Etsy Advice: Keeping it Real(istic)

I know we shouldn't compare ourselves with others but it sure is hard not too. Well, this is both going to be a help and a hurt to you in the etsy world.

Since you've now probably been spending some time looking around etsy not only to see how your intended category looks but to get ideas on great photography branding etc, it is going to become obvious that some sellers are doing great and others aren't. I thought I would take a moment to express some thoughts on success before we get under way with more shop tips.

When I first started I had these immense visions of becoming a success overnight. Everyone would be buying my pillows, I would be sending them all over the world. I would become renowned enough to be in magazines and maybe get picked up by some design studio. Okay so maybe these were just day dreams... I did however think I would do well. Crossing my fingers I could quit the desk job I hated to do something I loved. I would see some shops doing so well, literally thousands of orders. How are they doing it?

So first we should think about what kind of success you can expect. Now why are we going to do this? Because it will help you assess your goals for your shop not someone else's. This is all about YOU. So if you are thinking you might spend a casual amount of time on this business or just want to do this for a hobby that's great. If you want to really focus a lot of time and go forward full speed ahead then that's another option all together. Honestly unless you have something that is so on trend and have amazing price points then you can get away with spending less time on this and finding success but mostly, the amount of time invested = how much success you'll have.

Even still I notice that when I am spending 15-20 hours a week on etsy I do way better than when I just kind of slack off. Now I don't want this to sound discouraging. In fact, its great to have this perspective because you can gauge your own level of success. If you want to do this because you love making aprons and have developed a cute pattern and need something to do during nap time that will give you a completely different experience then if you are doing this full time because you need the money. You see what I mean? From personal experience, I love what I do. I love that I can use my extra time to develop this hobby that is self-sustaining while providing a little extra money for my family. To me, I have given up being a 1000's of sales girl because I don't have the time (or space in our apartment) to make it that far yet. But I still see myself as a success because I have found something that works for me. Also, knowing that I still have room to grow and am always surrounded by inspiration is another success moment for me too.

But I do have some insider tips and observations. So in case you are looking around etsy feeling discouraged about your low numbers you can cheer yourself up.
1. Shops with lots and lots of sales, check out the date their shop opened. Its probably been open for years.
2. Look at their price points. Some of the items might be lower cost items which would figure for more sales. Recently I did a craft show with a friend and her products were priced around $5-7. So she was selling items left and right while I had nothing. Then I sold one item and it was $15. So again, not comparing but it is something to consider.
3. Does the shop have items that can be reproduced over and over again? Like PDF patterns or art prints? I'm not saying that those people don't spend a lot of time and effort on their wares but it is often a factor.
4. Lots of established shops have staff. Its not just one woman in her living room working away into the night while the kids sleep. Lots of shops employ interns, husbands or are co-ran.

So to sum up. Lets be realistic every once in awhile. Just come up with how you want to be successful and work towards those goals not someone else's.

Etsy Advice: before the first listing(s)

So figuring I didn't scare you away with my last post, we'll continue on. And if you asked a question check the bottom of the post for the answer.

You might think that running an etsy shop is as simple as making something great and then listing it online. Well you're wrong. As I have been thinking about this process I have come to realize that most of my time isn't even spent sewing. I have had people say to me, "So you must spend all your time sewing." And I casually respond, "Not really." I am not trying to make it sound like its less work than it is because it is a lot of work but most of my time is not spent sewing.

For a clear example let us journey through the life of a pillow cover.

1. Inspiration: I either see a fabric I like or I come up with a design that I want to create. This can take anywhere from 10 seconds to days. Especially when I am creating my own designs or prints or trying something new, this takes a lot of time. I also count all the hours I spend reading magazines in this time. More on that later.

2. Gathering supplies. Driving to the fabric store, loading Henry into the cart, choosing the fabric or going to another store to get it when the first store didn't have what I envisioned.

3. You have your materials. Its time to muster the energy for action. Now it takes me less than 15 minutes to cut and sew a pillow but I usually do them assembly style. Creation time can depend on a lot of variables. When can you craft? Can you work without interruption? Is the work detailed and time consuming?

4. Hooray the pillow is done. Photography Time. That means I have to choose an array of coordinating pillows to photograph with it and get my lighting right.

5. Next all the pictures have to be uploaded to the computer, sized and edited.

6. Now you're ready to list. I don't know about you but I am exhausted. But you can do it. A lot of these steps go fast especially when you get into a groove.

Okay so one more thing before we list our first items, you need to set up shop. I am not going to go in depth on setting up your shop. Etsy has provided lots of material on the subject. But here are a couple of my tips:

-get yourself a banner and avatar that are connected. Its all about branding. I have been bexcaliber for years and I will stick with it because people know who I am. I am the red chair on the turquoise background. I used to photograph all my pillows on our red chair. Stuff like that sticks with people. So while you're still starting up, find something that works for you. Also if you can't make your own banner, commission one. Etsy is full of designers willing to work for cheap.

-fill out your policies. Don't know what to put. Go look through a big time seller's. I learned as I went but there is no need to. As each situation came up, I revised my policies to protect myself. Do some research and save yourself some trouble. Her's are good and here are mine.

-in the message to the buyer field, I restate my shipping policy so that customers are reminded and in case they don't check my policies before purchase. Make sure your shipping time line is feasible too. Don't promise next day shipping if it is going to become a pain for you.

-get out there and start "heart"ing other things. Browse etsy and heart everything you like. Create circles too. Its a great way to make yourself known before you're listing things. Get into the forums. Now, I have to be clear about forums. I think they can be a huge waste of time but when you are first starting out, they are a great way to get yourself out there. I know you might be tempted to throw yourself into the critique ones but it can be pretty disheartening so be prepared for brutality.
But the forums are full of a lot of great advice and great people too. Here is a great forum post on why it takes time to get going on etsy. It truly is all about connections.

