In February of this year I put up my first items for sale (online) in my dormant Etsy shop. I had opened the Etsy selling account in October of last year and was just unable to move forward with the listings...it has been revealed to me that this is not at all uncommon. I would equate it to a case of pre-nuptual jitters, cold feet, the moment of truth...faced with the possibility of failure I was immobilized.
After just a week or so, a forum buddy of mine saw one of the items I had listed in the Etsy shop when I shared a photo of it on the forum and rushed off to purchase it, I had my first online sale. In the next couple of weeks that followed, the same forum friend purchased two other items from me, one that was listed and one a custom order...I haven't sold a thing online since.
Yes, Etsy is oversaturated with jewelry sellers...many of whom are not designers or artisans, but hobby crafters with no concept of pricing for a profit...many of whom are incredibly talented designers and artisans that are very successful in developing a market and creating sales... and lots of others like myself that just cannot get arrested. I know that my jewelry is appealing, I get lots of hits and lots of hearts, I don't think that I am overpriced, but maybe that is an issue. Primarily, I have chose to list OOAK items many of which are somewhat labor intensive and only using sterling silver and/or copper, although recently I have listed a couple of items that also used 14K gold_filled...so maybe I need to take a step back and have a closer look at the big picture and break it down into little snippets.
I am planning a promotion offering 20% off everything in the shop as a "Virgo" Zodiac Sale...my birth sign is Virgo, Aug. 23 - Sept.22...so it will be a month long promotion. I plan to post on all of the social networks, forums, and blogs I belong to as well as send out emails to my contacts...oh, here I must confess that I have never formally sent any of my contacts a link to my Etsy shop...bad me!
I have also committed myself to making more less labor intensive jewelry, which will not only enable be to offer items at lower price points, but I will also be able to make more item in less time and build an inventory so that I can also include home parties or shows in my marketing plans.
Alas, although I have committed to making simpler, more saleable items, I think I am still caught up in the "creation" of art jewelry...my satisfaction as jewelry artist is totally ensconced in creating...I am not a production jeweler and still find that what I make is not simple enough to translate into lower price points...what's a girl to do?
Well, I will continue to step back and hope to see the forest through the trees, I will continue to make jewelry that satisfies my creative spirit, I will continue to list my creations on Etsy and develop other non-virtual venues, and I will remain committed to finding ways to create more saleable less labor intensive pieces that will translate into $ales!
Posts
3 comments:
Well said, Angela! I can definitely relate.....
I can really relate as well. It took me several months to get more than a few items listed in my Etsy shop as well. Sales there are slow for me. I do better at shows, and have some pieces in a gallery, so I may need to rethink my Etsy shop as well. I know one jewelry maker who sells more than one item a day. She's sold 600+ items! It's hard to know what to do.
Amen to that Angela. Etsy may not be the best mode to sell work but at least it keeps us out there. At least it is not expensive, just time consuming to keep it up. Even though I have not made any sales there, I have found that if you add an item every few days, there are more hits.
Post a Comment