Keeping All Your Eggs In One Basket or Trying New Selling Avenues?
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
United States
January 1, 2009 6:16pm CST
So I had a pretty decent year selling on Etsy and I think Etsy will continue to grow in 2009. But I wonder if I'll be able to continue to keep my shop in the public's eye with all the new shops that will probably open up over the new year. People are out of work or having their hours cut and will be looking for ways to make a little extra money...so I believe there will be added competition this year.
Which brings me to believe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to not keep all my eggs in one basket. I've already opened a shop at 1000Markets, which is a juried site and fairly new. The views on the site are pretty low and in nearly 2 months, I've failed to make a sale.
I'm also signed up for a shop at ArtFire. They seem to have some outside traffic at their site, as they have been advertising quite a bit. The shop are not as nice as Etsy or 1000Markets, but having made a small name for themselves already and having a pretty good stat feature (something that Etsy fails to provide) are both solid drawing points. At least, if I'm promoting outside of the site, I'll have an idea if a promotion works or not.
So to everyone that sells on Etsy... are you keeping all your eggs in the etsy basket, or are you looking to spread your items out a bit and try a second and/or third site?
3 people like this
7 responses
@carolbee (16230)
• United States
2 Jan 09
I tried Etsy for a year and failed miserably. No longer a member. I looked at 1000Markets and it looks great. Don't know if I'd have a fighting chance with my items since they aren't jewelry or anything fancy. Plastic canvas items don't always sell that great even though they do when I sell in person. The photos don't do them any justice. Does a juried site only apply to jewelry? I found a site that I may place a few things on eventually. If you get a chance can you check it out and give me your feedback? I trust your opinion.
http://www.lutlot.com/?1761
Thanks,
carolbee
1 person likes this
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
4 Jan 09
Hi carolbee! I checked the link, but I'm not sure under what category your items are listed. It seems like this site has grown a bunch since I last checked it out. I might have to consider selling some supplies I probably won't use any more on that site...probably a lot less hassle there than Feebay.
Let me know what category/categories your items are listed under... as always, thanks for the response and have a great day!
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
5 Jan 09
It looks like they have grown quite a bit since they first started. When I first checked it out, it seemed like every listing was a bunch of items that they bought as clearance, and they grouped them into lots and listed them.
Now it appears they have quite a few individuals selling items on the site...and I only went into 1 or 2 categories.
I'm gonna have my hubby take a look at the site this week and see if it looks like a site where I can sell some older supplies and some things I might have listed on feebay : )
I'll let you know what he thinks and I'll ask him to ask some of his internet buddies for their opinons (they sell full-time on several sites and know the ins & outs of how these sites operate)
Take care!
@rosettaresearch (1285)
• United States
2 Jan 09
I'm sticking with Etsy. But only because I don't have the time or inclination to manage two sites and promote them. Most of my Etsy promotion will be offline through word of mouth or charity donations. This is strictly, if I sell something, great, if not, well, it's not an effort to keep it up.
1 person likes this
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
2 Jan 09
Selling online has really become a large time investment. Everyone promotes on Etsy and if you don't spend enough time doing it, your promotions and listings just get lost in the crowd.
I read somewhere, that in the month of Sept, over 100,000 new members joined Etsy, with over 20,000 of them opening shops. 20,000 new shops in 1 month! That's an awful lot of new items and new sellers looking to promote. The same stats claimed that 21 new items were listed on Etsy every minute (multuiply that by 60 minutes in an hour x 24 hours in a day) and it's easy to see how people feel they are spinning their wheels on Etsy.
Believe me, if it weren't for my hubby helping with listing items (yes I do the write-ups- he just does the listing and photo cropping, along with taking some pictures) and helping with a lot of promoting, I wouldn't make 75% of my sales.
I think I'm beginning to make a name for myself selling sea glass jewelry, but it really has taken 18 months to get noticed and I know if I slow down my promoting, I'll lose that momentum.
Here's hoping the sales come your way in bunches. Thanks for your response and I hope you have a happy and healthy New Year!!
1 person likes this
@lovespecialangel (3632)
• United States
4 Jan 09
I'm actually helping my parents with their etsy as I had no luck with mine. We are waiting it out to see what happens and are going to open our own site when things get better.
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
4 Jan 09
Sorry to hear it didn't go great for you... it has become tougher and the economy doesn't help at all. Actually, I think a lot of new sellers have gone to Etsy, looking for ways to make extra money (I also noticed a HUGE increase in crafters doing craft shows this past year...some shows had triple the amount of vendors from the previous year!)
What is the name of your parents shop? I"ll stop and check it out?
Thx for your response!
1 person likes this
@venshida (4836)
• United States
18 Jan 09
I am ashamed to say it, but I listed 3 or 4 things on Etsy. They are basically just sitting there. I even forget I have them there. I promote my own website, and I plan for 09 to expand in a brick and mortar environment. I am going to check out the two sites you reference.
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
18 Jan 09
The thought of starting my own website is still something that I'm interested in. I look at what some of the long-time sea glass collectors have for sale on their sites, and the prices they charge and dream of being able to sell my creations at [b]those[b].
Then I look at how little off-site promoting I have to do with Etsy (and how much I learned from Etsy people about promoting my Etsy shop off-site)and think about the built-in customer base on Etsy... it makes it tough to consider stepping away from Etsy right now.
Despite being in two other shops, Etsy still gets 80-90% of my new listings. I also plan on looking to wholesale into a few local boutiques this summer, but these will be higher-end sea glass pieces that might take a while to sell on Etsy.
Good luck with your expansion to a B & M this year...and thanks for your response!
@ryzach (1544)
• United States
18 Jan 09
I may want to venture out a bit. I did check out the two shops you mentioned and your products look good on there like they do on Etsy. If I noticed right you have been with art fire for about 1 month, have you been happy with it? I don't necessarily mean the amount of sales but mostly how the site works and the management of it. They have an offer right now for $7.00 sign up per month for life instead of the regular $20/mo. I like Etsy and not really sure I want to spread everything out. I do craft and home shows and pass our biz cards which have the etsy address on it. I seems less confusing to have one site BUT the more exposure you have is good too! Not really sure what to do at this point, everything really slow after the holidays. Did okay during the holidays at craft and home shows but no bites on Etsy.
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
4 Jan 09
In my worst months on Etsy, I averaged a sale a week, in the months when I did well, it was more like a sale every other /every third day. This was the average for the month, as some buyers may have bought 2 or 3 items from me. I believe my slowest month was 4 sales, my best was 11 or 12 sales.
Each listing last for 4 months, so for the listing fee of 20 cents, Etsy is a great way to have a 24 hour a day online presence. Plus they have a forum where you can promote your items and I've made several sales promoting on the site.
It takes a while to make a name for yourself, but I do okay there.
