Etsy?

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Ishbel

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Can anyone give me information about how useful having an Etsy shop is? Ive had a good look at the site and really like the look of it, does it work? bear in mind Im in England not USA will that matter? Id love some advice (again!!) :?
 
I don't sell soap. But I've tried Etsy a few times but never have much luck. They have a labs thing you can sign up for email with lots and LOTS of selling tips that is great. But from those emails I have gathered that selling on Etsy is hard work. They suggest listing often and refreshing your listings often, being active on the forums there, and lots of other things. I just couldn't keep up with it all. Some people do very well there though. Hopefully someone will chime in with a success story.
 
I love Etsy! I don't sell anything but I've bought plenty. I have bought soap, shampoo bars, etc. My best ever find was for Salty Dawg shampoo and conditioner. It fixed my hair!

I like lots of information, good pictures, and I always read reviews before I buy anything.

I know I'm not helping from a seller's viewpoint but as a buyer I love it!
 
I have had very good luck w/ etsy. I shouldn't say luck, there is nothing lucky about it. I have worked hard & it has paid off.

The searh engine is chronological, so if you want to stay at the top of the search engine you do need to list daily or even 2x a day. A listing is just .20cents though & runs for 4 months so you can list 2 items, 2 times a day & that is just $24.00. Most webhosting is that much per month anyway & etsy has a massive built in flow of established customers wanting to buy.

I do not work the forums, treasuries, blog, etc.

Yes, there are 100s of soap shops there, but there are enought customers to go around, esp if you figure out how to 'stand out'.
 
If you are from the UK, have a look at the European Etsy-Style stores. I find 0.20 to list a bar of soap excessive, but plenty of people do it.

Make sure you read the fine print before selling anything, some sites charge per listing, some per item. That means some sites will charge you 0.20 per soap, no matter how many bars, some sites will charge you per bar listed. On top of that comes the sales-fee (a percentage of your sale, anywhere between 2% and 10% goes to the site) and if you want a professional looking shop or some of the extra features many sites charge a monthly fee for a premium account. You need to add all of these up to see where you get the best value for your money, depending on what you sell.

US based:
www.etsy.com

US based, but with the option to list in UK£
www.artfire.com
The currency conversion has not been working for over 2 months now though, so I am not impressed.

European and/or UK based

www.coriandr.com
http://misi.co.uk/
http://en.dawanda.com

These are all I can think of right now, I am sure there are more. The Etsy tips are working for those sites as well though. I am using Artfire until I have my own shopping cart, but may switch to one of the european ones if that currency converter isn't fixed soon.
 
I started selling on Etsy about a year ago & like it. I haven't had many sales but have bought from other Etsy members & it's a fun place to shop. I'm not super faithful w/ relisting and such so I'm sure that affects my success rate (or lack there of! :lol: ). But it is an inexpensive way to get a web site & it's nice to be able to say you have one when customers ask. Just my two cents!!! :D
 
Tabitha said:
I have had very good luck w/ etsy. I shouldn't say luck, there is nothing lucky about it. I have worked hard & it has paid off.

The searh engine is chronological, so if you want to stay at the top of the search engine you do need to list daily or even 2x a day. A listing is just .20cents though & runs for 4 months so you can list 2 items, 2 times a day & that is just $24.00. Most webhosting is that much per month anyway & etsy has a massive built in flow of established customers wanting to buy.

I do not work the forums, treasuries, blog, etc.

That might be the difference for my products. There is no way I could list something new 2x a day and when I relist the few items I have left in stock I only watch my profit go down a bit more every time I relist. I'm used to my business model being production time heavy and knowing that I can take the time to list an item once and it will sell sooner or later. I can't produce enough to make Etsy worthwhile, nothing seems to sell unless it was listed within 24 hours there. I just can't keep up! OTOH, I shop Etsy as a shopper! I buy almost all of my fabric there unless it's impossible to find, and love to browse almost every day. I think a soaper would have a whole different experience there.
 
Thank you all, as always brilliant advice and ideas I will have look at the European sites mentioned and do some research. I am saving up for my own website anyway so I saw this as a possible stop gap until I have the finances in place for my main site.
This forum is so brilliant, thank you everyone!! :D
 
JenniferSews said:
Tabitha said:
I have had very good luck w/ etsy. I shouldn't say luck, there is nothing lucky about it. I have worked hard & it has paid off.

The searh engine is chronological, so if you want to stay at the top of the search engine you do need to list daily or even 2x a day. A listing is just .20cents though & runs for 4 months so you can list 2 items, 2 times a day & that is just $24.00. Most webhosting is that much per month anyway & etsy has a massive built in flow of established customers wanting to buy.

I do not work the forums, treasuries, blog, etc.


That might be the difference for my products. There is no way I could list something new 2x a day and when I relist the few items I have left in stock I only watch my profit go down a bit more every time I relist. I'm used to my business model being production time heavy and knowing that I can take the time to list an item once and it will sell sooner or later. I can't produce enough to make Etsy worthwhile, nothing seems to sell unless it was listed within 24 hours there. I just can't keep up! OTOH, I shop Etsy as a shopper! I buy almost all of my fabric there unless it's impossible to find, and love to browse almost every day. I think a soaper would have a whole different experience there.

You can just relist your items, you do not have to make new items, it gives a new exp date.
 
Thanks madpiano! Ive looked at all the sites you posted in detail!! i.e. all last night :lol: I liked Misi and Coriandr (although this was a little on the light side, I loved the look) I think Im going to go for it, got some great shots of my soap done so thanks once again for helping. I am going to try the UK ones first, although if you look at how well each has done they dont do much in the way of sales, then I might go for Etsy, I just feel that its already saturated with soap makers and is very US orientated. I do lots of Farmers markets and love them for the direct feedback I get but I do hope eventually to make it using my own website. :wink:
 
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