Our mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers.
Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice:
Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.
Sellers: There is a 20 cent fee for each listed item. This fee is for a 4 month listing. When an item sells Etsy takes a 3.5% commission off the total price. This does not include shipping.
Buyers: There are many ways to shop on Etsy from the basic search to the Etsy Treasury.
The stats: July 2009
- $13.6 million of goods were sold; roughly 6% higher than June’s $12.8 million.
- That represents 824,138 items sold for the month, 5% higher than June’s 787,692.
- 1,345,289 new items were listed in the month, 2% higher than June’s 1,315,547.
- 171,000 new members joined the Etsy community in the month, up 14,000, or 9% from June.
- 513,698,360 page views were recorded on the site this month, a 6.1% increase from June.
49 Reviews
Comment by Janet Metzger — October 15, 2009 @ 7:41 am
I have found Etsy to be an easy and inexpensive venue to showcase my art. I think it is very easy to set up your shop and to maintain it as well. The fees are low and very affordable. My main problem with Etsy is a sellers inability to really be seen by buyers beyond the first 2 seconds your new item previews on the ‘just listed’ carousel. I guess that is just the nature of the beast that is Etsy. All in all I am content for now with selling my treasures in my little Etsy shop. I will keep pushing to get my name out there…I must admit I have met many wonderful people through this Etsy experience. That alone makes it worth the work!
Comment by hjmart — October 11, 2009 @ 5:04 am
I love etsy! The site is designed very logically and easy to use. The forums are great! People are very helpful and a lot of information is shared. It is a very friendly community of artists who create and appreciate all things handmade. The fees are very reasonable as well. Promotion of your shop is the key to your shop’s success.
Comment by Katie Grimm — October 4, 2009 @ 2:25 pm
I love using etsy. I have found that the communication is immensely greater than any other site I have been on both with sellers and buyers. The sellers are respectful and helpful to buyers and are great at offering advice. I personally have had great service with all the sellers and buyers that I have some across. The buyers respect the handmade item and how much time and effort go into the item. I personally love to buy on etsy. I have found that my supplies are far more superior then more retail stores. I love the fact that you can customize most things that you are looking at purchasing. I recommend etsy to everyone I know both sellers and buyers. The only thing discouraging is as a jewelry seller it is hard to build sales because there are so many wonderful jewelry artists out there.
Comment by PetitPlat — October 4, 2009 @ 3:09 am
I have three online shops, one on Etsy, Dawanda and Artfire.
Etsy works the best for me, but it’s also the shop I promote the most.
I DON’T promote for my Dawanda and my Artfire shop. I sell good on Dawanda, never sold on ArtFire (stopped listing there)
Etsy is the best working website and I love it, truly. I sell and buy there a lot.
Listing is nice but long and in different steps. So if you forget something in step 1 and see it only in step 5 in makes you loose some time.
You can relist your sold items, which saves time but you can’t list similar items than those you have in shop, which makes you loose time.
The traffic is wonderful IF you’re listing regularly. That the biggest problem on etsy, it has many many many sellers and you can easily get lost between them. It gets tons of exposure though and new people will discover your shop on a daily basis.
The community is big, wonderful and very helpful. You have many different very useful teams as well.
They also have a wonderful blog, “the storque”, where they give all the tips to sell good and write many interesting articles about the artisans.
AND there are tons of promoting tools, like the treasuries, list of items made by etsians which are selected to go on the Front Page, which gives you a maximum exposure. You also have some fun tools like Pounce, which shows the recently sold items and the shops who never sold yet.
You also have a “shop local” tool, which is good if you prefer shopping inside a same area.
You can surf between the people who hearts you shop and items and see what they like, if they like you a lot or if they just heart every shop they see.
Negative points:
You can’t design your own shop at your desire. Of course you have your own banner, but that’s it.
You only have 10 sections, which isn’t much if you want to make different things around a same theme.
Comment by Lori Sandstedt — October 2, 2009 @ 6:18 pm
I’ve been selling on Etsy since August 2006. I’ve seen a lot of changes on the venue- and I believe all for the better. I sell one-of-a-kind garments and accessories, primarily from recycled materials. My sales average $120 and I’ve sold items priced at over $300. I’m not a power seller by any means, but I’ve done pretty well and like everything else, the key is marketing. They give you the resources to be successful and if you choose to use them, the sky’s the limit.
