Does Any Have An Etsy Store?

Have you had a good experience? Do you think this is a good option for developing an online business?

 

I have seen some interesting items sold thru Etsy. I am not that talented. Do you have an Etsy store and if so what do you sell?

 

My 26 year old granddaughter, CJ, has been selling childrens designs, and handmade stuffed animals on Etsy for about four years now. She does enough business to allow her tto remain at home with her 5 and 7 year old.

I buy unusual things for gifts for my family and friends. It makes buying things they generally aren't able to find a lot easier.

 

I've been thinking about selling some things on Etsy. Not that I make things to sell, but there are things that a person has around their house which apparently can be sold as supplies for those who do like to make things and sell them on Etsy. It might be worth a try to search for "supplies" and see if you have some things that you might be able to sell. I am kind of busy right now, but someday I'd like to investigate more...

 

I'm nowhere near talented enough to make anything worth selling I'm afraid, but I have taken a look on the site and ordered a couple of bits and bobs. There are some really creative crafters on there. It seems like a good site. I didn't know about the selling supplies thing - I may think about doing that. I could do with some extra cash.

 

I think you can just do a search on "supplies" and it comes up with a long list of things that are used by crafters. I've heard you can even sell bizarre things like the cardboard part of toilet paper rolls! You know what they say, one man's junk is another man's treasure!

 

Haha! Really? Too bad I already make use of the toilet rolls for my pet hamster or I could make a killing selling those.

Thanks for the advice. I looked and it seems there's a whole category for craft supplies with a lot of sub categories for all the different types. Mostly seems to be little charms, beads, wool and thread, things like that. I might have some lying around that will probably never be used - I'll consider selling it.

I looked in the woodworking category and there was somebody just selling driftwood - seems like they get quite a lot for it too! I can't sell that since I don't live near any water though.

 

I know several people who sell online, on various sites, including Etsy. Unless you have a very unique product and are able to pay for advertising, or already have a large following of steady customers, it can be difficult to be found on Etsy. It used to be fairly easy to get on the front page (without paying for it), but the site has changed, and allows more items that are mass-produced, whether or not people admit it, so it's easy to be lost in the shuffle. It's still my favorite site for buying handmade, and is still well known as a site for handmade goods, but I wouldn't count on making much money there.

 

I think Etsy is a very creative, well designed site. I understand they are upgrading this product site frequently, which a good sign of the overall health of the company itself.

 

@Yvonne Smith, why do you think Etsy won't work for you? One of my granddaughters lives in AZ, so we don't have much to talk about, and that brings about what we are doing. She has been with Etsy for a few years now, so I think I could ask her for information. Since I have been the recipient of three of these beautiful rugs, I think it would be a shame not to put them on the market.

 

@Yvonne Smith, you can always sell your rugs as a 'one of a kind' original. People love to have something that no one else will ever have. That's why I like to shop flea markets and such because items may be so old that no one else probably has it. Something to think about...

 

I went to the site to window shop. I wish all profitable luck if they do sell at Etsy. I guess that you'd add the shipping with the cost of items? I'm new at selling online.

 

I think it's worth opening a shop, since it's free and doesn't require much work. What I would do if I were you, is make up several colors/styles, and list them. If possible, and you're interested, I'd list a custom option for each, so people could specify which colors/color combinations/styles they would like. That way, you won't have to make up a lot of products ahead of time, which can get quite costly, and then not be assured of sales.

I use a tool called etsy-fu to promote, and I also promote myself, through social media. Etsy-fu is $5/month, and it will tweet a listing up to once per hour. Not everyone wants to promote that often, but my accounts are pretty active, so that's what i do. It does bring in views. Views don't necessarily guarantee sales, but they do mean people are looking. With handcrafted items, it's always a question of whether people are looking in an attempt to reverse engineer your products and make them themselves, either for personal use, gifts, or to sell. Not all of your views will come from other handcrafters though, and sometimes when people like an item, they will in turn share it on their sites, and so that can help get the shop out there for people to see, which can lead to future sales. There is a listing fee for each product, it's $.20 for 4 months, which doesn't sound like much, but if you have a lot of items, it can add up. There is also a final value fee. I don't remember exactly what that is, but I believe it's around 3.5%.

By the way, I think you could make some money with the kitted socks, they seem to be very popular these days. In general, people seem willing to pay more for knitted goods than crocheted goods for some reason.

Let me know if you have any questions, if you do decide to set up a shop. I may not know the answer, but I'll try to help if I can.