question about etsy....how you doin ?? -Okay- i'm on now !!!

I noticed a bunch of t.c. artists on that etsy website sellin their stuff....i joined up myself, but haven't posted anything for sale....was wondering, how you t.c.er's were doing as far as sales, especially with the economy....any feedback on how you feel about the site, it's policies, shopping traffic, etc....? is it even worth doing?....any thoughts appreciated.

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2009-08-31 18:33 ]

I know artists on here try to sell on there so their take on it may be different than mine, but just reselling tiki/hawaiian/vintage stuff I love it .

Its cheaper than Ebay to sell on and I think its less restrictive and easier all around. Its easy to promote items, list them, fees are WAY lower than Ebay, and the Etsy team gets back to you really quickly if you have questions. Plus billing is not done automatically so you can pay all your fees within a 2 month window which is nice.

I have been doing pretty well profit wise in the collectible market and even with some handmade purses I have just started selling they seem to be doing well also.

I say give it a try and I think you will do well.

[ Edited by: leleliz 2009-08-03 11:53 ]

I've had some of my mugs up for a few weeks...Not much action yet..I'm still hopefull, though.
It's not a lot of money to post, so I'm going to stick it out a bit longer.

I have an etsy store (vintage hats) and I do prefer it to ebay. Less fees, simpler to use, etc. I have noticed a decline in sales over the past few months. Since March, buisiness has been slow. Hopefully in the fall things will pick up with people planning ahead for the holidays.

For me, Etsy is slow, but still worth it. I've got about 150 items on there, and usually have a couple sales each month. It has actually brought in a couple of decent size wholesale orders for me, too.

Basically, it's so much cheaper than ebay. I only need to sell one item to pay for all of my listings, and listings run a lot longer.

I like it because you're reaching a completely different crowd on there, one that normally isn't on ebay.

I just wanted to add that you have to tailor your pricing on Etsy to what people are paying for similiar items. This pretty much goes for anything that is on there for sale. Since it lacks the bid-to-win challenge of Ebay I find that buyers on Etsy are always looking for the best deal.

Etsy buyers are more savy...they check out the item you have for sale against all of the rest of those similiar items that are for sale on that site. They will buy the cheaper one of course. So if you are selling a Harvey's Bucket Mug for $15 and someone else has it listed as $5 they aren't going to buy yours. So its best to do a little research to see what things are selling for and how you can fit yours into the bunch and still be able to make a profit.

Also I have found that a majority of buyers are also Ebayers...so they are going to check there for price comparison as well.

When it comes to handmade items take hair flowers for instance. You type that in the search function and you get hundreds of results. Well if its between paying $6 versus paying $15 for pretty near identical items the $6 person will always get the sale.

Common sense but I see a lot of sellers on there with low sales because they don't keep that in mind.

[ Edited by: leleliz 2009-08-03 15:36 ]

joined etsy at least 3 months ago.
never even tried to sell anything..
Thanks for starting this up Tipsy
now we can all figure out if it's worth the effort!
:)

I opened up an etsy store too, just over a month ago. I like how easy it is to use and the fees are a lot lower than ebay. I also like that I can set my price - there is no bidding. And I can leave it on there as long as I want. I can also promote it super easy with "etsy mini" html code that I can post on the side of my blog, in a webpage, in emails, whatever. I can put my handmade items there or I can put my vintage finds there. Since I'm not selling radio tubes or camera manuals, this works for me.

Have you seen some of the new advertising they're doing? I just wish they'd run a national ad campaign to build awareness for the site. Granted, that's very expensive, but I seem to come across a lot of people who say "What's etsy?" So we have to promote it along with our own work if we use the site for selling.

If I had only bought up those Robb Hamels when there was only three pages of tiki. BLASTED YOU FREAKSASdsl;gjkeautrwtwDLGJaeslgf!!!!!!!!!.

Sorry. :blush: & :sob: Thats :cry: but, with stronger emoitcon.

My wife loves it, but I haven't really experienced it yet. We found artists on Etsy who made our wedding rings for us. Mine is made from a fallen tree branch in the South American Jungle, and hers is hand sculpted flowers in a Olde Timey style. Its really amazing all the different crafters on there. Back when I looked for Tiki a few years ago, it was all crap, but it seems to be changing from what you guys are saying!

My wife will be selling her new mid century modern ceramic wall fish on Etsy after Oasis is finished.

thanks all for your input.....i'm gonna give it a shot....i'm gonna sell some vintage stuff i pick up at estate sales and some smaller tiki items i've been makin...priced to move!!......if it goes well i'll probably put some bigger ticket tiki art of mine up there.....i'll post a link once i get up and running....if anyone else wants to post a link to their etsy site here feel free and eventually i can label this thread " tiki central - gateway to etsy "....:)

okay- i'm officially on etsy.....check me out at dsk designs...thanks!! maybe you will find a bargain or 2.....

On 2009-08-31 18:32, Tipsy McStagger wrote:

okay- i'm officially on etsy.....check me out at dsk designs...thanks!! maybe you will find a bargain or 2.....

I KNEW that was your stuff. Good luck with selling Tipsy!