My Etsy Experiment

[trextradingco]

Hello all! I have a round 900 item eBay store. I have Bonanza running in the background but rarely make a sale. I was contemplating other platforms and realized that I finally had enough content to fill a vintage shop on Etsy. It took about a week of crossing listing 5-10 items a day to fill it up. Now i’m crossing listing as i go after the item goes live on ebay.

So far i’ve had good results. Made 5 sales in the first week. Each sale was over $40. One of them was $100 sale. So I’ll continue to to what I’m doing.

What I need help understanding is the social aspect of Etsy. I just don’t get it. As an experienced ebay selling it just seems odd. My listings wont show up in rank if people are favoriting them or my shop. Seems odd. I like the idea of Etsy but i’m still not convinced that putting in the time on the social aspect is worth it.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Jay]

Other sellers here say “tags” are super important. Have you had any issues doing that?

[omfug]

5 sales in a week is great. I take time to post on the forums when I feel like it, but you don’t need to do that–good tags (these are searchable in etsy’s search machine) and spot on titles (which show up on google) go a long way toward people finding your store. I do maintain 3 pinterest boards, but I’m not sure if these get me sales. I do use etsy’s promoted listing paying .05 per click to a limit of $1.50 a day–this expenditure has worked well for me over the last year and a half. I’ve had 12 sales on etsy this week for a total of $400 so far, so a very good week.

[adnauseam]

Agree with Jay, tags are supes important. Think of it like, if you were looking for this thing, how would you word it? You get 13 (under 20 characters) so fill them up!

I’m seeing a quantity thing just like on ebay, too. My sales went up as I listed more. Also, love that the fees are lower on Etsy.
Also, the buyers *seem* to be a little more, I dunno how to say it, not as angry? Or they don’t just assume we’re trying to rip them off, if that makes sense.

5 sales IS great! Please link your store so we can all favorite it!

[Nancy]

I don’t think it’s necessary to be social on etsy. Sometimes I post in the forums, sometimes I don’t. It doesn’t seem to make a difference. Tags and consistent listing. Sounds like you are doing well.

[JFH]

OMFUG, have you or anyone else considered using the 5R website to hire someone for 5 dollars to do social media marketing for your store? I have considered it but don’t want to waste my time / money. Maybe it would be helpful to get store watchers and more buyers doing slow spells?

[Marjean28]

I’m going to start an Etsy experiment too. But at 20 cents a pop, I want to only list what makes sense. I’m tired of angry sellers already! I got one yahoo who didn’t follow any of the open a case rules in eBay, because English was a second language and they weren’t eBay savvy. As a result, I got a negative, and it’s making me super angry myself!

The Etsy allure, for me is 2-fold, a nicer, more educated customer base, who is motivated by their love of hand-crafted and vintage items. More art-fair, less garage-sale minded folk. And, Etsy has amazing metrics. The key word piece is huge. Instead of wondering about an algorithm, key word search data is available for every view. That’s amazing.

I’ll be happy to slowly get sales.

[Jay]

I’d love to hear how it goes. So its 20-cents per month? or is that 6 months?

[omfug]

.20 is for 4 months

[Ashana]

I’m contemplating opening my store again. I once sold some items on there but I’ve always seen it as a disadvantage to not have “make offer”. I do think the lower selling fees are appealing. I’m not sure I have 100 items to put up there, but I hear that is the “sweet” spot for selling well on etsy. Does anyone have both etsy and ebay? How do you decide what to put where? When did you really see etsy become a significant part of your business?

[Nancy]

Ashana I cross post most of my vintage items on eBay and etsy. I have a bit over 100 items and sell a couple things a week currently. More over the holiday season. I find that people still make offers on etsy even though there isn’t a formal process.

[Tara Jacobsen]

Ashana I do not cross post as I am not confident that I can track inventory well enough (ie. taking down the listing on the other site when an item sells). I know that some people find this to be easy, but I am a low-stress seller as Ebay and Etsy are half my business (marketing is the other half).

I post quality vintage things on Etsy because the buyers are nicer and more willing to spend a little bit more. Totally a “set it and forget it mentality”.

