Tell me about Etsy

[singleyellowrose]

I have had my own site for a few years now. I don't get much business at all from it. I am considering closing it and going to Etsy.

However, I know nothing about it.

What are the PROS and CONS?

Is it easy to navigate?

Is it easy to upload and sale from?

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

[pleasureridgecandles]

I have done little with etsy so I'm sure there are some vet's on etsy here that will be of more help. When I did it it was pretty easy to navigate and upload pics and all. However there is ALOT of competition on there whether you sell candles, soap, B&B or some other handmade craft. For me, it wasn't worth the time in keeping it going. Maybe I didn't give it enough time.

[LuminousBoutique]

cons? competition. Search is screwed up. They keep "updating" which means making changes that THEY want but us sellers, their customers, do not. I'm very frustrated with etsy. Before opening my soap shop on there I had another shop since 2007, and it has changed alot since then.

only 7% of my sales currently come from etsy, if that puts it into perspective.

You need WONDERFUL photos to get noticed. People can say what they want but if there are 10 other bars of soap in the same scent (and there are...) they are going to buy the cheapest with the best photo.

Listing fees look cheap at first.. only .20c, but if you renew the item, which you have to, to be found by search.. you pay .20c again. On a $5.00 bar of soap, you could renew 4 times a month and still be on page 8 of search. You also pay a paypal charge on each sale.. it ends up being around .70c of fees, which you have to add to the cost of your soap.. pricing you out of competition sometimes.

There are VERY estabolished soap sellers on etsy.. who have the majority of the business.. and have worked hard and work hard to maintain that.

Its easy to use, but expensive. One soap seller who has been a featured seller and sells quite alot told me her monthly fees barely cover her profit, but she stays on because it leads to wholesale orders. Thats why I stay too, I've been contacted for many special orders/wholesale orders through there.. and for some shows as well.

overall, I keep it.. I do make sales, but nothing to write home about. An average show for me is between $600-$900 profit, and I've yet to make that on etsy in a year and a half. kwim?

pros: great forums/community. Fun to keep up with trends.

[Wildcrafter]

I have my own website and don't utilize etsy for a number of reasons. The primary is that, in my opinion, every site looks the same as all the rest since they are all in the same format. Of course, pictures and products are different, but to stand out you really need a website that pops.

[Noodle]

I do very well on Etsy, but it took some time. I also have my webstore, sell on Google, and lots of other places. You have to be rather versatile to make a living and do not expect too much in one place too soon. I do not believe that any soap seller has cornered the market on Etsy. Word often gets around- just like in any other business and some new customers of mine often come from Etsy. I think that you have to be unique. Everything on Etsy is handmade, so that is a completely useless tag. You need to utilize tags, have very short, but sweet titles, colorful photography, and separate youself from the others with your style. Works for me.

I also have never had insane fees there, so I am confused about that. I did have insame fees on Ebay, which is why I left that venue. Etsy is always reasonably priced for me. They do need to fix a lot of OTHER things for sellers that are too numerous for me to list... :rolleyes2

[EccoLights]

We would have to agree with the last 2 posters here. Etsy is an amazing site and we do very well there, but you have to work to make it work... Pictures are a must, good descriptions, accurate shipping cost, etc... All in all compared to the other big sites like Ebay, Etsy is the way to go.

On a side note, ArtFire is another one that seems great but lacks in traffic right now. Tons of tools for sellers that are amazing but again, no traffic = no sales. But the nice thing with them is your "fees" are a monthly charge, not a per item fee.

You can never get around PayPal fees, unless you have another way to accept payments???

HTH and best of luck in your adventure. =)

Feel free to check our shop out at the link below here =)

[LuminousBoutique]

example of the fees.. if someone comes to etsy and searches "handmade soap" which is what say, my mom, would search for...

a bar of soap I listed at 5:25 pm is now on page 6, at 6:27pm

if you want to get "seen" you typically need to be on the first five pages. That means renewing.. or re-listing.. at .20c each.

I guess I am very critical of it because it contributes so little to the business compared to how much time I put into it.. compared to shows, or wholesale orders...

but there are sucess stories... like Satin and Birch, I've seen her shop in less than one year go from squat to almost 1500 sales. shes found her market, her style, and rocked it. It can be done

[PAgirl89]

I was a seller of items (not soap or candles) a couple years ago, but quickly left it because of the fees incurred from Ebay and PayPal. I was contemplating using Etsy, but once I read the fees they take for listings, that's like working with Ebay. No thanks. The competition alone has really kept me away from signing up.

I'm working with DIY and I'm evening re-considering. One reason I went with DIY was because of their shopping cart feature and other special features I'm not able to get with my other server (Yahoo Business).