Firedkm Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 I was looking at ESTY today and was wondering if anyone uses this site. I already have an ecommerce site but I was thinking of trying this out too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 I have a storefront with all the intentions in the world of actually putting something in there. But I haven't yet. I know a lot of scrollers has had pretty good luck with it. Christmas ornaments and toys seem to work pretty well. I bet your puzzles would do well too. It only costs a few cents per listing to find out if it works or not. I usually suggest Etsy for anybody who's looking to sell their work online. Its about as easy of online selling as you can get. I say go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokopelli290 Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 Been in Etsy for 6 months - one sale. Biggest problems there are millions and millions of items for sale - you get lost. Lots of low priced items with a few wood items priced fairly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry5180 Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 It's a great site, but I agree that items tend to get lost there. The other problem as I see it, is that because it is a somewhat specialized site, unlike e-bay, many people don't even know it exists. Sure it comes up in a google search on the first page, but most people I have spoken/messaged with have never heard of it. Once I tell them about it, and they check it out they love it. Etsy should get a little better e-marketing to generate more traffic. Most of the traffic on the site is from those trying to sell items. It should be the other way around. Barry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vector01 Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Had a shop for about a year selling my woodburnings...Made a whopping $15.00 dollars. I followed the suggested procedures for selling. Created a blog, constantly on the Etsy forums and renewed my listings weekly (to name a few). I found I had more sales from word of mouth than anything else. As mentioned...There are a lot of items for sale there. If you have something unique to offer you can make some money. Like Travis mentioned, it can't hurt to try. Like any other business it takes time and a lot of effort to get it going. If you are willing to spend 3-4 hours a day promoting your shop you can succeed. I've seen some of the top Etsy sellers on QVC as well as shows like Martha Stewart. I'm quite sure that Etsy has provided some financial backing for this type of exposure ;)There are also local area groups within Etsy you can join to promote your items. Some of them even set up local craft fairs where you can go to sell your items (for a fee). Although the site specifies "handcrafted items" there are a lot of resellers on that site. They buy the items overseas make a few modifications and resell them as "handmade." This presents a problem for those that are actually trying to get a fair price for their items that are actually handmade. Hard to compete with someone who buys in bulk and sells cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firedkm Posted July 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 The one problem I see is the competitions price on the goods. When I looked up wooden puzzles there was not allot of entries but the prices were low in my opinion. I see the same problem with ebay too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 The one problem I see is the competitions price on the goods. When I looked up wooden puzzles there was not allot of entries but the prices were low in my opinion. I see the same problem with ebay too. I wouldn't let that stop you from adding your puzzles for the price you think is correct. I think a lot of people assume you have to compete on price. It becomes a vicious cycle. Before long, nobody's making money. I bet that if you list your puzzles for the price you think is fair, your compeditors will see that and raise their prices too. I'd put some time into each one of your listings. Use all 5 picutres they give you per listing. In your case, I'd have a pic of the front, pic of the back, pics of any "whimsies", pic of it disassembled, and a pic of it in the box/packaging. Be very descriptive and include all of the important keywords. There are entire professions devoted to keyword optimization. Carefully choose your words in the description to use all of the keywords a person might use to search for your product. One thing to remember is that the product title weighs heavier than the description. So choose your title wisely too. "Hand Cut Dragon Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle (204 pc)" is a better title than "Dragon Puzzle" because people could be searching for puzzle, jigsaw puzzle, wood puzzle, dragon, dragon puzzle, etc. Don't forget to tags. These are keywords too that put you into categories. Put as many as you can think of. They have some options to put you in the showcase for a fee. Unless you're already selling a fair amount of product, I wouldn't do this at all. You're just throwing money away. I'd put up several of your puzzles. If you have a bunch, it looks like you're more legit and instills confidence. It only costs 20 cents to list and it lasts for 4 months. If after that time you're not satisfied with your results, you'll be out only a few dollars. Not a bad investment to find out if it will increase your sales or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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