unclestu
Cave Dweller
WINNER OF THE FIRST RTH KILLER CAB CONTEST UNCLESTU'S AGUA NUEVA AGATE
Member since April 2011
Posts: 2,298
|
Post by unclestu on Apr 16, 2015 20:48:01 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Pat on Apr 16, 2015 23:30:03 GMT -5
What do you mean? Yes, they went public. As both a buyer and a seller, I like etsy.
|
|
QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
|
Post by QuailRiver on Apr 17, 2015 0:27:20 GMT -5
I don't sell on Etsy but a couple we were friends with used to do pretty well selling vintage items there. I hope Etsy going public doesn't end up like Ebay did after they went public. Before eBay went public they were great! We used to do well buying and selling on eBay and sold year round there when it was just an auction format. But after they went public and had investors to answer to, fees started going up and they started treating their sellers like crap. I hope the people in charge of Etsy keep it being the great format it currently is and don't try to turn it into another Amazon Z-shop like eBay has tried to do, or even worse try to turn it into another eBay. Larry C.
|
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,709
|
Post by Fossilman on Apr 17, 2015 9:16:56 GMT -5
I have a cousin that sells on there too..Does pretty good..
|
|
|
Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Apr 17, 2015 9:24:18 GMT -5
I have a cousin that sells on there too..Does pretty good.. but is your cousin selling rocks? I check a lot of the sellers that sell cabs and always look to see when they started their store and how many sales to date. There are some that do pretty good but most are like myself and only selling a few items a week. Last year I sold more at three rock shows then I did on etsy all year. I read the article and kinda of find it hard to believe that anyone is selling $70,000 per month in "hand made" goods. The whole premise of etsy was a place for artists to sell there goods without competing with mass produced goods. Chuck
|
|
Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
|
Post by Don on Apr 17, 2015 9:54:40 GMT -5
I work Etsy part time - 15-20 hours a week and it has generated about the same revenue as I get from having 250 pieces of jewelry in a gallery. Neither are major sources of income for me. Etsy has potential, but it has to become your full time, 40-60hours/week job. Product photography and listing management alone consume more hours than I like to think about. Finding time to actually make your product becomes challenging. Hours and hours of social networking, sharing, promoting, facebook, twitter, instagram, etc...just to get a few more "likes" and "favorites" that you desperately hope will turn into a sale. The problem with the social networking though is that it's usually sellers "liking" other sellers, hoping for reciprocal likes and shares. This does very little towards reaching your actual demographic and target audience. I keep working Etsy because I can see the potential...but it's a blackhole that sucks every available hour you have, and some you don't have in order to keep it relevant.
|
|
peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
|
Post by peachfront on Apr 17, 2015 10:53:39 GMT -5
I have a cousin that sells on there too..Does pretty good.. I read the article and kinda of find it hard to believe that anyone is selling $70,000 per month in "hand made" goods. The whole premise of etsy was a place for artists to sell there goods without competing with mass produced goods. Chuck This. Once the people who break the rules are making most of the money, then it's on its way to becoming another eBay. I just read the article too and these people are OPENLY not hand making the goods but instead using outside labor. An entrepreneur is not an artisan.
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on Apr 17, 2015 15:12:12 GMT -5
I read the article and kinda of find it hard to believe that anyone is selling $70,000 per month in "hand made" goods. The whole premise of etsy was a place for artists to sell there goods without competing with mass produced goods. Chuck This. Once the people who break the rules are making most of the money, then it's on its way to becoming another eBay. I just read the article too and these people are OPENLY not hand making the goods but instead using outside labor. An entrepreneur is not an artisan. Peachfront, it wasn't very long ago- right before Etsy went public, in fact, that they started allowing "artists" to "outsource" their work. So, a person can come up with an original idea and have someone else make it. I sell on etsy. I do as well as I want to do. I am with Don. You get out what you put in. It depends on how hard you want to work. I see some sellers flounder and others flourish. The sinking seller usually doesn't appear to understand the basics of keywords, tags and titles and THAT is where the potential for money comes in. Selling on Etsy - successfully- is not as easy as putting a few pictures up there and waiting for people to buy. It's a lot of work.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2015 18:06:52 GMT -5
Don, rockjunquieWell said. Both of you. Didnt they take back the 'outsourcing' aspect?
|
|
peachfront
fully equipped rock polisher
Stones have begun to speak, because an ear is there to hear them.
Member since August 2010
Posts: 1,745
|
Post by peachfront on Apr 17, 2015 21:34:04 GMT -5
No, the outsourcing is still going on. That's what they described in the article. Nobody on Etsy's making tens of thousands a month creating a fine piece of art, they're outsourcing quickie cut-outs of state maps and dress designs and what-have-you to somebody else and it's actually become a mass market thing when you're selling at the level. At least that was my takeaway.
Read the comment thread under that article. It's pretty eye-popping. I'm so glad I never ordered any of the clothing items I saw on Etsy. I did wonder. The math didn't seem right. I kept thinking, Hmmm, no way somebody can be doing this by hand for the price they charge. Glad I listened to my intuition. If I want something made in a sweatshop in China, I think I'll stick with Walmart where I can try on the clothes before I buy.
As for the stone cutters, there are only two people I buy from on Etsy. I met both of them here. I only go there when they tweet me that they have a sale or something new I'm interested in. So...they would actually make more money from me if they weren't on Etsy, because they're paying a percentage they don't need to pay to make the sale. Is Etsy really bringing them new customers or they just paying a fee to bring their own customers they would have anyway? I have no idea. But I think if you are selling yourself on social media and bringing in the customers yourself, then what are you paying Etsy for again?
|
|