Thursday, December 16, 2010

How's ETSY going?

Well, 2010 has been a pretty good year, I suppose. I turned 34, found some grey hairs, made plenty of pots, and accomplished some good goals. The latest goal of mine was to enter the world of ETSY. I felt a little behind as I approached mid-December. I unloaded last friday, shot  200 images on saturday and sunday, and listed 51 pots on ETSY on sunday (well, monday until 2:30am). Listing that many items at one time is a little insane, and I do not recommend it. However, when I set out to do something, I always want to knock it out of the park. Well, I wouldn't say I've hit a homerun, but I can say that my initial response to ETSY has been good. As of today, I've had 10 ETSY sales and "deactivated" a few items that I sold locally through ETSY. Let me just tell you that "It is a ton of work to make this work well." From taking pictures, to photoshopping, to listing, and relisting......it's a lot of work. I've been asked, "is it worth it?" I say "yes." First of all, it's gonna be another bad winter, and I can't rely on walk-in traffic at my shop. Secondly, I'm reaching people from across the country that I may not have reached before. Thirdly, full retail. When you're good at marketing, like I think I am, why not try to reach your customers directly? Fourth-ly? A new social media community with a common goal of selling handmade work can teach us a new skill.
I know that the mix of quality on ETSY turns some potential sellers off. I say, direct people to your shop and use it as a tool. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm going to give it a shot and hope for the best. Good luck! Oh, and visit the shop ;)

6 comments:

brandon phillips said...

yeah, etsy is a ton of work but the online thing seems to be the way things are going nowadays so i guess it's something we'd better get used to.

it is nice to have one more source of sales to add to the mix. on their own my etsy sales are not that impressive but add that to the showroom, art fairs, wholesale, orders, etc. it all adds up. i think to be a successful artist/craftperson you have to have your hands in a few different pots, so to speak.

cookingwithgas said...

Like you say you get back what you put in- but I am wondering who is going to make the work while I am here....
Happy Holidays and I'll see your few grays and raise you by a head full!

Tracey Broome said...

I was one of the negative opinion people regarding Etsy, but now that I am doing it, I have been looking at the work on there more closely and there is some really good stuff, although it has become just another time suck for me and adds even more time to my computer usage. My first week I had three sales and I have only listed a few items while I figure it all out, but it's definitely worth it I think. Those are sales I might have had to pay a booth fee to get or commission to a gallery...

Ron said...

Glad it's going well Kyle! It would be great to get together with you sometime early into the New Year. MK too. Let's make a date.

FetishGhost said...

For all the work that it is... Etsy is a fantastic opportunity to make yourself available to a much wider audience without the headache or running a personal shopping cart.
Your storefront looks great!

Anonymous said...

We opened our Etsy stores on October 1st. It took a month for our first sale but since Nov 6th we have 43 sales. Blows the hell out of shelping to an art fair watching people pass you buy to spend too much money on food and glitter covered bottle caps.