Comment by SuppliesHandcrafted — September 30, 2009 @ 11:32 pm
I have a new shop for Hand made Supplies on Etsy, as well as 2 other shops. I am very pleased with the overall characteristics that make Etsy a great venue for Hand made creations, as well as Vintage & Supplies. As with any site, in the beginning one needs to be patient w/themselves & learn “the ropes”. I find it user friendly & I had no former experience w/ computers! If I could figure it out, anyone can!
Administration has been very helpful , as well as the wonderful people in the many, many forums. I’ve gotten great assistance & made new friends on forums. I’ll continue to list in my Etsy shops. I do realize Etsy has grown & promotion is truly needed & up to me!
Comment by Jessica — September 30, 2009 @ 11:14 pm
Etsy was my first selling venue for my handmade goods. It was a wonderful place to start, due to all of the community support. By the time I joined, they had also established help and how to links that were easily accessible. Traffic to Etsy is fantastic, although it takes some time to figure out how to get noticed there. There are so many sellers there, that it really is up to the individual to promote themselves and their products.
Comment by Randumosity — September 30, 2009 @ 9:38 pm
I have a great little shop on Etsy. I Love it! I find it easy to set up and easy to use. The community is wonderful! I get lots of traffic and sales. And the forums are full of great people just wanting to help each other succeed. I think it’s the people who make Etsy so great! Also, Admin Support has always been good to me. There are a few things that I would like to change. But that would be nit-picking
Overall, Etsy is wonderful!
Comment by Sherri Mantello — September 30, 2009 @ 11:20 am
I have been selling on etsy since Feb of 2008 and I find etsy easy to use for the most part. I think that the most amazing part is the forums and the community support that you can receive. Etsy artists are such a giving bunch of individuals who are always willing to help in any way they can. I am on a team and they are the most amazing group of people that support your work but more importantly support each individual!
As with all jobs it is a lot of work and you really have to work at promoting yourself, you can not just open your shop, sit back and wait for sales, it is a lot of hard work. Promoting yourself constantly!
I do love etsy and the opportunities it provides us!!
Comment by Angela — September 29, 2009 @ 9:17 pm
Etsy is pretty easy to use. I love the new rearrange your shop feature. I don’t like trying to edit and would like more batch editing options. I use Etsy hacks and those help tremendously without those Etsy is much more painful and tedious having to go through many steps just to re-list. The price is right – marketing a lot of work. Pretty standards for a small business. I love the creativeness of the admin and the community.
Comment by Jess — September 29, 2009 @ 7:28 pm
I find Etsy to be fairly user-friendly, with a very pleasant interface. There are definitely areas for improvement, which could be communicated and implemented in a better and more timely fashion, but I am overall pleased with the site as both a seller and a buyer.
Comment by Sharon — September 29, 2009 @ 7:13 pm
My shop has been set up on Etsy for several months now. Even though it has taken a while to finally get some sales, I’m very excited about the site. It’s easy to use, it has a clean and professional appearance, and maybe best of all, it is such a great community. I have made some nice contacts and have found tons of useful information. I do believe that the sales I’ve made so far have come from people who receive the newsletter I send out for my business, but that’s a good thing if those customers spread the word. I am working on incorporating some of the tips I’ve gotten from other Etsy sellers, and I feel confident that they will make a positive difference. I will definitely stick with Etsy for now!
Comment by Jenny — September 29, 2009 @ 6:16 pm
Although I have not sold anything on Etsy yet, my experience of this website has been good. My main frustration is the time it takes to photograph, list, renew, hope, pray and wait for a sale. As my computer skills are minimal, hopefully getting better, I have found trying to sell online a challenge. That’s not Etsy’s fault but keeping a steady flow of work happening and doing all the computer stuff keeps me busy.
The Etsy community are very supportive and I have learnt heaps since I reopened my shop in July this year. The promotional tools are very good.
My hope with Etsy was to have an international client base for my work. People seem to like what I do. Just no sales yet.
