Thanks for visiting my craft website. I hope you enjoy looking at my creations. I also own an Etsy shop listed at right. Thanks again!
Monday, November 2, 2009
To Etsy or Not to Etsy?
I am having a difficult time deciding to open shop. To Etsy or not to Etsy? That is the question! I would love to earn income staying at home with my children and help support our family, but at the same time, I am finding it difficult to balance everything I already do, including trying to get crafts going for a shop. I like to crochet and it's not that I don't want to make stuff for others - I always have. I hardly keep anything for myself that I make. Why not make a profit on top of enjoying my hobby? At the same time, I am trying to find time to exercise, clean house, volunteer at school, do my church calling, spend time with my 3 children/husband, do laundry, and all of the various other things that being a wife, mother, and homemaker entails. I have made some things to sell, but recently my friend took them to a local craft sale and nothing sold. I was informed that fellow crocheters saw my product and said it was priced fairly. So is there not a market for crocheted afghans, scarves or skirts out there? I have everything lined up for my Etsy shop. I only need to list the items. Then I am trying to figure out shipping costs. I don't want to rip people off on shipping, and at the same time, I don't want to "eat" a large amount of the bill for shipping. So my question to friends and family is, do you think there is a market for what you see on my craft blog? If you sell on Etsy, how do you determine shipping across the U.S. so as to not over-charge or under-charge? Thanks in advance!
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3 comments:
USPS has boxes that if you can pack em they ship them at one price. Flat rate boxes, I think. Doesn't matter how heavy - just get a few of those and see which items fit into which boxes, that way you can just charge one price. The price is one price no matter where in the US.
I think you should go for it, Tonya. The great thing about Etsy is that you can do as little or as much as you feel you have time for. You can even put your whole shop "on vacation" if you need a break. I took my snowflakes to a craft fair last year and sold hardly anything, but then I sold a ton through my etsy shop. The price per item is so low that it's not a huge risk to list a few things and see what happens.
As for shipping, I always charge actual shipping plus the cost of the envelope or other packaging -- that seems perfectly reasonable to me. I do appreciate when people do free shipping, but there's no way you could do that on the scale of a small etsy shop. You can't eat the shipping. You have to make sure you get enough out of it to make it a valuable use of your time. Your stuff is worth it -- go for it!
I say go for it! I stumbled across your blog and love it. I am no expert about the shipping, etc., but I am sure you can adjust as you go along. Start small, see what you can handle, and go from there. Good luck!
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