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Etsy Shop + Splatoon/Kigu updates ♥ by SweetSushi
I am finally going/trying to set up an Etsy Shop. I kinda just postpone that for a while, but ppl are asking me.
...so I guess why not. At first I didn't have anything to actually put up, cause all my work is custom made.
I can post my hats tough and I like to start making some pre-made stuff too, I hope Etsy can be of some help ♥
If you have any tips for me how to start an Etsy Shop or anything rlly, please let me know ^_^
I won't spend too much time on it right away tough, I will setup a quick shop this weekend with the splatoon hats.
I will wait with other crafted projects until next year, since there is still much to do for now ^_^
Atm I am working on the kigurumi for QueenKayara which should be done this week.
It is my birthday in the next week, so I like to spend a bit on art too.
I will also make a few more Splatoon Hats and continue the work on MuffinAngels kigu.
Then in the week after, I need to start a new kigurumi! So yeah, busyyy!
Wish me luck!
Etsy Shop + Splatoon/Kigu updates ♥
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Thank you so much for the feedback! It is much appreciated :3
I've browsed Etsy a couple of times in the past but never rlly thought using it myself. Now that I make custom craftings, it might be a good idea to set something up + people (ex. clients, artist, followers) told me I should :O :P hehe. I wanted to focus on fa, weasyl, facebook and such first, since it wasn't rlly necessary to expand. But I think it's time to give Etsy a chanche ^_^
The website looks pretty nice and I think the fee isn't all that expensive...like only 20 cents per submission and 3.5% Etsy fee...I think that is quite reasonable for what you get in return ^_^
I will keep the SEO in mind! Thanks! I will also read in a bit more on their website about tips and tricks, rules etc.
It's too bad they now allow manufactured stuff tough, the reason I like Etsy (well not anymore) is because its all handcrafted. I hope this won't influence my work too much. Most of my work is custom anyway :3-
Definitely try it out. c: Especially if you've had a bunch of people ask- that's always a good sign!
Oh! And don't forget the other 3-ish% that paypal takes out too if your customer pays with it. I found that a good buffer is adding a 10% mark-up (which also covers slight postage fee discrepancies).
I totally have mixed feelings about the manufacturing thing too. :d I think maybe they're trying to balance out the handmade aspect of it with the claim that you can make a living off of it? But that's purely my speculation.
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Thanks! And yeah I am aware of the Paypal fee, already using that for a while now :3 I don't currently charge for packing (for postage) my work, but I think that should be a good idea to do! Thanks for the tip!
I think if you work hard and ask the right price you can make a living of it with handcrafted items, just needs time to get there :P I guess :P hehe. It also depends allot on how much you actually want/need to earn. Maybe they added the function to get Etsy more popular and more items to choose from, also more profit for them :O
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I don't charge extra for the paypal fee either tough..I usually just make my price and never charge extra for packaging/boxes and other fees like paypal and now Etsy too...prob should O_O For the hats, I have to charge at least €5,- extra if I want to cover that cost.
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Oh! I didn't mean to suggest that you didn't know about the paypal fee at all. I just totally blanked during my etsy sale and didn't realize that it was going to be like 3% etsy fee combined with 3% paypal fee. It totally ate up all of my profit l'D Just wanted to point out the double fee so you could save a couple dollars. c:'
It totally is possible to make a living off of your art/craft! It's just so much effort both in making an item + educating your audience. Explaining to a customer why the $50 hand knitted scarf is the better option when they can get a similar manufactured one for $5 is hard. (And even then you're still barely making minimum wage when you include materials, the "oops" markup, packaging, etc etc). There's totally a lot of romanticism around having a crafts based business/lifestyle that's easy to get swept up by. (This was a huge point of discussion during my fiber/textiles business class so I could talk for hours and hours about this and am always game for discussion. @u@'')
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You are right, you should rlly be carefully with pricing your stuff. I actually never rlly charge extra for all the extra fees I pay from my own pocket. It's like you said, we barely make the minimum wage...so I should prob charge a bit more..just very scary. As you said, allot of ppl don't understand the difference between handcrafted custom work and something from a machine and why it cost more. I am really thankful for your advice and tips in this! It means allot to me ♥ Gives me a bit more confident too ^_^
Haven't got the time to setup the shop yet tough, but will do it soon! Hopefully this week ♥
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It totally is kinda freak-out worthy but that's what makes it so exciting when you make those sales and connect with other people. @u@ But your craft is totally solid and you photograph it well so you're already well on your way!
Nice nice! c:
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Uhu exactly ♥
blushes Oh wow thank you so much!
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fraulein
Heyo! I was on Etsy for a bit and could give you some thoughts. Admittedly I wasn't active for too long, but for some people it works fantastically.
1: SEO (search engine optimization) is everything. The way the search works is similar to how weasyl works (I think?). It relies on tags and key words in your title, description and materials (plus categories too). I personally thought this made everything look cluttered (ex when a title is PURPLE HAT // PURPLE FELTED HAT // WOOL PURPLE FELT HAT)
There's lots of groups dedicated to SEO help, but I ended up getting really frustrated with it. I'm not too technically savvy though so perhaps it isn't so bad eh eh l'D
2: Something to be aware of is that Etsy has started to allow manufactured items. It's a double edged sword scenario, because it allows handmade companies to grow (there's only so much one person can make) but it also cracked the floodgates for knock offs and other mass produced items. (I personally wished they had made another platform keeping one section strictly /handmade/ and another for very small companies who are primarily hand made. BUT that's a whole lot of work.)
But despite those, Etsy has become super well known and people do shop around there when they want something handmade. What you give up in shop customization, you gain in a community platform. Definitely worth trying out. :)