Sell on Etsy?

[VSAW]

Anyone here sell their stuff on Etsy?

It's a site for selling hand made and vintage items. Lots of people selling steel cut items there. I have my metal and woodworking business there as well and it's went so well I had to quit my day job last May. It get's lots of clicks and easy quick sales. Etsy handles the payments and sends you a deposit once a week. Or you can opt to get paid every day if you like.

[VSAW]

Nobody here sells on Etsy?

There are many many guys selling stuff like this on there. Lots of business there to get guys. Anyone?

[wickedinhere]

I see a lot of stuff selling cheap on there. Plus they are so many copyright infringements on there its unreal.

[CNCCAJUN]

I was reading your posts . . . .

Little confused.

Do you currently sell on ETSY or do you work for ETSY?

Steve

[VSAW]

In sell on Etsy. I sell so much I had to quit my job last May to do it full time and I am still covered up with work. It's a great site to sell hand made stuff.

[VSAW]

I see a lot of stuff selling cheap on there. Plus they are so many copyright infringements on there its unreal.

Look at the furniture on there. Coffee tables etc, steel parts, none of it is cheap. The thing is it gets a lot of clicks and a lot of looks.

[CNCCAJUN]

In sell on Etsy. I sell so much I had to quit my job last May to do it full time and I am still covered up with work. It's a great site to sell hand made stuff.

Do you have stuff on there now, I would like to check it out and see how it works. How do I find your stuff?

Steve

[Largemouthlou]

I was reading your posts . . . .

Little confused.

Do you currently sell on ETSY or do you work for ETSY?

Steve

I think your first impression is correct.. Sounds like someone is promoting a website free..

Looked at it and there is a ton of plasma art already, alot of the files are VERY familiar as well.. Heard it was kinda pricey to sell on there as well from what I heard.

[wickedinhere]

I saw a bunch of of 12 inch signs going for 20.00 by the time you pay etsy and material plus cost of running the machine the profit margin looks to be very small.

[VSAW]

I was reading your posts . . . .

Little confused.

Do you currently sell on ETSY or do you work for ETSY?

Steve

I think your first impression is correct.. Sounds like someone is promoting a website free..

Looked at it and there is a ton of plasma art already, alot of the files are VERY familiar as well.. Heard it was kinda pricey to sell on there as well from what I heard.

You are 100% incorrect. It costs 20 cents a listing to sell on Etsy. I saw sales jump 500% when I joined Etsy. I am reading posts on here asking where to sell and people talking about how to get more sales. Here is the place to do that.

I have no stake in Etsy. I just have a shop selling furniture on there. But I see lots of plasma cut stuff on there for sale. You want to know if someone sells a bunch on there? It's easy to find out. Just look at the date they opened their shop (along the left side menu of any shop) and then click on "sales" and it shows pics of everything they sold. It also shows a number along the left menu of how many sales. For example my shop opened Feb 26 of 2012. I have had 479 sales since then at an average sale of $280. But all of 2012 and all the way until the end of May 2013 I was doing it part time. I has 363 sales in 2013. Now figure that as just about one a day every day of the week. These are not small items, some are but most are not. I was only full time 7 months last year and still did very well.

[VSAW]

I saw a bunch of of 12 inch signs going for 20.00 by the time you pay etsy and material plus cost of running the machine the profit margin looks to be very small.

It costs 20 cents to list an item and they get 1.5 to 3% from the sale. They take the credit cards or paypal and send you a deposit once a week. The margin is actually pretty good if you price correctly. The cost you pay to Etsy for the listing and the service is very low. The exposure and number of views and clicks is well worth it.

You can see how many people favorite your item every day in your activity feed. You can also view stats such as clicks, and if they came from Google or what other website they clicked through from.

Do a little research into Etsy and you will see it's a game changer in sales of hand made items.

[VSAW]

I was reading your posts . . . .

Little confused.

Do you currently sell on ETSY or do you work for ETSY?

Steve

I think your first impression is correct.. Sounds like someone is promoting a website free..

Looked at it and there is a ton of plasma art already, alot of the files are VERY familiar as well.. Heard it was kinda pricey to sell on there as well from what I heard.

I am promoting a website. A website that sells the items you are producing. This is the pricing, advertising and marketing your items area isn't it?

There is no better website to sell your items than Etsy. Not even your own shop website will sell as much as on Etsy.

[VSAW]

I was reading your posts . . . .

Little confused.

Do you currently sell on ETSY or do you work for ETSY?

Steve

Go back and read my original post and you will no longer be confused. I said nothing about working "for" Etsy. I said I sell my items on there.