Comment by Jen Kiaba — September 29, 2009 @ 5:44 pm
Overall Etsy is a very supportive and wonderful community to be a part of. There are so many fantastic and inspiring artists there to connect with and buy from. Yet therein lies Etsy’s inherent problem. It feels like a saturated market, where each seller is trying to claw their way through the loads of other products. Some sellers have been able to comfortably set up their niche, but newcomers may find it more difficult to contact their target audience for organic traffic.
However there are also constant updates from admins who are trying to provide resources for the intrepid seller. Take advantage of those and you may be able to steadily increase your audience across the board!
Comment by AJKArtistry — September 29, 2009 @ 5:15 pm
I LOVE Etsy. I joined back in 2006 and instantly fell in love with the Buy Handmade concept. I find their format simple to use, the fees are reasonable and I like the many opportunities within the site for sellers to promote their own work- either through a showcase spot or in the forums, posting links to promos, sales and such.
My one complaint about Etsy is that it only allows one shop per email address. I set up my second shop to sell off my extra supplies, and it’s a bit of a hassle having to login to a separate email account to see if I’ve gotten any correspondence in there.
Other than that, I really love the site and I’m doing quite well on there, almost 650 sales!
Comment by Kitty Baby Love — September 29, 2009 @ 4:56 pm
Overall etsy is amazing for the small time home crafter or small business owner. My partner and I launched our business on etsy after deciding that we would be work-at-home parents and not get a ‘real’ job. Etsy has given us so many opportunities in such a short period of time-
We have a ton of support from:
+ fellow sellers picking us to be in “treasuries,” some of which make it to the front page of etsy (great for exposure!),
+ admin picking us to be featured in emails,
+ “storque” articles (it’s like etsy’s blog) which has taught us 60% of everything we now know about marketing and selling,
+ etsy forums which has been great for asking questions, getting answers, and searching the archives for past discussions (even on topics unrelated to etsy),
+ email blasts which include great finds for the buyer as well as seller’s tips and tricks
+ and not to mention 3rd party sites and applications that are specifically designed to make selling on etsy amazing (*ahem* etsyhacks..)
The fees are low and while they have features like buying “showcase” spots and “gift guide” spots, we have never ever purchased these and still have gotten a great response. You don’t need to relist 10x a day to sell anything. Also, 80% of our wholesale orders and requests have come directly from shop owners finding us on etsy.
The etsy administration does a great job at addressing concerns, responding to emails, and in general just continuing to upgrade etsy to make it an intuitive user-friendly experience for both seller and buyer.
Setting up the shop is pretty straight forward but there is a guide in case you need help.
Things we don’t like:
- we like the clean appearance of etsy.com but think it’s lacking as far as great web design goes…
- secondary shipping is really hard to estimate and would prefer if there were more options, like entering the weight of an item to calculate costs vs. a set cost
- shop appearance is functional but again lacking in design. Recently added is “rearrange your shop” which at least allows you to move shop items around- other than that you can upload your top banner and type in some text in the announcements. Everything else is standard and cannot be modified.
- NO DISCOUNT COUPONS!!!! This is such a huge setback. Even though etsy regularly features “sales” and percentages off, there is no feature to make this more evident just by looking at the shop (such as a crossed out price with a new price overhead) or at checkout (like a “enter coupon code here” feature)
In the end if you are unsure, just give it a try. The most you have to lose is $0.20!
Comment by Dharma Designs — September 29, 2009 @ 4:49 pm
There aren’t enough words to explain how much I LOVE Etsy! Where else could you find organic nag champa deoderant, shampoo and laundry soap? As a buyer it’s the best place to find unique handcrafted items with personality. As a a seller it’s the best venue to get my items out in front of an indie appeciating crowd. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!
Comment by Leanne — September 29, 2009 @ 3:24 pm
I have been very happy as a seller on Etsy. I have been a part of Etsy now since January 2008. Getting started was easier than I imagined and the support I received from other sellers was fantastic. Being a part of Etsy has enabled me to sell my work all over the world. It has also been the main point of contact for wholesale customers to find me and I am now selling into shops all around the planet! I am part of the DUST Team on Etsy as well which I think has been one of the best things I could have done. Being part of a team gives you further support and encouragement. I am happy that Etsy have been making constant changes to the functionality of the site and I am looking forward to more changes for sellers that are outside the US. Currency conversion will be welcomed that’s for sure! It is hard to get yourself noticed on Etsy due to the vast amount of sellers but it is important to market yourself and not just sit there and expect the sales to come!
