Etsy shop

[2ballcain357]

My wife has been asking me why don't I set up an etsy shop to sell....well I don't really have a good answer for her other than "I don't know". So I figured I would ask and see if any of you have sold on etsy and if so how was or is your experience?

 

Edited February 24, 2015 by 2ballcain357

[Michael Spaulding]

I have an etsy shop XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

My suggestion? Use your energy elsewhere. They have some screwy software that controls where listings show up in their searches. What it boils down to, Etsy wants money, and they make more money from people who post more things, and the people who post more things are the people selling items. So the more popular your shop is, the higher your priority in the search function. I've been selling for... three of four years? Really high quality stuff (some of the highest quality chainmaille out there) at better than competitive prices for the quality of niobium and sterling silver jewelry, professional photography, "Whimsicle stories" for each piece, plus advertisements, and treasuries (which is an entirely different animal) and everything else that the "Etsy success stories" recommend, and I made more sales in attending 3 craft shows than I have in the years I've been on Etsy. That isn't to say I don't get sales, but maybe.. 2 or 3 a year? For all the effort, time, and money I spent setting up and upkeeping that shop, to include photography and advertising, I spent less building a couple table jewelry stands and selling in person, with much more success.

Ultimately, it depends on what you're selling. Chainmaille is a saturated market, and saturated with very inexpensive, low quality products. I can't grab people by the collar and explain that my stuff takes 10 times the effort to make, and is made with high quality materials, and the pictures can only do so much.

If you have a unique product, or can market it like a unique product, then you've got a chance, but there's no way to search for any form of "chainmail necklace" that doesn't result in 30,000 pieces. 

Search for what you're looking to sell, look through shops "sold history" to see what of their items do and do not sell, and try to create yourself a niche. Do the best you can with non-professional photography, and don't waste money on the "Etsy Advertising"

If you have a product people want, they'll find you.

Good luck, and I mean that. If you can get the ball rolling on Etsy. 20 turns into 100, and 100 turns into 2000. Go look at some of the shops that have been open for 6 months with thousands of sales. You can make it, but don't bank on it, and don't put any money in it unless things are looking promising.

[Nobody Special]

It's cheap, easy, and I've made more on it than I've put into it (which admitedly isn't much.)

Mike's right though, there's a bunch of poor quality crud, and people don't know the difference necessarily between say, that "cool" looking rr spike knife with an motor oil finish and hammer marks, and a damascus blade with 20 hrs into it. There's also a lot of stuff sold at lowball prices by people just looking to sell some of their hobby made stuff.

 

[rockstar.esq]

It's interesting how often marketing advice adamantly insists that social media, online auctions, and stuff like Groupon are pivotal for success.  Yet there's very little proof that it's as effective as they claim for the average business person.  I know several local industries that were nearly decimated by a groupon fad that came through.  One-time customers chase cheap deals.  Working at a loss for clients who will never return or recommend hurt those companies.

Not to pick on anyone who's successful with these techniques, but selling stuff is about getting in front of your customer.  Is your customer willing to pound through twenty tons of search results to find you?  Logistics professionals call it "calculated misery"  and it's all about removing basic features you'd expect for the going rate then pricing them as upgrades clients pay to "escape" the misery they arbitrarily created.  The best example is paying for carry-on luggage.

Similarly, paying to get your items posted higher in search results is a calculated misery.  If Chainmail necklace returns a ridiculously long list of results, they could offer search narrowing functions that actually direct web traffic with precision.  It's more profitable to let the morass compel sellers to pay for a ratings bump like a blind game of "king of the hill". 

