Is Etsy any good?

[mallitta]

Hello!

I'm not sure whether I want to sign up to Esty? It seem like theres a lot of jewellery on the site.
Has anyone else been selling on Esty? and how often do you sell on that site alone? I'm unsure how much sales/traffic it gets.

Any help please!!!
Mallitta.

[medusa]

I sell one bit every 6 weeks or so BUT I've been running down my listings and not promoting my stuff much because of personal stuff. I think some people sell pretty consistently on there. The main bugbear I have with Etsy is that it is starting to be over-run by re-sellers of tat.

[sheepy]

I'm also interested in this kind of online sales but the volume of jewellery on etsy is off putting. Has anyone used Jewel Street yet?

[mallitta]

Thanks Medusa!
Well i've just started making jewellery and am looking to try and sell mostly online. Are there any better places to sell? I got the feeling Etsy was going that way.

Sheepy, no I haven't heard of that before. any good?

[Truffle & Podge]

It's so annoying when you go to a place that specifies HANDMADE goods and you have to wade through all the manufactured garbage, someone needs to have a word lol
X

[mizgeorge]

This will sound a little negative, but if you've just started, please wait for a while before you start selling. Give things away, make them for friends and family, wear them yourself, but wait to sell until you're really sure you're ready.

When you are, make sure you're fully registered as self employed and have sorted out your tax status and NI contributions.

A lot of people start out with small events and fairs, which can be a great way to see what the market thinks of your pieces.

Online selling is tough. You really need to have a product that stands out, but is still at the right price - which often means not too cheap rather than not too expensive. There's a huge amount of jewellery on etsy (and other sites like it), much of which is dreadful, but some of which is absolutely gorgeous, but still languishes unnoticed. It takes a lot of promotion and marketing effort to get people there and looking.

Many people find blogging helps, and others use facebook etc.

I'm not trying to be discouraging, just realistic!

Sheepy - I took a look at Jewel Street as it's clearly aimed at designer makers and studio jewellers rather than hobbyists, which should keep the standard much higher than many of the other websites around (and rightly so given how much higher the commission charge is), but I was slightly put off by how incredibly slowly the site loaded, which would put me off as a customer so didn't fill me with confidence as a potential seller...

[mallitta]

Hello mizgeorge,
Yes i've done all that already i've sold to friends and family first to see how it sold. and i am already signed on as self employed. I have my jewellery on one gallery but really need to widen my audience.

When it comes to craft fairs, how many items do you suggest i have on a stall?

I understand lol, I have a facebook account and my own website but i'm just finding it difficult getting a wider audience.

[medusa]

Taking on board what George said, you could also try folksy which is like a UK etsy and as yet seems to be tat free. I know Carole sells on notonthehightstreet, but like jewellery street, they charge a fair old whack to join but as I recall Carole sells really well on there. I suspect that NOTHS and jewellery street would only be properly do-able if you are able to produce work consistently and work on a full time basis.

[mizgeorge]

I don't know what sort of thing you make mallitta - or how much, but you can do a craft fair with pretty much any number of pieces you like. Obviously some venues are more expensive than others, and this can reflect the footfall (sometimes), but they can be a good way to dip your toe into the water. Jewellery parties work well for some people starting out, as do house parties.

You could also consider building your own website and driving trraffic there - again, this involves a lot of work, but is very cheap, and of course you're not paying any commission at all.

[Wallace]

I like Etsy, it has been kind to me. It has got me published in the Creating Linus online jewellery mag and sales that, without Etsy, I would not have had.

I love linking in via Facebook and only have a holding page web addy as I can't keep up with all 3 at the moment. This will change in September.... Yay!

Echo all that G has said.

[ShinyLauren]

I've been selling on Etsy for a while, but I only sell probably one piece per month and always to the USA. I think my stuff is priced pretty high for Etsy, so I struggle to compete with resellers who charge a lot less.

[medusa]

effing resellers! why does etsy tolerate them?

[ps_bond]

Because they pay their bills, which seems to be the sole concern.

[medusa]

but why set up as an artisan store in the first place? I've been seriously tempted by folksy but hear it's very very clunky to list and I know as a buyer it's a nightmare to search on.

[mizgeorge]

but why set up as an artisan store in the first place? I've been seriously tempted by folksy but hear it's very very clunky to list and I know as a buyer it's a nightmare to search on.

It's not just that, the name alone puts me off. Makes me feel I should be sitting in my hovel with a spinning wheel and a pot of something unspeakable bubbling on the open hearth next to me...

