Feel like going back in time? Hang out long enough on handmade goods site Etsy.com and you may think you're on eBay, circa 1999. You can also find vintage items, and there's a friendly, "we're-all-in-this-together" vibe. Sellers can choose which payment methods they accept; and although the site is growing, it's not so large as to seem vast and impersonal.
Since buying a couple of items on Etsy, I've been charmed by the site's fun, offbeat features and the creative nature of its sellers and their handcrafted items. I've received personal notes from sellers, and some even sent me small freebies, such as a couple of holiday gift tags with tiny jingle bells attached. As I'd been toying with branching out my online business by selling items I create myself, I figured, what better time to start an Etsy seller account?
I have plenty of company. Handmade goods site Etsy.com has been getting lots of word-of-mouth as crafty people everywhere find a new place to hawk their wares. And its numbers reflect that buzz: it reported $87.5 million in sales in 2008, up considerably from 2007 sales of $26 million, according to the Etsy's recent figures. There are now 2.6 million members and more than 250,000 sellers on the site, with $70.8 million in sales as of June 2009.
Not surprising for a site that caters to creative people, places on Etsy have fun and unusual names: "The Storque" is Etsy's "Handmade Blog," with daily posts on colorful topics such as "Etsy Finds Vintage: Decorating Through the Decades," and "Finding Your Niche with Diffraction Fiber," as well as nuts-and-bolts posts about site maintenance and its marketing plans. (Perhaps the best representation of the whole vibe of "The Storque" comes in the form of one post with a photo of a bulldog sporting a beaded necklace...I mean, um, collar). The site is also full of resources to help sellers and people new to setting up a business.
Payment Methods, Seller Fees,...and Item Materials?
Setting up a seller account was an easy process for me. (I had already registered for a basic Etsy account that I had used to buy items). To get started, you simply click the "Sell" tab from the main Etsy page, and fill out your name and address information. The site asks you for a credit card to verify your identity. You can use your credit card or PayPal to pay your seller fees, which are 20 cents for each item listed, plus a 3.5% cut of the final sales price - which does not include the shipping cost. (That 3.5%, I don't need to tell you if you're an eBay seller, is considerably smaller than the final value fee at eBay, which starts at 8.75% for items that sell for up to $25, and goes up from there).
Sellers choose their payment methods - and this part was like retro eBay: you can accept personal checks and money orders, in addition to PayPal. However, it's up to you; you can accept only PayPal, or only checks, for example, if you so desire.
Now I was ready to list my first item. I clicked the "List" link, and then entered the title for my very first item: "Pearl and Black Bead Necklace with Authentic Chanel Button Pendant." (My Chanel button creation was inspired by selling several Chanel items on eBay and reading about Coco Chanel's design history, and her affinity for the colors black and white).
Once I typed in the description of the item, I was prompted to add the materials used. This was a new thing to me and something that is different from eBay, but befitting a site for crafts/handmade items. Materials have to be separated by commas, and you may not use characters like "/" or "-" or parenthesis, most likely in order to keep the listings clear and without ambiguity as to exactly from what substances the items are made.
I could add a "tag" to my listing (which is simply a keyword a buyer searches for), so I chose the word "Chanel," as the authentic Chanel button was a key component of my necklace.
Next I was prompted to put in a price. This is not something you take lightly, especially on a handmade goods site, where you have to consider not only the cost of your materials, but your labor as well. There is actually a whole series of articles on The Art of Pricing in the Etsy Storque blog that gives solid advice about things like considering your costs, researching your competition, and what elements differentiate your item.
Etsy Shops and Sections
Another option when listing an item was to "add a new section." Sections are like categories for your items; you can create "Sections" as part of the structure of your "Shop" on Etsy. Etsy Shops are analogous to Stores on eBay. You can go back and create your Shop settings after listing your first item or items; this includes selecting your shop appearance and setting up your shipping options.
You will also want to create your "Public Profile," a link on the left side of "Your Etsy." Under your profile, you can upload an "Avatar"- a 75 x 75 pixel image that shows up under your bio.
In keeping with the personal feel of the whole site, you can also specify where you live on a map, the text of your bio, and your favorite materials with which to work. There's a feeling of sellers wanting prospective buyers to know about them and what makes them tick, creatively, and of buyers caring to know more about the people who made these special pieces.
To customize your shop, you can enter a shop title under "Shop appearance," attach a store banner, make a store announcement, and set other specialized elements. Etsy advises you to think carefully about your shop name before creating it, since you can't change it later: "While you can open another shop, your transaction information won't carry over, so you will want to get a name you love! We discourage strange spellings and random number strings that may be hard for buyers to remember (and thus find you again!)," they counsel in the "Setting up Your Shop" FAQ.
Shipping and Photos
In my case, I went back and set up my Shop title and other settings after I completed my first listing. But first, to finish up the necklace listing, I set my shipping preferences, which included the default "ship to" option of "everywhere else." I left this on, as I try to list most items internationally; lately that's where many of my eBay buyers are coming from. In contrast to eBay, you can optionally add a "secondary shipping cost" if you are willing to combine shipping costs if the buyer buys another item from you.
After uploading my photos, I checked the preview of my listing, approved it, clicked "Finish," and then I was good to go.
Although Etsy does have many differences from eBay, in general, eBay users will feel comfortable with the basic layout of the site; the tabs across the top are very similar, and there's a "Your Etsy," similar to "My eBay," where you can see items you have listed, your purchases, favorites, and other details of your account. Another thing you can view is one of the more fun features of the site: "Alchemy," where you can request a specific custom handmade item, and browse others' requests. Sellers can also decide whether to accept private alchemy requests or not in their shop settings.
But Etsy is not trying to be eBay. And while it has experienced impressive growth, it does not yet have eBay's huge numbers of users. However, for people who make and enjoy handcrafted items or hanker after vintage goods, Etsy offers a fun, clean experience that, like a bulldog wearing a necklace, might even bring a smile to your face.
