I’m familiar with etsy.com, but I don’t know how well you could sell your stuff on it. It really depends on a lot of factors, but the fact that most people have never heard of it doesn’t bode well for your chances ;)
-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!
Someone else on this site mentioned etsy a week or two back. I had a look at the site, but that was it. It does sound like it might be just the ticket for someone looking to get rid of some stuff. Cost is not too much, but like the other posters, you will find your stuff if no one knows about it. But…I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try, maybe they are the up and coming…..
This is actually a great outlet and well-known by those that shop online for custom made products. This would work well if you have a static site that links to your products on this site. That way etsy.com can worry about the e-commerce side of things like the payment gateway (you wouldn’t have to have your own secure certificate), and they offer more than one type of payment system.
I am doing essentially what Teri suggests. I have stuff listed on etsy but I link to it form my web page. I never sold anything on etsy though (I only started 3 months ago) so I do not know how good it is to sell stuff.
I love Etsy! I have been selling there for about 6 months and have sold over 100 items it is a huge site, the fees are much better than ebay, .20 a listing with free pictures and I think 5.25% charge when you sell something. 20 cents is worth the risk to try it out.
From what I’ve seen it’s mostly a ladies’ shopping experience so whatever you put up there should be aimed at what the buying community there is interested in. I’m not saying you can’t sell furniture or whatever though. Listing on Etsy is cheap so it’s easy to test the market.
I just started mine about a month ago. No bites yet. However I am not worried. I have had my website listed on the back of my car for about 6 months now, and I just got my first call from someone seeing it as I was driving around. Just being patient might pay off later.
I’ve been an Etsy seller for almost a year. Most all my sales came during the last two months of the year. It is one of the most inexpensive ways to sell and you can’t beat the exposure. It costs .20 to list each item which runs for 4 months. You also pay 3.5% to Etsy for each sale and 2.9% +.30 cents for Paypal. I sell more items through my business web site, but it’s probably because I promote it more. I only have the Paypal fees this way, but I have to spend a lot of time promoting the other site.
Checking the sales made by other woodworkers and the low prices. I’d not plan on making a living on etsy. Or even making enough to buy that new bandsaw…but you never know do you.
Maybe if you listed pieces on ALL of the auction/craftsman type sites, you could make a living. Especially if you have your OWN website to promote. Something to think about….
-- Adventure? Heh! Excitement? Heh! A Woodworker craves not these things!
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