Looking to Make the Shift to Etsy!

[Former_Member]

Alight, looking for some good solid advice here. I dove into Etsy about two years ago, began to see some success, but also was consumed by a lot of the run around.
Several large projects have kept me from Etsy until recently.
I have built a great career as an artist, however I am finding myself exhausted from the large projects, and frustrated with the lack of creativity in this process. As well as the typical artist 'feast or famine' pattern financially. I see Etsy as a great way to blur the lines between commissioned work and smaller personal projects. Not to mention, I would love to totally eliminate the need for a Gallery in selling my work. 3.5% is a LOT less than the gallery commission.

I guess I am really just looking at putting some time and energy into building my Etsy shop and hopefully using it as my primary point of sale.

So if anyone is willing, take a look at my shop, items, etc. A few of my basic starter questions are:

Pricing: Am I within the Etsy price range or am I outside it. I value my work as Fine Art and it sells as such through galleries and other means, but is Etsy the right place to promote and sell. I am definitely on the higher end, but I know that is where its value lies due to building my career as an artist.
I felt I may be limited to smaller works through Etsy, but a recent large sell changed my outlook. Was it a fluke? Or a good business model to consider?

Exposure/Promotion: I suppose I can do the standard search of discussion boards, youtube videos, blogs, etc. In gathering advice and tips for building my shop.
However, I currently have a client looking to buy a work, it is on my Etsy, but I know him personally. Is it worth the 3.5% to have them purchase through Etsy? In other words, does it help build reputation, and rapor within Etsy itself. Increase exposure or shop ranking and noticeably to have an item purchased through my shop. Esp. something with a larger price tag (over 2k)


Any other thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. I LOVE what I do for a living and proud to have made it work. But a reboot and some stability is in order to maintain sanity and hopefully continue building my career.

Thanks Ya'll

Andrew
www.andrewsmithart.com

[RomaMiaTradingCo]

Hi Andrew!

I looked at your stuff and its wonderful.

I can't speak on the price points (since I'm not an artist).

But Etsy is a good platform to sell your stuff on if you meet people off of Etsy who want to buy your work, since you don't have to build your own site.

For promoting on Etsy, you will need to work on your tags first. The link will take you to a team that specializes in SEO (https://www.etsy.com/teams/11352/relevancy-and-seo-for-all-etsy-shops).

You want tags that match your titles to get people to find you in the searches. For instance, for this one, the Title you might want would be "Grabby Hands, Metal Belt Buckle, Upcycled Steel, Steel Belt Buckle," Than have your tags be, "Grabby Hands, Metal Belt Buckle, Upcycled Steel, Steel Belt Buckle, Men's Accessory, Upcycled Accessory," etc. Make your tags multiple words to capitalize on the searches.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/216380566/grabby-hands-belt-buckle?ref=shop_home_active_1

Also, for off site promotions, you might do well on Instagram. You might want to pick one or two social media outlets and work them. I personally use Instagram and Pintrest the most and occasionally (like twice a month) my twitter and fb.

[Former_Member]

Hi Andrew!

Wow, your shop is amazing! I definitely agree with Nikki about matching your tags and title. I'm learning that SEO is a big part of marketing your shop. If you haven't already, join this group for help with that: https://www.etsy.com/teams/11352/relevancy-and-seo-for-all-etsy-shops

As for your price points, your items do seem expensive to me, but so does a Mercedez Benz. Meaning, just because I couldn't afford it, doesn't mean it's not worth the price. You have to think about your target customer and market your shop to them. The forums they visit, the websites they comment on often, etc. That's where you need to be. I'm sure you've factored in your cost, time and materials to come up with a price that you think is fair. Just stick with them, market appropriately and see what method works. Great shop though. Good luck!