Comment by Viv — September 29, 2009 @ 1:21 pm
As a seller I really like Etsy, it’s very simple to use, the fees are very reasonable, you will always find help from the community when needed, as well as support from the Etsy team, so for me works very well, just a great experience!
Comment by Eric — September 29, 2009 @ 1:13 pm
Etsy is a great place to start selling your goods. It’s very easy to set up a shop. The online community is great, lots of people willing to give advice and help you succeed. The fees aren’t very much so it’s a pretty cheap way to promote yourself. I recommend it.
Comment by MaryLou Holvenstot — September 29, 2009 @ 12:35 pm
I’ve been selling on Etsy for three years, and while it’s not the site it used to be because it’s grown so much, it’s still a good selling venue. It still feels a bit like a site where the developers are learning their way around, as they make changes sometimes that don’t make any sense to sellers and/or buyers.
While I used to sell handmade stationery items, my focus is now on my beadweaving; and I plan to begin offering patterns soon. I’ve done reasonably well with sales, and considering the low cost of listing ($.20 per item), it’s a great bargain in terms of getting my work “out there.”
Etsy as a site is just okay in terms of navigation. I think they could improve the listing process so it doesn’t require going through five screens to do everything. Their search functions are still pretty rudimentary, requiring that the user know how to exclude items they don’t want to find or be content to weed through thousands of [sometimes mistagged] listings. From a buyer’s perspective, I’ve often become aggravated while searching for something and have just given up – not the thing you want to have happen on a site that’s representing thousands of sellers.
One of my biggest complaints, actually, is the way Etsy admins handle the front page. They either choose treasuries (curated by Etsy members) or they choose items to display on the front page, supposedly giving buyers a look at the variety that’s available on the site. It soon becomes obvious, however, that the front pages are geared toward a 20-something crowd (not the 40- to 50-something crowd, who probably has more expendable income) and that the same sellers wind up being featured over and over again.
Another complaint I have is the “weekend deals” which have recently been the focus. For a site where everything’s supposed to be handmade, I think Etsy should do more to promote the uniqueness that is handmade. People who are making items by hand spend a significant amount of time, creativity, and energy developing their wares; and for Etsy to promote “sales” the way they do devalues the products. It’s not Wal-Mart. Go there if you want a bargain.
I’ll probably continue to sell on Etsy, although I’ve now begun selling on 1000 Markets, which really does focus on handmade.
Best of luck to all you Etsy sellers out there!
Comment by Halter Hotties — September 29, 2009 @ 12:28 pm
I’ve been an Etsy member since March 2008. I love this site. Not only is it a great way to sell, its also a great place to buy! I have always had a good experience with my transactions and love all the inspiration that can be found on my fellow Etsians pages.
Have found it to also be a great way to drive traffic to my website.
Comment by Debra Roelle — September 29, 2009 @ 12:15 pm
I love selling on Etsy. It has been such a wonderful experience! Setting up shop was a challenge for me because of my lack of computer experience. I was able to do it all on my own though. I have spent a lot of time researching and reading the forums. For one who is a little computer savvy, setting up shop on Etsy would be a breeze!
Comment by Debra Roelle — September 29, 2009 @ 12:03 pm
I love Selling on Etsy!
Comment by The Ivory Magnolia — September 29, 2009 @ 11:55 am
Etsy is an awesome venue for just about anyone who makes their own product. You can have your own online shop set up in just a few minutes and ready for buyers.
I’ve found the forum and chat rooms to be very helpful.
The only downfall is that you have to do your homework and create your own shipping charges.
Comment by its4ujewelry — September 29, 2009 @ 11:52 am
Etsy is a wonderful site full of so many talent individuals. The search tools make findings what your looking for easy. As a seller I find that its a great community with wonderful people. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Etsy… we love it here!
