Anyone sell on etsy?

[Smartphonetoomuchoo]

Just wondering if its worth it or is there a better way?
Only have a few little ideas at the moment, nothing concrete, but I don't want to waste my time or money if its not worth it?

Yabu - etsy is bad
yanbu - etsy is good

I'm not a seller, sorry, but I buy a lot of things on Etsy. It's my go to place for cards, artwork and personalised gifts for children. I love it

Hi! I have a little candle shop on Etsy. I've had a good experience and definitely think it's worth it as it is so popular and reaches a wide audience xx

@bethclark553 how much does it cost to sell on there? do they take a percentage of your sales or do you pay a monthly fee? I don't understand how it worms?

how it works sorry

I wouldn't discount concrete.

These are quite nice and seem to sell well.

Pmsl @McT123

@McT123 🤣🤣

lmao @McT123

I sell on etsy.

There are a few fees which are all sales based. It's 20 cents to do a listing. Then you pay a transaction and VAT fee. I think if a listing of mine is £22 I make around £19-20 then I have to pay for delivery top.

There's a lot to know about how to optimise your listings in order to sell. I recommend downloading the etsy seller handbook. You can't just sign up and get tons of sales. It takes work.

It takes a lot of work.

Buyers can screw you over pretty easily, and etsy can refund out of your funds or refund from theirs (but the buyer won't know the difference).

They run a star review system where the seller is penalised for having less than 5 star reviews, however many buyers will leave poor star ratings for either no reason or because say the shipping took a while or was delayed or an item stopped in customs, ie things not within the sellers control - Etsy do very little about this!

You'll need to spend all your time ensuring your search terms and listing terms are super accurate.

You risk losing your store if theres a hint of anything untoward, for example logging into someone elses store from your IP (say another etsy seller uses your wifi whilst visiting you, or you log in at a cafe and another etsy seller did so earlier in the day), or someone reports you for copyright theft (whether its true or not)....

Honestly it was so much effort for so little return, I gave it up as a bad job and sell elsewhere!

In my experience, a lot depends on you. You don't say what you want to sell, or how good you are at making it. You need to be skilled at whatever you do, and your shop front needs to look professional , eg. your product photos need to look professionally done even if you've done them yourself. Your branding needs to be strong and coherent and you need a good shop banner. Your shop policies, bio and the text of your listings need to be well-written and proofread. After that, if it's going to bring you in much money, you need to be the one driving traffic to your shop, with social media interaction, blog posts etc, as well as search engine optimisation of your listings. Don't rely on Etsy to do this for you - you may get some sales, but unless you're making something very unusual, your product can get lost in the sheer volume of search results the customer gets faced with.

If you do all this it can work well. If you have a vague idea that you will put some stuff on there and it will sell without any work on your part, it's unlikely to make you much money.

Good luck.

That said, I haven't experienced anything that widdlindiddlin describes, and nor has my family member who also sells there. Maybe it depends on what you're selling.

Agree with comment below.

Maybe I'm lucky but I've done about 160 sales and everyone been lovely. No horrible customers

They add fee after fee, including a cut of your postage costs.
They promote other peoples’ shops and items over yours, even if customers have searched specifically for you.
You can pay to have your shop promoted (monthly) but I did a trial run of that and they still suggested other shops over mine.
Depending on what you sell, the market for your items might be swamped by cheap mass-produced imports promoted above your shop.
Selling abroad is a nightmare thanks to Brexit.
You are constantly pestered by them to offer free postage/run a sale/ follow US-centric holidays and celebrations.

All my customers were lovely, though! I had one 4 star review in hundreds of sales, the rest were 5 star. I drove the traffic to Etsy via IG, FB and rl markets, so maybe that made for a more personal touch?

Yes I agree fees have gone up!
I never pay them to promote me. I have business cards with the shop address on, that i give out at rl markets. And the same social media as saucery, plus twitter and Pinterest.

Also only lovely customers for me.

I've used Etsy now and again over the years and have always found the sellers friendly and helpful - I tend to buy home artwork, home decor, fabrics and craft items. I usually start the transaction with a question out of necessity and this may be the reason why comms have been good and it's all gone smoothly. There are some genuinely talented sellers on there hoping to get a break and I like to support them.

Etsy still seems much simpler than eBay and not so fettered about with apparently stupid complications, and I should know, because I use eBay heavily.

It is a great place to grow a following and customer base on before moving to Shopify or WooCommerce.

If a friend refers you (or Google for a link) you can get I think 40 listings free. It’s $0.20 to list for 90 days usually. Fees when you sell.

It’s all about SEO and ratings. Lots of work but worth it for something you love

I've been on there for over 6 years now and never had a problem. I've got sales totalling almost 3000 items. The only refunds I've done have been because items weren't exactly what the person wanted and I've agreed a return. Maybe I'm lucky. Yes, the fees are a pain but you have to pay fees no matter where you are. I'm there because they drag in customers - no point in being on somewhere that has too little footfall.

I'm not a seller but highly rate Etsy as a buyer.
There are so many talented and gifted people on there.
It's definitely my first go to place when I want something for the house or a present for somebody.

Yes, I sell antiques.

They take a fee, but it's well worth it given they have basically got a functioning site for you and put your items in front of a wide audience. Their ads bring in plenty of buyers, and at Christmas it's very busy indeed.

It's very simple to use, assuming you have basic computer literacy.

Sell something people actually want. Don't write names on plates in Sharpie and call it a business. Really think about the time and effort you can commit.

I am a very occasional seller of things on Etsy, and while they do take fees I think it is pretty straightforward. That said - and this has nothing to do with Etsy - I've started restricting the reach of my ads, as selling to some parts of the world (such as to American customers from outside the US) can get complicated and expensive in postage terms. I sell bits and bobs, and when the postage starts to be three to four times the cost of the bit or bob, it stops making sense.

I made a £15 sale and I got £2.15 into my bank account from it.

I've lost more money than made, but it's worth a go depending on your product.

It takes a lot of work to get starts you need to get your listing up and showing in searches but if you can get it to work, it's good.

Best way is to try it yourself. More items you have too, the more likely you are to be seen. You'll likely need to do a lot of social media to bring people to the page.

Good luck!

If you put the work in it can be good.
I’ve had Etsy for ages but am a lazy cow and only sold one thing.
My friend literally never stops crafting and marketing and researching and has sold 10 things in a week, she also sells on Facebook and is doing so well.