GEP Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Worth a read ... from Whitney Smith who is one of the most successful potters on Etsy ... her current thoughts about Etsy are very thought provoking: http://whitneys-pottery.blogspot.com/ Mea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 OH, I can so relate to her blog! I got wholesalecrafts.com lazy and found myself 'without a date' when the price points went down. It's very hard to get off your seat and start all over with the ones you left behind! You have to keep putting yourself forward everywhere in order to stay even. If you don't keep working it, someone else gets your shelf space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted March 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 What really surprised me is that she is only grossing half of what she grossed before she became "monogamous" with Etsy. It really sheds some light on the limits of Etsy's power. By all measures, she is a screaming success on Etsy, but she's not even close to her business's full potential. I think the insight applies to any big selling venue, like wholesalecrafts.com and BMAC. Lots of artists at BMAC are feeling "dateless" too, because the cost of the show has become so expensive, but they don't know any other way. Bottom line, it's important to stay plugged in to several diverse ways of selling. It's really refreshing that she can write so candidly about this. Mea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted March 25, 2011 Report Share Posted March 25, 2011 People I know go to Etsy for cheap, original art. Not saying everyone does, just my experience. The price points on wholesalecrafts plummeted as stores looked for things they could mark up and move. It's the sign of the times ... Price is king, value a poor orphan. Which is why I believe we need to value our peeps ... the people who know us and value human made art. We just cannot ignore the buy local trend. It is the potential bonanza movement of the future for potters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted March 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2011 Agreed, there's no substitute for face-to-face selling, meeting our customers and representing ourselves. We need to teach the value of handmade, to one person at a time. Mea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAY Posted March 25, 2011 Report Share Posted March 25, 2011 There as many good and bad "galleries" as there are good and bad potters. (Make that shops/artists that "don't know what they are doing", business wise!) Wholesalecafts.com is definitely the place where lower price points rule, and (from conversations with buyers at BMAC) many galleries don't go there. Conversely, shops that are buying there are also checking out the artists, and finding some selling on their own site or etsy at less than a 2x markup. I do not envy the "newbies" just starting out in this economy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terra Cottage Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Worth a read ... from Whitney Smith who is one of the most successful potters on Etsy ... her current thoughts about Etsy are very thought provoking: http://whitneys-pottery.blogspot.com/ Mea This is a good post and makes me think about all of the options that we have for sending our work out into the world.... how can we be smarter about effectively using our time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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