Every post I have seen in reply has been negative. If you guys do a little research into it you would see what a good thing it is. There is not one negative thing to it at all. Yes there are lost of plasma cut things on there. When people see those they also see yours. The more choices the better chance you have to get your stuff noticed.

[tnbndr]

I had items for sale on Etsy for over a year. Not one sale!! As you state lots of clicks and looks but that does not translate to $$$.
I do better on eBay.

[VSAW]

I had items for sale on Etsy for over a year. Not one sale!! As you state lots of clicks and looks but that does not translate to $$$.
I do better on eBay.

When did you have them on there?

I did not have sales until Etsy started taking the credit cards and paypal themselves. People see that Etsy handles the payments and they are now a lot more likely to buy something on there. That is when sales went through the roof.

[CNCCAJUN]

I had items for sale on Etsy for over a year. Not one sale!! As you state lots of clicks and looks but that does not translate to $$$.
I do better on eBay.

When did you have them on there?

I did not have sales until Etsy started taking the credit cards and paypal themselves. People see that Etsy handles the payments and they are now a lot more likely to buy something on there. That is when sales went through the roof.

Sounds like Etsy should start paying you as a super cheerleader . . . .

Hey what about your stuff, I would love to go to Etsy and see some of what is selling so great . .

Steve

[VSAW]

I had items for sale on Etsy for over a year. Not one sale!! As you state lots of clicks and looks but that does not translate to $$$.
I do better on eBay.

When did you have them on there?

I did not have sales until Etsy started taking the credit cards and paypal themselves. People see that Etsy handles the payments and they are now a lot more likely to buy something on there. That is when sales went through the roof.

Sounds like Etsy should start paying you as a super cheerleader . . . .

Hey what about your stuff, I would love to go to Etsy and see some of what is selling so great . .

Steve

Sounds like someone is a hater. I'm just trying to help you guys sell stuff and what do I get? A bunch of comments like this. Wow

I don't even sell the same kind of stuff. My stuff is furniture. which is a long way from my background in working with metal at armored car shops and having owned two custom steel parts manufacturing businesses. I used to build custom trucks. I had stuff on magazine covers that I built for others and my own truck was a cover truck as well. I spent so many years making custom parts I just got tired of it. I just kind of wanted a change so I made some stuff and it's blown up from there. None of my stuff is hard to make or expensive but it sells as fast as I can make it.

Here is a link to my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Vintagesteela ... ef=si_shop

[beefy]

Even if VSAW was working for Etsy.

At 20c a listing and the rest only being taken if an item sells, is there any harm in trying it out.

I think it's been said enough that VSAW may be connected with Etsy. Now does anyone have reasons why trying out Etsy would be a bad idea.

I'm in Australia and I don't think we've even got it here, but I'm always interested in what does and doesn't work when it comes to selling.

Could there be any truth regarding the poor sales before Etsy started taking credit card & Paypal.

Keith.

[VSAW]

Even if VSAW was working for Etsy.

At 20c a listing and the rest only being taken if an item sells, is there any harm in trying it out.

I think it's been said enough that VSAW may be connected with Etsy. Now does anyone have reasons why trying out Etsy would be a bad idea.

I'm in Australia and I don't think we've even got it here, but I'm always interested in what does and doesn't work when it comes to selling.

Could there be any truth regarding the poor sales before Etsy started taking credit card & Paypal.

Keith.

Etsy has a big presence in AU actually. I have no connection other than I am a seller there. I tell everyone I know about Etsy because it's great for sellers. There is no signup fee, no contract and the listing stays up for I think 180 days. It gets more traffic for sellers than Ebay or Craigslist. Anyway, you have any questions just ask. I believe in it. I don't know if they are a publicly traded company or not but if they were and I were an investor I would buy their stock.

I do know it's mostly women sellers on there making craft stuff. This is why I made only a couple tables at first to test it out. The thing is that when a shop is new and does not have any or even just a few sales, buyers tend to not buy from them. So it takes a little while to build up sales. The good thing is reviews. I have almost 100% positive reviews. I have one negative that has complete 100% incorrect info in it and the other is true. Late on a delivery. Been way behind since I went full time. I raised prices, raised shipping to slow sales a little and it helped a little but not enough. Had to take down listings for hard to build stuff and stuff that was hard to ship or hard to get pieces for. Still have more sales than I can deal with. Probably gonna raise prices again.

But like this guy says, what does it hurt? nothing. Spend 20 cents and list some items, when they sell, use those funds to make more items and let Etsy pay for itself. As soon as you have several sales people will see positive reviews and sales will snowball.

