa.
However, whether you really need to do this is up for debate. Sellers have reached out to staff about this problem before, and the general consensus is that “as long as both shops follow the guidelines, you don’t need to disclose multiple stores.”
Historically, people opened second shops to “game” the system by listing the same items in different stores. Thus, prompting the platform to necessitate disclosure.
But nowadays, Etsy understands that many sellers open up different stores for niche reasons, causing many users to run multiple shops.
So, don’t worry about disclosing your second shop!
Can You Combine Both Stores Eventually?
Etsy doesn’t allow you to combine both stores, regardless of when you wish to do that. Instead, you’ll have to close one and keep the other.
The Bottom Line: Is Opening a Second Etsy Shop Right for You?
Opening a second Etsy shop is typically the best option if you sell different product types, items with strict terms of use, or digital and physical products. Creating a new shop can avoid confusion and help you better target niches.
Just remember that you can’t duplicate listings. Otherwise, both your stores can be closed down. As long as your new shop sells different things, you’re good to go — and I’ve given you the step-by-step process you need to do it!