I sell everything else I find on Ebay. Could be something that has a little more wear or problems. Could be non-vintage items.

I find that my profit margin on Etsy is WAY higher than on Ebay after listing, final value and shipping. The thing I like about Ebay is that they take the shipping costs out right when you ship and Etsy waits and bills you for all your shipping at one time.

Etsy is my primary store and Ebay is my “garage sale” for everything else.

That said, it is nice that when things are slow on Etsy I get sales on Ebay and vice versa…:)

Hope that helps..Tara

[eCommerce411.us]

Am I reading it correctly that Etsy doesn’t charge the 3.5% on shipping. Just on the selling price?

And that on multiple items, you’re listing charge is 0.20 and then charged 0.20 for each additional item sold?

[Tara Jacobsen]

I don’t know enough to answer the shipping question… but this may help.

For the multiple items I am not sure what you are asking. I have 50+ chandelier crystals listed as ONE item with 50 quantity. That is considered one listing and costs $.20/4 months

[eCommerce411.us]

The way I read it, using your example, listing 50 items for $0.20, but if sell 10, you will be charged $2.00 in listing fees ($1.80 for the 9 additional items sold + $0.20 to relist the remaining 40. You already paid the 0.20 for the initial listing. Am I reading this right?

[Tara Jacobsen]

Nope…. one listing fee when you list it. You pay $.20 and it stays live for 4 months. You get a bill at the end of the month that shows how many listings you added or renewed. In my example the chandelier crystals are one fee no matter how may quantity I have.

You are not retroactively charged listing fees which seems like you are referencing in your example.

[eCommerce411.us]

Thanks Tara,

What happens if you sell 10 items?

Please see example #4 in the link below

https://www.etsy.com/help/article/2552

[eCommerce411.us]

I think example 3 would apply at well since you’re not selling all of them at one time?

[Tara Jacobsen]

Ahhh that does sound like there is a $.20 listing fee for each…:) That may explain the “new sold fees” in my bill! This is my bill for march.

Listing fees: $13.00
Transaction fees: + $29.67
Renew fees: + $0.60
Renew Expired fees: + $20.40
Renew Sold fees: + $0.60
Promoted Listings fees: + $31.00
Shipping labels: + $240.83
Other: + $0.00

Fees = $336.10

(total sales $847.97)

My bookkeeper is ASTOUNDED by how much more expensive it is to sell on Ebay than Etsy.

[eCommerce411.us]

That’s what I was thinking as well. Never looked at it that closely before. I’m always of the opinion that it is better to pay for what you list and a fee when an item sells rather than continue throwing money at it at a flat amount each month. Rough calculation is that your inventory turnover would have to be crazily high to make eBay cheaper than Etsy. Then again, that’s assuming buyers appetite is the same across both platforms.

[eCommerce411.us]

Tara,

Thank you for sharing your Etsy numbers. Based on your numbers, it does look like Etsy charges a flat rate only for the price of the item at 3.5% and does not include shipping in the fee. Unlike eBay which charges the fee for the category + 9% for shipping.

[Tara Jacobsen]

The one thing I do not like is that that they accumulate your shipping charges and then bill them at the end of the month. You can’t get immediate PayPal payments on new accounts anymore so you get paid Monday for your previous week’s revenue and shipping charges.

[eCommerce411.us]

Are you tied in with having to use their shipping or can you like eBay, just have to mark it as shipped and upload the tracking#? Especially if you use Stamps.com to purchase your postage.

[Tara Jacobsen]

You can use any shipping you want…:) I use theirs because it is generally discounted.

If you are shipping large items you might want to make sure to click the link at the bottom of the 6 choices and pick “Parcel Select” at the bottom too (it is not a default). There are times that this has decreased the shown shipping costs from $40 to $12 (which of course helps sales!) Whether you are shipping with Stamps.com or Etsy shipping you should make sure to do this so your shown shipping isn’t messed up!!

[Marjean28]

I am back in here again, because I never really took the Etsy thing very far. I guess I talked a bug game then went back to what I know. It came up yesterday when I was waiting in line at a bag sale and the woman in line in front of me only sells on Etsy. She really made a good case for it. And vintage now counts if the item is pretty 1998. So, it’s tempting to get my act together and do it. I looked up a few items and see that the same thing I have on eBay is twice the price on Etsy…..

