Do You Sell Your Art On Etsy Or Ebay?

I maintain a small Etsy shop for my photographs. Someone bought three just before Christmas.

I have on both those sites, mainly Ebay and had very good results! I'm still waiting to sell a Sculpture here..............................................and waiting.........................................and waiting...................Lol

I tried to sell on ebay, all I can say is it's a good thing fine art listings are free or I would have spent far, far more than I made. In the end I decided that even though listings were free it wasn't worth the hassle just to make a couple bucks every few hundred listings.

I sell a lot of originals on Etsy, a few prints that I drop ship from FAA. Have not tried ebay.

I sell some stuf on etsy.

I have seen quite a few artists who mentioned in various discussions that they sell on Etsy and drop ship from here at FAA. I do not understand how they deal with the 30 day guarantee and estimate what the shipping costs will be.

I sell on Etsy and have been there longer than I have been here on FAA. I had 198 orders on Etsy last year with some being sales of multiple prints. Now that I am retired as of last July from the business that I owned and operated for the last 40 years I am spending more time to market my Fine Art Photography on the various Web sites that I have my images. This year so far I am more than doubling my sales compared to last year on both Etsy and FAA.

I didn't know that fineart listings on eBay was free? Drop shipping from here would be a great idea. But with what David said, how many listings do you have to go through?

I have sold on Etsy fairly regularly for about 4 years now; about half I drop ship from FAA the others I print - depending on size.
I honor a 30 day return period also for my etsy clients, and if I drop ship from FAA, sometimes actual shipping ends up being more or less than what I charge my Etsy customers- but it is usually fairly close.

Jennifer, I think it's just 50 listings per month that are fee, which means it could take months to get a sale, however that was originals, prints might sell easier on ebay since they are a lower price item, not sure about the drop shipping thing.

I sell on Etsy.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/PawsFurAMoment

I actually SELL 'some' on etsy compared to here and it's starting to get better as I've been adding work this past year.I have not liked all the changes they've been doing over the last year. However, I do not want to cut my nose off to spite my face so I'm sticking with it for now. I drop ship and I prefigured from my printers s/h estimates for US shipping and include that in the prices because I'm using the listing variations thing. For overseas I've asked that buyers give me their shipping address so I can figure accurate price and then it's simple to do a custom listing. Pillows, I'm drop shipping from here and that seems to be a flat $5 amount so no problem on that so far and I have sold 4 of those.

http://www.paintedtulipstudio.etsy.com

checkout my latest shop!! Just started making pendant jewelry using some of my photos and doing some quote stuff. Already had 4 sales there and some in person, good start as I just opened this shop not quite a month yet! woo hoo! http://www.melsartbits.etsy.com

Actually, if any of you would like one of your images on a pendant for yourself or to give to someone, I can do that. Just ask me here or on that shop. All I need is a square format jpg, give me at least 1200 x 1200, I can delete the file from my computer after I print it. Guarantee I would never ever use your image other than to make yours.

Melissa - there is a problem with your Painted Tulip's link security certificate. Love the idea of a pendant - I will keep that in mind.

I don't know why it's doing that? Tried it with https: and with http:, both went kerplunk! Trying this. https://www.etsy.com/shop/PaintedTulipStudio

Okay that worked but don't know why the other bugged.

Thanks Janine! I thought a few people might be interested in a pendant with their work on it...just for themselves. If anyone is interested in making them to sell with their work, I'm not going to be your 'production facility', you're on your own! lol :o)

I think everyone has a special image that would make a great keepsake or a thoughtful gift - maybe make a mention of this around Mother's day ( in a thread ? )

Good to hear everyone is doing well there.

Great idea, thanks Janine :o)

So, to be sure I understand. The Etsy shop can be linked to FAA directly when customers place orders? Unless, of course, we are offering custom images. Is that correct?

