Anyone had experience of selling on ETSY?

Message deleted by Gransnet for breaking our forum guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

Message deleted by Gransnet for breaking our forum guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

I hope you get some replies boheminan. I too have been wondering about an etsy shop for my crocheted items. Wondering if it's worth it that is.

I had a successful shop on etsy for a few years, from about 2007-10- Sold hundreds and picked up custom work offline on the side due to the exposure- Then around maybe 3/4 years ago I opened another shop, full stop, nothing, nada- So continued with ebay instead- Granted the first etsy shop I was offering my craft and the second vintage-

Joining etsy is easy and their user interface offers more than eBay when it comes to shipping, because as you know on eBay people can't place items in their cart and receive a combined shipping fee- But buyers can do that on etsy-

I sold more overseas on etsy than ebay, especially after global shipping was introduced on eBay-

It will cost you nothing to give etsy a try other than time- It was a fun experience-

I have a shop on Etsy, which I have been running for 5 years. So far I have over 500 sales. It is just a hobby and I don't really make any money out of it, but I know there are many UK sellers who do very well. They are mostly selling supplies such as felt die cuts, planners etc, although this is not my specialty. A few years ago, Etsy marketed globally, ut they then introduced local marketing, which means that Uk products are mostly seen by UK buyers, thereby cutting off most USA sales. The site also has lots of resellers of cheap imported goods, whereas in the beginning they were a purely handmade site. Things changed when they went public, so now it is more about creating money for shareholders. However, if you want to sell as a hobby then it can be quite good. If you would like any more info then please pm me.

I had an Etsy shop - I sold vintage items, mainly toys. Sales were very slow but fees were lower than Ebay. I persevered but it never picked up so I went back to Ebay.

My sister had an Etsy shop selling her handmade mosaic items. She was a cancer sufferer who used making mosaic crafts to take her mind off things, and I advised her to swallow her pride and make it clear in her shop description in order to get 'sympathy' sales, as she needed to sell finished products to afford more raw materials. She sold quite a few items at good prices, but it was far from being a money-spinner. She closed the shop as her hand muscles deteriorated and she couldn't continue.

On balance, I'd say Etsy is only worth it if your craft products won't sell on Ebay for the same money, and if they are worth about £20+ each.