Now time for questions. Feel free to add any as comments to this post and I will answer next time.
Q:When you list an item on etsy, does it cost .20/day or .20/item? And if it is per day, do you have to go in and relist it every single day? I've looked around etsy and was under the impression that it was .20 per item.
A: This is a great question. Each item costs .20 to list and your listing doesn't expire for 5 months. So you could list one item in your shop and then get hit by a bus and if you don't return to etsy for five months, your item will still be available for purchase to the general public. Now once you list your item, it is placed at the top of the searches. But as other sellers list similar items, your item gets pushed down the list. Posting 2-4 items a day at different times guarantees you'll always be close to the top of the searches and that you'll reach the widest number of buyers.

Etsy Advice: The Business Plan

So I didn't know how in depth I was going to go with this whole etsy advice thing until I started brainstorming all the great things I have learned. I've made a lot of mistakes but I've had a lot of success too. And I do get asked about this a lot so in the future instead of retyping all this into emails I can just send them to my blog. Its a win win situation for me and you.

So when I first started etsy back in 2007 I was doing it because I was bored. Steve was going back to school and I needed something to do when he was doing homework. I had just redecorated our apartment and had fallen in love with making pillows. Steve was not in love with the pillows. I had been lurking around etsy coveting all the pretty things to buy and I finally decided to just go for it. So I approached it like any normal person: without a plan. This was a terrible idea. Always have a plan. When I started up again last year after we moved to Georgia, I created a business plan. Sounds scary and hard but it was easy and really helped me narrow my focus.

I found an excellent summary of business plans here.

I made a plan, presented it to Steve and got to work. So when you're making your plan it might sound dumb but if you can't even write down why you're doing this or haven't thought about it that much then maybe you need to rethink somethings. I'm going to go through the basic sections and how they will help you develop your etsy business.

Executive Summary: Here you'll examine what you plan to do. Make pillows, make jewelry, etc. Why are you doing this? For extra money, to further a hobby, etc. Dates you plan on starting. How much time do you have to invest? Business name.

Market Analysis: This one is super important. Figure out what you want to do and then go take a look at your competition on etsy. Search through the category, click on different shops, see what products are moving. Is your category highly saturated? What is going to make your products stand out? Is there a need not being addressed? For example, when you search etsy there are thousands of listings for girl clothes but hardly any for boys.
Now don't get discouraged. I know that there are hundreds of sellers on etsy. Lots doing similar things. Don't let that stop you. You will have something unique to you and your own way of making it and marketing it. Remember: Its always good to be aware of what is going on in your field but don't let that deter you from doing what you love.

Marketing and Sales Management: Where are you going to sell your products? How are you going to get the word out about your new shop? Most of the answers to this section will be through etsy but there are outside options to look at as well. Besides etsy you could also sell at craft shows and do consignment with boutiques. Etsy is great because they do all the marketing for you. Listing and relisting will be your main method of attack but you might also consider renting ad space on popular blogs. (Although think of this, an ad space on a popular blog might run $50 a month but if you just spent that money in relisting and listing items you could save a lot of money. Listing 5 items a day at .20 cents per list would be $30 a month in great marketing through etsy)
Also there is nothing better than word of mouth advertising. It truly is all about who you know. Blogging, facebook, twitter, etc are all great ways to get the word out about your stuff.

Service or Product Line: This section is a more detailed description of what you plan to make. Materials, costs, the time it takes to produce. Do you plan on having seasonal items? Are you going to start with one product and then hope to expand? These are things to think about. Also I would include here what your costs and profit are projected to be. Here is a great calculator to help figure out fees for etsy and paypal.
In general pricing should be a combination of the following factors: Actual Cost (materials+(production time X your hourly wage)+any overhead=cost. Cost x 2= wholesale pricing. Wholesale pricing x 2=RETAIL), the market, what you think is fair and competitive. So if your actual cost is $5 then wholesale would be $10 and then your retail would be $20. If you feel like $20 is too much for your product in this market then you either have to reduce your wages or reevaluate your material costs. More on pricing strategies later.

Funding Request and Financials: I needed to borrow some money from us for initial material purchasing. I wrote up a short loan and worked out a plan to pay it back to us. On the topic, it would be beneficial to get your own business checking account. That way you can keep your money separate and don't have to worry about keeping track of everything in your mind. It doesn't have to be an official business checking account, I have a free checking account of my own I use for business. Or you can just use paypal and get a debit card through them. Think about how many items you'll have to sell to pay back start up costs and then how soon you might be self sustaining (meaning you can afford to buy your materials). Is the time going to be worth it to you?

Okay so that is the end of the first advice section. Next time we'll talk more about etsy itself. And now for answering some questions and on that note, please comment with any questions you might have and I promise to answer them on the next post:
Q:I've been interested in starting (a shop) with kid's apparel and accessories but I'm not sure how much product I should make in advance.
A: This is a great question. Of course you don't want to have an empty shop because variety is what gets people to linger and lingering leads to buying. Plus the more items you have for sale, the more people are going to find you in the searches. When it comes to items that don't need to be customized like accessories or jewelry, I would say the more the merrier. Especially if you can make doubles of things, list each separately and you can use the same pictures and just copy the listing. Super easy. (I do this with pillows all the time.) If you have items that need to be custom like clothing, I would make one to fit a model (your child) and then offer it in multiple sizes. Since it might get hard to move particular sizes, having the customer select their size and then you make the custom size will be a lot easier for you. Just make sure you are clear about your procedure, sizing and any special time it might take to complete the product in your listing. Here is a good example of a onesie that is offered in multiple sizes but you know the lady makes each one as it sells so she is burdened with unpopular sizes.