Gotta get up tomorrow, get dressed, and go out and brave the new snow that is falling right now, to ship a weekend sale to Georgia...A sale made on Etsy.

And then, I got to make another, to replace that sale....On and On it goes.

This is why P.O.D. is so appealing.

Susan,

No - you create a listing on Etsy that matches something that can be purchased on FAA. IF a customer purchases that on Etsy, you can order it from FAA and have it shipped directly to the customer. You need to price the product and shipping carefully on Etsy so it covers your FAA costs plus desired profit.

Hey congrats. Roger.

Susan, I haven't done it yet - but you are not linking the two shops together.
If you have an Etsy shop and receive an order for a print - you collect your $ from the purchaser there.
You then place the order here for the print - & have fineArt ship to the purchaser directly. No invoice from FAA goes in the package.

I see Dave answered. It just takes me that long to type.

Oh, Diane, I love, love, LOVE your shop name! That is fabulous!
I am on Etsy too - (https://www.etsy.com/shop/WoodlandsPhotography) and have sold a few pillows from here through there.

Just made my first sale after a year on Etsy. Haven't done much marketing, but starting to as I get more time. I opened it mainly for selling my small size originals.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SinghArtGallery

If you sell on Etsy and drop ship from FAA do you purchase the prints on FAA using your own account or do you use the Etsy customers information? I am just wondering if it makes a difference how the sale is recognized here on FAA.

I recently opened an Etsy shop, maybe about 3 months ago, and am happy with the few sales of my Original Watercolor Paintings. I've sold originals from FAA but wanted to see if the Etsy market was more active.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CarlinArtWatercolor

I saw many FAA artist who are selling by drop shipping. Is the effort worth the money? Instead of bothering with drop shipping I provide a link back to FAA from Etsy where buyers can select prints instead of my Originals. Links leading away from Etsy have to be cut/pasted into browsers, so I don't know anyone bothers. I haven't had an increase in FAA print sales since opening my Etsy shop.

Please explain what "drop ship" means, and is there a membership fee with Etsy?

Drop shipping means that FAA will make your print and send it to directly to your customer without a receipt or invoice which is very nice!

I've been on Etsy for over a year and have made 7 original art sales which is not bad. Sold two paintings on Saatchi in only two months of joining but they take 30% commission. They are based from the original London Gallery. Your work is approved first and when you ship you have to follow their museum rules. Archival paper on front of painting, wrapped in plastic, 1/2 inch foam on both sides then bubble wrapped twice. from there 2 more foams that extend two inches from painting, add corner sleeves, cushion on bottom of box with paper or more bubble wrap. stuff all the sides. You can skip all of this but if you do and something happens you won't be paid. Sorry too much info but if some of you look at Saatchi, great place for originals, haven't sold any prints. If you are a digital painter, they consider it photography.

No membership fee with etsy, 20 cents to list as many items as you wish that expire in 6months. they take 3% commission

"No membership fee with etsy, 20 cents to list as many items as you wish that expire in 6months. they take 3% commission "

Not as many different images though. It is 20 cents PER image.....

So, to list all the images I have on FAA would be $460 for the period before they expire and if that is 6 months now (It was three when I was active there) that would be $920/year.

I understand JC, for photographer's and others who have a ton of stock available, that would be expensive for you. Presently, I have only 62 Original paintings so not so expensive...yet. It's nice that FAA is just a flat fee of 30.00 and can list as many prints as we wish. You know it may still be 3 months? I renew Items all the time just so they pop up more in the etsy search engines so I never know when they truly expire.

Marilyn Wilson and others who sell pillows etc from here on etsy, how do you take a big enough image picture for etsy? Or do you buy the product?

following...

Can links be posted on Etsy leading back to FAA ? I should say are they allowed.

I think it would b a good place to display originals - to advertise back to FAA for print sales .

Drop shipping sounds great, but if I could save that step I surely would.

That was the other issue, renewing just to pop up higher, which at one time was almost required to get seen. With a huge inventory, that gets real expensive real fast.