I talked with two people on Craigslist that made furniture like what I make and they listed stuff and now they are selling a lot on there as well. I put ads on Craigslist and Ebay and did not sell one thing. I have been on sites like Custommade and Artfire and have not sold anything there either. coincidence? I don't think so.

I think that maybe with the buyers on there that making stuff for use in and around the home would sell the best. Signs for the front porch or the yard, signs for the kitchen etc. Women would eat that stuff up.

Anyway, I work 12 hour days 7 days a week and I am still behind. Do a little research like reading the Etsy page on wikipedia.

[VSAW]

One more thing on this. Look at my shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Vintagesteela ... ef=si_shop

Then look at the competition. Go to the search bar and type in clothing rack, or coffee table. Look at the difference between mine and someone else's. Mine are much nicer and I have many more items. I have more sales than anyone else on there selling the same items. Why? More different items, more options. I also know how to use keywords in advertising on the internet.

tip: when selling online, do not use capitals, and always use commas in between keywords and no punctuation at the end. Like this:

steel art, cut designs, custom signs, yard art

Anything like that will get more looks, clicks and sales than not using keywords, using capitals and not using commas.


Look at this shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/166778957/ ... f_new_item

This table leg set sells for $170 and $25 shipping. The steel costs about 10 or 11 cents an inch and even less if you buy in bulk. This leg set takes less than an hour to make, likely 30 minutes if your shop is set up properly. So he is making a killing. I used to sell table legs, like for example made from 1.5" square tube for 60 cents an inch. so a set of legs 20" wide and 20" tall have 120" total. That's $72 total. I should have been charging much more. Even though the steel cost me less than a dime an inch. I am now setting up my dad to make table legs for me because I just don't have time. All this is just a thought. As I was saying it costs you 20 cents to make a listing so making 4 or 5 listings and starting an Etsy shop does not cost you much, a dollar, but could be pretty good in the long run.

[CNCCAJUN]

Nice site . . . I like your stuff. . .
Do you ship assembled or disassembled . . .?
I have been researching Etsy since your post.
Looks promising . . .
I think your enthusiasm toward Etsy made me think you were a Etsy recruiter, you know they do exist, we found them on two other sites I visit.
But then again, someone may think I'm a Dynatorch plant . . .
After a whole lot of research I found them to be the best machine out there in that price range.

Thanks for the tips & the post . . . Steve

P.S. Where I live all Craig's List will get you is robbed, killed or both. . .

[minnfatz]

I sell on Etsy as well. It is really easy to use and isn't all that expensive. I haven't had a ton of sales, but I have done well for what little I have for sale. I used the AR-15 image from this site and turned it into a coat rack and have sold quite a few of them. I also make AK-47 and M-14 coat racks. I have had quite a few sales from people that have found me on Etsy, but haven't directly bought through Etsy. On second thought, I don't think it would be a good idea for any of you on this site to use Etsy.

Nice stuff by the way VSAW. I have a few items I want to make that are partially made with wood, but I would probably cut my thumb off.

[VSAW]

Nice site . . . I like your stuff. . .
Do you ship assembled or disassembled . . .?
I have been researching Etsy since your post.
Looks promising . . .
I think your enthusiasm toward Etsy made me think you were a Etsy recruiter, you know they do exist, we found them on two other sites I visit.
But then again, someone may think I'm a Dynatorch plant . . .
After a whole lot of research I found them to be the best machine out there in that price range.

Thanks for the tips & the post . . . Steve

P.S. Where I live all Craig's List will get you is robbed, killed or both. . .

My stuff ships in pieces and I have instructions with pics on my website. It's a pain shipping long wood pieces. You have to box them up with multiple layers of cardboard.

[JJsCustomDesigns]

I set up an Etsy shop bout a year and a half ago. At one time i had over 60 items listed. I tagged the hell out of each item and checked back frequently. Alot of people liked my stuff. But it seemed that most of them were bots to me. Who can like 60 sum items in 3 seconds? Anywho, i had my stuff listed with them for over 2 months. Not 1 single sale from the Etsy website. NADA. ZIP. ZILCH.

On a side note. Etsy's mobile App Sucks.

[beefy]

I set up an Etsy shop bout a year and a half ago. At one time i had over 60 items listed. I tagged the hell out of each item and checked back frequently. Alot of people liked my stuff. But it seemed that most of them were bots to me. Who can like 60 sum items in 3 seconds? Anywho, i had my stuff listed with them for over 2 months. Not 1 single sale from the Etsy website. NADA. ZIP. ZILCH.

Did they have the Paypal & credit card payment options then ??

Keith.