Sunday 15 February 2009

Etsy Thoughts

The past few days I've been distracted by a sudden urge to tidy and reorganise and spring clean ... and whilst tidying, I found a piece of paper from a couple of years ago when I'd first joined Etsy and was taking notes on some of their categories, what was where, what it was called (there were lots of Americanisms that took a while to getting used to) and how many of everything there was.

I remember being amazed by how many things there were listed, but the site was pretty tiny 2 years ago compared to now. Here are a small sample just to show what I mean...

Geekery - THEN: 3,558 items NOW: 17,165
Books and Zines > Zine - THEN: 295 NOW: 1,318
Housewares > Kitchen - THEN: 3,564, NOW: 23,385
Accessories > Pin - THEN: 4,443 NOW: 24,969
Needlecraft > Pincushion - THEN: 400 NOW: 3,241

And those are some of the smaller categories - there are currently 827, 839 items listed under Jewellery! No wonder people email me saying they feel a bit lost on Etsy and asking how they can get their products seen!

Thinking of these things whilst clearing out a cupboard or two, I wondered whether anyone would be interested in a blog post or two on things like "tips for running an Etsy shop" or "tips for selling your work online"? and what sort of questions you might want answered? All comments and suggestions welcome! :)

18 comments:

Jessika said...

I would completely be interested in something like that. I have lots of ideas, but it's a bit overwhelming. There are SO many people on etsy. Help? Suggestions?

Anonymous said...

I think that would be very interesting to hear what someone as successful as yourself has to say about etsy (: I know that being a total noob, I'd love to hear it! Any tips you have, really. I have been curious how other people handle the logistics of listing things, like listing tons of things at a time or spacing them out...

Haha I can't imagine there being that few items on etsy!! I joined late enough in the game where it IS very overwhelming but it's a fun little side project anyway.

I don't normally comment but I am a faithful reader :P I just don't have very much to say usually :x Cheers!

Rhiannon said...

I think it would be interesting, as even though I have no plans for selling on etsy, a guide to how to sell would also (probably) have hints on how to buy which would be darned useful at times!
x

Anonymous said...

Yes, please, please, please!!! I would be ever so grateful...

Laura said...

Yes please! I would love that! I'm new to the Blog & Flickr community and would've loved some tips on that. It would be great to have Etsy tips before trying to sell. (somewhat unfortunately I was too eager to buy things so I registered before I thought up my Blog name so now my blog & etsy names don't match but oh well) :)

April said...

Please please please! I would be very interested in a couple posts on how to set yourself up on etsy, I am kicking around setting up a shop after I get done with school this summer. (Don't know for what yet, but really more for fun than anything else.)

Chris said...

Yes please.I could do with all the help I can get

Crypt Stitch said...

Yes Please!!

Anonymous said...

yes definitely, it would be really helpful! i've just set up my etsy shop (http://basmati.etsy.com) and and am finding it hard to get any exposure. it would be especially useful to give some tips on what works for UK sellers.

bex said...

i would love to read one about selling online...its somthing im struggling with at the moment.
x

Busy Vee said...

yes yes yes!!!!! that would be awesome and super helpful!!!! no major questions now but to open the dialouge would be great thank you!

Sugarplum Garters said...

a blog post offering advice on selling online in general or on etsy in particular would be great! i'm relatively new to the etsy world, and always feel like it's a struggle to make sure my work gets seen. please, share your advice! :o)

rinda said...

I would love to see your tips on an etsy shop. I am thinking of opening one but the sheer number of shops has me a bit intimidated. I have a name picked out and tons of vintage goodies I am ready to let go of. Any advice would be appreciated so very much!

Itchy Fingers said...

Well, Lupin Dearest, you read my mind :-)
Iv'e been working on my first batch of items that i want to list to Etsy for the past few weeks, i'm planning to open my shop shortly and i was planning on emailing a few of the people that i follow regularly to ask these questions... so - yes please! it would be great if you could lend some of your knowledge to make things go smoother:
I was thinking of having an "opening sale" with special offers, would that work? how much time should i be expecting to spend on my Etsy shop, on a daily basis? (i have a full time day job, too). if i make my item title long, containing many "keywords" that describe the item, will it make the item show up on more categories?

thank you so much
<3

LPFish said...

Lupin x i recently advised one or two Brit friends to start on Folksy because of the UK safety net - if i was going to add my 'two-penneth' it would be to def think about whether you want the shark pond that is 'etsy' or the frog pond that is currently 'folksy' / similar? I think it would be a great post from you x x x

Gillian said...

That would be great - I feel like I need to work on titles and tags to improve my searchability!

Laura said...

Me again. I found some tutorials on craft blogs for anyone else interested:
http://meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-market-your-craft-blog.html

http://meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-start-craft-blog.html

mary grace said...

I would definitely be interested in this! I've been wanting to poke around etsy for a while but have been just a tad overwhelmed by all the content. it'd be great to have the "inside scoop" on it :)