Your first Etsy listing, step by step.

Get your materials ready

Open Etsy → Shop Manager → Listings → Add a listing. Before you click anything, have these ready on your desktop:

• At least 8 listing images — upload more if you have them (Etsy allows up to 20, and more images = more conversions). At minimum include a primary mockup, lifestyle shot, colour chart, and size chart.
• A short video (optional but recommended — boosts ranking).
• Colour chart & size chart PDFs — download the MeshX templates below.
• Your design name and 2–3 keyword phrases buyers would search for.
• Your profit target per adult and kids tee (see Step 06).

Upload 8+ photos and a video

Fill at least the 8 slots below. You can upload more if you have them — Etsy allows up to 20 photos + 1 video per listing and more images generally convert better. Suggested order:

1. Slot 1 — Primary mockup. Your strongest product shot on the most popular colour. This is the thumbnail buyers see in search.
2. Slot 2 — Video (optional). 5–15 seconds showing the garment from multiple angles.
3. Slot 3 — Design-colour warning. "Choose the correct T-shirt colour" graphic — reduces refund requests.
4. Slot 4 — Lifestyle shot. Model wearing the tee, or the tee styled in context.
5. Slot 5 — Alternate colour mockup. Same design on a different colour (e.g. White or Sand).
6. Slot 6 — Second lifestyle / alt-product shot (e.g. tote bag or hoodie mockup if relevant).
7. Slot 7 — Size chart (Adult + Kids — from the MeshX template).
8. Slot 8 — Colour chart (all 7 garment colours — from the MeshX template).

Pick the right category

Selected category

T-shirts

Physical item?

Yes

Made to order?

Yes — tick this box. It's the engine of the whole print-on-demand model.

Write the title and description

Title (140 characters max)

Front-load the strongest 2–3 keywords. Avoid "best", "amazing", "perfect" — Etsy's SEO tool downranks subjective words.

Title formula[Main keyword phrase] [Occasion] [Product type] — [Secondary keyword]

ExampleHusband In The Galaxy T-Shirt — Funny Father's Day Gift for Dad

Description

Paste and edit the template below. The first two lines are the most important — Etsy only shows those before "read more".

Set up variations & SKUs

Step 5.1 — Open the variations dialog

Under Item options, click Manage variations. A modal opens where you'll create two variation groups in the order below. The order matters — Garment & Size must be first so it appears as the top dropdown for buyers.

Step 5.2 — Add Variation 1: Garment & Size

1. Click + Add a variation.
2. In the variation-name box, type exactly: Garment & Size
3. In the options box, type each of the 13 options below, one by one, pressing Enter after each:

Spelling matters: use these labels exactly — our SKU lookups match on these names.

Step 5.3 — Add Variation 2: Colour

1. Click + Add a variation again.
2. In the variation-name box, type exactly: Colour
3. Add the 7 colour options below, pressing Enter after each:

Step 5.4 — Set the dialog toggles

At the bottom of the Manage variations dialog, set these toggles exactly:

Prices vary for each

✓ ON — Garment & Size and Colour

Processing profiles vary

✗ OFF

Quantities vary for each

✓ ON — Garment & Size and Colour

SKUs vary for each

✓ ON — Garment & Size and Colour

Click Apply. Etsy generates 91 combinations (13 × 7) in the variations table.

Step 5.5 — Turn OFF combinations we don't sell

MeshX only prints certain Kids and Tote combinations. In the variations table, toggle Visible → OFF (✗) for every row that isn't in the enabled list below. The enabled rows are:

• All 49 Adult T-shirt rows — 7 sizes × 7 colours, all stay ON.
• 15 Kids T-shirt rows — 5 ages (3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-13) × 3 colours (Black, White, Light Heather Grey).
• 1 Tote Bag row — Sand only.

Total enabled: 65 rows. Total hidden: 26 rows.

Step 5.6 — Paste the SKU into every enabled row

Copy each SKU from the master table below into the matching row's SKU box. Also set Quantity = 999 for every enabled row (made-to-order never runs out).

Master SKU table — Adult T-shirts (49 rows, all enabled)

Master SKU table — Kids T-shirts (15 rows enabled, rest OFF)

Turn OFF every other Kids combination: Kids Tshirt × Navy / Dark Charcoal Grey / Burgundy / Sand — for all five age ranges. That's 5 ages × 4 colours = 20 hidden Kids rows.

Master SKU table — Tote Bag (1 row enabled, 6 OFF)

Turn OFF the 6 Tote Bag rows in other colours (Black, White, Navy, Light Heather Grey, Dark Charcoal Grey, Burgundy).

How to price for profit

You set the sale price. Your MeshX costs are fixed — and the 3XL/4XL sizes cost you slightly more to produce. Here's what you'll pay per order:

Because 3XL/4XL cost more, you should set a higher price on those rows in the variations table — a common pattern is +£2 on 2XL, +£3 on 3XL, +£4 on 4XL.

