There has never been a better time for creative types to make a living from their craft. The starving artist days are long over. If you have any kind of artistry then you can make money from it with the right focus.
Etsy is known to many creatives as an excellent way to make money with your art. It is a great way to get some traction for your crafts or artwork. But, is it the best way to sell your creations?
In this article, we will compare selling on Etsy to selling via your own website.
Etsy gets millions of users per day
Etsy is popular mainly because it has a ready-made marketplace. It is the first place people all over the world visit when they are looking for something handmade and creative for clothing, decorations, or jewelry among other items.
Even though you should market your store off the platform as well if you do nothing you should be able to get sales passively just by the traffic already coming to Etsy. This makes it a great place to get started when you are dipping your toes in the water when it comes to selling your designs.
If you read the best digital marketing books then you already know that bringing traffic to your website is one of the most difficult parts when it comes to selling online. Having the traffic built into the scenario is a huge advantage.
Etsy has high fees
Quite a chunk of your profits is going to go directly to Etsy. There are a lot of different fees that are seemingly always changing. Even a portion of the shipping charges that you charge will be paid to Etsy.
To some, this means that they have to sell far more to be able to make any money. And if you can only make one piece at a time then you can be putting in a lot of work for diminishing returns.
Having your own website that can handle processing payments will keep more of your hard-earned dollars in your wallet. There will be fees paid for the payment processor and even the platform costs. There will be hosting to worry about and the cost to maintain the website. However, these costs should be less than what you pay Etsy.
Get good at marketing
Whether you use Etsy or your own website, you will need to make sure that you have a solid marketing campaign working. This can include running paid ads on Etsy for more exposure. In addition, you should have a solid social media presence that sends traffic to your Etsy store or website.
This will also help you create a brand that people recognize and will allow them to find you easily. When you have a good marketing system then it makes more sense to have your own website since you can control the traffic better. If you send people to your Etsy store, they may shop around and end up buying from somebody else.
An email list is essential so make sure to build it as big as possible. Once again, if you have your own website you are more in control and can target your email list much more effectively.