fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3688 ]

[ SECRET POST #3688 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3688 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Gundam Wing]

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[I Know That Voice, Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster, Tara Strong, John DiMaggio]

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[Digimon]

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Does anyone here have an Etsy shop? If you do, what has been your experience with it? I boredom-knit and am thinking about opening a shop just to offload stuff I make (if it even sells), but I don't really have any experience with online selling.

Also, for a knitted item shop, which name do you like best?

Knitterpated or UncoordiKnits?

I don't have any Etsy experience, but Knitterpated is a really cute name.

Knitterpated. The other one makes no sense.

It does. Coordinates are matching articles of clothing, so I was intending to make things that don't really go together, and then Knits instead of 'nates' as a knitting pun, because puns are awesome. >.>

Yeah, anybody with a brain gets the -knits for -nates pun, but just as a name, you're being too complicated. I don't think the average person would twig to Coordinates for matching clothes and then apply "uncoordinates!" to things that don't match and THEN apply that to mean you must sell a random array of knitted stuff.

I'd wager at least 80 percent of people are going to think uncoordinated as in hand-eye and have no fucking clue what you're on about nor care enough to look. But that's just my opinion.

Fair enough. I don't want a name that has someone scratching their head and moving on to the next seller because they're like, "WTF, mate?" XD

+1 for thinking of uncoordinated = clumsy. The other name's better OP.

I do. My experience is that I don't do a high volume of business but I do enough sales where it pays for my hobby, plus a little more. Maybe to the tune of $500/year. Maybe I'd make more if I did more promo or really hustled, but I just put stuff up and sell it.

For knitted items, a word of caution based on my observations: a LOT of people knit. Like... A LOT. Unless your product is somewhat unique or you've got a new angle, competition may be difficult because you'll be selling to non-knitters who have little clue as to what materials cost you, etc.

I like "Knitterpated". It rolls off the tongue easier and it's very cute. :)

Yeah I'm not looking to make a living or anything, so I wouldn't really even mind selling at a 'break-even' sort of price. I've browsed Etsy a lot (buy some things sometimes!) and some of the prices have me in shock!

I appreciate for certain things that are handmade (especially quality) you're recouping that time and effort as long with materials, but I see scarves and hats for $40+ and it boggles my mind. I couldn't imagine asking that much money for something I do as a wind-down hobby after work. XD

Did you find starting out that it was hard to figure out the logistics of selling, or is Etsy pretty straightforward?

I think Etsy is fairly straightforward... and IIRC you choose when your shop goes live so you have plenty of time to get everything up and running. A nice banner is a good idea, plus you'll have to decide what your shipping/returns policy is and write that up. Keep in mind that you're preparing for crappy things to happen - packages go missing, buyers aren't always happy with what they receive, etc.

Decent photography for your listings is key, particularly in a competitive market. Blurry cell phone pics won't cut it, you need photos that are both appealing AND representative of the actual product. You also need well written descriptions.

"I couldn't imagine asking that much money for something I do as a wind-down hobby after work."

I get that, but you're doing yourself (and your fellow sellers) a disservice if you lowball your own goods. Buyers are all too eager to do that for you! Look around, pay attention not to just listings, but actual sales, and figure out what the market will bear.

Yeah, I don't think I'd like, sell things for $5, but I see tiny cowls for $50+ on some shops and $20 (which is more reasonable to me) on others, so I feel like I don't know which end of the pool to lie in.

I don't want to be 'cheap' so that I'm hurting other peoples' chances of selling, but I don't want to gouge anyone either.

Well, anyone can list a knitted cowl for whatever price they want. The real question is, are those $50 cowls actually selling? What quality yarn are they made out of? How is the workmanship? Does the shop look professional or amateurish?

And lastly, how does what you make compare to what's already on etsy?

I haven't sold on etsy specifically but I will warn that online selling can be a pain and a lot of work for not much money.

Be prepared for people wanting to treat you like you are amazon and asking for shipping discounts that you can't afford.

Sometimes it's actually less stressful if you don't sell a lot. I enjoy selling to good customers but I don't like doing it all the time.

Oh and for Etsy specific thoughts, I do know people who have had great experiences with it and for what you do etsy would be exactly what you need.

Be prepared for people wanting to treat you like you are amazon and asking for shipping discounts that you can't afford.

People do that?! Especially when unless you're someone like amazon (who probably have their own fleet...), shipping can be ridiculously expensive. :(

Yep, I've had people ask me for insane shipping discounts. When you sell very rarely it's impossible to get discounts because most discounts that mailing services offer are for bulk shipping, it's harder for individual sellers.

I know it sucks to pay for such expensive shipping but it's not like the shipping money goes into my pocket, I just charge what the post office charges me.

It even drove me to stop selling internationally on ebay because that's usually when people want discounts, and it's a lot easier to just do a flat rate domestic box.

nayrt - Oh, they'll do that and worse. Even though your stuff is handmade (and that's the reason why they're attracted to it), some people will have the attitude that your pricing should be the same price as mass-produced, low-quality crap from overseas. They'll want to know why your hand-dyed, knitted scarf out of alpaca wool costs sooooo much more than the scarf they saw at the Dollar Store or Wal Mart. They'll want to know if you'll knock a few dollars off the price if they buy two, or whatever. You'll get PMs asking you for custom orders with a bunch of garbled, barely literature instructions, and then you'll never hear from them again.

I've been selling on eBay for a few years now and I haven't had that happen to me yet. Maybe I'm just lucky, but my customers seem to understand that shipping costs what it costs and don't have a problem with it. I even sell internationally and I haven't had any complaints about the shipping, even when the shipping cost more than whatever it was the person bought.

I think you're lucky because literally my first week back on ebay (after being away for several years because I wasn't selling or buying from there) I got people requesting different shipping prices then what I could offer.

You're very lucky. I've had international buyers who don't understand that I have zero control over their package once it leaves my hands. They don't have realistic expectations of how long international mail takes and get impatient with ME about it. And I only charge what the post office charges, I don't even charge people for the packaging.

Knitterpattered.

It was alright, a good way to sell random art experiments.

A friend of mine has one and has done quite well; however, she's also devoted a lot of time to it. She has her own office/workspace, she social networks and posts promos, and goes to local events to showcase her work. So I think to really be successful, you have to be willing to engage.

Seconding this. I have a friend who does amazingly well on Etsy, but she's also a professional artisan who has her own website and who spends a lot of time self-promoting.

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[ SECRET POST #3688 ]

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