Success just on Etsy?

[Plektra]

I was wondering....are there any shops successful just being on Etsy? I mean....

Just having a shop on Etsy as a way to sell online and without having a personal website and without using social media.

I'd be interested to read some success stories....

[Former_Member]

Well, there should be some......I guess. It depends on how you define success. The no. of sales in short period of time? The skills you learnt? The ways how you deal with problems? Marketing strategies?

Take me as an example, I started my shop since Feb 2012, but I truly involved it was in May, it was a mess that I have no clues how to take the product photos, the description (I know some of them are still in a mess now), policies......etc

To be honest, I always mad at the no. of sales. But it is a signal to me that I should work even harder, there should be somethings I can improve.

Good luck!

[Plektra]

By success I mean, having sales and feeling that your shop is working.

[ElectronicGirl]

like victor said it kinda depends on what you sell...who you are..what your idea is of success.

i started my business here as a pt thing..and because of its success...i'm launching it into a full time business now and expanding rapidly. no my income isn't there yet..but i believe it will be. so i guess i'm successful. ...well at least to me i am.
:D

[designsbydkd]

Minerva,

I just read your profile and was wondering what is knittingthe old fashioned, grandma way?

By the way, love your shop!

Dori

[Former_Member]

I don't think (listen to me, Mr 3 sales) you could have a thriving shop on etsy in isolation. An etsy shop is just some dumb page amongst the millions of other dumb pages on the internet; if you want it seen you have to give maps and signposts.

[AllieBlankets]

I wouldn't suggest using just Etsy to create a successful business. It's a great place to have your things, do your transactions through, etc, but it will not bring the customers to you. There are other sites out there, like EBay, where people find your items and buy them that way...you don't have to go out and show people your item to bring them in, but here you have to do that. That's where social media comes into play. I have my Etsy shop, a Facebook page, and I sometimes tweet using my items using my personal twitter. I also pin my items on pinterest. You will get a decent amount of views from Etsy if your SEO and tags/titles are good, but you should not rely on that if you want it to be a success.

[Plektra]

I once met a lady who told me that she has bridal shop here, it took her 3 months to have her first sale and she makes all her money on Etsy. I had just met her so I didn't ask details. That's why I was inclined to ask what others think.

Dori, thanks for your compliment! That's nice of you. Well, it's hard to explain with words how I knit, but I don't hold the needles close to my lap like everyone I've seen does.

[AllieBlankets]

I learned with a book, so I understand what you mean about doing it differently that others...I crochet and I know my technique is very different than how people are usually taught.

It is possible to have success without using anything else, but your chances of success are slimmer. To be successful focusing just here on Etsy your tags and titles would need to be perfect so that people find your items when they are looking for what they want to purchase. Your SEO would have to be good so that google would show you as well.

I opened my shop just a month before you, and I know my shop was very slow in the beginning when I wasn't bring people in from outside Etsy. I had a Facebook page, but it wasn't bringing people in. Once I got my tags right my views went from maybe ten a day to 100 a day with no effort. I also had very little inventory for people to find me with though.

[Former_Member]

I'm just on Etsy and I think I've been pretty successful. At least for a hobby. I'm not at the point where I can rely on income through Etsy, but I hit my 300th sale today! Woohoo!

I opened my shop May 2011, started putting items up last fall. And really my sales picked up just this March 2012.

I've found Etsy buyers are the correct clientele for my products. I've done craft shows and I have a Facebook business page, but since my business mainly comes from bridal showers, baby showers, and weddings, Etsy has been the best for my small business.

[Former_Member]

I agree, it depends on what you sell.
I dont live the rest of my life without social media why would I Etsy without it?

I admit though, we move a lot so I could not keep in touch with most family & friends without FB & Twitter. I also have two teenagers and work with an age group swim team. I've got to communicate like they communicate. Those teenagers are quickly growing up and becoming my customers. I love it!

[designsbydkd]

It would be nice for my shop to be successful, since I do not have another job other than watching my 2 grandchildren.

Minerva and Alisa - My sister-in-law from Germany was just visiting from Germany and showed me how she knits. She has the yarn in her left hand to put around the needle for the stitch, I use my right hand to put around the the needle for the stitch. Just wondering if that is how you do it also.

[AllieBlankets]

Dyd, I take the needle and grab the yarn with it, and I know usually people use their fingers to put the yarn around the needle, so the other way around. The yarn goes under the needle when most put it over (seeing as it is called "yarn over" :P).

[designsbydkd]

It sounds like the way my sister-in-law does it.
I tried it, after 40 or so years of doing it my way it will take some practice.
It looks like it should be quicker.

[Former_Member]

Isn't it funny how we all have our own technique. Being lefthanded and always doing everything "backwards" i can relate. :)

[Untwistedsister]

I feel like I have a successful shop on Etsy. I do have a FB Fan page but I don't constantly use it. I have a Pinterest page but only use it occaisonally too. I'm more active in the forums and the majority of my customers have come through Etsy. I'm 8 sales away from 200 since putting my first lisitng up June 26, 2011.

[Former_Member]

Can someone explaim me what is the SEO and where it shown?

[aLilBiteOfCute]

My only shop is on etsy, and my shop is successful (for what I'm looking for in having a shop).
I don't use social media much, facebook just a little, and some websites like wanelo. But other than that I don't have a business website or blog.

[Former_Member]

There probably are such shops, but it's always great to create as many opportunities as possible for your shop to be found.

[Plektra]

Thank you for your responses. It's all good to know!

[TheMillineryShop]

I am only on Etsy. I gave up doing shows because my items are to bulky and easily damaged and I gave up selling out of my house because Etsy customers are so much nicer/smarter/easier customers than folks from my own area, who I do not want traipsing through my house and sucking up my time. Each listing get Pinterest-ed, Facebook-ed, G+-ed and Wanelo-ed and that's it. This past Summer did not let me work the hours I needed to (death in the family and just about the only thing that can keep me away from my shop) and I am now seeing that reflected in my stats. But considering that my items are expensive and a tough thing to buy online, I feel my shop is quite successful, given that my business model is strictly Etsy. Do I wish I had double the sales? You betcha. But the longer I am here the more my business grows and the larger my customer base gets. Even when I'm in my bathrobe.

[KriyaDesign]

I'd say its possible to have only Etsy shop(s) and be successful at it. No social medias or personal web sites. I've seen sellers (more like I study them) averaging 2500+ sales a year at $20 to $30 prices. Not sure about their overhead though. Not much I guess. And don't see much activities on their social media outlets, either mentioned of the web sties.

They are solely here, on Etsy. I'd say they are making 50G a year and more with low operating costs. Unless they have lots of employees or big offices.

Never ask them though, just doing my own maths. I do feel its possible. My family needs certain dollar amount a month to live comfortably. So its a success to me when we have enough for that and the left over to build the store/business.

Its not much wiggle room right now. My husband is planning to take over the marketing part because I've never get to it. I know nothing nada zero about social medias. But I've love to see where the store will be at when the social thang is part of the game.

[AnneLondezGlass]

Hadas, SEO means Search Engine Optimization, it is what needs to be done so that you get found in searches.