Etsy - The Good And The Bad

[franciscanheart]

I have a love/hate relationship with Etsy.

I love to buy from individuals or small businesses. I love handmade. I love unique things. (Who doesn't love these things?) But I often find myself totally underwhelmed by Etsy's selection.

Anyone else hesitant to pay a lot of money for fairly simple items on Etsy? Saw a sponsored Facebook post today from Etsy, pimping out a hand "painted" mug. By hand painted I mean to say it was written on with a Sharpie and then baked. I made a similar mug for my Grandma for Christmas and it cost me less than ten dollars total WITH a new Sharpie.

I feel like so much on Etsy is just like this. It's hard to find the good sellers (like IcePrincessKRS's BIL) who have unique talents.

Who has a hard time buying from Etsy? Who has found awesome things? Who are some of your favorite sellers?

-----

Random promotion of a small business I love: Makr. I own an original Makr wallet (ladies' wallet. white with beautiful floral cutout.) and my dad owns one of the men's wallets. They are SO GREAT. Expensive yes (full disclosure, I won the two wallets in a contest) but such great quality.

[Chestertonian]

My wife's bought quite a bit of stuff on there. I've only ever shopped on etsy once, and that was to look for a Kindle cover. I agree, though, a lot of the stuff on there doesn't require much skill to make. The crafts my kids come home from school with require more skill than a lot of the stuff people try to sell on there.

 

 

Shameless plug warning: My wife sells handmade kids items (mostly bibs atm) on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/spillsNfrills?page=1

 

 

 

 

 

[CrossCuT]

I dont shop on there much but I have taken a look around once or twice.

Ive noticed that a lot of hand made items people sell, whether online, out of their home, at a sale etc...tend to all be pretty pricey.

 

The only thing I have ever really looked into with handmade stuff is mostly jewelry so thats really where my thoughts spawn from. A hobby like that does cost money to get the materials...so that coupled with the fact this may occasionally be a primary or secondary source of income to people will undoubtedly make the price go up.

Gotta make a profit somehow right? If not, why sell it anyways...just give it away.

 

I dunno.

People take pride in their work and will sell it for what they believe its worth. 

 

But I dont doubt there are people out there who are like "LULz lets see if someone buys this crap!"

[arfink]

I don't bother selling my work on Etsy. I don't want it to be buried in the torrent of other people's works, I don't want to pay their outrageous commission prices, and I want to control the look of my shop. I also tend to sell a fair amount of things which will only be sold once, and so Etsy makes no sense for that. In those cases I sell directly on Google+ or Facebook or such.

[IcePrincessKRS]

Some of what I have purchased there I am certain I could make myself, but buying from someone else takes out the hassle. (I recently bought myself two simple and fairly inexpensive necklaces off Etsy. I love them. I am sure I could have made them myself with the proper supplies, but buying the necklaces was probably actually cheaper in the long run just because I would have had to buy a bunch of supplies and would have had a lot leftover.) I do tend to be aware of the cost of what goes into a project (canvas or fabric, etc.), and weigh into it the talent and time that goes into the product before purchasing.

 

Could I make this myself? Yes

 

Do I want to make it myself? No. Look at Etsy (or some other place that might sell what I want). Yes--go buy craft supplies or raid my stash.

 

Is the price of the item reasonable for the time put in and the cost of supplies? Yes-----> Buy. No-----> Do not buy.

 

I don't buy off Etsy very often, but when I do I am very decisive about the type of thing I want, and I spend a decent amount of time looking for it. It can be hard to find that "just right" item, but I figure if it's what I really want then it's worth the time spent looking. Sometimes I just browse the site and favorite things I like. Sometimes I find the perfect item by happy accident. I've only made a handful of Etsy purchases, but I haven't been disappointed.

 

 

(My brother in law sells handmade furniture made from reclaimed wood from old barns and other structures. It's pretty amesome stuff. http://www.etsy.com/shop/BarnWoodFurniture?ref=seller_info )

Edited May 15, 2013 by IcePrincessKRS

[Ice_nine]

the stuff there tends to be way overpriced. I crochet and a lot of the stuff is neat but I can usually make most of the stuff for way cheaper. The knitted/crocheted stuff has been my only real exposure tho, I don't know much about other crafty things.

[Chestertonian]

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/BarnWoodFurniture?ref=seller_info )

 

Very impressive. He has some serious talent.

[Lil Red]

i've bought some things off of etsy - mostly handpainted, handmade Catholic items (like quality Catholic art), or hand mixed nail polish (which is really nifty). :) 

[Lil Red]

i've seen really cheapy earrings and necklaces on etsy though, that someone thinks are far more special than they are. :|

[IcePrincessKRS]

Very impressive. He has some serious talent.

 

Thanks. :) I think so, too. lol I never cease to be impressed by my husband's family, They are always doing something amazing like that.
 

[the171]

The dresses are adorbs. <3

[IcePrincessKRS]

the stuff there tends to be way overpriced. I crochet and a lot of the stuff is neat but I can usually make most of the stuff for way cheaper. The knitted/crocheted stuff has been my only real exposure tho, I don't know much about other crafty things.

 

That's swell if you CAN crochet or knit. lol But there are a lot of us that can't and are willing to pay a little extra for someone's time to make something beautiful.

 

Granted, I have the same reaction when I see things like those little tulle tutus on Etsy. "Say whaaaat? I can make that for under $20, no way am I paying 50+ bucks for it." But not everyone is inclined to go out and buy some elastic an a few spools of tulle and make it themselves. lol When I do make an Etsy purchase I also try to bear in mind I'm not just paying for the supplies used, I'm also paying for the time put into making the item. Sometimes it still seems overpriced (tutus. seriously.) I don't think I've ever paid much more than $20-30 for anything on Etsy before, though (and for what I bought it wasn't really overpriced)...

[PhuturePriest]

I can usually withstand girly threads, but I had no clue what I was walking into with this one...

Edited May 15, 2013 by FuturePriest387

[GeorgiiMichael]

I bought some moustache waxes from Man's Face Stuff on etsy once. Scented too. The Gin & Tonic is my favorite, which is why it's almost gone. The All Nighter is good too, smells like coffee and tobacco. I did get a tin of unscented, which was a mistake, because the natural smell of the ingredients isn't that great. Not bad, but not great either, and since it's sitting right under my nose all day...

[franciscanheart]

The mug was seriously disappointing. Because I ventured into t-shirt painting, I know how tough that is to get just right. I would pay for someone else's time and practice on that, if the occasion arose again. But this mug? No. If you're going to sell me a mug with writing and lines, make sure the lines are straight and it doesn't look like I just scribbled on it. Otherwise, I'll give you a max of $12 (that's for someone super special, in a crunch). To me, $35 is just out of the question. (But again, DIYer here and I'll take some imperfection if I'm doing it myself!)