[Tara Jacobsen]

Not only are the prices higher but the fees are lower! You just have to know that there is much more “talky talk” on the convos than there is with Ebay. Just today I had a gal ask if if I give discounts (I sent her a 10% off coupon) and then told her when I will send it. Get ready to “convo” more!!!

[Jay]

I’m always interested to hear how people are doing on Etsy. I still havent seen many sellers make Etsy their full-time gig with fill-time money. But if they do, I’d love to hear about their numbers.

I do see some sellers lust on Etsy and some side money in addition to selling on eBay. But then it just becomes a matter of time: do you list on Etsy or eBay. I know we dont have time to run two full-time stores on two different platforms.

[Tara Jacobsen]

Hi Jay! I make about $1,000 a month on my vintage stuff (almost $2,000 at Christmas time). I make around $500 a month on Ebay.

I have fewer items on Ebay because it is so much more expensive to sell there.

Some observations…

• It is MUCH easier to list on Ebay (on the computer and the phone – Etsy’s app sucks for listing)
• The fees are MUCH lower on Etsy
• I am a part-time seller (I do marketing for a living) but I ship daily and by now it is definitely a bit more than a hobby!
• Etsy is ALL about keywords and tags. It is harder to understand at first.
• If you have something that is “searchable” like Ford Oil Can or a product with serial numbers that people search for DEFINITELY go on Ebay. Ebay’s saved searches and emails are far superior to Etsy’s.

I don’t find it any harder to have two stores. I get notifications of convos or bids in my regular email address and just check each morning to see if I have sales on either store.

If I was you I would look at backwards from me. Ebay is your full time gig but your Etsy is your part time hobby! Just list high end things that people are willing to pay more and do the “list it and forget it” model you already use.

Tara

PS – I have a fun little class on how to do Etsy search if you want to try it for free (if you haven’t had skillshare before) http://marketingartfully.com/etsyseossfree … you will get to see my dog and I know you guys like dog videos!

[ThatAnonymousWoman]

I have also decided to start selling on Etsy. I have several thousand items on eBay and I’d say 75% are vintage or antique. I’m mainly doing this because eBay seems to be heading more towards an Amazon type of marketplace and less about vintage, collectible or one of a kind items. It just seems to make sense. The hesitation I have is that Etsy seems to require elaborate descriptions and packaging. When I have personally ordered things from Etsy, they have come wrapped in beautiful paper and stickers and ribbons. Those things are lovely, but also time consuming and an extra expense (and also not something I’m good at, I’m not crafty.) I’m wondering if it is necessary for lengthy descriptions and beautiful packaging to be successful on Etsy. I also agree that the social aspect seems odd. It sounds like an extra chore, not something I would enjoy.

[Tara Jacobsen]

For packaging I do pink tissue paper with a business card that has a discount code and my contact info put on with a sticker. It is pretty, easy and cheap.

For my descriptions I use a format… three lines of “talky talk” about the item (about it, where I got it, etc.) then a boilerplate list of things that “plump” up my listings. Please feel free to copy!

MARKINGS
—————

• XXX
• XXX

CONDITION
—————–

XXX

DIMENSIONS
——————

XXX

SHIPPING (I pick one)
————–

I will be shipping this in a padded mailer with lots of packing to keep it safe during transport.
I will be shipping this in a box with lots of packing to keep it safe.
I will be shipping these in a padded mailer with lots of packing to keep them safe during transport.
I will be shipping these in a box with lots of packing to keep them safe.
NOT THE PROPS
——————

This listing is for the item listed only, and does not include any photography props used in our fabulous marketing photos!

CLEANING
—————

☆ Item is left in original condition without major cleaning. We feel like the buyer should have the choice of how to restore it. Some light dusting or all natural cleaning of sticky areas or dirt when appropriate.

[AdventureE]

What a wonderful community this is. Thank you all for sharing. Eventhough I do not sell on Etsy, I find it so informative to see what other people are doing as sellers. Some of the insights and tips are applicable now and some just allow for a possible future option.

[Author]

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