I joined Etsy relatively late, in Britain at least it is still not as well known as it is in America. I opened an Etsy shop in 2014 but I really didn’t do anything with it until January 2016. So far I have been pretty impressed with how easy it is to use and the ability to sell worldwide, I have been recommending it to friends who are also makers, as the way I see it you are putting yourself in front of millions of people who are already looking to buy from designer makers. Anyone can have their own website but to drive traffic there and get found… well you have to put in way more work and effort than using Etsy.
To my knowledge Etsy is massive in America and personally I saw a huge spike in traffic and sales coming from America when Brexit became a thing and caused the pound to drop considerably against the dollar, my personal silver lining I guess. Anyway my point being is, it’s big enough that it’s on the stock market in America which means it now has investors to answer to, hence a new CEO.
The new CEO recently released a new video talking about where they want to take Etsy, etc namely pointing to two ways that can help you as an Etsy seller grow – free shipping (which will be on a separate post, I have always had beef with this!) and promotion/sales! Of course this has ruffled a lot of feathers, you only have to go on the forums to read how pissed some people are!
I price my items fairly based on materials, labour cost and profit margin, as does a lot of other sellers in fact I would say there are many who underprice themselves. Therefore having promotions and sales hugely affect the bottomline. Being a maker is labour intensive so if you are selling to be perpetually in the same place of just making ends meet like a hamster in a wheel instead of being able to make money then maybe you need to re-think your strategy, most businesses regardless of sector has a goal to grow and expand and offer other people employment, (obviously this is not everyone’s goal) but making a decent living should be.
Here is where I learnt to play the game, I joined a UK marketplace company back in 2009, today they are a multimillion pound company (I am no longer selling through them) but I did learn some lessons, when you actively participate in promotional sales, you get more sales but not only on discounted items. So Etsy will be promoting their first ever Labour Day sale from 31st August until 4th September and I intend to join in, how, you might be thinking without underselling yourself? Here’s what I will be doing, over the year I test out products, if they don’t do well, I don’t re-list them, (this is what I love about Etsy you get to sample new ideas and test them out without having to make a large batch) I will be having essentially a sample sale, plus other items that I will no longer be making, old stock or slow movers, so that’s how you can participate without hurting your bottomline too much. You may be those who are annoyed and think “well are you perpetuating the situation?” If you think it will go away by you not participating, sadly that won’t be true. Traditionally a sale is an end of season sale to move old stock and that is what I will be using these sales to do. No I will not be having a sale every month and I will only participate IN the sales that Etsy has stated it will actively promote worldwide and that is how I intend to play the Etsy game.
Of course this will be mine and Etsy’s first sale so time will tell how it goes and I will give you an update. Are you an Etsy seller? Will you be participating?
(Please note items will only show up with a SALE % in my Etsy shop on 31st August – 4th September 2017.)
by Law: to feed my creative soul 