Business Chat

[EurekaGuides]

If you have any questions or pointers to give relating to the business of running your Etsy shops, please post those here.

[Former_Member]

Great thread idea! My biggest issue right now is my prices. I'm not sure if I'm charging enough and overall I'm definitely not making a profit. Anyone want to take a look? My biggest concern is my jewelry, some days I feel like I'm charging too little, others too much. I can't seem to find the balance. Thanks!

[EurekaGuides]

You should not worry too much about your competitors. By that, I mean don't obsess about what they're charging.

The most important thing is that you have a USP (Unique Selling Point) and it is this that will make you stand aside from the rest. Ask yourself a lot of questions about your style, the materials you work with, who your target market is etc. This will help you to create a 'brand'.

Your pricing comes from carefully working out ALL of your expenses, your electricity, car journeys, packaging, materials, your time etc. Once you have factored all of this in and given yourself a 'salary' on top, you will have your 'wholesale' price. A retail price is whatever you feel you can charge on top of this in relation to market trends and what your competitors are generally charging.

Only by having this formula will your business be sustainable. So, do work on that USP, it is crucial. Good luck.

[Former_Member]

@Diana - I feel your pain on pricing. Right now I fall inbetween the two markets I am most "competitive" with.
This is a great time of year to review pricing. Once you have done your end of your inventory for the IRS, you should have what you need to review.
My inventory included the costs for raw materials, and also the base material costs for all of my items (anything made but not sold has to be included as material cost only).
I then took the time to build my own formula for pricing. I started with my material cost per item, added a small % i want to make on that (to cover time for getting them, etc). And then added what I wanted to make per item in labor costs. For me its not so much a $/hour. This was my wholesale cost. Then I increased again to establish a retail price. I compared this final number to what I was charging..... Some things stayed the same, some went up, and on my charms I am not even using the "retail" price as it was not realistic.
I looked at my competition to make sure I was not out of line.....
Its a pain in the arse, but it was worth spending the time thinking about what I really feel everything is worth to be more confident in my pricing.

As far as an "overall profit", do you mean you don't make any money on each item you sell? Or that your end of year is still negative?

[EurekaGuides]

Dawn is using exactly the right formula. If you don't use this method, you may find that you will not be able to stay in business for very long. Whatever you sell, you have to get your pricing right, not only for yourself but to be competitive. It is well worth spending a day doing research and writing down ALL of your outgoings.

[PorcelainJazz]

Right now I'm struggling to get my prices into a wholesale to retail pricing format. And it is ... lol ... taking more than a day because I have neglected it for so long and so have a lot of product to run production time sheets on. Since my biggest cost factor is labor I try to write down every smidge of time that goes into making and listing an item if an item is new to production runs. Materials and energy costs are relatively easy. So right now my shop prices are a hodge podge, Some are simply the going market price and some are actually done right. ....lol....;D

[EurekaGuides]

It's well worth the effort to get your pricing right, particularly if you operate in a flooded market. If you feel they are too high in comparision to your competitors, then try and find different suppliers that are cheaper or find a more speedy method of working.

[EurekaGuides]

bringing this back up

[Former_Member]

Does anyone have a sense of acceptable practices in linking to Facebook? Etsy seems to be very much encouraging this, but it seems counter to their Terms of Use. I love social media and use FB as my hub to let my fans and clients know all the ways they can find and purchase from me, as everyone has different preferences. I list/talk about the shows, boutiques, and all my online venues including both Etsy and my own web site, among others. I've not linked my FB to Etsy because it seems that if I give these other options to buy it could fall under Fee Avoidance. I've not been able to dig up any clear info on this. Anyone know?

[EurekaGuides]

Etsy actively encourages their Sellers to promote their Etsy shops on social media sites. Fee avoidance is another matter. If you were to be enticing people away from purchasing on Etsy, then this would be considered fee avoidance. If you are using Facebook to bring people to your store as well as other venues where you may be selling, then this is absolutely fine.

We are all entitled to sell elsewhere so if we choose to advertise our own websites on Facebook or anywhere else, that is not breaching any kind of contract with Etsy.

[Former_Member]

Thanks for that, Eureka. Ive been struggling to find the balance. Some of my clients love Etsy, some hate it. I always want as many avenues as possible for my clients to find me and shop with me comfortably.

[EurekaGuides]

I never recommend that someone puts all their eggs in one basket (forgive the pun at this time of year).

My shop was once erroneously suspended. Thankfully it was all sorted out but it took a whole week for my shop to be reinstated. It made me re-evaluate where I could sell and during that week, I set things in place to sell elsewhere. Now, and because of what happened, I sell both from Etsy and our site so I managed to increase my income as a result of that happening.

