How to Start a Smoking Accessories Store in Etsy

Ecommerce has become a very booming and profitable business. Since the pandemic hit, brands and brick and mortar businesses took their business online, seeing its potential, as well as the convenience it offers, especially during a period in time where going out and buying in physical stores was impossible, or became unfavorable.

This is also especially true for specialty shops such as smoking accessories shops. Today is the perfect opportunity to take your smoke shop online or to introduce your business through platforms like Etsy. However, before you jump ship and decide to explore selling your smoking accessories online, here are some tips you should keep in mind.

Benefits of Setting Up and Smoking Accessories Store Online

Overhead costs are a lot less for an online smoking accessories store compared to a physical store. Operating your business can be done in the comfort of your home.

Catering to the growing market for smoking accessories is also easier when products are sold online. Most people nowadays have access to the internet and are familiar with online shopping. You are tapping into a bigger market, locally, nationwide, and globally when you start selling your products online.

Broader product options can be explored through dropshipping. The cost for keeping onhand products is reduced when you sell through dropshipping.

Growing your smoking accessories customer base is much easier through online efforts. You can offer retail and wholesale for potential business partners, expanding your network in the process.

How to Sell Your Smoking Accessories Online

Moving your smoking accessories online is easy, but requires enough knowledge to get you started on the right foot. Consider these tips as you create a plan on how to sell your products online.

Introduce Your Products via Popular Online Marketplaces

Although starting your own website to showcase your business sounds exciting, there are costs and processes that require above-average knowledge in setting up your online store. You can work on having your own .com website address in the future, but for now, you can use online marketplaces to host your products. Among the popular websites and apps that can host your products includes Instagram, Pinterest, Amazon, and Etsy. 

For smoking accessories, Etsy is a good place to start. Business guidelines in this platform are not as stringent for cannabis and smoking accessories compared to other online marketplaces. However, it is still important to go through the business guidelines for smoking accessories and related products in Etsy to avoid getting your products booted or banned.

Setup Industry Specific Merchant Services

Look for payment solutions that can cater to industry-specific services such as payments for hemp, smoke, vape, and CBD industry-related products. However, platforms like Amazon and Etsy already include payment services on their platforms. Whatever you choose, take time to review the security of each of these merchant services to protect your clients and your business too.

Pay Attention to Your Inventory

Compared to a business that is just about to launch online, a brick and mortar shop has already access to an inventory to get them started. Owning a physical store prior to setting up your smoking accessories store online already gives you a number of products available to sell, inventory, and a place to store them while waiting for them to sell online.

Be on top of your inventory. Ensure that you have enough to supply your current customers as well as potential partners. However, avoid having too much because inventory that has been in stock for a long time does not generate income for you. Double up your supply for hot sellers and promote them via social media and direct new customers to help your brand grow and reach further beyond your local area.

Get Social and Promote

Promoting your products, especially smoking accessories is essential. Use social media as leverage for your business. Social media marketing is crucial for any business to remain relevant, tap into bigger audiences, and keep up with the competition.  Without a social media platform to showcase your smoking accessory products, people will have a hard time or will take time to recognize your business and your products.

After your research and preparing to launch your business online, you can now launch your smoking accessories store in Etsy or any other marketplace. As your brand gains clients and recognition, you can also begin building your own website from scratch, or with the help of a digital marketing team as you build your business steadily.