NBR Etsy Store Owners

momofcatan

I know we have a couple of Etsy store owners here ( @NachelleBeck ?). I'm thinking about trying to start a store but know nothing about running an etsy store. Anyone want to tell me what its like? Was it easy to set up/manage? What kind of fees are there? How are payments processed? I appreciate any wisdom you can share. TIA.

needanustart

I have one. It's super user friendly and easy to manage. It costs .20 to list an item and then they take 3% of a sale. All payments are debited/credited through my bank account and are automatic and easy peasey. You can even print and charge ship labels right through your account. You get out of it what you put into it so good pictures and accurate tags and description are well worth your time if you want to look like you're "worth it." If you are selling something handmade look around at other stores like yours to price your stuff. I sell antiques so it's a bit different of a market than the artisan stuff but for antiques I pay for and run search ads to up my hits, and it's worth it for me. Lastly etsy gives you lots of stats and data. It's definitely worth it to look at everything they give you (search hits, item hits, tags, etc) to adjust your store accordingly. You get a lot of bang for your buck so poke around on all the links in your account to find all the bang

momofcatan

Thanks @calikat80, that is very helpful. I think I would need to do most of my "marketing" outside of Etsy (through local e-mail groups and facebook, pinterest mainly) but wanted a central location where people could place orders/look at my stuff. It isn't something people would search for, but you might be interested once you see it, kwim?

momofcatan

Never mind, can't get photos to load

needanustart

Yeah if it's for friends and family and word of mouth mostly don't worry about any other marketing or stats through the site then. I rely almost solely on strangers so it's a bit different! I have had one bumpie sale though

momofcatan

Thanks everyone. @NaChelleBeck‌ I went to check out your store and love your stuff. Can I ask if you use photoshop or illustrator? 

 It's hard to describe what I want to (try to) sell. I'm trying to upload a pic but I can't get it to work on ipad. I still need to work out a lot of details before I decide to go a head with this, but it sounds like it is fairly simple to set up if I want to go that route.

 @34blondie‌ I probably could do what your are describing but I've been off Facebook for so long it would feel weird going back just to try to start a business. It makes sense, it would be easier to catch my target market on FB, I would need to get over my dislike of Facebook. It is definitely something to consider. 

momofcatan

So I got pictures to load They are drawings made up of little tiny (Hebrew) writing. I do bible portions, prayers etc. The second one is still a work in progress. it's a little labour intensive, but I really enjoy doing them and some extra cash would be nice too

ColieAnn31

Now I want to check out @34blondie‌ 'a etsy/Facebook page!!! Grayson needs a knitted hat

momofcatan

@34blondie I actually know way too much about printing (I basically majored in printing technologies in university and work at a printing company). Right now I'm thinking of just selling my hand-made originals that way I don't have any real costs to cover except my labour. I have found good archival quality pen's, but need to find a good paper (right now I'm just using plain 8.5x11 copier paper).

I think I would create to sell and take custom orders. I would probably list about a dozen pieces to show the variety of work and to try to sell those pieces but encourage custom orders. There are endless possibilities and ways to personalize and I'm happy to do almost anything. Micah's not too long, I could probably do something creative

momofcatan

@heelibrarian I was thinking of you as I made this discussion. Thought you might also have been thinking about this lately.