My first impressions of Etsy

I recently embarked on a new venture... the wide world of Etsy. If you don't know, Etsy is a website that provides internet "shops" to small business people who are selling their own handmade items, vintage items (at least 20 years old), or craft supplies. It's a little like ebay, except crafty!. It's a lot like a regular craft show, except online instead of outside, and instead of paying large booth fees, you pay a small listing fee (20 cents per item, for a four-month listing), and then a small percentage of the sale price when you sell an item (3.5%). There are no membership fees or other fees for your shop, which makes it very accessible for everyone.

My first impressions of Etsy? I love it! ♥

Here are some of the things I like so far.
The shops are well organized and easy to navigate. For each item you list, you are allowed to upload 5 photos for no extra fee. (If you've ever listed with e-bay, you'll appreciate that!) You are able to create all your own "shop policies" to determine how shipping, returns, and so on will be handled. There are tons of ways people can find items they're looking for, beyond the old search by name or category. My favorite tool is a page filled with dots of all colors where you can move your curser around the page, and when you see the exact shade of a color you are looking for pop up, you click on it, and then Etsy looks at the thumbnails of all the items currently listed, and shows you any items it finds that have a significant amount of that color. How cool is that??

However, I think the best thing I've found in my first few days at Etsy is all the information they have organized for you to read to help you be more successful. They have a blog and a forum, and they have compiled article after article in one place for you to find and read. These articles are immensely helpful, and it looks to me that they are all written by fellow "etsians" (Etsy buyers and sellers) who have been there, done that, and want to tell someone else how to do it the best way that they found. Very helpful!

If you have bought or sold from Etsy, I'd love to hear how your experience is or was. Don't be shy, let me know with your comments! I appreciate them so much!

My artist website:www.lauraposs.com
My new Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/lauraposs