Is selling work on Etsy worth it?

[domaz]

Etsy, like most Internet ventures is all about marketing. You can't expect to put it on Etsy and leave it until someone buys it. You have to relist your items constantly and get the word out. Starting a blog can help, you might even consider advertising on other photo blogs, twittering etc etc.. You can poo-poo it if you want but there are people who make serious money on Etsy, but it's not easy.

[theBDT]

The question was is it WORTH selling work on etsy. The answer is, likely no. If you are willing to spend all that time and effort with marketing and "getting the word out" you might as well run your own site. If you're on etsy and advertise through Google AdWords (for example) then all you're doing is driving traffic to etsy.

Etsy takes $0.20 per listing, and then 3% after the sale. Artfire takes $10/month flat, and doesn't take any of your money after that. Artfire also lets people buy your art directly off the search results, without having to sign up with Artfire; etsy can't say that.

I guess my point is, if you're willing to work hard enough to be a success on etsy, you might as well go to artfire or bigcartel, or put in a little more work and host your store on your own website (something I'm in the middle of doing right now); in the end, you get just as good results as you do with etsy. People who make "serious money" at etsy are either:
1) selling soap, jewelery, or some other type of item that is already wildly popular at etsy, or
2) losing money to etsy when they could make more by striking out on their own.

[theBDT]

You have to relist your items constantly and get the word out. Starting a blog can help, you might even consider advertising on other photo blogs, twittering etc etc...

Except I did all these things and MORE and still got no results. You sound like someone from etsy's marketing team...

[mentalcrisis00]

Well let me just say that until this year I had been in the dumps with my work. After I graduated college in 2008 I was lost cause I no longer had the community for support or to bounce ideas off of. So I didn't really do any work, I had quit large format before I graduated because I didn't have the time to devote to it. And after graduation I barely even used my DSLR, it was rather depressing to say the least and my work definitely suffered.

Now I feel like I'm getting back in the game, I sold quite a few works last spring and this fall. 12x18 print for $200 and a 20x36 print for $250 and it really gave me the jolt I needed. At this point I just bought new 4x5 equipment that I'm really happy with and I'm devoting my time to relearning my photographic skills and coming up with new projects.

The only reason I even looked at etsy was because so many of my crafting friends were telling me about it. Generally I dislike selling work online as well because you can't actually see the product, I certainly wouldn't buy art online. I at least wouldn't pay that much for it. I also just got a website going, it works for me cause I don't have to pay anything for it and it showcases my work adequately. As others have said it looks like a great place for non artists to post their walmart prints but I guess I'm not one of those people, at least I hope I'm not!

Thanks all for the insights

[DanK]

I actually hadn't heard of Etsy, until I came across this thread a few months ago...

Looking at the Etsy website a few times, I began to think 'why not'....I'm too varied in my "artistic" pursuits to focus on any one thing for a good amount of time - jack of all trades, master of none Maybe it would be worth a try....

Spent the last week or so adding a few items...photos added today...

May have to sort through my other 'artistic' stuff.....but there are large format images, as well as a few smaller format.....if you care to take a look...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PotterybyDan?ref=pr_shop_more

It's actually quite user friendly...and again 'why not'....

I did learn that I am a terrible digital photographer, especially photographing 'products'...I'll take an old 2D, brass lens, natural light, and film any day....

If I actually sell something, I'll be sure to update...

Thanks,
Dan

[ImSoNegative]

dan those prints are quet nice.

[DanK]

Thank you....

Dan

[Brian C. Miller]

I've gone and researched the photographers that DO make lots of sales on etsy: ...

How do you find out who are the top photography sellers?

As someone just browsing the site, I see sorting according to genre and price, but that's it. Also, I can't tell the difference in image aesthetics based on price. Seriously, sorting on highest or lowest price shows me photographs that are rather similar, i.e., ignorable. If I click on a "large format" tag I get a lot of things that actually don't have anything to do with large format.

No wonder it's hard for people to sell something, because it's hard to find something.

[Brian Ellis]

You fundamentally don't understand etsy if you make statements like that. I am on etsy, have been for almost three months. I get LOTS of "favorites" both for my store and for individual pictures. If people didn't like my pictures, they wouldn't bother to favorite them.

I have yet to make one sale through etsy.*

I've gone and researched the photographers that DO make lots of sales on etsy: I'd wager I'm better than most of them, and I'm CERTAIN many people here on largeformat are better than most of them. What these successful sellers usually have, though, is a VAST library of images, most taken digitally, sold for $10 or less and printed at Costco or Walmart "on demand" when someone orders them. They have almost no upfront costs. Most of their images are pretty trite, and fall into a very "consumable-art" genre.

The fact of the matter is, the citizens and shoppers of etsy are no where near as sophisticated as they present themselves to be. I've talked with many on forums and in chat on etsy, and they're all puzzled as to why I charge so much more for a hand-produced black-and-white print versus something I scan and dash off at Costco (one is $25, the other $10).

They prize themselves on being a forum BOTH for things hand-made and things vintage, but NO ONE there appreciates a hand-made vintage analogue process it seems. I think most of the shoppers on etsy don't even understand how much superior, in both tone and resolution, an analogue print made from 4x5 film is compared with something someone snapped off on a dSLR and then squirted out of their inkjet.

It is very dismaying, but you know... it's life: you can either take your ball and go home, or you can play the game everyone else is playing. I've bought some 35mm Ektar; I plan on dashing out a bunch of flower/field pictures... we'll see.

*well, my brother took pity on me and bought something on my birthday, and someone bought a print from me and never paid so two weeks later I had to cancel the transaction

Every person who's ever bought something of mine (all 15 or 20 of them : - ))has done so because they liked the image. They didn't care how it was made. And I think that's the basis on which almost everyone buys a photograph. I don't think anyone is going to buy your prints just because they were made in a darkroom and IMHO it's unrealistic to think they will (or should).

[theBDT]

Every person who's ever bought something of mine (all 15 or 20 of them : - ))has done so because they liked the image. They didn't care how it was made. And I think that's the basis on which almost everyone buys a photograph. I don't think anyone is going to buy your prints just because they were made in a darkroom and IMHO it's unrealistic to think they will (or should).

The whole point of the etsy community is that they "care how it's made;" that's what they tell themselves, anyway.

I agree that if an image isn't strong to begin with, no one will buy it regardless.

I don't think I ever suggested that people should buy my prints JUST because they were made in a darkroom. But, assuming someone has hearted one of my pictures and one of someone else's pictures, assuming that person really is all about the etsy.com "ethic," they should find a hand-made, vintage process appealing.

I have since made a few sales since I last posted to this thread. Frankly, I think raising my prices helped me. Before, I was truly competing against all the $10 Walmart-print "noise." While my higher price points might turn some people off, the customers who do remain probably associate the higher cost with higher quality (and to be fair, it costs me a lot more in time, effort, and materials to make the prints). At least, that is the only thing I can think of to account for finally having sales on etsy.

Have I changed my opinion? A little bit, I suppose. They are a valid online venue. I still think there is real value in building up one's own website, though.