For me, Etsy was about a break even proposition NOT including the massive amount of time I put into it. I keep a shop open for custom orders but that is about it for me these days.

Yes I Agree, I put way too much time into Etsy. My husband commented that the time spent marketing, I could be painting. Should be a happy medium. Not ready to give it up yet tho

I sold pottery on ETSY. I was lazy and didn't do a lot of the things I needed to do to market it, so not a big selling place for me. The big problems for me RE: ETSY were:

(a) if I posted a picture of a hand made bowl, I had to store that particular bowl and keep track of it, I couldn't sell it someplace else during the time period that it was listed for sale on ETSY... (It would be bad if a customer on ETSY bought it and I didn't have it, 'cause I sold it locally); and

So... before I did a local craft show, or whatever, I had to make sure whatever I brought to the show wasn't posted on ETSY,

I like not having to bother with inventory tracking/control, and I like not having to invest time & money in making and storing prints that may or may not sell. Fine Art America's on-demand printing & sales solves that for me.

(b) I had to learn to photograph my work. I got a cheap light box, and everything, but setting up & tearing down a makeshift photography studio in the upstairs hallway of my home (that's the only place that got dark enough) every time I wanted to change what I posted for sale on ETSY was a massive pain, and I never really got good at the photography. And, since I'm not a photographer with my own equipment, other family members would use the camera, the camera settings would get all messed up in between photo shoots, my husband would use the tripod (it was really his, anyway) and put it someplace where I couldn't find it, so... I really, really hated doing the photography.

I sell my coconut shell earrings on Etsy - https://www.etsy.com/shop/coconutjoyjewelry

Each listing costs 20 cents and is good for 4 months.

There is also a 3.5% commission per sale.

There are also processing fees if somebody pays using Direct Checkout (credit, debit, and Etsy Gift Card payments). Those rates depend on your country of residence, but they run between 3%-4%, plus $0.25-$0.30 per transaction.

If a customer pays using Paypal, the processing fees are 2.9% plus $0.30 in the U.S.

Still looking for an answer.

This is for anyone who has sold something on Etsy and had it dropped shipped from FAA. Do you purchase the prints on FAA using your own account or do you use the Etsy customers information for the sale? I am just wondering if there is a benefit to having it seem the sale came form a customer or have it appear that I am purchasing it myself.

JC and Peggy, sounds pretty high .20 cents per image plus 3-4% commission per sale.

Kathy, I just click on the pillow image from here, and 'save as' to my computer, and upload to Etsy from that. It works - unless they have gone and changed something again ... hmmm.... I will have to try another one to be sure when I get home.
I don't have nearly as much there as I do here. I quit adding anything last year for awhile, just letting items expire, but then I rethought it and I'm hanging on for a little longer. We'll see.

Marilyn how do you even start adding uploads to Etsy, I don't see anywhere to begin.

James - You purchase here under your own name and ship to their address as you would not be able to set up an acct. in a purchaser's name.

James

Neither.

I have an account I use for drop shipping. It is my account but NOT my primary account.

Yes Etsy is expensive! With the number of listings that I have on there I spent a little over $600 last year, but then again my sales gross was over 10K. Still beats a brick & mortar gallery anytime. I print 90% of the sales myself. The extra large sizes (36" to 40" wide) I have printed at other Pro Labs including FAA, and have drop shipped.

If I had your level of success on there 600 per would be a great deal.

