Guest OldGlory Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Sherri, what do you consider HUGE? I think it may be relative to what you are accustomed to paying.Shows to me have been the most expensive overall - so many times I've done a show and not even sold enough to pay for my booth ($150-$225). Retail stores at least where I live are out of the question, and to do consignment you are lucky to break even. I realize that may be a regional thing because I live in a high tourist area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuzyK Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 I don't see Etsy's rates as high. Ebay is much higher. When I had a website I paid like $12 a month and hardly made that back online. I don't sell my products higher on Etsy than I do at shows because shows cost a lot of money too. I don't sell at stores because it's not worth it to me. I take into consideration the fees when I price my products. With Etsy, you pay when you sell and when you list. The listing fees are very small and each listing lasts 4 months. I make about 10 times what my bill is each month so it's very worth it to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justajesuschick Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 (edited) I agree with OG and Suzy. It is not huge to me. I consider the hosting and such similar to renting a booth/shop space or show entry. Paypal and credit card transaction fees exist whether I have a website, retail store or on Etsy. On Etsy there is a .20 fee to list an item and then Etsy transaction fees plus either PayPal or credit card fees. So, on a $20 item, my costs are 2.00. I only pay sales tax on local sales, not on those made online from other states. I sell at my one day event and local sales the same prices I charge on Etsy. Edited October 16, 2014 by justajesuschick 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OldGlory Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktaggard Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Big Commerce has excellent payment options (100+), SEO and analytics, But I don't think I would leave Etsy if I were getting that kind of traffic. It sounds like you have a following and people know where to find you. Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherriLynn Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) Thank you all for your comments about selling online. Haven't had time to answer as I've been delivering wholesale today. I don't use Ebay so I haven't a clue as to what they charge, so maybe Etsy is cheap in comparison to them. It just seems when I read the information posted on the Etsy website the amounts and number of fees seem a lot. Old Glory my show/booth rental runs from $350 - $700 for our double booth. Since I own a storefront we only do 7 shows a year , but the shows are all high traffic, large shows that average at least $2500 a day in sales and run anywhere from 3 - 5 days each. I think your probably right about location. My average expenses for shows is well below 10% so I have to scratch my head a little when I think of spending 10 - 15% for online sales. Then again there is a convenience.. no driving, packing, moving, setting up.. etc. Suzy if your making 10 time more than your bill... that's a good profit margin. Edited October 17, 2014 by SherriLynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justajesuschick Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 ktaggard-my customers would rather my have a website than Etsy and since they almost all originate via Facebook, I could migrate them easily. Also, since I bought my domain, I redirect it to Etsy so just as easily could redirect to BigCommerce or other if I do elect to go that way so I appreciate hearing your success. SherriLynn and Suzy-you are both my wax heroes! I sell MUCH less than the pair of you! I certainly understand that my "digital storefront" is ideal for me but may not be so for others. I do now just one event each year. It is sponsored by my corporation so costs me nothing at all to participate. It is a one day show and I sell about $750 (easy to make back tent fees when they are none!). So, I am small potatoes by comparison. I work wax part-time so I still have a stressful, full-time corporate career. I ONLY sell wax metlts-no candles, no B&B. Selling online fits with my lifestyle as it is today. What I pay in fees for nationwide sellers is comparable to what I would pay in sales tax for my local event so for me, it balances out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trappeur Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Very interesting this conversation..... Well, if you don't give it a whirl you'll never know.... I am going to give Etsy a whirl myself in the next couple of weeks. I've had my name selected for quite a long time for a store but never did anything, but I'm getting very inspired to get this thing in gear. I have to figure out how you calculate shipping on Etsy though. When I ship candles out, I never know how much it's going to cost till I get to the post office and then I'll charge for the shipping what I pay. This is all greek to me on how to calculate shipping on Etsy. Do have a question....on Etsy.I understand that you just can't put up a store and expect people to come strolling in to shop around. They say you have to work at Etsy and drive people there. Just what in heck does that mean? How do you do that? - Promote yourself? Also I am going to get a website on ECommerce. I was doodling around with them last week after I saw Ktaggards beautiful site and I was designing a site and then quit for the day and the next thing is I get an email from one of the reps and a phone call from them seeing if they can help me with my site!!! That was unbelievable! And I didn't even contact them! lol Trappeur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky_CO Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Do have a question....on Etsy.I understand that you just can't put up a store and expect people to come strolling in to shop around. They say you have to work at Etsy and drive people there. Just what in heck does that mean? How do you do that? - Promote yourself? This was always my question how to drive customer to you Etsy store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justajesuschick Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Very interesting this conversation..... Do have a question....on Etsy.I understand that you just can't put up a store and expect people to come strolling in to shop around. They say you have to work at Etsy and drive people there. Just what in heck does that mean? How do you do that? - Promote yourself? This was always my question how to drive customer to you Etsy store. My Etsy shop is my store. Thinking of it that way, I manage it how would I lead customers to any website or a physical retail store. My business cards have my domain.com and for now I have that redirect to Etsy so they find me there. Also, I have a very active Facebook group of almost 800 members. They buy through Etsy. The beauty of analytics is that I can see exactly from where people came to get to my Etsy shop and what keywords they searched to find me. So, I can see how many came form Facebook, how many came directly from my domain name, how many came from google or yahoo search, youtube or bloggers who have discovered my product and written/posted about it. I can also see how many found me through Etsy search alone. Reviewing analytics is one of my favorite things ! I go check out my stats