The moral of this story is, don't wait until something like this happens, be pro-active and try different avenues. You will never know what will work for you until you try.

[Former_Member]

OK. I really hope I am not the only one :) So, I just learned about how Google thins the herd for searches for comparing the text and leaving out what they consider to be duplicates.
I used this tool to check two of my listings (compared two of my headband listings):
www.webconfs.com/similar-page-checker.php

They came up 94% sim (not surprised since I was just copying listings and changing minimal details).
I spent some time changing one of my listings up and then compared again.
Only got it down to 87% sim!!!!

How do others manage to keep listings different? Esp for items that are very similar (like I have a section in my shop just for beaded flower headbands).
OH and I started working on and asking about this since my views from Google are extremely low. :)

[EurekaGuides]

@Dawn, one of the ways to make your listings different from one another is to add some interesting little facts about the design or the materials you use. For example, a woodworker could give a description of the quality of the wood he used for the item.

You should also add some testimonials from happy customers and make those different on each listing. Also adding links to similar items helps.

[Former_Member]

Thanks.... I am just really frustrated and unmotivated on my shop lately. LOL
It seems for every hour I put in making changes, my stats go nowhere and I found out there is even more to be done. Pretty typical, I guess.

My biggest concern with this whole "duplicate" thing is that I have set styles I do for headbands, barrettes, etc.... with items in a section being VERY similar (design, size beads, type of headband, etc)..... I think if every item in my shop was different (say like a vintage store) it would be easier to have different content..... *sigh*

[MessyBedStudio]

Dawn, i hear you about being frustrated with your shop. I've recently put in what feels like a ton of time on blog networking, treasuries, hearting etc. and there seems little change. I don't mean to sound down about it all but sometimes it is just frustrating. It is hard to know how to prioritize everything, you know, where to spend your time for the most impact. oh well, I think I'll go give you guys a bunch of hearts!

[Former_Member]

Thanks Lisa.
For me this is still just a "part time" thing as my priority is dealing with my two rugrats (I do the SAHM thing). But even at part time I would like a little cash coming in :) I sound down about it all the time with my hubby... and haven't created new stock in what feels like forever - which of course doesn't help LOL

Maybe as a team we can help each other set monthly goals... and try to stick to them! Critique our shops a bit and see if we can't help each other in the right direction :)

[MessyBedStudio]

my youngest is in 11th grade (this blows my mind when i think about it) so i'm sure i've got more time to put into this. although i do feel like a taxi service lately! i was just about to say that i'll be happy when he has his license but i'm not so sure about that...
it can be so frustrating and sometimes i really hate being able to just click at the top of the page for stats! its kind of a hypnotic thing which doesn't really help me get into the studio and make something.
anyway all this is a long way of saying, i'm all for anything that helps us help each other. :)

[Former_Member]

I think my question right now is about business cards? How many of you have and give out business cards with sales? Where do you order your cards from? How much do you pay for your cards and how many do you get? Do you consider it a good investment?

[EurekaGuides]

When marketing online, it can feel frustrating because we often don't see immediate results from all our hard work. I can honestly say that it takes about 2 years before all of the back links etc. start to work. Nothing happens overnight unfortunately, not in the 'real' world nor online. It all takes hard work no matter what you do or what you sell.

Business cards are very easy to print off yourself at home. You can buy ready scored business card sheets (search for ones that are compatible with your printer). Alternatively, I know of Vista prints where you can order them online I think they are reasonably priced.

[Former_Member]

I tried printing cards at home.... but was having issues getting them to look how I wanted.
I ended up ordering from Vista - they are fine, nothing great but were cheap.
I think I got 250 at once.... and pretty sure I will have them forever. LOL

[Former_Member]

Gar - I remembered what i wanted to ask....
IS anyone here using the Etsy checkout system?
What do you think of it?
I have not been offered yet but am considering offering it when I am.....

[EurekaGuides]

The checkout system is for US sellers only, I'm not able to use it.

[Former_Member]

Copied from other thread... also copied into blog thread:

We just started a Wednesday Linky on our blog and we'd like to feature guest posts from other etsians to help promote your blog or business. The articles must be organic related (organic living, eating, gardening, making etc.). We'd love to include a little bio about you and then any web links you'd like.

If you don't have a blog post to share maybe you have a sample of an item that we can review for you and feature-- let us know!

Please email us at moodysisters@gmail.com

www.moodysisters.blogspot.com

[TesoroDelSol]

The best advice I can give (and follow) is that we should all be our own target market. It's easier to sell your products to people that are like you in most ways so that when you tag, title, and describe your items, those people will relate and identify with your "language" and products, making it easier for you to attract your ideal customer.

I fit into my target demographic. Therefore, creating items that I love first and foremost makes it easier for me to sell to my target audience.

:)