A production partner (or manufacturer) is anyone (who’s not a part of your Etsy shop) who helps you physically produce your items. Examples of production services include, but are not limited to, printing, 3D-printing, casting, plating, engraving, cutting and sewing, and finishing.
To sell handmade items produced with a production partner on Etsy, we ask that you abide by our Handmade Policy and transparently share information about how your items are made and on the applicable listings. You can do this by creating production partner profiles and linking them to the relevant items in your shop. Information about your production partners will also appear on your About section, if you have one.
Information required in production partner profiles
Production partner profiles can be created during the listing process or by using the production partner manager.
Production partner profiles ask for the actual name and/or descriptive title of your production partner and for some additional details about how your items are designed and produced.
Only some fields of each production partner profile will be viewable by the public, including the location and description you enter related to each partner. While the actual name of each production partner you work with must be disclosed to Etsy in each profile, you can also choose to enter a "descriptive title" for your partner that will appear publicly instead of the actual business name.
If you work with more than one production partner to produce items for sale on Etsy, you should create a profile for each partner and list each one individually on relevant listings.
You can find detailed instructions about this process here.
After you disclose your production partners
Production partner disclosures will be reviewed by a Maker Specialist on Etsy’s Trust & Safety team, who will reach out to you directly via email if any additional information is needed based on the details you’ve provided.
This follow-up may come in the form of an email inquiry or a request to provide more details in a structured production partnership form.
There is no one "right" answer to any of the questions you may receive. You should be prepared to provide additional information to Etsy to demonstrate your commitment to Etsy’s ethical expectations and Handmade Policy.
This may include inquiries about:
- Your design process prior to beginning work with your production partner
- Your connection with your production partner
- Information about the production process related to your items
- Research you’ve done to confirm your production partner meets Etsy’s ethical expectations
- Adding production partner information to other items in your shop
Keep in mind that Etsy may also re-review information from time to time to determine that you continue to be in compliance with these guidelines.
Your About section and shop policies
While not required, it is strongly encouraged to have both your About section and your shop policies completed.
Your shop’s About section is an opportunity to tell the Etsy community about your shop’s unique story and the people behind your items.
Please be sure to include all your shop members’ names and their roles—including your own—in the Shop members area of the page. If you're the only person involved in your Etsy business, you only need to list yourself.
Your shop policies should provide brief descriptions of what your buyers should expect when purchasing from your shop. For example, you can outline your policies for payment, shipping, and returns/exchanges.
Edit your policies by going to Shop Manager, clicking the pencil icon next to your shop name under Sales Channels, and scrolling down to the Shop policies section.