How to Find a Manufacturer for Etsy? How Does the Rexven Supply System Work?
As the Rexven team, we have been researching products with high sales potential on Amazon and Etsy for a long time. We have specifically focused on products that we can have manufactured and shipped as they are sold.
Personally, I started my e-commerce journey 8 years ago by purchasing products from Alibaba and selling them on Amazon under my own brand. Due to the mistakes I made with my first products, I lost all my capital ($10.000) I had saved up to that point. The products I couldn’t sell remained in Amazon warehouses. I tried to sell them by slashing prices excessively. Naturally, I ended up losing money. I even had to have some of the products I couldn’t sell destroyed because of the high storage and shipping costs.
Looking back now, I realize I took the wrong path. If you don’t have at least $20,000 - $30,000 in capital or if you are not a manufacturer, building a brand by sending products to Amazon warehouses is very, very, very difficult.
This experience pushed me to think about how I could build a brand with less cost. I fell in love with the business model we have been working on and experiencing for the last 3 years: building a brand by having products manufactured and shipped as sales come in.
If I were starting e-commerce all over again today, instead of buying bulk products that I don’t know will sell and sending them to Amazon, I would focus on products that are shipped as they are sold. Once I identified the products that were actually selling, I would then ship them to the warehouse to reduce costs and increase profitability.
Of course, shipping products one by one is more expensive than bulk shipping. Therefore, we look for products that are worth at least $20 and will yield a profit when sold with the individual shipping cost included. When I examine the product groups we can ship as they are sold, we can divide them into two categories:
Personalized/customizable products
Standard products over $20 that yield a profit when shipped individually.
Currently, we sell both personalized products and non-customized products that we ship individually.
About 5 years ago, we started selling personalized jewelry on Etsy. Having experienced selling personalized products, I see it as an opportunity business model for a new e-commerce entrepreneur.
Of course, we still have private label brands on Amazon where we send products to the warehouse. Since we have a budget to invest, we continue to do this at the highest level. In fact, we grow our brands and sell them.
Building a brand is a perfect business and the most promising business model for the future. Most people who want to do private label by sending products to Amazon warehouses with a small budget run out of breath and money along the way. If they could continue and persevere for maybe 6 months to a year, they would reach a good point, but it usually doesn’t happen.
The most important issue in building a brand is finding opportunities and places where competition is relatively lower. More important than this is making a difference. I see that competition is generally lower in personalized products, and there are areas where a difference can be made.
To compete with Chinese sellers, who dominate the global e-commerce sector, it makes a lot of sense to focus on customizable products that we can ship individually. From Turkey, we can ship products to the USA and Europe in 3-4 days. It takes 10-15 days for the same product to go from China. Since speed is very important in e-commerce, we can compete effectively.
Why do I recommend selling personalized products?
You don’t hold stock. You ship the products as they are sold on Amazon and Etsy. Therefore, you don’t need to invest in products at the beginning.
Personalized products are more profitable. While a normal leather wallet might be $10-$15, you can buy a leather wallet with your name written on it for $25-$30. People are willing to pay more for products specially made for them.
People buy personalized products as gifts. During holiday periods (Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas), sales can multiply.
Turkey is very good at production in this regard. Categories like jewelry, leather, wood, and textiles are the most important for personalization. There are many manufacturers in Turkey who produce customizable products and can ship them as they are sold. At Rexven, we have partnered with several reliable manufacturers and solved the supply issue.
The personalized product market is growing. The Personalized/Customized Product Market was valued at $899.2 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $1,350.2 billion by 2031. It is projected to grow at an annual rate of 4.6% between 2024 and 2031. The US customized product market is estimated to reach $320 billion in 2025.
The print-on-demand market was $12.96 billion in 2025 and is estimated to be $118.85 billion in 2035. It is growing by 26.71% annually.
Source: https://www.precedenceresearch.com/print-on-demand-market
The custom jewelry market size is projected to reach $56.35 billion by 2030, up from $34.81 billion in 2023, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.12%.
Sources:
Thanks to our newly established supply system, we have reached agreements with many manufacturers producing customizable products. We have established a system where you only manage your store, Rexven manufacturers produce the products as sales come in, and the shipping company contracted by Rexven delivers the products to the customer.
You can make an appointment to get information about our face-to-face training camp and supply system. (Appointment Link)