ksranch Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Spent about 3 hours today looking - comparing - learning - deciding whether to go there or not. One thing I can say is WOW - I saw stuff I would NEVER sell, much less advertise (i.e. wicks not centered etc). But, I also saw some awsome stuff I WISH I knew how to do. I know of about 3 of you guys that are Etsy... are there more? Any advise for someone jumping in?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAgirl89 Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 I have an Etsy shop, but I don't really have any sales coming from there. I think I have 20 items listed in the store. I mainly have the store open because I don't have an online store set up on my website, yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oceangazer1 Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Spent about 3 hours today looking - comparing - learning - deciding whether to go there or not. One thing I can say is WOW - I saw stuff I would NEVER sell, much less advertise (i.e. wicks not centered etc). But, I also saw some awsome stuff I WISH I knew how to do. I know of about 3 of you guys that are Etsy... are there more? Any advise for someone jumping in??Yes, I am on etsy...the market is saturated just like every where else. You really have to have some amazing or different things at good prices. Much less expensive than having an ebay store. I Think most of the sellers do not do well...there are some that do very well but they have super nice products...not the same old, same old. Good luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faerywren Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 I have an etsy. It's mainly a place I can send folks when they ask if I have a website. I don't list on it regularly on it at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbrook Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Right now I also just use Etsy to have an online presence when someone asks. When I started I could not justify the cost of my own website but I have started thinking I want my own site soon. I do not have many sales though. The only sales I have had is incense. Etsy is one of those things that you really have to work at. Some people do really good on it but I think you have to promote a lot. I just needed something to put on my business cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitn Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 You really do have to work to get noticed on Etsy, they have changed their search to relevancy and from what I have been reading, many sellers are not to happy about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksranch Posted September 19, 2011 Author Share Posted September 19, 2011 You really do have to work to get noticed on Etsy, they have changed their search to relevancy and from what I have been reading, many sellers are not to happy about it.That's the impression I got as well.... but, like many, I need someplace on line besides my FB page - where out of town people can order. Luckily, I already have at least 3 good customers that would use it - wish I could just do my own website too though. Maybe I'll check out the offer Google is making for small business owners for one year free webhosting? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbenimble Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Guys I have my own website at 3Dcart for $19.99 a month and I can list 50 items at a time. They have tones of extras and great templetes to make a very professional website. You all should try it out. I got in when they waved the $50 startup fee but it's still a deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky_CO Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Guys sending your local customers to Etsy is like posting your customer list here and letting us all have a crack at them. You are literally giving your customers to your competition. Set up a Blog, Face book page, anything but sending your customers to Etsy, Artfire, Ebay or ect... There are some great host site that do not charge much that offer templates and even simple shopping carts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChandlerWicks Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 This makes perfect sense, Thanks!Guys sending your local customers to Etsy is like posting your customer list here and letting us all have a crack at them. You are literally giving your customers to your competition. Set up a Blog, Face book page, anything but sending your customers to Etsy, Artfire, Ebay or ect... There are some great host site that do not charge much that offer templates and even simple shopping carts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbrook Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Guys sending your local customers to Etsy is like posting your customer list here and letting us all have a crack at them. You are literally giving your customers to your competition. Set up a Blog, Face book page, anything but sending your customers to Etsy, Artfire, Ebay or ect... There are some great host site that do not charge much that offer templates and even simple shopping carts.I was starting to think the same thing. Thanks for confirming my thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksranch Posted September 20, 2011 Author Share Posted September 20, 2011 Guys sending your local customers to Etsy is like posting your customer list here and letting us all have a crack at them. You are literally giving your customers to your competition. Set up a Blog, Face book page, anything but sending your customers to Etsy, Artfire, Ebay or ect... There are some great host site that do not charge much that offer templates and even simple shopping carts.Yep, got everything made this morning (4 pages) except the shopping cart - going to like this much better!