Comment by Louisa — September 29, 2009 @ 11:51 am
I have been selling on etsy since December 2007. Overall is has been a great experience and it has been the perfect venue to get more worldwide coverage. Setting up shop was easy and straightforward and I like the look of the whole site.
The thing that is lacking is useful tools for sellers who sell more than an item a month. Search through past sales to find repeat buyers, a specific customer or specific item is time consuming and frustrating. Etsy is working on making the buyers experience better but they have to make it easier for sellers to enable a better experience for buyers too.
I will happily continue selling on etsy as a great venue knowing that there are still lots of things that they could do to make it even better!
Comment by Gabbie — September 29, 2009 @ 11:41 am
Etsy is a good starting point for indie designers, and etc to start selling the work they design. Etsy offers alot of tools to help you out like the storque. The storque is my favorite thing on etsy they blog a lot of useful infomation to help you run your business/shop. Worth checking out .
Comment by brenda salzano — September 28, 2009 @ 4:55 pm
I love ETSY! First thing I love is the simplicity of design. I dislike clutter of adds all over, so Etsy does this well. I found all the things one needs to do to set up a shop super easy, and signed up for the weekly emails on what is new. I Stay abreast in the forums, the storque. I do TONS of Treasuries. That is where we get to pic twelve products from Etsy artists. One can even be our own now. Then it goes public for all to see. Just a fun thing, but it gets more views for those who see them. I also tweet, my treasury to help out the artists I pick.
I also created my own team, after finding out how many people were right here in my own town on etsy. We call ourselves Ocean! Oregon coast etsy artist network.
This has helped me grow and share what we learn. All of us are older women who want to make a living selling our art online.
I love the new Arrange your pages for our shop as this is just like a treasury now. I can do color and themes each month. I find the fees fair. I have no complaints with Etsy at all. Joined over 1 1/2 years ago. I started with really poor photos, and did not know anything. I am doing 100 percent better now, and think I am going to go full time with it now.
Because of Etsy a retail shop in Las vegas saw me, and I now sell wholesale to them! Life is GOOD on Etsy!
Comment by Mindy Wilson — September 28, 2009 @ 9:44 am
Etsy has been the best thing to aid in my creation that I have ever encountered. I used to make, and make and make art: Submit, submit, submit my images and illustrations to publishing houses…until it wore me out! Now, I’m selling all over the world, it’s been fabulous validation! I’m an artist and it feels great.
Comment by Kaleidoscope Style — September 27, 2009 @ 10:30 pm
Setting up shop was very easy. The entire community is so helpful and the design so intriguing that I was immediately drawn in and learned as much as I could about the whole process of selling on Etsy in a matter of days. Treasuries and the forums are very helpful. Getting your items seen is getting harder and harder, but it still is the best selling venue for me and it is where I spend most of my online time.
Comment by Lidia — September 27, 2009 @ 6:19 pm
I started listing on Etsy in early March 2009. Within an hour of my first listing I had my first sale. At first I wasn’t sure what happened and I wondered why my listing had disappeared. About 3 days later, the same product sold again. I was thrilled! I thought, what could be easier than that. Well, of course, this didn’t happen all the time but I am very pleased with Etsy. Out of all my on line venues, Etsy brings me the most traffic and sales. It does take a lot of work with promoting with social media but you get what you put out, so if you’re really serious about your business, don’t give up.
I find the forums to be very informative and helpful.
I have never experienced any bugs with my site. Administration is there when I need questions answered.
Comment by domina — September 27, 2009 @ 4:40 pm
Etsy was the first site I used when I started listing my handmades online. I did have a few sales there then went to other avenues for a few reasons.
The search engine on site does not work. It makes older items practically invisible. The relist daily practice seems to be a way for the site to constantly make money from the seller. At a rate of about 6 bucks a month per item listed. Not to mention the additional percentages taken for each sale. I really feel these practices are too expensive to the seller and you do not necessarily get what you paid for.
Also I find their front page listed items a bit to cutesy. That is to say there are not that many items listed that fit my genre. If there were equal representation for darker or alternative pieces that would satisfy me to no end. Not everyone shopping handmades wants pink, country or fuzzy. Some of us want things with teeth that are so ugly they are cute.