often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trappeur Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Ok, so let me ask you this....... Say your looking for soy candles......the normal person who shops..... So they type in the search bar soy candles.....now.....250 pages are there for soy candles. How do you get yourself to be on the first couple of pages when they come up? And how do you maintain it? Trappeur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trappeur Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Karen, how do you tell people from facebook to search? What words do you tell them to use? Are you not afraid that they are going to be looking at other people candles when they get over to Etsy and bypass you up? Trappeur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justajesuschick Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 They get a link directly to MY shop. They do not get just blindly dumped on Etsy. They do not have to search by word if they are intending to find my store. You can promote items but if they are titled correctly and you use good keywords, you will have a better chance to naturally pop up in organic search. Again, it is JUST like a retail store. You would give them YOUR store address. Not tell them to drive through town and search for your store. Likewise, I would not say that I do not want to send people to my physical retail store because there is a cute antique and gift store next door to me and they may go there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justajesuschick Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 OH! I forgot to say that I list the web address to my Etsy shop (again, not just general Etsy but MY shop) in the About section of my FB page and group so it is on the right and right at eye level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trappeur Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 oookkk...I understand. So you have a facebook page that really helps you....hmmmm So would you recommend to get active on facebook? Geesh, I never go there, except once in a while...lol Ok, so let me ask you another thing....I hope you don't mind me picking your brain...lol For the people (like me) who are going to try and open up a store on Etsy and don't have a website either....how do we get people to our site? Or are you saying that I need to network and go get on Facebook, Twitter, etc. etc.? I've read on the Etsy forum about people who complain because they don't have sales and everyone says to work it. I don't know what that means? What are they doing? Trappeur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuzyK Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) It takes awhile to get good, steady sales on Etsy. Good tags, good descriptions, good titles help a lot to be found. Most of my orders come from people searching and finding me through Etsy search. I do have several repeat customers too and I love that.Adding new items helps a lot. The more you have in your shop, the more chances you'll come up in search. If I only had wax melts in my shop, I would not be as busy as I am for sure. I started getting busier when I added a variety of products. I send people to my shop through facebook. That's pretty much all the promotion I do. I have a small local following as well. As I start doing more shows, I hope that will increase. I don't do shows for my mineral makeup and I don't post a lot on that facebook page but I still get really good sales on Etsy. I go to the forums too on Etsy. I don't think the forums are a good way to gauge sales or how busy Etsy is. A very small portion of people go to the forums. And most people aren't going to go to say they're doing great, they go to complain. There are ALWAYS posts on there complaining about slow times and they always blame etsy. I am very busy on there right now. And sometimes, I'm not so busy. It's just part of retail. And also depends on what people are selling and how their shop looks. Edited October 17, 2014 by SuzyK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justajesuschick Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 My FB group (not my page) works like a forum. They post pics of my products that they received, ask others about best scents, talk back and forth about my products and generally carry on while I am at my day job. I use polls to keep them engaged and because I do not hold sales, I do giveaways for a variety ot=f things-each 100 new members, new scent introductions. I drive them to my shop and my scent list to come back and post a scent from my list they either love or would like to try. Every giveaway I do nets in many more embers and more than enough orders to cover the giveaway. I am so busy right now, even just with melts that I took today off work so that I could pour for the next 3 days! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuzyK Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) I am so busy right now, even just with melts that I took today off work so that I could pour for the next 3 days! That's awesome that you're so busy with just the wax melts! I've been selling a lot of them lately but not like you. They are definitely my best sellers at shows. I have a huge show coming up that I need to get wax for still and then I'll be pouring like crazy. I've had a couple of people suggest that I start a group for my page instead of just having the business page. Edited October 17, 2014 by SuzyK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OldGlory Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I just wanted to say thanks to all the contributors to this thread! Sounds like you gals have it goin' on! Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trappeur Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Yes, it sure does sound like they do have it going on.....Good going girls! Would it be possible for you Karen and Suzy to tell your Etsy shop name here? I'd love to see them? Thanks! Trappeur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktaggard Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) Hum, lots of good ideas here. It basically comes down to sales, sales, sales!!! Just like in any business, it is the marketing and sales that create success. That's bad news for me, because I'd rather make, make, make ! Edited October 17, 2014 by ktaggard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky_CO Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I really wish that those that have etsy shops would post their links here http://www.craftserver.com/topic/105674-members-web-sites/ I know I like to buy from other members so I know I am not the only one that like to buy from members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuzyK Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I hadn't seen that thread before Vicky. I added mine. I get a little leery about sharing my site on here since I had someone from this site order and copy me but I added it anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky_CO Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 That can happen I know but that is also why I am removing the post after you add that way members can not match up sites with members to easily. That was a major concern for me and I protect you guys as much as I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktaggard Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Oh, Justa - wanted to tell you that on Big Commerece, you can use your domain directly as your website. No redirecting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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