It’s been a long day for me. I spent most of it making jewelry to fill the orders I got in the last couple of days on my Etsy site, so I can’t really complain.
Last year around this time I decided to list some items on Etsy to see if it could become a viable market place for me. The short answer is that I’m pretty happy so far. Despite it’s problems, I like selling on Etsy. There is definite potential for Etsy to become a good alternative to the art fair venues for retail sales.
Sales have picked up steadily over the year, and the holiday season has brought a real surge in orders. I’m selling enough in two of my Etsy shops to supplement my income quite nicely, enough to encourage me to be more serious in my efforts to upload new items and to promote myself a little more. I definitely won’t be quitting my day job, but, then, my day job is making large quantities of my jewelry to sell to the accounts which I’ve built up over the last 30 years.
A nice little bonus has been that my interest in making jewelry is being re-kindled, and I have even been designing new things. That’s a big deal because I have gone through a really long period of hating jewelry production work.
And I also find that I like the interaction and feedback that comes with having retail customers. Hearing or reading that someone is happy with their purchase or that someone loves my jewelry really goes a long way to make my day. Skinner sure had it right about that positive reinforcement.
The only downside is that all this new busy-ness sure cuts into the time I have to waste on the internet.