Whether you’ve been an Etsy seller for five years or five months, you probably had dreams for your business before discovering Etsy.
What were they?
Did you always dream of selling your crafts, and Etsy made that possible?
Did discovering Etsy help you realize a dream you never knew you had?
Or has running an Etsy shop distracted you from bigger dreams you once had for your business?
And if you don’t sell on Etsy, why? Is it because it doesn’t align with your vision for your business?
I’ve always wanted to have a small business, mainly because I like to be in control of everything (hey, I’ll admit it)! Etsy has certainly helped, but I still want to have a small bricks-and-mortar store that also showcases work from local artists, designers, and crafters. That’s probably 20 years down the line, unfortunately …
As a fine art major, I planned (hoped) to be able to sell my work through galleries and shops. But it was harder to do before the internet existed because if you made heavy things, like I do, you were pretty limited to selling locally. Unless you could drive around to fairs a lot. Etsy and other venues like it have enabled me to reach out geographically, and even sell to customers in my home country although I live in Europe now. Etsy has definitely broadened the opportunites and thus changed the shape of my dream (plan!).
I wanted to make a living by creating. Simple as that, in whatever that ‘creating’ took the form of. Luckily, I found something I loved in metalsmithing, which has led me to other artforms. Selling on etsy gave me the confidence to start my business and to become an entrepreneur. Ironically, I don’t sell much on etsy anymore, now it’s through shops and custom orders.
Etsy has been a huge help in making my business anything. When I first was dreaming of quitting my day job and making cute little girl clothes I envisioned them in boutiques. I had no one idea how I was going to sell online. Ebay? NEVER! I had never heard of Etsy and had NO IDEA that there was a huge handmade movement/crowd. So I am so thankful that I heard about Etsy. Etsy has helped me get my first 1000 hours this past year and has been instrumental in my now being in 3 stores. It has allowed me to learn more about being self employed and really how busy I want to be. Lets say I just want to be a micro-empire. Sure I hate renewing my items all day, everyday but I haven’t figured out a marketing strategy yet, nor have I gotten to professional pictures. Currently Etsy makes sense for me. But eventually I hope to stop renewing items and be driving in my own traffic, my own fanatic fans. I don’t think Etsy has distracted me however. I didn’t buy into their idea of spending time in the forums and teams and treasuries. Actually they helped me find you and Tara and it has been nice to have a different outsiders view and learning to just use Etsy as a ecommerce site…..Someday completely. Etsy has been the best thing for my business. But I keep dreaming and it may change someday.
I have an Etsy shop but they are responsible for less than 1% of our business. Etsy is basically just a marketing tool for us. Their search feature enables people who just shop on Etsy to find us. We do not market our Etsy shop at all though. We greatly prefer selling on our own website since it gives us infinitely more control and is much better for our business.
To be precise:
After discovering Etsy I realized my dream I did not dare to have.
After high school I wanted to study silversmithing, but since both of my parents had university degree I did not even think of not going to university. I did not even think that things could be other as well. After having 2 university degrees finally I am going back to my high school wish: in September I start my silversmithing studies. I am thrilled!
“running an Etsy shop distracted you from bigger dreams you once had for your business?”
I think this is really the case with me…I my dream is my own site, with my own traffic….but friends have had so much success w/ etsy, it seems like the only way sometimes……
I actually started my business because of what I saw on etsy. I found etsy through a blog one day and I was hooked. I had dreamed of starting a biz then I saw etsy and new that would be the perfect place to start my die cut biz.
I would like to expand outside of etsy but I am not sure what direction to take. I would like to start a blog and create a website by the end of 2010 to show case my die cuts and craft how to’s.
I recently started my business designing and making higher-end quilts, but did not go with Etsy, because I don’t think Etsy users are my target market, to be honest. But the built-in marketing of Etsy would be nice — driving traffic to my own web site certainly has its challenges, and I’m finding retail options hard because I would have to up my prices significantly in order to take the cut for wholesale pricing without losing my shirt!
I had been selling my handmade bath and body products for over 4 years before I even heard about Etsy. But Etsy has definitely opened some doors for me. We have several new wholesale accounts that found us through our shop there. And our retail sales have been wonderful there.
But ultimately, it helped push us to improve our business, which has helped our business growth everywhere. Because the competition is fierce on Etsy, and very much in front of your face where you can always see it, it has helped push me to constantly improve my products, my branding, my photos, everything really. And those improvements have helped improve my sales on Etsy, on my website, in the wholesale market, and with off line sales as well.
These are interesting questions to consider. Coincidentally, I just listened to your podcast with Sister Diane this morning while I was doing a test run for my craft show table this week-end. Etsy gave me the easy opportunity to get started, but the more time I spend there, the more that I think it might be a waste of time, not that it hasn’t served its purpose.
As a jewelry designer/seller, I think the only way to grow my business is going to be through having my own website, wholesale accounts, and carefully chosen shows. Thank you for you for the all the great advice and food for thought!
Etsy gave me a place to launch without fear, without giving up my full-time job, and without having to have all of the details worked out. I didn’t know enough about what I wanted from the business in the beginning to invest resources in my own site.
For me Etsy is a practice setting, but I can see how getting too comfortable there can distract people from bigger possibilities.
I started my Etsy shop as a way to make a little money on the side, but after a few weeks of that I decided this was my dream. All I wanted to do was create and build my business and 7 months later, it is still all I want to do.
I am growing slower that I would have liked, but that’s the way it goes. It pushes me to work harder and make bigger changes and scarier decisions to get to where I want to be.
My dream before etsy was to making a living with my craft. In about four years, I’ve done just that.
I have a shop on etsy where I’ve sold over 2000 pieces of jewelry at 3x etsy’s average sale price.
I have a website where both wholesale and retail customers buy, plus my work is in a number of retail establishments around the world.
I have a sporadic part time assistant and will hire someone in the fall.
If you are starting out selling your craft to the public, no matter how accomplished your skill set is, I do not know how you could not go to etsy. How do you know it’s not your target market? There are over over 1M buyers. I’ve been there three years and don’t exactly know, demographically, the target market.
What you don’t see are the invisible benefits. First, low cost, second visibility. You have no idea who is looking. Barney’s has purchased thousands of dollars in merchandise they would not have found on a stand alone website. A pair of my earrings were “discovered” by People magazine. There are countless other examples.
Now, because I chose wisely and my etsy shop and website have the same name, I got exploding cross over traffic, which gives me visibility 8 months later.
Yes, I think a stand alone website is imperative for the future of your brand. That’s providing you have a unique enough product to have a brand. But don’t discount running an etsy shop in tandem with your own site. The friendships and support you find are invalueable.
Thanks to Megan for letting me go on and on.
xoSherry
My dream before I found etsy would be to be able to sell whatever my latest creation is. Currently jewellry, I’m starting a silversmithing course this weekend yeah. But in the future maybe sewing, maybe photography. Etsy would cover these but…
it would have to be a bricks and mortar shop with a little studio at the back for classes and where customers can watch the magic of handmade creations! And a kick ass website
Claire