Sign in
Courtesy navigation
Blog posts tagged etsy
Starting up on a very tight budget
March 11, 2010
I’d often dreamed of becoming my own boss but I lacked the start up capital to take such a huge financial risk so it stayed a dream. It wasn’t until I was on maternity leave that I realised I didn’t want to leave my son with someone else while I went out to work but I resigned myself to the fact that this was how it was going to be.
Then a week before I was due back to work I was made redundant. I was devastated. I was relying on the income after months of unpaid leave and I needed to start earning money again. The recession was in full swing, there was a lack of local jobs and I still wanted to stay at home with my son.
After a while I started thinking this was my opportunity to finally start a business. By this point I’d had some success sewing toys and shoes for my baby and had managed to get a few custom orders. At first I thought this was great but I soon realised the baby shoes were too time consuming to make which meant I wouldn’t make a profit. For years I had been fully immersed in the online handmade community and while I was researching other business possibilities I realised there was a gap in the market to help others in this area. I was seeing so many creative people trying to sell their handmade goods but not having much luck purely due to the fact that they didn’t know the best way to market themselves. With my past experience working in advertising, marketing and promotions and my first class degree in Design and Management I knew I could help.
But I had no money. I knew my target market was international and because my niche was crafters I knew where to find them. I joined Etsy, a handmade marketplace for small businesses. On Etsy you list items for sale under a shop front which you can design yourself. Etsy allows you to sell non-handmade items as long as you are providing a finished item which in my case is marketing and PR plans.
Start up costs
I set up my shop on Etsy for free. I designed a banner, logo and illustrations to list my products under. Listing was 20 cents an item and I listed 4 items to start with. I actually didn’t have to pay anything upfront as the bill for these listings would be due a month later.
Marketing on a budget
Despite not having much money I was able to utilise the internet to market myself for free. I use Twitter and Facebook to interact with other entrepreneurs and forums to chat with potential customers.
I set up a free blog with marketing tips and I decided early on to feature inspirational businesses in a series called Creativity Speaks! This helped to gain readers whilst becoming a resource for creative businesses.
Within a few weeks I had my first clients. One in Canada and the other in Singapore. Due to my low overheads, almost overnight I had a profitable international business.
I now spend my days playing with Lego, finger painting, exploring in parks and collecting things for our nature table. When my son naps I catch up on emails, when he goes to bed for the night I complete marketing plans. Being made redundant was the best thing that ever happened to me. Just don’t tell my old employers that!
My top tips when starting up on a budget:
- Use the internet. It costs very little to open a shop on Etsy, Folksy or other hosted marketplace solution. Even self-hosted websites are low cost these days which means low risk.
- Use social networking. It is free to use Twitter and Facebook to market your business. They are great for making connections and meeting other like minded people.
- Do as much as you can yourself. I designed everything myself from logo to banner and taught myself how to alter free blog templates using XHTML and CSS (I Googled!). It can be time consuming but it is worth it for a professional look.
Isa Maria Seminega, Noisette Marketing
Alternative Online Marketplaces
January 20, 2010
Whilst eBay and Amazon are still the undoubted Goliaths of the online marketplace world, some smaller marketplaces have quietly been doing pretty well. Selling on these marketplaces can help retailers to reach more customers and increase sales.
Play.com (PlayTrade)
Play.com is the fourth biggest online retailing site in the UK (ranked by visits) after eBay, Amazon and Argos. Play is strongest in media categories (i.e. music, books, DVDs) but in total sells across 12 categories including clothing, electronics and tickets. Play is predominately a UK based site with a small US presence which sells DVDs only (playusa.com).
PlayTrade is Play.com’s fixed-price marketplace. It works in a very similar way to Amazon with retailers adding offers to existing Play.com catalogue items and paying a commission on sales (15 per cent). PlayTrade products can be sold across all Play categories in either new or used condition. All products on Play, including marketplace products, are offered with free shipping, so this must be factored into the price.
PixPlace (Pixmania.com)
Again modelled very much on the Amazon model, PixPlace is the online marketplace run by Pixmania.com. Pixmania is an online retailer owned by the Dixons group which sells across 26 different European countries. The background of Pixmania is in digital cameras and so the platform is particularly strong in this area. PixPlace allows sellers to sell across all of its 11 categories in either new or used condition and charges 15 per cent commission.
PriceMinister
PriceMinister is the second biggest eCommerce site in France and has recently opened up a UK site (www.priceminister.co.uk). Like Pixmania the platform is pan-European and available to residents from 18 European countries and territories. Unlike Play and Pixmania, PriceMinister does not sell any of its own products with all products sold by individual and business sellers. Most items on the site are at a fixed price - although sellers can opt to accept offers - and can be in new or used condition. Listing an item is free of charge but naturally there is a commission on sales.
Etsy
Launched in 2005, Etsy is a fixed price marketplace for handmade items which must be made by the seller. Vintage items and craft supplies are also allowed. This is a niche which is not well served by eBay and not at all by Amazon. As might be expected from a craft and design-focused site the site’s design and usability is great and there is a vibrant community of artisans.
On Etsy, commission listing fees are very low (3.5 per cent) and there is a nominal $0.20 to list an item for four months. On the downside the service is very US-centric
Abebooks
Abebooks is an online marketplace specifically for books, both new and used. The service is open only to professional sellers and has a presence in seven countries. Booksellers pay a monthly fee dependent the number of listings and a sales commission of 8 per cent (plus card a processing fee of 3.5% - 5.5%)
Alibris
On Alibris, professional or individual sellers can sell books, music and films either in new or used condition. The service has US and UK sites but also allows international sales. Like Amazon, Alibris has is own stock alongside which it allows third party sales. Sales commision is 15 per cent and there is also a monthly fixed fee dependent on the number of listings
MyShoppingBank
MyShoppingBank is a fixed-price marketplace previously known as eDirectory. The site charges a commission on each sale and a fairly hefty annual fee (several hundred pounds). All products are sold at a fixed price and the platform is only open to professional sellers. MyShoppingBank differentiates itself from the other marketplaces by offering cashback, sharing some of its commission with its users.
Other Marketplaces
- eBid (www.ebid.net). An auction site with a presence in 18 countries.
- CQout (www.cqout.com). Online auction site with a UK and Irish presence.
- Specialist Auctions (www.specialistauctions.com). A collectables focused auction site.
- Toymart (www.toymart.com). A specialist toy auctions site.
- Wigix. (www.wigix.com). Catalogue based fixed price marketplace.
- Aroxo (www.aroxo.com) Reverse auction marketplace
Trevor Ginn runs the online baby store Hello Baby and is a consultant at Vendlab. He blogs at www.trevorginn.com and you can follow him on twitter @trevorginn
Starting a new business - free advice, tools and resources | Start Up Donut
Copyright © 2009-2012
