Things I Learned on My Sabbatical from Etsy

I opened my Etsy shop about a year ago and sales took off from the beginning. I was by no means a power seller, but my shop was getting just the right amount of business for my schedule, maybe 2-3 sales a week. This was perfect as Etsy was only meant to be a part-time endeavour.

Everything seemed fun at first. I was meeting new people and finding lots of cool handmade products (hello, soap addiction!). But then I started getting discouraged. Even though I had adequate sales, I wasn't really making any money. Determining shipping costs was always a major struggle for me. A few of my packages were tampered with or went missing. International shipments were taking months to arrive. These incidents really got to me. It happened maybe twice out of fifty sales, but it was a major stressor.

Even with only a few sales a week, keeping up with creating my inventory became daunting. I have a full-time day job, a neurotic dog, two crazy cats, and two busy sons. Finding balance was a struggle (still is!). Furthermore, with so many ideas for new products (and so many supplies with which to make them), it was frustrating when I couldn't bring those ideas to fruition.

So I gave up. I de-activated all of my listings.

My time away from being an Etsy seller was time well spent. I turned my focus to my Aromatherapy certification courses and completing the required case studies. Staying involved with the Forums and continuing to make purchases kept me in the Etsy know. I learned what I had done wrong the first time around. Most importantly, I realized that these mistakes were fixable! So I "failed" (in my eyes) with my first experience being an Etsy seller. But it's not a one-shot deal! That's the beauty of life – fall down, get up and try again! The wonderful folks on Etsy will always be there to welcome you back.

Here are a few of the lessons I learned. These lessons are personal to me and my shop, and although I do hope to inspire others, I don't expect everyone to agree with me, or that this advice will work for everyone.

~Heather

Stop under pricing your product. Figure out the cost of materials and then add an appropriate mark-up. Consider, too, that Etsy fees and PayPal fees will cut into your profit. Don't be fooled by the idea that lower prices = more buyers. If you make a quality product and price it accordingly, you will still have sales.

Charge accurate shipping. I will not eat postage costs any longer. The rates & policies for Canada Post are absolutely ridiculous (that will be the topic of another blog), but it is out of my power to change it and whining and moaning about it certainly won't fix the problem. All I can do is work with what I have. That may mean charging $5.75 shipping for an item that only costs $8.95. Again, if it's a quality product, people will pay to have it shipped to them. All I can do is provide information and links about Canada Post so my customers can see that this is what the postage actually costs me. I'm not out to make a profit off shipping, but I have to stop taking a loss.

Communicate with your buyers. Drop them a convo to thank them for the sale, and maybe one more when you've shipped the item. At the same time, though, don't be a pest. NEVER convo someone to ask when they are going to leave you feedback.

Keep it simple, stupid. List only the products that you can make quickly and easily and have the highest profit margin. Stop trying to create a new product every single day. For Bath & Beauty, it should take anywhere between 3 months to a year to get a new product off the ground.

Buy only the supplies that you currently require. Stockpiling seems like a good idea because you can save money by buying in bulk, but how much money are you saving when you have to throw out raw materials because they've reached their expiration date before you could use them up?

Don't obsess about the number of hearts and views your items have.

Sometimes things go wrong. Packages go missing in the mail. Buyers aren't happy. It's not the end of the world. Just refund the purchase, write off the loss and move on.

Create a comprehensive set of policies and keep them updated. When you are in business, you are always learning something new.

Have any lessons that you would like to add? Please, leave some comments!