Hi everybody. Anybody here that relies on ETSY as a good or decent percentage of your earnings?
I have an ETSY account, I don't put my 100% in it because I've been really busy creating for this Summer show season. I love to browse the site and I enjoy so much stuff that people sell there. I have never sold anything there but I've been so busy that probably I am doing it wrong . I guess I will study it in Fall or Winter when show season slows down for me. Just wanted to see if there is good success stories, Thanks!
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I've had items listed on Etsy since September. I have to admit I'm not really putting any time into it. One whole sale so far. I probably won't renew my listings the next time they come up. E-bay might cost more but more people know about it. Artists know about Etsy but it doesn't seem like other people do. A friend does well selling vintage items on the site.
Carla, I've had an etsy store for over a year now and have done very well. I don't network as much on it in the summer when it's show season. In the "off season" I kick it up, re-list my things a lot for higher exposure and participate in a lot of etsy community events. It has worked very well for me.
I think one of the reasons it has worked so well for me is because I do social networking, hand out a lot of cards in the summertime with the website address on it, and (most importantly) have it connected to my PERSONAL website so that those going directly to my website, go directly to my etsy shop. My wares are one of a kind and pricey, yet I still do pretty well on etsy. For me, however, it is a wonderful platform that offers good layout and is inexpensive, verifies my buyers as legidimate and ties me into efficient shipping platforms too. It is DEFINITELY worth a try! Good luck!
Like so many, I have an Etsy shop, but don't put much time into it. Why?
1. I agree with whomever said they like to sell in person. Online doesn't have the same rush for me, I like to talk to people, find out what they're looking for, have that connection.
2. Jewelry is completely over-saturated on Etsy. Unless you devote time to constantly updating your site, joining "teams", posting on the message boards, etc., your work gets buried.
3. In order to buy, you must have an Etsy account. I've found most of the people who want to buy from me don't want to go thru the hassle (if I remember correctly, you have to supply a credit card number or paypal account to sign up) of creating an account.
4. If I sell something OAK at a show, I need to remember to delete it from my Etsy store. For that reason, I rarely put any OAK items in my Etsy shop, which sort of defeats the purpose.
I'm starting to move to a completely independent web shopping cart (if I can ever figure it out or find someone to build one for me!), and will likely ditch Etsy when I do make that move.
I have an etsy account, but don't list on there any more. In order to get your items seen on the main page, one had to spend a lot more money in their "ads" that only went on sale at odd times and not easily attained. I have a "Pro" account at Artfire and use it. Artfire offers a kiosk that you can incorporate into your own site which makes upkeep easier as you only have to upload and maintain one selling venue. Plus, it is a lot easier if you are doing your website yourself as you don't have to work in those paypal buttons.
I bought one thing from etsy and it was from an AFIer whose work I originally saw here. It was a well photographed pair of earrings (Larry Berman would appreciate that) so not having seen them in person was not a problem.
If you don't sell off your website then you should have some presence on etsy. It is a good complement to what people see at an art festival. If I have seen your work at a show and end up looking at your work on etsy, I understand what I am seeing. I know whether your paintings have deep brush strokes or your glass has a simple matte finish. For jewelry, I know the quality of your stones or your weaving skill because I have seen it in person.
Hope this makes sense.
I started out using etsy,, mind you I don't sell original artwork so it's probably a little different. I haven't done any craft shows yet, but that is my next venture. I make good sales on etsy, but like I said I think it is more geared for crafters and not so much original artwork. I have seen some shops with original art that sell well, but advertising is key. You have to be very active in the etsy community and on blogs. I do giveaways and get features on blogs that are geared for my products. So far so good!!
~ Leslie www.chloescollars.etsy.com
I have about 20 sales in a year and a half. They were mostly around $50-60. I post my less-expensive things; I think there's more of a market for impulse-buy items. If I add new items & post one a day for a while I do notice it will usually stimulate a sale or two. I think having more items in your shop gives people more ways to find you when they search, and shops with 100 items do much better. The setup is not bad and the support for sellers is great.
That being said, it is a major time-sink. It's easy to burn a lot of time for not much result. But if you can find the right niche you can probably make a respectable bit on the side.
You can get on craftcount.com and see a list of Etsy shops by sales. You can also see what each shop has sold - if you're looking at their main shop page, it will say "1438 sales" on the side bar & if you click on that you can see what specific items were sold.
It's still a better idea to have your own site and not be tied to a third party, in my opinion. But it's a good way to get something online pretty quick and people selling supplies to other Etsians do pretty well.
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