Do you feel pressure on Etsy?

[Savoir Faire]

Hello all!

I recently had an AHA! moment when I realized that it could be fun to put some of my thrift store finds on Etsy. (Yes, I know. So original!) At first I was just thinking of putting all my vintage (mid-century) kid books on...but then I was thinking it would be fun to make it a kid/baby/wedding/book type thing.

I'm a writer by trade and used to blog professionally (and had a pretty good following) so doing blogging/twitter is just second nature to me.

So I started a little blog (fictional) put on by the "character" who runs my shop. Her name is Joan Cleaver. She's pretty funny. (She's also on Twitter.)

Anyway, between that and Etsy...I feel like I'm always being pressured on Etsy. There's SO MUCH competition and I feel like I'm always thinking/worrying/wondering about what I need to do.

You know...you're "supposed" to add a new product every day unless you want to be banished to page 200?

I love Etsy. Really do. I enjoy shopping there. But I'm not so sure on selling. I am considering doing my own website where I could have the blog plus sell my items on there, as well. I feel there'd be a little less pressure for me to "oh my gosh I've got to get something up now!" than I do now.

(I also homeschool and am crazy busy with that!)

Has anyone ever done something like this as an alternative to Etsy? Would you tell me about your experience?

[Kathleen F.]

I know of a lot of people who have their own sites and sell from there such as you describe. Most don't scale but I don't think that is an issue for you at this point and really, never need be. My business won't scale (much) either but I've been self-supporting for 15 years which is good enough for me.

Re: etsy and the pressure to add product daily.
I'm going to turn that around with an analogy used by larger operations but it applies.

Clothing designers who are just starting out often think it is up to their retailers to promote the brand, that's one of the reasons they want to get into stores. Problem is, retailers have the opposite expectation. In their opinion, a successful branding effort is what gets the customer in the store in the first place.

Iow, etsy is a place to host but it could be better to not have the expectation that the venue itself is what should bring in the majority of sales. As a consumer, etsy is overwhelming. I only go if I have a direct link from someone. Meaning, promote it yourself. I checked your profile. No link to your blog, none to etsy etc. That's how I find cool things. Articulate people tend to make better products...

[SleeplessMommy]

I would not bother with etsy. just sell from the blog.

With etsy, it is really really annoying to have to keep relisting your unsold inventory every 3 months (or whatever). 20-cents each item does add up.

And all that trouble to make a blog to drive traffic to an etsy store? poof! potential customers may be distracted by choice and buy from someone else. I think etsy has a surplus of sellers IMHO.

[Savoir Faire]

Thank you, ladies! As for the links, I just recently unliked a website in my profile and since the Etsy shop wasn't "up to par," at least for me, I had not yet linked it. I hope that makes sense.

I'm really feeling drawn to a website/shop for vintage baby, kids and party needs. All those old vintage items need good homes, too!

I guess I'm a bit worried about the start-up costs of trying to do a website that involves shopping carts, etc.

And yes, I agree, Etsy can be totally overwhelming, and I actually SHOP on there from time to time. I'm finding, as it gets bigger, that I'm having to put in more terms -- instead of glass necklace, it has to be blue glass necklace with the size-- to find what I want.

[E.V. Lowi]

You can sell from Facebook now-
http://tomuse.com/sell-on-facebook-e...torefront-app/

[Savoir Faire]

My Facebook is mainly for close friends (and some family)...so I doubt there'd be much interest there.

I have my own domain and after realizing that I can't get my theme/page to look how I want, I have someone working on it.

I'm trying to make sure I have a variety of inventory....hopefully things will be up and running very soon.

[lilyka]

I have never felt pressure. As a matter of fact I have not done anything with my site in months and got four orders out of the blue this week. I had to be on page one million....

but my SIL has her own website that links to her etsy store. she pretty much uses etsy as a service but advertises/promotes through her personal web page etc.

[Sieren]

I've been sort of feeling the etsy-pressure lately...LOL! I recently opened my shop, and I haven't gotten any sales yet. Quite a few views, though, a couple of my earrings have over 100! I feel like my problem is I have such a niche market, I don't really know how to get the word out to the right people. I have a facebook page, but like someone else mentioned, its mostly friends and family (most of whom admire my art but don't share my style aesthetic!!). I'd just feel kind of at a loss as to where to go from here. I don't feel ready to pay for my own website yet, (eventually I want to) because I was hoping to get some exposure and customers from etsy first.
*sigh*

[bcblondie]

Blogs are free to start up. I'm thinking of doing that too.

[dancebaraka]

Originally Posted by Savoir Faire

My Facebook is mainly for close friends (and some family)...so I doubt there'd be much interest there.

I have my own domain and after realizing that I can't get my theme/page to look how I want, I have someone working on it.

I'm trying to make sure I have a variety of inventory....hopefully things will be up and running very soon.

I also use FB for friends/familia but have added a fan page for my business & it has helped & the basic version is free... you can link to your website & vice versa. Worth a go & doesn't take a lot of time or energy.

BTW, I *love* your concept!