Selling on "craft mall" type sites

glaswizz · 01-23-2007, 02:49 PM

Hello all,

I was just wondering if anyone has tried to sell their items "craft mall" type sites such as etsy.com, craftmall.com, or wisconsinmade.com. I have my own site, but don't get nearly as many hits as I would like. I am trying to expand my business, and am wondering if this is a good way to go. Are they better than the regular art/craft fairs? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Glaswizz

**Kris10** · 01-25-2007, 08:32 AM

I looked into Etsy and talked to some artists that have used it. Most said that they didn't make enough sales. There are so many products on Etsy, I think it's hard to stand out.

I did some research into the pricing on Etsy a while ago. Etsy charges 20 cents per item for listings. You can list three purple purses in one listing but they still cost you 20 cents each. If you sell something, you then pay Etsy 3.5% of your selling fee.

If you are using PayPal to take payments online, you pay 30 cents per transaction plus 2.9% of your selling fee. The percents go down the more you sell.

Etsy and PayPal aren't taking huge amounts from your sales, but it seems like people sell things way too cheap on Etsy. You'd probably have to price low to be competitive and not have a high enough profit margin to make it worthwhile.

glaswizz · 01-25-2007, 09:21 AM

Thanks for the input. I have been researching a lot of them lately. According to some people they are great. To others, not so much. I have been told that with Etsy, the best way to get sales is through self-promotion. But if I have to do so much self-promotion, I may as well just do it for my own site, where I don't have to pay posting fees.

I have done so many regular craft fairs where I spend all day setting up a booth, sitting there all day long, and then packing up to go home having sold nothing. I was just hoping to find something that was a bit more convenient. Thanks so much for the help!

Glaswizz

PotteryLady · 01-27-2007, 10:40 PM

I recently joined etsy.com, and have sold 3 things in one week. I believe if you have low cost items you can sell a bit, but my higher priced items are pretty much there for looks. What the heck, still waiting for the craft shows to gear up, and the cost is minimal, so why not try. The key is to do really good descriptions that have key words for searchers, good pictures, and involve yourself in the forums. I think all my buyers have been other sellers. It really is a good way to set up a site online if you don't have one. The 20 cent listing fee is a pitance to pay. Good Luck, and take a peak at my etsy.com store
http://earthelements.etsy.com

**Kris10** · 01-29-2007, 08:08 AM

Welcome PotteryLady!

How has PayPal been for your Etsy sales? Do they take a big cut?

PotteryLady · 01-29-2007, 08:56 AM

I haven't paid a lot of attention to the paypal fees, since I usually charge a bit extra in the shipping costs to help defray both my packing supplies and paypal fees.
Kathi / Pottery Lady

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kris10

Welcome PotteryLady!

How has PayPal been for your Etsy sales? Do they take a big cut?

glaswizz · 01-29-2007, 10:10 AM

I use PayPal on my website, since I have not yet gotten into accepting credit cards myself. I don't think that the fees are really all that bad. I think that adding PayPal fees AND Etsy fees might be pushing it. I think you would definitely need to up your price a little to make up for it. On an item I recently sold through my site, I charged $20.00 plus $3.00 for shipping, so $23.00 total sale, and PayPal took $0.97. I don't find that to be awful. Usually if you except credit cards yourself, they charge you a per-transaction fee.

Glaswizz

PotteryLady · 01-29-2007, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glaswizz

I use PayPal on my website, since I have not yet gotten into accepting credit cards myself. I don't think that the fees are really all that bad. I think that adding PayPal fees AND Etsy fees might be pushing it. I think you would definitely need to up your price a little to make up for it. On an item I recently sold through my site, I charged $20.00 plus $3.00 for shipping, so $23.00 total sale, and PayPal took $0.97. I don't find that to be awful. Usually if you except credit cards yourself, they charge you a per-transaction fee.

Glaswizz

I agree, the fees are really minimal. even etsy fees on a 20.00 sale would only be about 90 cents. I pay almost 3% per transaction on the merchant account I have. But I think it is important to have if you want to increase sales at shows. So many people don't carry around an extra 150.00 or so in their wallets, and I do not like accepting personal checks since the NSF fees can actually cost more than the purchased amount.