I was looking through the fourms on Etsy just now, and I came across this thread. It was posted by Hoooked. (http://www.etsy.com/shop/Hoooked?ref=pr_shop_more) And yes, I know how you actually spell Hooked. This lady spells it with 3 Os. But anyway, it made me laugh so hard! It almost perfectly describes what pretty much my first year on Etsy was like. :) (I did edit it a little bit for swearing)
"I have had quite a few friends and relatives want to start or who have started Etsy shops because it looks like easy money.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Ok, so you know how to make something that you think someone might want to buy and maybe you can make one of those things a day.
Ok, so you have a shop name you're sure will be perfect? Oh, no, someone already took glitzyglam, oh no, someone else already took bedazzled, oh no, someone already took bling, guess you'll have to find something else.
Ok, so you set up your paypal account and it only took a couple of weeks.
Ok, so you have a camera you think might work, if not who cares, after all most cell phones have cameras right?
Ok, so you realize that 300 pictures later on ONE item, that you have 2 or 3 that will be good to list. Nobody cares that your dog is in some of them.
Ok, so you think the steps to list are easy enough. Tags are EASY! Handmade, jewelry, women. That was simple!
Ok, so you think it should be about $1.00 to ship. After all bubble wrap mailers at walmart can't be that expensive.
Ok, so you think listing it at $10.00 sounds about right. Who needs to actually figure out the cost of materials? Charging $11.00 would just be too much, nobody would pay that much.
Ok, so you listed your first item, that only took an hour, you can do this everyday.
Ok, so you have your item listed. You notice that everybody else's shop has those signs at the top and those pictures to the left. You don't need one of those, nobody will even notice they're missing!
Ok, so now you've filled in your shop announcement. Awesome, you told all the other jewelry sellers how their necklaces stink. That's the spirit, now your customers will know that your necklaces are better.
Ok, so you don't think you'll need policies because you're not planning on selling that much stuff anyway.
Ok, so you don't want anything in your profile either? You don't want someone you don't like reading up how you sell jewelry online and buying from you!
Ok, so your item still has 0 views. What, you tagged it with jewelry, necklace, women, your title is pink necklace, well of course that should be enough for someone to find it!
*three months goes by*
Ok, so you finally sold that necklace! Yay, go you! You're the man. Wait, what, you just tossed it in the bubble mailer and the postal worker must have stomped on it because it arrived to the customer broken.
Ok, so your customer is demanding a refund or a replacement and are threatening to report you to Etsy because you called them a greedy jerk?
Ok, so well how were you supposed to know that you need to learn customer service?
Ok, you can't go buy more supplies because $10.00 doesn't cover the cost of materials to replace the item.
Ok, so you refunded the customer and they sent you back the item.
Ok, so they left you a negative feedback.
Ok, so you have no items (guess you couldn't make, photograph, and list an item a day).
Ok, so you have a broken necklace.
Ok, so you lost money on shipping.
Ok, so you now have 0% on your feedback because you didn't buy, sell, or list anything else and have no other feedback.
But, wait, where are you going? I thought this was supposed to be easy money! Come back! What do you mean you don't want to do this again?"
So a lot of this doesn't apply to me: the jewlry, the having to refund stuff, the negative feedback... but the whole part about taking 300 pictures for one item, for barely putting any tags, having really bad titles... that part applied to me. Yeah, my first year on Etsy was pretty rough. That would explain whey I only had 5 sales my whole first year. Now, in the last 6 months since my one year anniversary, I'm up to 79. :) Pretty cool, huh? I know I have some people following my blog who are from Etsy, so I figure I have to talk about Etsy every once in awhile, don't you think? Right now my shop is DEAD; I have only sold 2 blankets in like 2 weeks, but I did come up with a pattern for my blankets, and listed that, so that's bringing in some extra income. Although, there was a time in my shop where I was selling 7+ blankets a week, where my fingers were flying every spare second I got, (and even when I didn't have a spare second!) and it was pretty overwhelming. I'm really grateful to God for giving me this ability, but, it's not easy when your shop is that busy! Oh well. I suppose I should enjoy the free time that I have. You know what that means? I can make new blankets! Yeah! I listed 3 new ones the other day, with one ready to be listed, and one being one row away from done. Yup, I'm having fun. I love looking in my yarn bin for lots of really cool combinations, I love watching the blanket 'unfold' before my eyes, it's such a satisfying experience. And yeah, it's a lot of work. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. :)
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