I have a shop on Etsy... for almost a year. No sales just a ton of views. https://www.etsy.com/shop/FeffersPhotography?ref=pr_shop_more
I also sell on Ebay and have done ok there. It just takes time and I am new and learning the ways. Good luck :)

Kathy, I just tried to post another pillow, and although Etsy gave the item an '!' and suggested that I upload a larger size, I didn't. I carried through with the listing and it was accepted, without changing anything.
Randy Pollard, you have to go into Etsy itself and begin a listing there, and you'll see where. I copy the photo of the pillow from here ('Save As ...), save it to my computer pictures folder, and then I go into Etsy, start a listing, go to 'Add a photo' and upload the picture of the pillow from my computer file. (Sorry I didn't answer until now - I was at work). Hope that helps.
Randall Nyhoff - your photos are gorgeous. I have watched you on both Etsy and here for a few years now, and congratulations on your well-deserved success! That is impressive.

@JC, renewing to pop up higher in search doesn't work anymore. They've completely changed search, the main homepage, your personal homepage, how the listings are done....and more...most of the changes I do not like, a couple I do. Bottom line is I get some sales there with Etsy buyers finding my stuff through etsy's internal search...which is not really happened here with the 'search' formula for faa.

So, even though I do not like some of the recent changes, if I'm getting sales, I will be staying. The more sales I start to get, the lower the percentage of cost will be, since part of the cost is the listing fees. My sales are improving there too, also listing more items...and my work is much better than when I started and thank you faa forums for 'your' contribution to that ;) I've learned bunches and try to put it to good use....and it's slowly working.

If you do the match (if I did it right) Randy's approximate cost in etsy fees are 6% or less. Mine are currently 30%, however as my sales increase, the cost % will decrease. 30% may sound high but what would I be paying Upfront if I was having to stock a B&M plus pay a commission? Plus schlepping stuff to one. Not going to do that yet.

I have been on Etsy since August 1, 2014 with very little in the way of sales. I had listed a few cards and a few giclee prints that I had on hand but most were original paintings. I have had thousands of views and favourites but ... I have also done a ton of promoting. I am almost ready to quit when my listings are totally up in May. I've just joined FAA about six weeks ago and now read that it is possible to link to FAA for reproductions and shipping. How do I do that? I may have goofed because just today I put a link on to Etsy to FAA - not sure if they allow that. Any guidance would be most appreciated. Thank you.

I've read some articles about people not happy about Etsy because it is selling mass produced products. And that goes against the business model that was based on selling art made by hand.

I think, if another company keeps it simple and just sell handmade stuff Etsy won't be able to compete with Alibaba (which is where a lot of the products it sells comes from).

I still don't understand how drop shipping is put up on Etsy. I am such a rookie at this any help would be most appreciated.
Yes, I hear that many people are not overly happy with Etsy these days as they move more and more away from handcrafted items. What I also hear is that people say they stay because Etsy is so big attracting so many people.

The comments about displeased Etsy people prompted me to google "handmade art and crafts sold on line". One that came up is called Art Fire http://www.artfire.com/. Does anyone have knowledge/experience of/with this site?

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com

Louise, you would just set up an Etsy shop as you normally would, putting up listings as you would for anything else you might sell through Etsy.

When somebody orders something from your Etsy shop, you place the order through FAA or any printer you choose, and have them send the item to the Etsy customer. That's called drop shipping.

One important part of this process that nobody's mentioned so far here is that you must apply to Etsy for an outside manufacturer if you plan on having a printer fulfill your orders. It's free to apply for outside manufacturers and you can apply for more than one...like say you wanted to sell prints that would be printed at one lab but you wanted to also sell throw pillows that are printed somewhere else.

So if you want to fulfill potential orders through FAA, you would need to fill out an outside manufacturer's application on Etsy and list FAA as the manufacturer.

Thank you Peggy. Okay so have the Etsy shop with listings. I will apply for the outside manufacturer. What I still don't get is how a purchaser places the order. Is that under custom orders?

Hi Louise,
When you get a sale through Etsy, and you want to fulfill that order through FAA or elsewhere, you would place the order using your own account. You would fill out the address form with the customer's address if you want drop shipping. Does that help?

And yes, Etsy has changed the way it works now and many people are unhappy with the change. For now I am keeping my toe in, but I am still on the fence about it in many ways.