Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Expanding my horizons...

I spent quite some time yesterday reading over a post on the Etsy discussion forums about ebay vs etsy. I personally have used eBay for other nonhandmade items, but not for my handmade/etsy items, and wasn't impressed. They seem to have high fees, and you never know if something will sell or not but get charged regardless.

There were a lot of great perspectives, and a few links to other places that Etsians liked to sell on, such as a place called 1000 markets.

I have been in business (officially - prior to Java Jess Publishing, I did sell some handmade items on Etsy under the name Creations4Causes) since August 2009, but have yet to make a decent profit (since I am still paying off machinery, etc). I have tried advertising on Facebook, advertising via Project Wonderful, sending out promo postcards to local nonprofits, blogging, having a Facebook fan page, having an Etsy shop, inputting my info at Google, etc. but haven't really thought about selling elsewhere. I also have my own website: http://www.javajesspublishing.com, where most of my items are featured.

Before I spend a lot of time signing up for other venues and/or spending money on more advertising, I thought I'd ask my readers - what has worked best for you? Is there one venue where you make more sales with minimum time spent promoting? What other ways do you use to promote your shop?

I look forward to your input!

2 comments:

  1. In my opinion, marketing on the internet requires a lot of effort and money and it's awfully difficult when the competition out there is great.
    Other than that, there's so much more to take into consideration. Is what you sell in demand for example? Does it have that certain element that sells? I've seen so many recent Etsy shops that have had the fortune of many sales already and others not so recent that have had only one! It's the weirdest thing because what these women sell are the most beautiful things and deserve better than that.
    Perhaps those who sell have a secret strategy(?) that the rest haven't quite figured out yet.
    I think the best way to sell is to go out locally. Nothing beats being able to see upfront what you're buying. I've had better fortune having my jewelry on display at my brother's salon.
    I too have payed for advertisments on Etsy itself, facebook, a certain other site and with Google adwords. I'm not willing to pay more for advertising though. If my products want to sell on their own...fine, if not, their problem :)
    If you're not willing to fork out anymore, I suggest Zibbet. It's totally free to list and sell unlike etsy, ebay. It's the best I've seen so far. A friend has sold already and it hasn't been 2 wks she's been on that site. If you're interested, here's the link
    http://www.zibbet.com/ariamy/sell

    Sorry my comment is long but it hit a nerve :)

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