Etsy Questions

[medusa]

hmmm will like a few more pages and check in to see what shows up. Mind you, people seem to be abandon FB in droves. I use it to keep table on the kids but they have now ditched it for something else.

[Lucie]

I see all of yours Wallace & Lydia's - Fabulous examples of how to "do facebook" properly. They pop up every day and do their job being interesting / entertaining.
I must remember to comment and share though. I think people have got into a habit of thinking "liking" is sufficient.

Have you had any luck with "paid for" posts? I'm seriously considering it once I get my facebook page sorted as I've had very little joy getting friends to "share"
The poor old page is in a really sorry state at the moment (hangs head).

[Victoria]

Hi Tim

I sell on Etsy and it's been brilliant! I couldn't have got my business where it is today without it. But it does require a fair bit of effort to drive traffic to your shop, especially at first...it eventually snowballs to the point where I'm pretty lazy now about following people/creating treasuries/being active in teams and I still get sales. I have found that there is a much bigger market in the US for buying handmade jewellery online, though the UK is catching up. To be successful on Etsy you need good photos and good product descriptions. I'm not sure you need to keep listing new stuff, but the more you have listed the more likely you are to get found.

I have recently joined NOTHS and have had good sales with them. On the downside they're expensive to join, take a massive cut of each sale and have lots of annoying rules BUT they are good at advertising so you hardly have to make any effort to get sales compared to a site like Etsy. I did also have a Folksy shop until 2 days ago when I've finally given up - jewellery just doesn't seem to do well on there and I've found there's just too many people on there selling very cheaply and I can't compete.

Whichever site you choose I'd say to stick to one site. I've tried most of them but in the end it got too much work trying to keep them all up to date and I ended up with different prices, etc, on different sites.

If you want to have your own url (e.g. www.victoriajarman.com) but don't want to set up a website you could just buy the domain and then link it to your Etsy shop. If you do set up a separate website then there will be an initial outlay of time and effort to set it up (as with setting up Etsy) but it's then just a case of maintaining it. I use Wordpress and can take Paypal payments through that. It really depends how technical you are but it's fairly straightforward to get something basic up and running.

In general - to anyone with their own website - I would recommend registering as a business on Google - I've done this recently and it's made a massive difference to the hits I get on my Wordpress site which = lots of direct sales without any fees

Re. policies - yes, you need to be in line with the Distance Selling Regulations. As other people have said they've changed/are changing soon (I need to update mine!) I prefer not to advertise my address as it's my home as well but it is provided in the transaction email to customers.

Re. advertising, Facebook can certainly be helpful for driving traffic to your site but you do have to post regularly. I try to post at least once a week and do ok but I have a friend who posts daily and she does get a lot of work out of it. In terms of the paid advertising I have tried it and whilst it does get you lots of new 'likes' I found that these are fairly fickle likers who will unlike you just as quickly. It's best to try and get authentic likes rather than buy them.

Re. payments, Etsy will always take 20p for a listing and 3.5% of each sale. If a buyer pays with Paypal then Paypal takes a further 3.4% + 20p. If you set up your Etsy shop to accept credit cards then Etsy will charge you 4% transaction fee so it's slightly more expensive than Paypal. I guess this is why some sellers only allow Paypal but it's still a pretty tiny % compared to galleries. People don't necessarily realise that you can pay with a credit card on Paypal and they don't need an account so I guess could be put off by Paypal only payments.

Hope some of this helps! I'm afraid there's no easy answer - selling online requires a fair bit of effort at first but it does pay off! If you get stuck on Etsy feel free to send me a message. I'd be interested to hear if you try madebyhand and how it works out as it's one of the few I've not set up a shop on!

Good luck!
V

[Victoria]

(oops that was a long reply - sorry!)

[TeeDee]

(oops that was a long reply - sorry!)

For a subject like this, I like long detailed replies Victoria. I tend to be a bit obsessive about getting things right so the more detail I have the better.

All the responses to my original post have been really helpful especially being written in the light of experience. As a result I have already discounted setting up my own website for the foreseeable future and will concentrate on Etsy + a couple of galleries I have contact with.
I haven't yet worked out how to link the Etsy shop to my forum signature as some do but if anyone cares to look it is called Teedee925 (yes corny I know).
Always interested in feedback good or bad on anything from photography, pricing, standard of work to descriptions and shop layout. Please bear in mind though that it is effectively still under construction
............if any feedback is really bad though you might want to PM!

Many thanks to all of you, you are a great help

Tim

[TeeDee]

I have found the link between Facebook and Etsy has been invaluable. I have had a few Etsy sales and although the fees for both Etsy and PayPal mean 6% of the total; it has been worth the hassle free, ease of use. I don't have the funds or style of pictures required by not on the.....

As Carin mentions, web site maintainance is onerous. A basic fee for a company to set it up and manage it can be a lot of money. I chose to use my website as a signpost and show and tell with Etsy mini and all the other things needed.