Additionally I would mention that their groups are not very friendly. Neither are their admins. There are many horror stories on the net from people who dared to oppose them.
That being said. Etsy does spend a lot on advertising and attracting buyers and attention from mainstream media. This is a huge plus given the market and the economy.
Comment by Watches by Helen — September 27, 2009 @ 4:03 pm
I love Etsy. I have not sold very much but what I have sold has been to a repeat customer. I love making watches so I am doing what I love and I figure the rest will follow. I study everything from promotional stuff to tagging info. I work during the day like I would if I were going to work every day (which I am because I work from home. So I am always doing something to make Watches by Helen work better. I think one gets out of Etsy what one put in so I try putting as much of myself in as I can. I have two shops and Etsy is my primary shop.
Comment by Joyous Treasures — September 27, 2009 @ 4:03 pm
Etsy is my favorite selling and buying venue. Of all the venues I have set up shop with, I think Etsy offers the best experience. While not everything is perfect, the good outweighs the bad.
Setting up shop is quite easy. Etsy offers a step by step process that makes listing an item easy. I do wish you could use more than 5 pictures, since that’s the maximum amount of pictures you can put in a listing, but again, it’s not so bad.
Etsy’s fees are quite low, requiring that you only pay twenty cents per item you list, plus a very small percentage of the item price if it sells. Your item will be listed for 4 months at a time. In other words, twenty cents per item per 4 months.
The main thing is I don’t like the shipping options. They do not yet offer a shipping calculator, instead you have a fixed price for everything. They do allow you to combine shipping though, which is nice!
Etsy now offers more customization of your shop. You can now arrange your items so that they will show in the order you wish. You can also have categories to put different types of items, making it easier for customers to find what they are looking for.
I think Etsy offers the absolute best community I have ever seen in a handmade venue. The friendship, fellowship with other crafters, advise and critiques I receive there are invaluable! Etsy offers forums with different categories so everyone can discuss things, whether it be business topics, problems or bugs found on the site, critiques for new sellers, and there is even a category for anything you want to talk about that is non etsy related!
I love shopping on Etsy! Etsy makes it easy to find what you are looking for, because they offer a variety of ways to search for things. You can search by newest listed, most relevant, keywords found in the description, keywords found in the title, etc.
As of yet, I have not been in a situation where I have had to contact Etsy for support, so I can’t say much about that. However, it looks to me like Etsy is quite willing make improvements, and they always listen to the community, even if it does take time.
Etsy is a great place for newbies to get started! If you have been thinking about setting up your own website, consider selling on etsy for a time to begin building a customer base, and to gain some experience in marketing.
Over all, I’d say Etsy is my favorite venue!
Comment by BarbedLotus — September 27, 2009 @ 3:59 pm
I think my favorite thing about Etsy is the community. I have yet to meet a seller that does not share info about techniques or suppliers or tips on how to improve your shop. The whole thing there is promoting each other is promoting yourself as well and people really do help each other out to bring in more customers for everyone. It’s kind of like a big virtual artists market but without the park.
Also I like how they do custom orders. The alchemy section has found me just as many sales as putting things up in my shop and doing treasuries have.
The fees are very reasonable, which is what attracted me to the site in the first place.
One thing I don’t like is I wish there were more ways to customize the look of your shop right now. However they have been adding more features in that direction so it’s not that big of a deal.
Comment by Nancy Karma — September 27, 2009 @ 3:44 pm
I’ve been selling on Etsy for three years and have had good experiences. While I don’t sell huge amounts of things, I sell a steady quantity. The other thing to remember is that you can also get wholesale and consignment offers! Also, you might get to do custom orders. I’ve also made a lot of great friends on Etsy. To me, Etsy opened up a world of opportunities.
Comment by Pauline — September 27, 2009 @ 3:31 pm
Etsy is great place to sell handmade items. Its simple to set up, easy to use, loads of info to help you when you’re new, excellent admin support and great community of very helpful fellow sellers!
