Tools I Use To Run My Pottery Etsy Shop

Back in 2018 I signed up on a whim for a pottery class at our local community studio. John and I had been living in town for a few years at that point, and I was struggling to make friends and to have any kind of socialization in my life aside from my husband. So, I decided that year that I would do something about it. I had grown up riding horses and also went to college for art, so I had an internal discussion with myself debating whether to sign up for horseback riding lessons or a wheel throwing class. In the end, I chose pottery, and I haven’t looked back since.

I now work at Make Waynesboro Clay Studio three days a week—one day for myself (peruse my portfolio here), and the other two days I work as glazing assistant to the studio owner, Jake Johnson. I’ve met so many fun, kind, creative people at the studio, and am grateful that I took that chance seven years ago.

Before COVID, I sold my handmade ceramics work on Etsy, but had to shut down operations when the pandemic forced me to stay home where I couldn’t work on my pottery. But I’ve been back in the studio for years now, and it’s officially time to get back to it! I’ll be reopening the DGD Pottery Etsy shop early next month, and have been busy behind the scenes getting my first collection prepped for sale, not to mention getting my at-home shipping and tagging station all set up.

Today, I thought I’d tell you about the tools that I use to run my pottery Etsy shop in case you’re thinking of starting your own type of product-based ecommerce business. These tips have been picked up and put through rigorous testing over the past year and a half as I’ve helped manage Jake Johnson’s Etsy shop (which you can check out here), so you can trust me when I say that these tools work well.

Tools I Use To Run My Pottery Etsy Shop:

Bluetooth Thermal Shipping Label Printer: When I ran my Etsy shop before, I would always print my shipping labels from my regular computer printer, which meant that I used up a lot of pricey ink and also had to cut each label by hand before taping manually to each box. Jake and I use this thermal label printer for all of his Etsy shipments because it’s super fast and doesn’t require any ink cartridges ever. The labels print to size and have an adhesive back, so no need to break out scissors or packaging tape, either.

Label Maker For Pricing: Jake and I use this compact bluetooth label maker in his studio to price all of his ceramics that go to galleries, and it works really well. You can customize the text, font, and size of what you’re printing in the app, and then print quickly onto adhesive-backed labels. This is also a thermal printer, so no need to fuss with ink cartridges. I don’t necessarily need to physically price things for my own pottery Etsy shop, but I have been using the label maker that I bought for my office to organize the things that go along with running an Etsy shop, like shipping stickers, branding materials (think: business cards, postcards, etc.), backup label paper, pens, and so much more. This label maker is so handy. I use it all the time around our house—not just in my office.

Drawers To Organize All The Little Stuff: Speaking of organization, I also wanted to turn the spotlight on the new 8-Drawer Under-Desk MultiDrawer Steel Cabinet that I recently added to my office from Bisley. They kindly gifted this cabinet to me in exchange for social media content, but I wanted to share a little more about it here as a bonus to the brand. I chose the cabinet in the color “Palest Pink” and love the hit of fun personality it gives my office. The eight drawers offer plenty of space for me to store away small things, like all of the markers and stickers I use to decorate my DGD Pottery shipping boxes, plus scissors, tape, etc. The slip-in drawer inserts have made me even more organized. This cabinet is the perfect size for all of my shipping tools, and the top is big enough to hold my shipping label printer. Oh, and I used my smaller label maker to name each drawer on my Bisley cabinet based on what’s inside! I really appreciate the multi-functionality of everything I’m using to run my Etsy shop. I’m so much more efficient now than I was back in 2018.

Heads up that the Bisley summer sale is running June 20-27! Get 15% off with code “SUMMERSETUP.”

I hope that was helpful, or that it, at least, gives you some insight into what it takes to run an ecommerce shop from home. This is, of course, just a very basic breakdown of all that’s involved, but if I had to pick my top three accessories, those listed above take gold, silver, and bronze medals. Another bonus tip is to use MOO for your business cards and postcards if you like to include those types of things in your shipments. Their pricing is in line with other paper printing brands, but I think the quality is so much better, plus I think that their designs are more modern and unique. Leave a comment below if you have any questions, and keep an eye here on the blog and on Etsy for the official relaunch of my DGD Pottery shop, coming soon!

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