Best online site for promoting & selling items

I’ve done well on ebay, but not selling at the moment.. Not much experience selling anything on Etsy

-- keeping myself entertained

If you list on Etsy, you shouldn’t expect to sell much unless
you promote your Etsy shop through other media. Many
sellers set up blogs about their work, make videos and
especially post to picture-sharing sites and join affinity
newsgroups where pictures are shared.

Other than that, it’s best to list new items frequently.

If you just put a few things up on Etsy and don’t do any
promotion of your own, you can expect to make few sales
unless your work is dramatically underpriced.

I have been on custom made for 3 or 4 years. Never sold a thing. Get people wanting 5000$ items for 500. They keep signing me up for a free year. Lots of issues there. Look on woodweb for feedback on it. I do much better with my web site. If you are just starting out, get a good web site, make lots of furniture and learn. Try some very high end art shows. Don’t listen to people who don’t have a business tell you how to sell your stuff. They have no dog in the fight. Don’t buy bull from the companies who promise to get you better page listings. Not sure what you want to sell, but make sure it is the absolute best and it will sell. bob

-- Bob www.bobkloes.com

My best avenue for selling is my own website. It takes time to build a customer base and you have to keep working at it to bring new customers in. I know people who do decent business on etsy but they’re not going to retire soon from it. I see all those sites (Etsy, Custom Made, Ebay) as places to advertise yourself. Once you generate some interest you can direct them to a blog, website, newsletter so you can keep your name in front of them. Maybe they won’t buy today but when they’re ready to buy you’ll at least be known.

Where are you from Yellowtruck and what are you trying to sell?

-- Allen, Milwaukee, WI

I am located in central Pennsylvania (17777). At art shows and online I sell cutting boards and Maloof inspired furniture.

Since you already have customers at the shows, why don’t you set up your own website and sell from there as well. You can set up a low cost website with 3dcart or volusion websites.

At your booth, have a book out for people to give you their emails. Use this list to send out a newsletter 4-6 times a year. Keeps you in their mind.

Put your name, website and phone on the bottom of your products. When selling at the shows, tell people that your info is underneath and show it to them. If you have a guarantee, this would be a great way of letting them know how to contact you if they have any problems.

I believe in getting your own website out there instead of promoting someone else’s site. When you buy from Amazon or Ebay, most of the time you are not buying from them but rather a smaller guy. But all we remember is Ebay and Amazon.

I took a marketing class along time ago and the only thing I remember is this: Marketing is like pushing a car up a hill. It’s hard to get it moving but it gets easier as you go. But if you stop, it rolls back down to the bottom and you have to start all over again. Marketing is not easy nor quick but it does pay off in the long run.

-- Jim Beachler, Chief Puzzler, http://www.hollowwoodworks.com

http://www.philaifs.com/how-to-exhibit/application/

Puzzleman
I like the idea of using a guest book at shows where we can update current and potential customers on new pieces of furniture and shows.

Loren
I have been eyeing the Philly Invitational Furniture Show for a few years but it it quite intimidating and how do you know if you are ready for the HUGE step into a show like that. Would certainly love to display furniture at this show.

I’ve been looking at etsy for a couple of weeks now and I notice an overall trend – top sellers seem to make about one sale every couple of days. That’s certainly not enough to keep a business afloat. This applies to woodworking sellers of both quality workmanship and nailed together boards they call rustic, the only difference being the quality and price, but sales are about the same. Just thought it worth a mention.

-- I'll grow up when ketchup bottle farts stop being funny.

Well, go and check it out to start – then look at how you can
both get accepted and pay the fee the next year. A lot
of builders incur much higher costs to do the show than
you would due to moving the work and they tend to
find it worthwhile.

I’d recommend developing a rounded-out portfolio since
there are other several other good makers doing the
Maloof rockers.

I would suggest getting your feet wet by doing high end art & craft shows. This way when you jump to the Philly show, you will have a good idea of what people will buy, experience in talking with customers and confidence because you have done this before.

There are several good high end show in PA. Try a couple of them out.

And do follow Loren’s advice and visit the Philly show before doing it. You can get an idea of what is there, talk to some of the vendors and get their feedback and check out the set ups that they use.

-- Jim Beachler, Chief Puzzler, http://www.hollowwoodworks.com

I also agree that you’re better off setting up your own woodworking site and selling from there. Mostly because it will be easier to promote yourself to a local audience via Google. Do some research on “local SEO methods” and you’ll get an idea what I’m talking about.

-- http://www.ezwoodshop.com

On etsy how do you see the top sellers or what has sold recently?

Dusty