A production partner is a company or individual (who’s not part of your Etsy shop) that physically produces items based on your own, original designs from start to finish, such as a printing service, an apparel producer, or an engraver.
Why work with production partners?
Sellers often work with production partners for these reasons:
- Equipment access: You don’t have the equipment or technical ability to manufacture the items you designed.
- Design application: You need specialised services to apply your designs onto items (printing, embroidery, engraving, etc.).
- Business growth: Your business is growing, and you need help keeping up with order volume, or you’ve outgrown your current production space.
Items produced with a production partner must abide by Etsy’s Creativity Standards. We require sellers using production assistance to transparently share this information on the applicable listings. Buyers can see information about any production partners you work with from your shop’s About section.
Learn more about Etsy’s ethical expectations for sellers who work with production partners.
What kind of production partners can I use?
You can use a production partner of any size, ranging from an individual crafter to a large-scale automated manufacturing facility. Here are some examples of production partner types:
| Type | Description | Examples |
| Print-on-Demand (POD) Services | Companies that print and dispatch individual items only when ordered | Printful, Printify, Gooten |
| Cut-and-Sew Manufacturers | Specialists in producing sewn goods from provided patterns | Local sewing studios, textile factories |
| Contract Manufacturers | Companies that produce products according to your specifications | Small-batch manufacturers, custom jewellery producers |
| Specialised Production Services | Services that perform specialised techniques on your designs | Laser cutting services, professional printers |
Who is not a production partner?
You should not list the following as production partners:
- Yourself or a member of your shop: You and your team are part of your shop, not production partners.
- Pets: We love your pets, but they should not be listed as production partners.
- Materials suppliers: Companies where you source your raw craft materials or tools you use to make your items.
- Limited assistance providers: Partners that helped with only one part of an item that was primarily made by you/your shop (such as the workshop that fired your handmade ceramic mug, or an engraver that added text to your handmade jewellery)
- White label manufacturers: Produce standard products that you can brand as your own without significant design input
- Original equipment manufacturer (OEM): Make components or products that other companies sell under their own brand
- Original design manufacturer (ODM): Design and manufacture products that other companies rebrand and sell
- Commercial retailers and wholesalers: Businesses that sell ready-made products to you for resale
Working with non-qualifying businesses to source products for your Etsy shop violates our marketplace policies on reselling, and may result in penalties up to and including account suspension.
How to add a production partner
There are several ways to add a production partner:
- While adding or editing a listing, you can add a production partner in the Production partners section of your Listing details.
- In the Listings section of Shop Manager, select at least one listing and choose Editing options, then Change production partners.
You can also create production partner profiles in the production partner manager:
- In Shop Manager, choose Settings.
- Select Partners you work with.
- Select Add a new production partner and fill out a form telling Etsy and the community about your partnership. The information not marked Private will be shared publicly in your shop.
- Next to Production partner, enter your partner’s business name. Etsy requires that you disclose the business name, but you can choose to keep this private in your shop. In that case, you will enter a public title (such as “Apparel printer”) that describes what kind of business they are.
- In the Location field, Enter your partner’s city, county, province, etc. As you type, select from the list that appears.
- In the About production partner field, describe how you work with them. This public information can include why you chose this partner and the types of services that they provide for you.
- The answers you select in the About your partnership drop-down menus are only for Etsy’s internal use. These won’t show up publicly in your shop or listings, but your partner's location and the description of your production partner will.
- Preview how this will look on your shop’s About Section.
- Select Save partner.
How to remove or edit a production partner from your listings
You can edit or remove a production partner in several ways:
- Select the listing(s) you want to edit from the Listings page. Choose Editing options, then Change production partners. De-select the partner and choose Update.
- In the Production partners manager, choose Edit or the X near the name of the partner. These changes will automatically be reflected on all linked listings.
On the Etsy Seller app, production partner profiles can only be edited while adding or editing a listing. You can access the other editing tools on a computer or mobile web browser.
If the listing editor requires you to add a production partner but you don’t have one, review Etsy’s Seller Policy to make sure that your items meet our guidelines.
Production partners only apply to items that you have designed, or that you have sourced and the buyer has customised. Production partners don’t apply to items that you or your shop members physically make.
After you disclose your production partners
In order to make sure that your items and delivery details are accurately represented to buyers:
- Update your listings’ shipping locations to accurately reflect if they are delivered from a production partner’s location.
- Fill out your shop’s About Section to tell the story of how you design and create your items.
- Be sure to see our Listing Image Requirements for more information.