To Etsy or Not To Etsy
So I’ve been collecting quite a bit of cute vintage-y stuff: knick knacks, clothing (children’s, men’s and women’s), purses, etc. I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a “vintage” shop on Etsy, simply because I very much enjoy shopping for and collecting such items, but realize that I can’t keep going at the pace I’m going- otherwise, I’ll end up on that reality show about hoarders.
Etsy seems like such a great place for the arts-and-craftsy type, who can make a decent amount of money selling their handmade and one-of-a-kind creations. Now, Etsy allows people to not only sell handmade items, but also vintage (things that are 20 years or older) as well as supplies like buttons, yarn, and beads. To set-up shop, Etsy only takes a modest portion of your sale (3.5%) and charges $0.20 for you to list each item that you post in your “shop” for four months, or until it sells.
So far, it sounds great! The intimidating factor is the sheer number of people who are already doing this on Etsy:
Do you see that number in the upper left corner?! That’s a heck of a lot of competition. Part of me thinks that there would be no room for my little “shop” in Etsy. On the other hand, I know that most of the things I find on my thrift and antique hunting adventures probably can’t be found anywhere else just due to the fact that they are 20+ years old and weren’t (as) mass produced. What are the chances there would be an exact duplicate of an owl figurine I bought at an estate sale?
Still, it does take time and dedication to maintain your shop, package and ship items once they sell, and update your inventory.
I’d love to hear from current and past Etsy shop owners about the pro’s and con’s of being involved in this business. Share your thoughts below!
do you have friends, friends of, family that like similar things you do? given you know all the cons (it’s flooded, it’s a lot of work), you might want to try it and if after 6-12 months it’s not working for you at least you can say you tried. you can start by hi-lighting some stuff on your blog, encourage friends to shop at your store before going elsewhere, etc.. i love etsy and, as a shopper it’s great. as a store, you need to find a unique, professional (and by profession i just mean in focus photos, etc) style that sets you apart from the others. oh, and i don’t personally sell on etsy, but have family members and several friends who do. my two cents 🙂
I think you have a great idea- I might as well give it a shot. The worst that could happen is that I don’t sell as single thing. All of your points are good ones- thank you for giving your two cents! I’m definitely going to have to spend some time thinking about my “angle” to set me apart from the others 🙂
i mean, you could even do your hang in there wedding stuff! those are dope. 🙂
thanks for the support!
I had the same debate a few months ago, and stumbled upon a possible solution through the friend of a friend. Have you ever heard of the website “storenvy”? It is similar to Etsy but without the listing charges! Worth looking into. It’s what I plan to use. =)
Wow! Great! Thanks for the tip- I’ll definitely check it out…and no listing prices? How do they make any money?
I have a fair amount of experience selling stuff on eBay. I, too, am fond of shopping, and end up with too much stuff, so I’ve started selling quite a bit now. It does take a fair amount of time to list things, but for me, I enjoy it like a hobby, so any income I can make from it is just an added bonus. If I actually calculated the time it took verses the profits, I don’t know if it would be worth it, if I wasn’t also having fun. But, I don’t currently have a job, so I figure my time isn’t worth all that much right now anyway, and any income is better than no income, so it works for me.
As for Etsy, I do have a shop and listed about 10 things (cards I made) a few years ago, but nothing sold, and the listings expired, and I haven’t done anything with it since. I think that my mistake was that I didn’t market myself at all. So it is my assumption that if I had marketed myself by being more active on the site, and maybe doing some marketing on other sites, then I could have been successful. So, that’s another thing that will take time, to keep in mind.
Thanks for sharing your input, Brianna! I appreciate your honesty about how much work it is. Can you tell me what kind of sellers’ fees ebay charges?
I’d love to open an Esty BUT there’s a little catch ALLOT of people don’t think about, and maybe you havent either! You need to get a business license, and pay taxes for what you sell at the end of the year! You are required by law to do so. Esty, Ebay, and other little online stores don’t mention it but if you don’t do that, they will close your shop and report you to the IRS. Theres no way around it, i researched. But that isnt stopping me from opening businesses in the future.
You are absolutely right, Paulina. I’m actually taking a “How to Start a Small Business in California” class at the junior college, and was just thinking about this as we cover not just brick-and-mortar businesses, but online businesses as well. Thanks for bringing this point to the forum!
Thats great, glad to hear you are planning to open a small business, follow those dreams!