Designing and creating your own jewelry is an art form, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a starving artist. The web is rife with ways to sell your own jewelry—but how do you choose the right one?

Unfortunately, sites like Etsy or Artfire take a huge cut of your profits, leaving very little leftover to cover the cost of your materials.

If you have friends in the jewelry industry, you might have heard about jewelry aggregate stores like Etsy or Artfire, communities of crafters that give you an inexpensive way to post, market and sell your jewelry to a large community of buyers. Unfortunately, sites like these take a huge cut of your profits, leaving very little leftover to cover the cost of your materials. You might get some exposure as an artisan but selling handmade jewelry online requires dedication to your business.

Etsy only features your products for a short amount of time after you join the site. After that period, you’ll find that you’re having a lot of trouble getting traffic to your products. The process of making a sale after your time as a featured artist is up can get frustrating. The idea of setting up your own site might seem daunting, but selling handmade jewelry online is easier than you could possibly imagine.

Consider setting up your own shopping cart software. There are plenty of cost-effective, feature-rich options on the market that give you the ability to run your own online store with no programming and no hassle. You’ll want to start with a few key steps to get your store set up, so take a look at some of the tips below.