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There are hundreds of places online where one can set up shop. The
most known are eBay, Amazon, and now, Etsy. Smaller ones may target a
certain niche or have big dreams of becoming the next eBay. Sellers can
also use their websites or blogs to sell directly to their customers.
I have tried many venues. Each involves learning a new platform for
listing the products, different pricing structures, and getting to know a
unique community.
I have chosen to focus my time, energy and money on Etsy. (See Shop) I believe that
Etsy offers a better platform for a small craft business than
setting up a shopping cart on a website or blog. Reasons:
- Immediate access to the customer base each brings through their own
marketing.
- Customer confidence in having a larger umbrella organization to iron
out potential disputes.
- Platforms are attractive or already set up with needed seller tools.
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Every marketplace has their own set of pros and cons. The following may
help you decide whether Etsy might work for you.
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Pro |
Con |
| Etsy |
- Inexpensive to list
- Easy listing
- Attractive platform
- Enthusiastic staff
- Excellent forum and blog
- Loyalty among peers
- High quality products overall
- Integrated with Google Analytics
- Integrated with Facebook
- Accepts international sellers and customers
- Etsy mini very useful
- Integrated with Pay Pal
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- Lousy search engine
- Staff is young and biased towards certain products
- Site penalizes both supplies and vintage in how it is set up, but
fees are the same
- Seller tools are minimal
- Listing process could be streamlined
- Should allow more photos
- Not enough shop sections
- Shipping fees are all about good guesswork
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In looking at where to sell, it is important to think about where your
traffic will come from, whether they are the audience you want and if your
competition is selling similar products as yours. I use Google Analytics for my shop
and blogs which helps me see whether people are coming from my social media
efforts, web searches or within the marketplace itself. There are other
places to sell and I think it is good
to have several places so that the business is not completely dependent
on the health of one particular market. That is, IF you can manage the
time and energy for more than one.
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