10 GREAT Reasons to Sell on Etsy

Are you an artist or crafter who has been considering selling your items on the internet but find yourself overwhelmed with all of the places to sell? Should you... Set up your own store? Sell on Ebay? Yes, there are a number of ways and places to sell your creations on the internet and I have tried many of them. While all of the marketplaces have their pros and cons, I have found one place that I would highly recommend for you to consider. That place is called 'ETSY'.

What is 'Etsy' you ask? Etsy is a place to set up an internet store FREE....no kidding! It is a place specifically dedicated to promoting and selling EVERYTHING HANDMADE although you can sell some supplies and also some authentic vintage items as well. But, this place is definitely NOT an Ebay!

I have been selling my jewelry designs and jewelry making supplies on Etsy for almost a year now. I highly recommend this site for a number of reasons:

1. The listing fee is reasonable...20 cents to list an item for four months of exposure. The commission fee is extremely reasonable as well.

2. The artists and crafters who sell on Etsy are very helpful and friendly and supportive. They have a forum where you can post questions and you will get a lot of helpful advise from everyone there.

3. You can post and promote your items in the forum there and gain exposure for your shop a number of ways.

4. It is very easy to open a shop and list your items, even if you have never done it before. I have sold on ebay for a number of years so when i went to etsy, I did have experience, but it is a pretty easy site to navagate overall.

5. You can accept payments from customers a number of different ways, personal check, money orders and yes, Paypal which is the most popular and convenient method of receiving payments.

6. Selling on etsy give you the opportunity to accept customers from all over the world...OR...you have the choice of just accepting customers in the good old USA.

7. You do not need to host the pictures of your items at a hosting service and pay additional fees. You can upload your pictures from your computer and put them right into your shop ad. Etsy will crop your pictures to a 'square' size for you or you can do it yourself. You have the opportunity to list 5 pictures of your item in the shop ad so that is a definite plus. Best of all, there is No Additional Fee for this service!

8. Etsy offers a lot of different promotional opportunities and they are working on that aspect to offer sellers even better opportunities in the future. One of the best ways, as a newbie, to learn about the workings of etsy and how to promote and sell your items is to join a 'street team.' These street teams are put together by other etsy sellers and are groups make up of either people sharing a common
craft skill, people selling a common item, like jewelry, people who all live in the same area and this type of street team offers the opportunity for 'meet ups' where people can actually get together.

9. The administrators of etsy work very hard to make it and keep it a friendly and supportive atmosphere....a positive place that you are actually 'proud' to be a part of.

10. Last but not least, this is something that I found out quite by accident and I still don't totally understand it, but having a store on etsy has given me google search engine exposure, which is a definite plus! I am not too familiar with how search engine optimization works but I have come to find out recently that my etsy
store ranks 2 out of 10 on the google search engine, which isn't too bad, I understand.

There are so many positive reasons that I could give you for giving Etsy a try to sell your jewelry or any other art or craft so feel free to share this information with any of your other non-jewelry designer friends too. Yes, Etsy is made up of a gazillion 'JEWELRY' sellers, that is true, but if you have a good product, and you offer good customer service, promote your items and have fair and competitive prices, you should do well on Etsy. I am not saying to quit your day job....but it could become an additional income source with your hard work and determination. Remember, as with anything, you will get out of 'it' what you put into 'it'...nothing more and nothing less.

I hope that this information has been helpful to anyone who is considering trying to sell their items on etsy. If you decide to check out Etsy....please feel free to stop by my store which is GerrysJewelBox.

Wishing you all much success in your Future Etsy Endeavors!
Gerry

'You have to chase your dreams because they sure as heck ain't gonna chase you!'