Move Over Ebay, Make Room for Etsy!

As a part-time crafter, I always enjoyed selling my creations to the public. I have found craft shows to be the easiest way to sell my items and make a profit. To me, arts and craft show have always been a lot of fun, both as a vendor and a customer. However, these shows really aren't all that popular from January to September and it's very tough to show a profit during those months. I often researched Ebay in hopes of finding a niche at the world's largest auction site, but breaking even was a shaky proposition. Even though I've had an Ebay account for many years, I've never once listed one of my hand-made items on their site. The fees and the chance of my item selling for far less than it cost me for materials just wasn't worth it. The chances of making money on Ebay vs losing money on Ebay, made listing an item on Ebay a gamble. And considering the odds, it was a wager that didn't justify the odds, considering the odds were clearly not in my favor.

Then by chance, I was shown part of an article from the Sunday paper (The Philadelphia Enquirer) and my recreational hobby changed in a big way... I found Etsy, an on line marketplace for buying and selling anything handmade!

Etsy was created in 2005 by three former NYU students Chris McGuire, Robert Kalin & Haim Scoppik, along with artist Jared Tarbell. McGuire & Kalin came up with the idea after helping to create another crafting website and their intention was to offer an alternative to the Ebays of the on line world. Mass-produced items and cheap knockoffs were in abundance in the on line stores and auction sites and McGuire and Kalin sought to fill the void when it came to handmade items. According to their website, Etsy.com, a large part of their mission was to attempt to make consumers aware of the social and environmental implications of their purchases and their sellers responded by offering upcycled, and recycled handmade items.

The founders of Etsy wanted to offer a platform that was much simpler to use than Ebay. Compared to the online auction giant, Etsy is far less expensive, offering 20 cent listing fees, as opposed to Ebay's various starting fees, with the lowest Ebay fee being 20 cents. Etsy also strived to keep their final value fees reasonable, taking a mere 3.5% at the time of sale. Etsy strived to do much more for the crafting community and their 4 month listings vs Ebay's 3-10 day auctions was a homerun. In order to house 4 month listings, Etsy decided on seller's having a store. Their stores allow for a banner, an avatar, a shop announcement and a link to the store... all for the price of a .20 cent listing! ( normally Ebay's store fees exceed $15 per month)

There can be no argument that Ebay's traffic far exceeds that of the much smaller Etsy. Ebay spends millions of dollars on ads and during the holiday season, you'll find their ads in your mailbox and all over the TV. Etsy chooses to promote via word of mouth. Various newspaper articles has helped attract talented crafters and buyers who appreciate handmade, however, much of the promoting comes from the 87,000+ sellers that bring their private customers to the site to shop 24 hours a day, promote their shops through blogs and crafting forums.

I've always considered myself a closet crafter. I make some jewelry for myself and knit scarves as gifts for the holidays for family, as many of my family members appreciate receiving a handmade item . Today, I consider myself a part-time crafter, after I opened a shop on Etsy with a couple of scarves. I tried my hand at making jewelry with some of the beads I had purchased throughout the years and added them to my store. Within a couple of weeks, I became friendly with a couple of "newbies" on the sight who gave me a few pointers and placed one of my items in their treasuries and lo and behold... I woke up one morning to my first sale. The sale was such a rush... someone saw the value and beauty in one of my creations and purchased it. My biggest fears that my work wasn't worthy of being on a site with so many talented crafters, was removed forever. I was on my way and I won't look back.

The Etsy platform makes it much easier to succeed when you use the tools they provide. Etsy allows 5 free pictures of your item (as opposed to Ebay's 1 free and .15 ea after that) Etsy provides forums in which to promote your store, your items or just to pick up ideas from a very friendly and helpful group of members. The chat forums on Etsy are a great way to meet other sellers, chat about current events and look at each others items and the Treasury site is a great way to promote "like" items and help other sellers get exposure for both their shops and their items.

In closing I'd like to say that I still go on Ebay regularly. In my opinion, their platform is geared to favor the buyers. Many items sell far below their actual value and if you hunt for bargains, then Ebay is the place to be. With that being said, I'll never place one of creations on Ebay, but I may have bought the components for my items there. The Etsy platform favors the seller... with lower fees, a smart seller can make a profit and still offer a quality, handmade item for a great price. The work that is for sale on Etsy is just beautiful and some of the most talented artists and crafters have their wares for sale on the site and the number of sellers is growing by leaps and bounds. It's shabby-chic, it's trendy and it's one of the best kept secrets on the Internet. If you're a crafter, it's where you need to be and if you like to buy handmade, rather than mass-produced, you will love ETSY.com!