(no subject)

[winneganfake]

All right, mahariel hit the nail on the head in part, but I'm also going to answer the question myself, since it's been bugging me all day: Why don't I put my stuff up on Etsy? There's a few reasons, and I really do not want to turn this post into a hate-stomp on Etsy. I like the site, and it's got great uses, but it's not for me, on a few different levels-

For one, I've had my own site since long before Etsy was The Hot Place to Sell At. I like it. I can utterly tear it apart and revamp it at will (which is probably due to happen soon, anyways) if I want, not to mention, advantages like email domains, and other bits. When it comes to cost, keeping the site up isn't any worse than constantly re-upping the same number of Etsy items every four months.

And to me, Etsy always still seems like, I don't want to say, "amateur hour," but it's what comes to mind- not that the people who're doing it are amateur level, but that they're not dedicated enough to their art and their business to take direct control of their entire business including running and promoting their own site. Which, if you're doing this on top of holding a day job, or twenty different other things, I can totally understand.

That's not me, though- I don't have another job or calling, aside from as a dad- Tormented Artifacts is what I do, and I certainly think its worth my time and effort to dedicate a bit extra to building and maintaining my own little chunk of the internet. Partly just because I can, and because it's fun to learn how to build websites, (or at least, it's fun once the damn thing's up and running) and because I see no reason to give someone else my money to showcase my stuff when I can do it just as easily. Yes there's the "etsy teamwork" factor or whatever you want to call it, but well, while I can agree with that, I'd rather be able to promote friends and work from all over the net, rather than just one rather limited place. If it's on Etsy, it's mostly about Etsy- I'm not, therefore I can be about whatever I feel like.

That said, I'm now expecting the full-on flames from Etsy supporters, but like I said- it's not about your work or the quality of it, and I can totally understand your reasons for using it- they're just not my reasons. And I don't see doubling Etsy and my own site as constructive- it's too much work to maintain, especially when I've got as much on my plate as I do right now.

Comments

[blakthorne.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree with you: I use etsy (http://thisnik.etsy.com), but for a very different reason than you -- when I've got the space to sew/create/whatever something, I'll toss it up, but it's not anything more than a spare something. It's certainly not anything that I invest a lot of energy into, but it's nice to be able to create things and then, with a minimum of work, be able to let it go out into the world instead of have it accumulating in my closet.

For you to go to Etsy would seem rather like a step backwards; you've already got an established website and shopping system, and don't have to pay third party fees.

[mahariel.livejournal.com]

Someday I'll use my own website as more than a placeholder, but who knows when that day will be. Part of my problem is I've just got too much damn shit to be listed, and I'm not helping myself in that department with the year-long create challenge.

The plug and chug already in place system saves me a lot of time in the short term, but considering that I'm paying about $30-50 in fees per month for listing and the percentages they take from sales between my two shops, I really need to start investing more into a personal sales site. In all of my copious spare time, that is.

[winneganfake.livejournal.com]

Oh trust me, I know the feeling- I'm not looking forward to doing thumbs and re-doing the page for the deck once it's finished up. Ugh.

30-50 per month?! Yeowch. I pay about 120 yearly for the site (admittedly, I managed to get my hands on an utterly killer deal for that rate, but still..) you'd be saving a lot by switching, provided you could keep the customers coming.

[mahariel.livejournal.com]

But at the same time, between the two shops I've got about 750 items listed, ~300 in dbvictoria and 400-450 in the vintage shop. (I hit almost 500 there for the holidays!) About half of the handmade pieces I'm unable to replicate, and each of the vintage pieces is pretty much a one-off. In a year and a half so far, I've only had two occasions where I've had multiples of the same vintage item.

The time I'd invest to go through the updating for my own website to sell all that, update when things sold, and put up the new pieces, even if I had a template to use, compared just plugging into the framework already established on someone else's selling site and paying their fees evens out, I think.

[sheistheweather]

I use Etsy because of the networking and because my time saved is well worth the fees. Etsy, like many other things, is not for everyone. YMMV. In your case, it sounds like Etsy is really not the thing for you, and that's okay.