Any Etsy sellers out there?

[bankgirl05]

Not sure if I should put this here or on the community board, but I figured anyone selling on Etsy is probably very budget minded, so I decided to try here first

I would really like to know what is involved? Is it a hassle? (I found ebay to be a hassle) Is it worth it?

Right now I am in the process of making Jewelry, mostly out of recycled things, and I plan on selling it (when I build up enough inventory) at local "school fairs" and such (where you only pay about $15-$25 to rent a table/space.) I also make jewelry out of WDW park maps and picture frames etc. (so if you have extra maps, pm me please) and Tie-Dye shirts, pillowcases etc.

I would just like some advice on the ins and out of Etsy, and the pro's as well as the cons...

Thanks!

 

[Angela72181]

I too am very interested in seeing what others say about this as I am crafty and have quite a few ideas but don't even know where to start with what lol

 

[kiki02]

I too am very interested in seeing what others say about this as I am crafty and have quite a few ideas but don't even know where to start with what lol

I don't sell, but have a very good df who does. She says the fees are very high and this is the main problem.

Apparently you have to 'advertise' or no one would really 'find you'. You can elect to pay weekly for hits. something like $10 a week as high as you want to go i guess. She sells a few items a day, but pays the ad fee, the sell fee and of course i assume paypal fee.

Good luck. Aren't there other sites that do this?

 

[Lucille1963]

I have been selling on etsy for two and a half years, I sold on eBay for 6 or so years before that. I LOVE selling on etsy. The fees are a fraction of eBay's, just 20 cents to list and 3.5% of the sale price.

Definitely take the time to read the articles in the help and community sections to familiarize yourself with the way the site works, the Do's and Dont's and seek out a series of articles titled "Get Found" about how to get your items noticed. I do not pay any extra for their advertising. I do spend time tweaking my shop and listings to keep things fresh.

I gotta run, but I'll post more later. I can't say enough great things about them.

 

[secretpantssam]

I'm a seller on Etsy, though I sell vintage stuff. I love it! I feel like the fees are better than Ebay and the listing last for months instead of weeks. I really enjoy finding fun things and writing descriptions about them...it's like a fun hobby, so it never really feels like a chore. You also have the option to put your shop on vacation if you know you'll have a really busy week so you don't have to worry about shipping things out if you don't have time.

I think the best advice I have is to put a lot of descriptive words in your search "tags". That's how everyone finds your items. You can also see stats to see what kind of keywords people are looking for most and adjust your listings that way. The main cons are that sometimes people aren't willing to pay what you think an item is worth. I feel like Etsy buyers are willing to pay more than Ebay buyers, but you may still get messages from people who want stuff for cheaper. At that point you have to make the decision how much you need to be willing to part with the item.

I love Etsy as a seller and a buyer and I think f you have some cool crafts it's worth it to try to make a shop and put up a few items. If you hate it, you won't be out too much money, but if you love it, it's really fun!

 

[Lucille1963]

How to start an Etsy business video:
http://livestre.am/4mypp

See if there is going to be a craft party near you on June 20. I'll be attending one in my city. I've met wonderful people through events like this:
https://www.etsy.com/craft-party?ref=hp_banner_craftparty

Etsy's Do's and Don'ts:
https://www.etsy.com/help/article/483?ref=help_search_result

Get Found - So much info here, including a 44 page workbook:
http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/etsy-success-symposium-get-found/

Get found in Search:
http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/how-to-get-found-in-search/

Gotta go get the kid from school... more later.

 

[kiki02]

cool. how many 'words' do they let you put for search? sounds like a lot from your post

I'm a seller on Etsy, though I sell vintage stuff. I love it! I feel like the fees are better than Ebay and the listing last for months instead of weeks. I really enjoy finding fun things and writing descriptions about them...it's like a fun hobby, so it never really feels like a chore. You also have the option to put your shop on vacation if you know you'll have a really busy week so you don't have to worry about shipping things out if you don't have time.

I think the best advice I have is to put a lot of descriptive words in your search "tags". That's how everyone finds your items. You can also see stats to see what kind of keywords people are looking for most and adjust your listings that way. The main cons are that sometimes people aren't willing to pay what you think an item is worth. I feel like Etsy buyers are willing to pay more than Ebay buyers, but you may still get messages from people who want stuff for cheaper. At that point you have to make the decision how much you need to be willing to part with the item.

I love Etsy as a seller and a buyer and I think f you have some cool crafts it's worth it to try to make a shop and put up a few items. If you hate it, you won't be out too much money, but if you love it, it's really fun!

 

[DisneyOrBustColorado]

I don't sell on etsy but I have bought a lot on etsy & am always looking for someone that has more time & is more crafty than I am to help with my Disney vacation projects. I just go to etsy & search for what I want to buy. Last year I bought a Fish Extender for our cruise & this year I would love to find someone to do custom tye dye Mickey shirts for my family. I tried to make my own & I will just say that I have a bunch of new rags in our rag collection for cleaning the bathrooms.

I would go for it. All you can do is try & see how things go. Have some business cards made that you can hand out at the local craft fairs with your etsy information on them. Best of luck to you!!!