"Popular" and "Good business move" rarely share the same space for long because  the laws of economics prevail.  Too much supply reduces demand.  Prices will fall until inventory starts moving.  Low barrier-to-entry marketplaces like Etsy or E-bay will always suffer a surplus which is why people shop there.  Prices are likely to be lower.  Counting on a fever-pitch bidding war to make your year is a bad gamble.  I worked at a pawn shop and it was common practice to dump "unsellable" items on e-bay with no reserve.  They took whatever they made on E-bay and paid disposal firms to haul away the stuff that didn't sell.  We're talking truck loads of cassette decks, Hi-Fi's sets, car stereo's, furniture, etc. While it gave the shop a cheap way to literally dispose of junk, it drove the price of similar goods down because they were selling at a loss.  They didn't care if the item was actually valuable or not, if they paid taxes on an inventory item for more than ten fiscal quarters, out it goes with no reserve. 

Plus, and this is important.  Buyers of premium goods, aren't looking for a junk mail approach.  Indiscriminate advertising and/or burdensome search functions only serve to drive high-end buyers away.  If all their first impression is that a site is filled with low quality goods, they'll move on.

For example, If I'm looking for a steak dinner, I won't be checking menus at burger joints even if they do call it a "steak burger".

 

 

[Jesse17]

I've never heard of the place until I started getting into blacksmithing, and some of the images I've found on Google were from etsy. I don't know anything about etsy, my point is just that if I were their potential customer, they did a poor job of telling me their products even existed.

[j.w.s.]

In my experience, Etsy gets a lot of of people who admire your work but seldom buy. We get some sales through it, but we get a handful of custom orders. eBay moves a few knives a week for me, but it has more than it's fair share of people looking for bargains. It's also yielded a few custom orders but not as much as Etsy. Both sites I would say that for every 15 items >$90 they yield one sale over that but you'd also have to look at your market. I'm competing again Chinese and Paki imports on eBay and against other crafters and listing algorithms on Etsy. Neither is bad, neither is great, but I use social marketing to drive 90% of my to either site and the fact that there's a million people could stumble over my work is a bonus that's not going to happen on a personal website - it's just enough to keep me floating between shows and teaching classes but I would never expect to support a family on it.

J

[SpankySmith]

In terms of marketing, when/IF I ever start down that road my plan is to just have a Facebook page.  It's free, easy to reference, easy to post samples of work to, easy-peasy.  I subscribe to several local metalsmiths who maintain Facebook pages, they do quite well that way.   

Edited February 27, 2015 by SpankySmith

[2ballcain357]

thank you all for your thoughts and advice on etsy. Just fyi though I am by no means looking at making this my sole source of income, that would be wonderful if I could make that happen but I am not holding my breath.  I enjoy blacksmithing as a hobby and tend to put a lot of time in to it. I have been working with metal professionally as a welder/custom fabricator for over 15 years and have been blacksmithing for fun for a little over a year now. I make things for my enjoyment only, i.e. I give most of the things I make away....makes me feel good when somebody looks at it and smiles or they say "you made that"....don't know if I should take offense to that one or not ha ha. Anyhow my point being, I am not looking to make ends meet with this. Just thought it would be nice to maybe pay for the material I use or buy a few tools here and there. I have been looking into a facebook page as well....so who knows where this will end up but I think I will give it ago, worst thing that could happen is I loose .20 cents for the 4 month post on etsy.

again thank you all

[Old South Creations]

I don't make a lot of money on Etsy but I do sell a few things a month...and I've never spent a penny on advertising, photographers, etc.  For me it's a way of generating a little income for metal, etc on the months where I don't do shows. It's also great to make sales to people around the country that I would have never sold to otherwise. I've also had a couple of custom order requests and wholesale orders. Hard to beat a 20 cent investment toward a potential sale!

[j.w.s.]

In terms of marketing, when/IF I ever start down that road my plan is to just have a Facebook page.  It's free, easy to reference, easy to post samples of work to, easy-peasy.  I subscribe to several local metalsmiths who maintain Facebook pages, they do quite well that way.   

The greatest thing about eBay/Etsy is that they are open 24/7 to take your customers money even when you're not. As an added bonus all you have to do is print the label, pack and ship. Much simpler than messaging back and forth with customers or taking cc info over email/phone. If you're  like me, you've got a PayPal business card and when an item sells, that money is there to be used.. its all about convenience.

J