[caroleallen]

Notonthehighstreet is absolutely amazing. I've been to a get-together with Noths at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden today. There were hundreds of Noths sellers there who were mostly all really happy with their sales. This Christmas Noths expect to have more sales in just one week in November than they had in the whole of 2009. They predict 6,000,000 sales over Christmas. It's been so good for me that I'm giving up craft fairs altogether next year and am in a bit of a panic about Christmas. I've had to take on an assistant to help out. It's hard to get in but I'd recommend everyone to try if they have products which are different from other products that are already on there.

[JonLendrum]

This has been an interesting read, im very much new to making jewellery and am wondering what paths to take to maybe one day sell. Ive just been giving my stuff away, but recently had a work colleague want to pay me for some simple studs. But this raised a feeling inside me where i felt really bad and guilty charging someone for a piece of jewellery. I couldn't give them a price and got very sheepish about how much i could make them for.how do you value jewellery? I feel really guilty about marking up prices in order to actually make money rather than working at a loss.

[caroleallen]

I still find it difficult to sell to friends Jon. You need to try selling to the public really.

[pearlescence]

I agree with everything George and everyone else has said. Selling is the hard part, whether you sell in person at fairs, use a sales platform like Etsy (or even eBay!) or build your own website. That being so, it is still much easier to get sales than say, 15 years ago, thanks to the web and growing international thinking. (which also allows stupendous sourcing possibilities). There's also Amazon, which periodically phones and tries to recruit me, but their cut is so big that it just isn't worth it
Develop a USP. Be as unusual and unique as you can be.
Agree also that selling to friends is difficult. Not only is pricing a dilemma (normal price or mates rates for someone you know only a bit...) but it is invariably the piece which inexplicably falls apart after three days.

[medusa]

It's not just that, the name alone puts me off. Makes me feel I should be sitting in my hovel with a spinning wheel and a pot of something unspeakable bubbling on the open hearth next to me...

thank you for the first full on laugh of the day!

I do get what you mean about the name, but I think Folksy's issues go deeper than that. They could push themselves as a decent alternative to Etsy which is getting more and more like ebay every day, but until they get their search facility sorted out I can't see them going anywhere. They do seem like nice people though, I had contacted them about selling my stuff there and they were very responsive and clear.

[ShinyLauren]

It's not just that, the name alone puts me off. Makes me feel I should be sitting in my hovel with a spinning wheel and a pot of something unspeakable bubbling on the open hearth next to me...

Yes. This. The name Folksy irritates me more than is entirely rational. It's such a stupid word!

[Truffle & Podge]

Yes. This. The name Folksy irritates me more than is entirely rational. It's such a stupid word!
makes me think of weird old men with bad mossy teeth and straggly goatees for some reason :-O
X

[Mike Taylor]

Try Jewelstreet for a truely remarkable place to sell jewellery online

[mizgeorge]

Try Jewelstreet for a truely remarkable place to sell jewellery online

Might be worth mentioning your affiliation though Mike.....

(and might be worth checking your spelling if you're going to try to advertise to us)

[a.passmore]

I have a bit of expeirence with ecommerce, and my advice is that it's not about which is better, you should just be active on every platform possible. Sell on Ebay, Etsy, advertise using Facebook. Plus go to ANY trade shows. Mizgeorge is right, selling jewelery online is a difficult business. I'm not super with ecommerce websites but I made mine through this site (http://www.1and1.com/ecommerce-website) and they were good. But you can always just start up a blog easily that I think you can connect that to your ebay account. I was selling sculptures though so it's a bit different to jewelery.. I maybe sold two or three pieces a month depending on the season. But jewelery you really want to get it everywhere. I'd love to see your stuff though, have you decided what to use? I've just made the transition to to jewelery from sculpture and would like to make this into a business to :)

[Beadjoux]

Try Jewelstreet for a truely remarkable place to sell jewellery online
Yes, poor spelling doesn't inspire confidence :eek:

[joella]

Yes. This. The name Folksy irritates me more than is entirely rational. It's such a stupid word!

It seems you are not alone in this. My daughter (aged 23), said she wouldn't consider even taking a peek at the website as the name made her want to vomit! (which I thought was a bit of an over reaction, but that's not all), she also
said it made her think of ageing hippies running around the woods naked, hugging trees and whittling clogs from their own earwax!
sue

[joella]

makes me think of weird old men with bad mossy teeth and straggly goatees for some reason :-O
X

Have you met my daughter?

[joella]

Have you met my daughter?
OOps, I didn't mean she has bad mossy teeth etc!