Talk to me about Etsy!

[Little_Orca]

For a while, my mother has told me I should open up an Etsy shop. This was spurred on after I sold some of my art work on cards at a bazaar with a lot of success. She again told me I should do this since I have taken up making pendants with scrabble (or faux scrabble) tiles, other jewelry, and it may even get some of my artwork out of my house.

I have heard some things already about Etsy, such as their charge for posts and what not, but I wanted to know... How do you like it? Advertisement is key, I am sure, but beyond that, do you enjoy it? How much of a pain is it really?

[taom]

As an etsy shop owner, i can tell you that it is not a pain at all. The charge for listing items is minimal and the site sends you an email to remind you to pay the fee to help you avoid late fees. There is a chat forum that is very helpful for getting your name out there, are well as numerous groups that you can join for promotion purposes. Navigation in the site is easy, as well. Etsy is very much like the crafting counterpart to mernetwork in that it is not simply a bunch of stores thrown together but rather a community. One tip for sales is have good photography. It really doesn't matter how awesome your product is, if the pictures suck, no one will buy it. My boyfriend and I have ben running our shop for a little over a year now, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! Here is the link to our shop for reference: www.furls.etsy.com

[Mermaid Saphira]

I LOVE etsy! I like it better than ebay. They only charge you every month and the list an item is only 10 cents! Advertisment is pretty good, I know you can set up a widget to put on a website or something but thats all I've ever tried! Good luck! Can't wait to see your scrabble charms! I <3 scrabble lol!