What? An esty shop? Tell me!

1shotwade · #1 12/05/13, 05:50 AM

I guess I'm just not the brightest bulb in the box but I've never heard of an ssty shop. What is it,how does it work,what are the rules/guidelines? Anything else you can tell me so I understand?
I'm not really dumb,I just stay in the dark a lot!

Thanks,Wade

mmoetc · #2 12/05/13, 06:35 AM

Think of Etsy as an online craft or antique mall. One of those places that allows you to rent space to display and sell your goods instead of having to set up your own storefront. In ETSY's case they allow you to set up a "store" on their sight and stock it with your wares. You are charged 20cents for each item listed and a small percentage of the sale price which is only applied if the item sells. The items remain with you and you are responsible for order fulfillment. When an order is placed Etsy notifies you immediately by email. Each 20 cent listing lets you display the item for six months. The listing allows you to upload 5 pictures of your item and a description. You set your own prices and delivery terms. Payment is made to Etsy through PayPal or credit card and this is transferred to your account after the item has shipped. ETSY has a great search function that allows people to find items by description, composition, use, etc. Items are primarily handcrafted by the vendor but they do have some vintage items and some materials for sale. It's a fairly inexpensive way to display your items on the interwebs. I'd suggest you go to Etsy.com and look around.

1shotwade · #3 12/05/13, 06:45 AM

Thanks for the info. Now at least I know enough to go and take a look. Kind of you!

Wade

mmoetc · #4 12/05/13, 06:49 AM

No problem. My daughter sells there rather successfully. Search "buggywear" in the shop listings.

BlueberryChick · #5 12/05/13, 06:58 AM

I've had an Etsy shop for several years and mmoetc described it very well. It is supposed to be just for handmade, vintage and supplies for crafting. It's not a place to sell the stuff you just cleared out of your attic (unless it's an afghan you made or a vintage china set, that would be great!). EBay is actually better for that anyway, because buyers can bid, potentially getting a better price for the item.

Please check it out; there are some wonderful small businesses there with owners who will bend over backward to provide good customer service.

ETA: mmoetc, your daughter's shop is precious! I just "favorited" her shop. My shop is bedesisters

MDKatie · #6 12/05/13, 07:45 AM

I favorited both shops, cute stuff! I've got an Etsy shop (Purl & June) and I really like it. They are making some changes to Etsy I'm not a fan of, like letting people hire designers or companies to produce their items. I think things should stay handmade there, but I guess Etsy doesn't agree.

mmoetc · #7 12/05/13, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueberryChick

I've had an Etsy shop for several years and mmoetc described it very well. It is supposed to be just for handmade, vintage and supplies for crafting. It's not a place to sell the stuff you just cleared out of your attic (unless it's an afghan you made or a vintage china set, that would be great!). EBay is actually better for that anyway, because buyers can bid, potentially getting a better price for the item.

Please check it out; there are some wonderful small businesses there with owners who will bend over backward to provide good customer service.

ETA: mmoetc, your daughter's shop is precious! I just "favorited" her shop. My shop is bedesisters

Thanks. She's the girl who rebelled at being drug out of bed growing up to help at farmers markets and craft shows and vowed she'd never do anything like that. This same girly girl asked her husband for a sewing machine for Christmas a couple of years ago. Last summer while taking a road trip to visit relatives I looked over to see her crocheting an afghan for the then upcoming granddaughter. I saw my mom who passed many an hour in the car just the same way. Not sure what I did right.

NamasteMama · #8 12/05/13, 10:43 PM

I used to love etsy until they started looking the other way and allowing made in China crap there.

gila_dog · #9 12/07/13, 08:25 AM

I have an Etsy shop called "DesertDebrisArt". I also sell my art and yucca walking sticks in various galleries in my area. The good things about etsy are that it allows you to offer your work to a huge audience via the internet, and it's pretty cheap. Between the fee for Paypal and Ety's fee it amounts to about 4% of your sale price. Most galleries will mark things up from 25-60% which makes it hard to get what you want at a price the customers are willing to pay. The most important things to do with an Etsy shop are to take good photos and write good descriptions. Since customers can't actually see or touch things, good photos are really important. Also, packaging and shipping things is really important. When somebody buys something from me I always send it by USPS priority mail, and buy insurance for it. I have had to make 2 insurance claims due to things being damaged, and the Post Office paid off quickly with no trouble at all. I did it all via their internet website. Being able to send them the info from the Etsy listing and sale satisfied them that my claims were legitimate.

1shotwade · #10 12/07/13, 08:57 AM

OK so I wasn't prepared for anything since I didn't know what etsy was(and I haven't been to the web site yet but I will) so this is my idea so far. I have about 200 yards of new old stock of the "canvas" type feather bed ticking.It's the real heavy stuff that feathers,straw or shuck will not go through. It needs to go somewhere and I could use additional income to add to my retirement.I sold it on ebay for a while 'till the shipping go so high a few years ago and never went back to trying to get rid of it.I was getting an average of $4 per yard in 10 yard pieces and the shipping weight was around 8 pounds I think.So does that sound like something that would move?
Secondly on occasion I will make What I guess are reading lamps (to set on the nightstand. They are of tree parts with a turtle shell shade. I made a "scene" on the wood base of things like a stack of wood with a tent and an old lantern and brush pile etc and install lites in some of them that can be turned on separate from the reading light.I know that's got to be hard to picture but what about that kind of craft item? They would have to be up around $100 as much time as they take. Is that more money than people like to spend on these kind of things/sites?

Thanks

Wade

gila_dog · #11 12/07/13, 09:04 AM

I don't think you will find it any cheaper to ship things from Etsy than from Ebay. And the best way to find out what your lamps would go for is to just browse Etsy, looking for lamps, and see what other people are making and what they are selling them for. Shipping the lamps could be a bit expensive, especially if they weigh a lot. And you will have to package them really carefully.

1shotwade · #12 12/07/13, 09:09 AM

Thanks! etsy.com is just 2 clicks away!

Wade

Snowfan · #13 12/07/13, 11:19 AM

Wade, I'm glad you asked because I had been wondering about that too. I wonder if I could sell cold and snow.

1shotwade · #14 12/07/13, 11:26 AM

Snow-I'm sure you can!Think about it. Our society buys air,earth and water!God gave us air,earth and water,and we are still buying it!Why not cold and snow too!LOL

Wade

gila_dog · #15 12/08/13, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snowfan

Wade, I'm glad you asked because I had been wondering about that too. I wonder if I could sell cold and snow.

Keep your cold, but send lots of your snow to our mountains. That's our drinking water next year.