Etsy is one of the best things that ever happened to me
As a maker, independent designer, artist, or whatever the hell you want to call me, I avoided Etsy for years. I avoided it because it was like a sea of unoriginal overpriced first world junk with fucking birds on it that you had to sift through for hours until you found something good. I tried other online store services like Big Cartel, Shopify and Storeenvy, and I never saw a single sale from either of those websites.
After winning a contest given by one of the largest and most prestigious indie craft shows in the country, one of the prizes was "an Etsy shop makeover" by some important Etsy employee, and a feature on Etsy. Lo and behold, I had a full Etsy shop up by the end of 2011. Due to some unforseen circumstances, I was not given the prizes I was promised. However, I immediately pulled in regular sales on Etsy.
In 2014, it is a significant fraction of my income. Unfortunately, between 2011 and 2014, I started to show signs of osteoarthritis. I had to cut the amount of handmade work went from 100% of my inventory to about 25%-30%. Every single centimeter of every product is overseen, and every piece is designed by me, and only me. Last fall, Etsy anounced a change in its policies. Designers could use outside manufacturers to produce their designs.
As a sole proprieter with no paid employees and a series of transient volunteers, here is an incomplete list of what I do to run my business:
- Customer service
- Accounting and taxes
- Schedules, applications, and registration for the 18 conventions, craft shows and street fairs I have throughout the year across the country
- Book plane tickets, hotels, or other travel arrangements for any show further than 30 miles for both myself and my volunteer(s)
- Drag all of my stock and its colapsible display to whatever show, and set it all up
- Directly sell to customers
- Pack up all of that shit and drag it back home via car or plane or train
- Take good photos of all of my products (over 100 of them)
- Make copy for each product and post it on Etsy
- Promote each product and my Etsy store using tumblr*
- Pack orders and take them to the post office
- Deal with whenever the post office doesn't deliver
- Design new collections and products
- Produce new collections and products
- Purchase and maintain the tools and equimpent used to produce products
...and the list goes on and on and on and on. What does it actually mean to me, as an independent designer and sole proprieter, when Etsy says it's cool to use outside manufacturers to produce my designs? It means that is one less fucking thing I have to do to run my barely-profitable business that I fucking love and run with every ounce of myself. Sure, it also means there's a bunch of cheap Chinese bullshit, but it also means I don't have to sweat my ass off in my garage pressing my osteoarthric fingers onto a squeegee to print tote bags I'm not sure anyone is even going to buy. By claiming Etsy is not about independent artists anymore, you are hurting my business. Etsy shoppers are smart enough to know the difference between a cheap piece of shit, and a solid, independently designed item. If they go on Etsy and buy cheap shit, that's their problem. Etsy's policies have only affected my business positively.
I've got a seriously big show coming up this weekend, but I was so pissed at this article, I had to stop making really cute fleece penguins immediately, and write this. *The truth of the matter is, Etsy has been and always will be a sea of junk you have to sift through, but tumblr has been a big help. I have a small, but devoted following on tumblr, and they like to buy from Etsy. It's familiar, they can use paypal, and they can rate artists. They trust Etsy as a place to shop.
You write that Etsy is just concerned about the bottom line. Yeah, and I'm concerned about mine too. My time is my money and my health. To allow outside manufacturers help me produce my work, is for me to get back some of my time and my health. I'm just trying to make it in this world.
P.S. My online sales are better than they've ever been.
Disclaimer: Handmade markets, dealer halls, and artist alleys all have different rules about what a vendor can and can't carry. I am lucky enough to have a large and diverse enough inventory with: handmade items, full to partial manufactured items, fan art and original characters. If a handmade market wants all handmade, I show up with handmade. If an artist alley only wants me to carry 20 of an item printed by a different company (but designed by me, of course), they've got it. I always follow those rules because frankly, I can't afford to break them. This business is my life, my blood, my sweat, and my tears. I love it with all of my heart, and I wouldn't do anything to put it in jeopardy.