AdornmentCraft

This has been an ongoing topic of discussion among jewelry artisans since the inception of the increasingly-popular Etsy.com, where anyone can set up an ecommerce shop and offer their handmade wares for sale online.

When you visit the Etsy home page, you’ll immediately notice that there are some high-quality, very artistic items listed there (see “Hand-picked items”.) There are also many lower-quality, “novice” level items, though most of them have very low asking prices.

As usual, the Jewelry category is the most saturated of them all. This means more than increased “competition” in the strict sense. It also means that your jewelry listings can be lost in the shuffle more easily (or diluted), resulting in less exposure.

Overall, it seems that Etsy is worthwhile for many jewelry crafters, although it’s certainly no panacea. I do plan to set up a storefront there myself . . . if time ever permits! In the meantime, here are summaries of some of the feedback I’ve received about Etsy from various sources over the past year.

• The listing fees and sales commissions are refreshingly affordable, and the integration with PayPal makes it easy to accept payments.

• Some artists have acquired new wholesale accounts from buyers who found them on Etsy, but many more have not.

• Very few jewelry artists report “high” sales volume using Etsy for their jewelry, although some have success selling “supplies” there (like beads and findings).

• The only reliable way to drive traffic to your Etsy site is through self-promotion; merely having an Etsy storefront typically is not enough.

• For some artists, most or all of their Etsy customers are other Etsy sellers.

• Sellers who participate in the Etsy “community” through its forums usually have more sales (because of their exposure to other sellers who are also customers); but in recent months, negative and unprofessional conduct in some of the forums has driven members away.

• Etsy shops seems to be doing relatively well with their Google rankings.

I’ll post on this topic again as I learn more about the Etsy experience for jewelry crafters. In the meantime, I hope these thoughts help you decide whether it might be right for you.

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