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodle Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 I sell on Etsy and other sites, and also have had an active website for many years. I have always had very good sales on Etsy, and I do not think that I have anything particularly incredible to the eye. I have great photography and have been selling there for a long time. I would never "send" customers there, but many of my loyal customers come from Etsy. I believe that Etsy is a great site for established sellers. I honestly think that it is very difficult to begin on Etsy now. Aside from having lost its initial charm, there are A LOT of bath and body products on Etsy with no regulation at all. ArtFire, well... I sell there, but it is slow for me and always has been. I have never figured out why, but it does serve as a great advertisement. I left Ebay long ago, so that is not even a factor. I found that I had more headache customers than not, and the whole feedback policy change really bugged me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakuraserra Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I am actually going to say, first off I don't have an etsy store yet. But I personally think etsy would be a great starting point. It's a big site and has a lot of clicking traffic. And every week you can read about featured sellers who are showing some success with their page and maybe once every couple weeks they post a quit your day job which features a seller who well quit their day job. They also have been posting awesome sellers handbooks, they basically hand you a guide on how to be successful. Even if this isn't an ending point it gets your name out there without having to worry about building a website. As someone who just watches etsy right now you can look at other sellers who are selling similar things as you, see how much they sell for and see how many people have viewed an item. Some of the people I watch 1 item will have 50 views or more, that's like 50 people walking through your store, they can favorite stuff to buy later and all kinds stuff. If anything it's an easy place to post your stuff, and gives you a lot of encouragements from seeing others succeed. I can see how artfire is slow, it's not as big as etsy but I think it's free but I haven't looked into it much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyGCC Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I have a candle on Etsy. I am still getting my feet wet with them so I can not offer you any advice. I can tell you That I am currently using them. Sorry I can't help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soleil Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Where do you non-Etsy people post your stuff (ignoring FB, blogs, and the like)? I was looking into hosting a website with a simple shopping cart, but I don't know where to start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recyclights Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 As someone who is new to selling, I have found my Etsy Store to be a great starting point. I must admit, the sales have been slow, but I have gotten a few customers through there. At this stage of the game, I can not justify the cost of having my own site, but I'm hoping to move in that direction next year. As sakuraserra said, it is great for researching. I'm constantly on there looking over photography, description copy and pricing. It has been a tremendous help in moving my hobby into the business realm. Another way it has been helpful is on Craft Show applications. Some apps have asked for websites or photography and I love having a place to send them to look! I have set up a Facebook page, but I'm not sure how helpful that has been to draw in new people. I think it's a good place to drive existing customers to so they stay in the loop. I didn't make the connection about sending customers to the competition when you send them to etsy. That's a great point! I need to get moving on a site. Maybe I'll make a ton of holiday sales and recoup some of that money I've spent on all that testing waxsantalol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Guys sending your local customers to Etsy is like posting your customer list here and letting us all have a crack at them. You are literally giving your customers to your competition. Set up a Blog, Face book page, anything but sending your customers to Etsy, Artfire, Ebay or ect... EXCELLENT point! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakuraserra Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 That is a really good point. The one thing that I'm noticing is some larger businesses selling on etsy. Which I thought etsy was for home crafters but I guess everyone can get big at some point in time. Has anyone else tried using etsy or any advice about that? I love etsy cause they do have a lot of information on how to start up a business, not even with etsy but photography, how to attract attention etc. . . Anyways anyone else have thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakuraserra Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Found an interesting article written about the disadvantages of selling on etsy. After posting here and reading comments I started doing more research. When I first found etsy I became like a lot of future sellers with this vision of what an amazing place etsy is. This is not a stab at them, I'm still deciding for myself the extent I will participate with etsy or artfire or if not at all. Just found this article interesting and thought I'd share.http://mywifequitherjob.com/etsy-stores/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardLOZ Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 We have never even considered Etsy. We went with out own website first off. It really is not all the difficult to do, even with a shopping cart added. Yes it can take some time, days through weeks depending on how intricate you want it and what customization you require, but if you are juist looking for something pretty simple out of the box so to speak, there is plenty of webhosting around for well under $10 / month, offering loads of space, MySQL database access (generally required for a cart) and a selection of various packages including things like Zen cart and Oscommerce. have a look into it, you might be surprised as to how cheap it can really be, and that is using your own domain name as well.We dont all have the time I know, but have a look in any case. I am also happy to answer any questions people may have as well. Out site was designed and customized by me, and yes it took some time, but I also have full control over it and can change it at any time at no cost. I currently pay about $14 AUD for my hosting package and am hosting about 6 different websites of that one package. Just my thoughts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mindy5140 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Guys sending your local customers to Etsy is like posting your customer list here and letting us all have a crack at them. You are literally giving your customers to your competition. Set up a Blog, Face book page, anything but sending your customers to Etsy, Artfire, Ebay or ect... There are some great host site that do not charge much that offer templates and even simple shopping carts.I was thinking the same thing.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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