 

[secretpantssam]

cool. how many 'words' do they let you put for search? sounds like a lot from your post

Well you get 13 tags but each tag can contain up to 20 characters. So "Walt Disney World" can be a tag or "blue upcyled necklace" for example. So you can get as pretty detailed. And each word in the tag is individually searchable so if you used the tags I used as examples and someone searches "Disney Necklace" they will still find you.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I use to sell on Etsy for about 3 years but the fees are very high. It's true it is only 20 cents to list them but if you want your items to stay "fresh" and be found when ppl are searching for your type of item you have to re-list them at least once a week but usually several times a week. And when you have 50 or 100 items or even more like I did that can rack up huge monthly fees. Then on top of that you have to pay a final value selling fee every time you sell an item. I shut my shop down.

Now I have items on Ebay which sell very often. You just raise your price by a few dollars to account for the final value fee. And I sell on Artfire. Artfire is like Etsy but the big difference is you pay your monthly fee to Artfire and that is it. No listing fees no final value fees and your listings never expire. Once you list them they are listed forever.

I got in on a yearly sale they have where if you sign up during the few days they have a sale you can get a PRO account for 5.95 a month. It is usually 14 I think. You can list things for free on Artfire but if you use the free account your listings have crappy looking ads all over them. 90% of Artfire sales come from PRO accounts.

I guess if you are only going to have a small amount of items listed, like 20 or 30 it might be ok to have to keep relisting things every day but when you have over 150 items like I did it is just not worth the money. I sell just as much on Ebay and Artfire as I did on Etsy.

Make sure if you sell vintage that it is really vintage and you can prove it. If it is a supply it is no problem. If you sell handmade make sure you can prove it is handmade. I know a lady who got her shop closed BY ETSY because they said they didn't believe her items were genuinely hand made. They thought she was a reseller. Another Etsy seller obviously had reported her shop out of jealousy because she had high sales numbers. Etsy required proof her stuff is handmade and she sent them proof. Pictures and a video of her actually making the items herself, but they still wouldn't keep her shop open. She invested 2 years in that shop and then they just shut her down. I showed her how to start an Artfire account and now she sells on Artfire too. You can google something to the effect of "etsy closed my shop" and see stories of tons of other ppl who have had the same thing happen to them.

 

[Lucille1963]

I don't relist items regularly and I really feel that 3.5% is more than fair for the traffic they bring to my items. I see Artfire mentioned regularly, but I've never bought anything there, and I can't think of anyone I know telling me that they have either. It doesn't seem to come up high in google search either. Last summer, one of my etsy items was the second photo to appear in google image search when you searched "1970s swimsuit". The percentage I pay to etsy is also considerably less than what I pay to sell my items at vintage shows and fleas, and it takes almost all of the haggling out of the equation (my least favorite part of the job)

I have had wonderful experiences dealing with Etsy. I was even able to travel out of state to sell at a market with the majority of expenses paid by them last fall.

Making sure that items fall into their guidelines is something that etsy does take seriously, and I think last year they tripled the amount of people that work in their department. I did google "etsy closed my shop" and found most of the stories quite old, and the most recent one was by someone who refused to answer their inquiry.

It took me a while to get into the groove moving my shop from eBay to Etsy, but once I learned my way around, things picked up fast.

If it wasn't for Etsy, there would be no Disney vacations!!

 

[LisaInNc]

I have had a lot of experience with etsy and ebay. It's a lot cheaper than ebay! The problem is unless you are selling something really in demand and different it might take a long time to sell anything. You really have to work at marketing youself. Commenting on blogs, Facebook you have to drive people to see YOUR store there mostly yourself.

I can tell you one great story of someone I know personally. She started on etsy it took her 6 months for her first sale. After that she did 35,000 in a year with around 50,000 the next. I realize that is an extreme case but it does show the power if you are really good at something.

I wish you luck!

Lisa

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I don't relist items regularly and I really feel that 3.5% is more than fair for the traffic they bring to my items. I see Artfire mentioned regularly, but I've never bought anything there, and I can't think of anyone I know telling me that they have either. It doesn't seem to come up high in google search either. Last summer, one of my etsy items was the second photo to appear in google image search when you searched "1970s swimsuit". The percentage I pay to etsy is also considerably less than what I pay to sell my items at vintage shows and fleas, and it takes almost all of the haggling out of the equation (my least favorite part of the job)

I have had wonderful experiences dealing with Etsy. I was even able to travel out of state to sell at a market with the majority of expenses paid by them last fall.

Making sure that items fall into their guidelines is something that etsy does take seriously, and I think last year they tripled the amount of people that work in their department. I did google "etsy closed my shop" and found most of the stories quite old, and the most recent one was by someone who refused to answer their inquiry.

It took me a while to get into the groove moving my shop from eBay to Etsy, but once I learned my way around, things picked up fast.

If it wasn't for Etsy, there would be no Disney vacations!!

If you use the same Google that I use when I google Etsy closed my shop I get page after page after page of links to ppl describing why Etsy closed the shops and 5 just on the first 2 pages that are from 2013.

 

[secretpantssam]

I've never had to relist items early. I have had some things that I realized after a month or so up that they just weren't selling, but that can happen. I would just keep an eye on your stats and see what people are searching for and what they're not. Again, you can just start out with a few items and see how it goes, if you don't get any interest it may not be the place for you. But I think your stuff sounds cool and other people might too so you could be able to make some extra scratch with your crafts!