Hi folks! Thanks to everyone who responded to my previous post(s).
I have now spent the past week on Etsy Wholesale and have completed all of my summer buying for the artifactual consumables section of my art materials store. Yes, almost entirely through Etsy wholesale (and Etsy you'll find as you read down through my post).
I noticed there are quite a number of people posting with an interest in statistics and trying to understand buyers, so I thought you might like to peruse some of mine.
Caveats: I tend to be an unusual (read weird) decision maker, so I don't think I'll be providing a crystal ball or magic formulae for most buyers. Oh, and you'll also have to remember how comfortable I am with the Etsy format (as revealed in my last post) and how much happier I am buying direct from the producer, which again may make me an unusual buyer. But there may be some insights that are useful to you, especially the stats, and the factoids might help too.
STATISTICS (you'll have to imagine the bullets)
I have made a total of 10 orders through Etsy wholesale in seven days.
The average purchase was $533.55 US (around $608 Canadian at current exchange rate). This includes shipping.
The smallest order was $291 US. The largest order was $1473 US (I was emboldened as the weeks wore on....) The largest order does not yet include shipping.
Of the 10 Etsy wholesale orders, eight were from American producers, one was a Canadian producer and one was a Dutch producer. It will cost somewhere between $500 and $750 IN ADDITION to shipping charges to bring all of the American and Dutch goods across the border.
Categories I purchased from: 3 (Home and Living; Stationery; Art and Photography).
Objects I purchased: DIY kits, greeting cards that can be made into something else, ceramic magnets and mini-vases and mini-decor items, notebooks, giftwrap, coasters, paper gifts.
Least expensive object at wholesale price: $2.25 (greeting card). Listed MSRP: $4.50US. Price I will have to ask to make up for shipping costs and brokerage and duty and currency loss: $6.00 CDN.
Most expensive object at wholesale price: $16.50 (small ceramic vase). List MSRP: $33.00. Price I will have to ask to make up for shipping costs and brokerage and duty and currency loss: $38.00 CDN.
Number of other Etsy producers who benefited from my nosing around the categories and searching thematically: 3 (two American, one Canadian). Such was my great experience with Etsy wholesale that I was brave and convo'd people to ask if they were selling wholesale even if not through Etsy (they were! they've already been paid too!)... this included screen-printed tea towels in two cases and greeting cards in the third case.
FACTOIDS
1) I have one cart saved for fall and/or Xmas orders from an Etsy wholesaler who responded judiciously and thoughtfully to my original post. I was indeed curious to see what everyone who commented had to offer, in addition to my searching through the main categories. I think this speaks to either (ahem) my susceptibility to intelligent communication, or to the fact that participating in the wholesale beta forum might offer an Etsy wholesaler some advantages! (Note that the same cannot be said for unjudicious comments; posting about lack of general buyer interest in your products is not a good idea because you are presenting the idea that ALL buyers are rejecting your products.This is a good way to repel a potential browsing buyer and I can't emphasize enough that it is problematic to do so.)
2) Two Etsy wholesalers lost out on orders which had to be cancelled after I submitted them. In the first case, the Etsy wholesaler had not updated their linesheet. Making sure your linesheet is current is very important because wholesale=professional. In the second case, the Etsy wholesaler was in the midst of moving across the country and had not hidden their linesheet and once I discovered this I could not wait to see how and when that producer might be able to fill the order because wholesale=available, or wholesale=can be reasonably produced in reasonable amount of time. Which gives us this statistic: 2 of the 12 potential Etsy wholesale orders were not prepared to wholesale, or 15%! This was unexpected. I do not think that a buyer on Etsy wholesale should need to convo you before ordering to make sure you are operational and equipped to produce!!!!! I do not think that you would want them to always have to convo you which is an extra step that the buyer does not necessarily have time to address and which might get in the way of their commitment to stay interested in your product, so please stay vigilant as to your currency and be at the ready to produce and be wholesale professional! Remember that these are much larger orders than a regular Etsy order, so any misstep can mean much greater losses and the loss of a repeat wholesale customer and wider distribution and recognition of your products! Ouch!
FINAL THOUGHTS...
This is so much better than a tradeshow.
It is possible to have a community of buyers and sellers in here who learn and earn together.
I cannot wait to see how Etsy Wholesale develops in the next year or so.
Cheerio,
shannon