Etsy has become huge = traffic is huge (513 million page views last month) but with around 1300000 new products listed in the month, or 300 items/minute (!) your window for exposure in ‘recently listed items’ has shrunk to only a few seconds now. Over the last 3 years it has become way more difficult to get those all important page views and you have to look at other ways to get traffic (paid adverts etc.). Having said that, I’d still say that , overall Etsy is by far the best handmade site I have found to sell!
Comment by Emily — September 27, 2009 @ 3:11 pm
I love Etsy! I came to Etsy after a few months of selling on another site which will remain nameless… It seemed to be just the right place to sell my items since it is for those of us who create their items by hand and don’t sell mass produced items from locations unknown.
I’ve met a lot of great people through Etsy and enjoy the free features Etsy offers like Alchemy, chats, forums, and tutorials. Etsy also has information on how to get your shop up and running which is so helpful!
Comment by El — September 27, 2009 @ 1:43 pm
I love etsy. It was the first place I started selling my crochet, handmade greeting cards, and bag making supplies. I am on other places as well but I will never abandon etsy.
Listing is cumbersome and you have to learn some tricks to make things a little easier. They really need to work on this as its hard to list a similar item without completely remaking the listing.
It would also be nice to have a more high tech shipping charges calculation. I feel that I lose customers because the combined shipping is often calculated too high. You just can’t control it that well and promising to refund the excess shipping charges doesn’t always help, especially for new customers that don’t have a relationship with you.
I love the community and would highly suggest any person to become an active member in at least one team. It is hard but you do get what you put in to it.
Like any place, you must promote your shop to increase sales. Its not quite like ebay where customers can easily find you and even if it were ebay you still need to promote. Promoting is essential – if you want free advertising, you must spend more time (which takes from your creation time). If you want more creation time, you’ll have to put in the $$ for advertising – the hard part is to decide what website would be the best place for your $.
Good luck and feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. I love to help.
http://tantalizingstitches.etsy.com
Comment by Mary-Jo Peritore — September 24, 2009 @ 8:41 pm
I *love* my Etsy Shoppe! However, you definitely get out what you put into it. I’ve found one key is constant marketing and listing new merchandise. The Etsy forums are great place to gather tips and tricks of the trade, and I’ve found the Etsy Community is all too eager to help.
I would like to be able to customize my shop a little more, make it a bit more personal per see…add a few sub-categories, etc. Otherwise, no complaints.
Comment by Jennifer — September 24, 2009 @ 2:18 pm
Etsy is the first and only website I have set up shop on. I’ve only been a member for about 7 months. At first I had a difficult time getting an account set up, it took me a month to figure that out. But once I was finally in, getting my jewelry posted was easy.
Setting up your shop and posting items is very time consuming, it’s not instant, there are several steps you have to go through before your item is listed. It took me several days to get all my items posted.
I like the site a lot, I haven’t had much success because there are so many other sellers with the same products and getting the views is difficult. I read a lot of the newsletters and hope that I will be able to make this site a success for me.
Comment by folkandfiber — September 24, 2009 @ 11:39 am
I use Etsy as a supplemental selling venue to my own website. I find Etsy.com to be overall easy to use, and very easy to maintain my shop once the initial setup is completed. I have not sold much in the year that I have been using Etsy, but I do think it’s a good way to drive more traffic to my own website.
I previously used Ebay to supplement my sales and traffic, but the fees are too high; Etsy’s fee structure is very reasonable,even when you sell an item and the listing fees are dirt cheap! I find it really easy to re-list items and I like the functionality built into the shop: ability to move items in your list, feature items, and rearrange images.
To new sellers, I would advise you to take your time and understand how the site works, include as much information within yoru shop and in yoru listings about yourself and how you produce your items. Buys also like to know where you are located and who you are – it is much more personal than Ebay or other “auction-style” selling venues. You will get out of Etsy only as much as you are willing to put into it – join Teams, read the blogs and newsletters, and listen to other Sellers.
I find I buy as much from Etsy (no more!) than I sell. Whenever I wear jewelry I have purchased from an Etsy seller, I get so many comments! I take that opportunity to spread the word about Etsy. Tell your friends and include links to your Etsy shop from your Blog or website. There are tons of people who do not know about Etsy and are happy to hear of it. Add your Etsy shop url to your business cards and in your email sigs.
