Anybody still on etsy and making money?

I had a Etsy store, and did not sell anything but I really did not put a lot into it so I was partly to blame. Did you market yourself outside of Etsy? There are people here who have sold stuff on Etsy. I am not sure how much though.

I'm doing okay at Etsy, but I have noticed a slow down in both sales and views on the site. There are quite a few sellers in the jewelry category and I mentioned items totals a couple of weeks ago in another thread.
I have been making some sales and hope that people are starting to feel it's a little safer to spend money again (with this scary economy) but I know the only way I'll sell anything is by promoting.
To give you an idea of how competitive Etsy is... in jewelry, there are over 208,000 pairs of earrings currently listed, over 100,000 bracelets listed and nearly 250,000 necklaces currently listed on the site!
Without promoting, my items and shop is buried with the others shops and the only way to make sales is for me to spend 15-20 minutes a day, 3x a day in the promotion forums.

I think you'll find that a lot of the rude people who treated you so very badly (and I can fully understand the reason you became turned-off to promoting) are either behaving themselves or have been warned about their behavior.

I'm still enjoying my time with Etsy and still making a few sales each month- sales I wouldn't be making without having an online presence and I think that perhaps things are beginning to turn around a little. I hope you try the promotion forums again. I think with a sale or two, you would have a different outlook about the site. After trying a few other options, I've come to realize that Etsy is the cheapest way to have an online presence with built-in traffic and promoting my shop is the only way for the buyers to find my creations.

I think that Etsy is a good venue that will only get better, as time goes on.:)

I am not making enough sales there, but am beginning to promote my Etsy shop amongst my Ebay buyers.
My last 2 sales on Etsy were made by one of my Ebay customers.


The forums are mostly comprised of very, very nice people.
However, sometimes there are meanies here and there, BUT, Etsy administrators do take action against the meanies.

Perhaps you could give the forums another try?
If not, I understand.


You could always give Etsy another try after awhile.
Good luck to you!

:)

I started on Etsy about 4 months ago on the request of my girlfriend. It was slow going at first but things eventually started to pick up. I am looking into advertising (which is what led me here) and other forms to get my name out but have yet to implement anything. Nor have I ever visited the forums there.

I think success lies within the quality of the piece and whether or not it "speaks" to the buyer. I spend an hour or two each week trying to figure out what's hot, so to speak and see if it lends itself to my niche.

It could just be a fluke and all sales will stop abruptly, but I am hoping to gradually increase my sales and gallery to a full time income level. With enough research and a little advertising, I think that it's possible.

Jason - Skate or DIY

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5893949

I started on Etsy about 4 months ago at the request of my girlfriend. It was slow going at first and it's still not reached a record pace but things are picking up. I am looking into advertising (which led me here) and other forms to get my name out but have yet to implement anything. Nor have I visited the forums there.

I think success lies within the quality of the piece and whether or not it "speaks" to the buyer. I spend an hour or two a week trying to figure out what's hot, so to speak and see if it lends itself to my niche.

It could just be a fluke and all sales will stop abruptly, but I am hoping to gradually increase my sales and gallery to a full time level, With enough research and a little advertising, I think that it's possible.

Jason - Skate or DIY

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5893949

I will have been on Etsy for 2 years at the end of this month, and I'm doing relatively well there. There are a lot of people who put some items up on Etsy and then expect that they will all sell immediately, but it rarely works that way. It's important to make sure people are finding your shop, one way or another.

I don't do a lot of promoting myself, but I do try to do at least a little bit. It's really critical to being a top seller, I think. There are other factors as well, but basically as Etsy continues to grow, making yourself stand out is the most important.

Hi, sorry to hear you are not doing well on etsy, I have had a shop there for about 1 1/2 years and just love it, I sell my beads very well there, both to clients I brought with me from my website and also to new buyers who have found me on etsy...
you have to list items on a regular basis that way you come up on the searches, also you can buy space in one of the showcases, I leave my business cars with my etsy address in many places...you can even do a craft fair and send folks to your shop for later shopping...

I find that I get as much out of etsy as I put in to it, I am sorry to hear you met up with mean people in the forums, my experience has been very nice for the most part...
good luck and let me know if you have any questions about etsy...
Jelveh
Peace

i have an etsy store and have sold one thing, but have been super busy doing some scrapbooking (and getting paid for it) so after i am done (today i hope) i will put a bit more on etsy. i like etsy, but like any online site, you have to be careful!