Worked examples (one UK sale)

Quick pricing ladder

Assumes you charge £3.99 postage, pay MeshX £2.85 postage, Etsy fees ≈ 15% of sale price. Actual fees vary slightly by country, Offsite Ads status, and listing renewals.

Shop currency

Your shop currency was chosen when you opened the shop. If you need to change it, go to Shop Manager → Settings → Finances → Currency. Most UK sellers use GBP £. Make sure it's set before you type in your prices so you don't accidentally price in USD.

Tags, materials & attributes

Tags (use all 13)

Tags are 1–3 word phrases — never single words. Mix broad and specific:

• Broad occasion tags: fathers day shirt, birthday gift tee
• Recipient tags: gift for dad, husband gift
• Design-specific: galaxy dad shirt, funny dad tee
• Product tags: unisex t shirt, cotton tshirt

Materials

Add: Cotton. MeshX T-shirts are 100% cotton — do not add Polyester.

Primary / Secondary colour

Pick the two most dominant colours in your design (not the garment). Leave blank if unsure.

Size scale

Choose UK (Alpha) — S, M, L, XL.

Set up your delivery profile

Create the profile once and reuse it for every listing.

Profile name

Tshirts

Dispatched from

United Kingdom

Origin postcode

Your business postcode

UK delivery service

Royal Mail Tracked 48 (2 business days)

What you charge — UK

Fixed price · £3.99 first item · £0.99 each additional

Delivery upgrade (Express)

Royal Mail Tracked 24 (1 business day) · +£0.99 per item on top of standard

Processing profile

Name

Made to order

Time

3–7 business days (matches what you promise in the description)

Returns & exchanges

Because every item is custom-printed, the sensible policy is: No returns or exchanges — buyer can contact seller about any issues with an order. Etsy displays this clearly so buyers know before checkout.

Fill in the provenance questions

Who made it?

I did

What is it?

A finished product

How does your shop produce this item?

"It's an item that my shop alters" — you're customising a commercially available blank tee. This is the correct answer for print-on-demand.

Tools used

Computerised tools or machines

Production partner

Add MeshX Create as your production partner the first time you list. Etsy requires this because a third party helps physically produce the item.

Final settings, then publish

Shop section

T-Shirts (create it if this is your first listing)

Feature this listing

Off (you can turn this on for your bestsellers later)

Renewal options

Automatic — each listing renews for $0.20 (~£0.16) every 4 months. Saves you having to re-list manually.

Pre-publish checklist

• At least 8 photo slots used (more is better, up to 20)
• Size chart and colour chart included in the photos (downloaded from the MeshX folder)
• Title under 140 characters, no "best / amazing / perfect"
• Description includes size-chart reminder and processing times
• Exactly 65 variations enabled (49 Adult + 15 Kids + 1 Tote), SKUs pasted in every one, matching the master SKU tables character-for-character
• 3XL/4XL priced higher than S–2XL to account for the £6.49 cost
• Prices are in the correct currency (usually GBP)
• Every enabled variant has quantity 999
• All 13 tags used
• Delivery profile: £3.99 first + £0.99 each extra, Express +£0.99 per item
• Processing set to Made to order (3–7 days)
• "How it's made" → It's an item that my shop alters
• MeshX Create added as production partner

When every box is ticked, hit Preview to sanity-check the buyer view, then Publish changes. Your first listing is live. 🎉

Copy the "Copy listing" URL into the MeshX Listing Bot

We don't want the public product URL. We want Etsy's internal Copy listing URL — the one that opens a pre-filled duplicate of your listing in the editor. Here's how to get it:

1. Go to Shop Manager → Listings.
2. Find the listing you just published.
3. Click the cog (⚙︎) icon in the bottom-right of the listing tile. A menu opens with these options: View on Etsy · View stats · Edit · Copy · Deactivate · Renew · Change Section · Share · Delete.
4. Click Copy. Etsy opens a new tab that starts duplicating the listing.
5. In that new tab, copy the full URL from the browser address bar. It should look like this:

Example URLhttps://www.etsy.com/your/shops/me/listing-editor/copy/4478316757#media

The important part is the path /your/shops/me/listing-editor/copy/[NUMBER]. The number is your listing's Etsy ID — it must be present. The #media at the end is just the browser tab anchor; it's fine to leave it on or strip it off — the Listing Bot accepts either.

Paste it into the MeshX Listing Bot

1. Open the Listing Bot page in your MeshX Create dashboard.
2. Paste the copied URL into the Listing to copy field.
3. Save. From now on, every new design you submit will be cloned from this template listing — photos, description, variations, SKUs and all.