Etsy has been good to me, and so has being active on Facebook. The new changes, mentioned by Caroline mean the audience is down due to the FB drive to have paid for posts. I do encourage post comments, and responding to each person has been a conscious decision I have made that it is now part of my routine. I post later in the evenings if I can, but it still helps. More people are sharing and commenting now, however - it does and can dwindle very quickly, so is high maintenance. It isn't just about the likes, it is the participation. Keeping people engaged is important, as Cookies demonstrate everyday. I have just started on Twitter - now that is hard!

Good luck, with your decisions and directions. I will be looking at doing some fairs in the coming year, so might find it an area that needs lots of investing in a hair dye company, as I am sure I go grey just at the thought!

Many thanks for the info Wallace
As with everyone else's its really helpful.

Your hair looks fine and be thankful you have some.
If I ever get to grips with posting my own photo you'll understand!

Tim

[ShinyLauren]

I am mainly using Etsy at the moment whilst rebuilding my 'proper' website. I've had quite a few sales recently, which has been nice! I think, as others have said, you can get a bit lost as a jeweller on Etsy if you don't invest time in promoting, but sometimes you get lucky that you have the exact thing people are looking for.

I have a facebook page, Twitter and Pinterest, but am utterly rubbish at updating all of them! Between my 4 day a week law firm job, jewellery making at weekends and evenings, and looking after two wayward cats (how do you guys with children cope?!!) I have no time to sort out my social media properly.

[Victoria]

Your shop looks great Tim! Really good photos and descriptions! One tip - vary your listing titles more. If you start every listing with "ring..." then the only searches you'll get found in is anyone just searching 'ring'. It's more likely that people will search for "flower ring" or "fish pendant" or "textured bangle". I think the first word/phrase in your title is quite important for search so try to think like a shopper...

I find that the Seller Success emails are really useful for these kinds of tips - if you login to your profile you can select which emails you want to receive from Etsy. The Seller Blog is also good. Neither spam you too often so it's manageable keeping up with reading them.

[Tabby66]

Wow, what a wealth of info here, folks,....thank you!!

I have my own website and that has gradually built activity and sales, particularly commissions over the past year. I hadn't thought of registering as a business with google Victoria, but will look more into that!!

I do have a Facebook page (I think it's in my signature link), I try to post once a week, more if there is something new to post and definitely more in the run-up to fairs. Interesting though that you're not seeing mine and Caroline's, Liz. I also thought 'liking' was enough.....I have paid to boost a post about a handful of times, I set a very low budget of £3 (you are able to set your own budget rather than use the suggested budget!!). It certainly seems to have increased activity and generated some business. I haven't paid to boost my page....and am a little sceptical of how many genuine and worthwhile likes this would generate.

I have just started twittering , but have decided to link this activity to target fairs that I am involved with (organisers seem to like this and of course, they retweet you and promote you, hence doing a lot of the work on your behalf......well that's my theory at the moment!!).

I have an etsy shop......but have done nothing with it.....just looked yours up Tim, I'm afraid I am of no help in terms of giving tips to generate hits there (Victoria's advice sounds good). Your shop looks good and the images of your work are clear and good. If I was looking as a buyer, I would feel confident that your work looks well made and finished and high quality. (Btw, Tim.....you might not have posted a picture of yourself here.....but there is one of you there...)

I too only disclose my address to customers who purchase from me for the same reasons as Victoria.

In the past I tried Odissa.....nothing, madebyhandsofbritain...enquiries, no sales, it was good initially but waned, it has recently been taken over by someone else so we'll wait to see,.....I am in the process of setting up my 'boutique' (yes, a boutique....I know!!), on JewelStreet......that looks promising, they are highly active in promotion, but time will tell....

I am in a couple of galleries and a shop in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, the latter has been fantastic for me, both in sales through the shop and direct commissions.

This year is my year of trying out bigger fairs and travelling further afield.....(your own website seems to be pretty essential to be considered for these)....I have done some local fairs with good success, but since this is my full time occupation I need to get out there more (I think!!....that said, I'm pretty busy...), so first one down,....was a bit disappointing on the actual days, but confirmed commissions since have made it very worthwhile. I also learned loads, signage about being handmade, sterling silver, (despite having my legally required Assay poster visible!!), 9ct gold, not plated, commissions taken....etc, etc... My future Fair involvement will be reviewed at the end of the year!!

Hope there's something of interest to folk in this ramble!!
Tabby x

[Wallace]

Many thanks for the info Wallace
As with everyone else's its really helpful.

Your hair looks fine and be thankful you have some.
If I ever get to grips with posting my own photo you'll understand!

Tim

it isn't much, I know - but the computer feeds the brain in so many ways these days. Re the hair... the female seem to keep their hair in my family right through the generations, so I think I am safe.