Just try it – it doesn’t cost a lot and if you work at it, you will reap the benefits in the long run.
Comment by BodyLuminosity — September 24, 2009 @ 12:13 am
I really love Etsy. However, I would warn new sellers that it’s absolutely NOT an automatic list-it-and-they-will-buy deal, but just like anything else you get out of it what you put into it. There’s a lot of work involved…I’m constantly learning, changing, reviewing, renewing, and I’m STILL not where I want to be a year and a half later lol. The community is friendly and helpful, traffic is good when I list/renew items consistantly. The ability to take excellent photos and write good detailed descriptions are necessary if you plan to sell. I do wish that the listing process was a bit less cumbersome, but overall I think it’s the best selling venue out there.
Comment by Colleen — September 23, 2009 @ 10:13 pm
I really knew nothing about online selling when I started on etsy. Etsy was very easy to use and set up a shop. I like the small fees too. It was very non threatening in the sense that if I tried this out and didn’t sell anything, I would only have lost a few dollars.
The forums are very helpful, and a great way to get a quick answer to a question. Even ones that seem small. I have not had to contact administration so I don’t know about that area.
I think it is important to learn how to advertise yourself, because etsy is so big, but, again, there are alot of places within etsy to learn how to do that.
I enjoy selling there, and would recommend it-Etsy is a great place to start out!
Comment by Jeanna Mandeville — September 23, 2009 @ 9:57 pm
I love Etsy. I have found so many wonderful sellers on here. I love the fact that we can receive feedback from our buyers and sellers. I love the community also. Everyone is so helpful. The feedback forum is easy to navigate and to use. I do find that because there is a listing and selling fee, I find myself limited with creating. I tend to only list the things I really feel strong that they would sell on the site….It is really straightforward for me. I find the tag abuse issue frustrating. And even if an item is “reported”…sometimes the issue is never resolved. I wish there was a better way of being fair for everyone.
All in all, I am pleased!
Comment by Justine Justine — September 23, 2009 @ 9:44 pm
Etsy is an amazing place with amazing possibilities, it’s all about discovering these possibilities.
in GENERAL i would say it is an easy to use website, you dont need to be a computer-freak to be able to start a shop or buy something, on every page there are links to HOW TOs.
but, i think i does take a while to discover the tricks to SELL and get more VIEWS because the place is huge, you have to find YOUR way to stand out from the crowd, Etsy offers many options and ideas to do so.
Etsy looks great, because the DESIGN is simple and clean, the shops are designed in an effective way and for the same reason easy to use. Their design is very functional and you don’t get an overdose of images! no publicity all over! and that’s great!
The COMMUNITY is very helpful! most of the people are very willing to help you out with any problem and everybody is friendly in the forum. The forum is the fastest way to get an answer to your problem! it’s a must hanging out there to read, listen, help and learn!
Only once i contacted Admin Support and they were very helpful, friendly and correct!
Lots of traffic on Etsy but you have to find the tricks to get that traffic to your shop, that can be difficult sometimes but overtime you will learn! all the best tips and tricks can be found in the forum, the storque (=etsy-blog), interviews, teams, etc. It’s all out there, its on you to discover that information!
Overall i would say etsy is a great place for beginners because of the easy set up, the helpful community and the clean design!
Comment by Danielle — September 23, 2009 @ 9:18 pm
While I like the look of etsy, and the ease in setting up shop, as an etsy seller, I felt as though I had very little influence in any part of the site. I was one fish in a sea of many. I didn’t get any sales, and I barely even received any hits to my blog. It really didn’t feel like a community to me. It’s a bit like high school, with all the cliques.
I did not really enjoy my time spent trying to sell on etsy and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone looking to sell handmade online for the first time.
Comment by Redrane — September 23, 2009 @ 9:11 pm
Etsy has been a great place to start selling my goods.
It is easy to use both for myself and my customers.
There are a variety of search tools – categories, keywords, by seller etc… for buyers to use to find exactly what they are looking for.
From a sellers standpoint I also appreciate how helpful the Etsy community is with so many resources available to you to improve your shop – virtual labs, forums, e-newsletters and more!
The fees involved are very reasonable as well.
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