I've had my Etsy store for a little over a year now. I started out doing beads-on-a-string, and this year has been mostly about exploring new styles and concepts. Even now, I don't consider myself to have a distinct 'style'-- I like silver, I love brass, and I'm starting to explore my lust for the super-shiny with my luxury jewels collection. On any given day I'm not working on a set commission, I set out my nine boxes of glittery bits and wait for the right pieces to catch my attention. And then I set to work. My little hobby has grown into a full-on 20-hour-a-week part-time job. Which is exciting in and of itself. So, where do I go from here?
Etsy is clogged with many, many wonderful jewelry makers. There are two main downsides to this-- the first of which is that it's so easy to look homogenized if you're not pushing for innovation. A lot of sellers have a style that I would define as elegant and classic, selling many time-honored pieces. This is by no means a bad thing, but it leads to downside #2-- price competition. Pricing is something I've really struggled with. Early on in my shop, I undervalued my work because I was a newb. Even as my skills grew with hours and hours of practice, I found it hard to value that work appropriately-- with so many sellers who view themselves as hobbyists, underpricing is very common and it's hard to find a market that values the work at what it's worth. When I buy things for myself, I do my best to buy from sellers who know the value of their own work, because I don't want to contribute to what basically amounts to jewelry undercutting. I would rather save up for something special, because then it matters a little more. I can't tell you how many times on a daily basis I open Etsy and see a piece and think "that price doesn't cover the materials, let alone the production time, the photographing time, the copywriting time, the uploading fee and the etsy fees and the paypal fees... do they know how frakking much topaz costs?!" Because wow, does it ever add up quick.
And if you want to turn even a modest profit, you have to charge a little more, but not too much, or you're going to get undersold by a copycat. It wasn't until very recently that I started making a little bit of money on my shop. All of the money I got went straight into buying better-quality packaging, tools, and supplies. The transition from base metal and glass to fine metals and gems takes a lot of time and patience. Now I work to support my other hobbies-- the proceeds from the shop cover dance workshops, for instance. That's nice. I have a fulfilling pursuit that supports other fulfilling pursuits.
But pricing remains an issue for me because frankly, my clientèle isn't comprised of the super-rich who spend money like water. My clientèle tends to be women, 20 - 45, who don't always have the money to splurge on luxury items. They have school bills. They have kids. They have medical bills. They have a budget and they're living in an economy that sucks. So when they do make the choice to spend that mad money on something of mine-- it's really touching. It's one of the reasons I reserve on request and do my best to make custom orders as reasonable as I can. I have a firm belief that every woman should have a piece of jewelry that is special to her, and if I can make that happen, I will. So I try to mix up my more expensive stuff with affordable stuff for a little variety. In a way, I think my little-bit-of-this, little-bit-of-that helps despite being a disaster as far as branding is concerned.
Anyhow, I'm also looking at ways to improve my shop. My photography's come a long way, but it has a long way to go, still. I'd like to start photographing in natural light, as I have a hard time capturing the luminescence of the stones. The kyanite & apatite necklace, for instance, looks way darker than it is in person despite my trying to color-correct. The stones are actually a quite lovely smoky, vibrant blue. And next time: lots more earrings. Those babies sell like hotcakes, so give 'em what they want.
Today, I search for blue sapphire. My coworker's getting married soon and wants sapphire briolette necklaces for her bridesmaids. Exciting!
Etsy is clogged with many, many wonderful jewelry makers. There are two main downsides to this-- the first of which is that it's so easy to look homogenized if you're not pushing for innovation. A lot of sellers have a style that I would define as elegant and classic, selling many time-honored pieces. This is by no means a bad thing, but it leads to downside #2-- price competition. Pricing is something I've really struggled with. Early on in my shop, I undervalued my work because I was a newb. Even as my skills grew with hours and hours of practice, I found it hard to value that work appropriately-- with so many sellers who view themselves as hobbyists, underpricing is very common and it's hard to find a market that values the work at what it's worth. When I buy things for myself, I do my best to buy from sellers who know the value of their own work, because I don't want to contribute to what basically amounts to jewelry undercutting. I would rather save up for something special, because then it matters a little more. I can't tell you how many times on a daily basis I open Etsy and see a piece and think "that price doesn't cover the materials, let alone the production time, the photographing time, the copywriting time, the uploading fee and the etsy fees and the paypal fees... do they know how frakking much topaz costs?!" Because wow, does it ever add up quick.
And if you want to turn even a modest profit, you have to charge a little more, but not too much, or you're going to get undersold by a copycat. It wasn't until very recently that I started making a little bit of money on my shop. All of the money I got went straight into buying better-quality packaging, tools, and supplies. The transition from base metal and glass to fine metals and gems takes a lot of time and patience. Now I work to support my other hobbies-- the proceeds from the shop cover dance workshops, for instance. That's nice. I have a fulfilling pursuit that supports other fulfilling pursuits.
But pricing remains an issue for me because frankly, my clientèle isn't comprised of the super-rich who spend money like water. My clientèle tends to be women, 20 - 45, who don't always have the money to splurge on luxury items. They have school bills. They have kids. They have medical bills. They have a budget and they're living in an economy that sucks. So when they do make the choice to spend that mad money on something of mine-- it's really touching. It's one of the reasons I reserve on request and do my best to make custom orders as reasonable as I can. I have a firm belief that every woman should have a piece of jewelry that is special to her, and if I can make that happen, I will. So I try to mix up my more expensive stuff with affordable stuff for a little variety. In a way, I think my little-bit-of-this, little-bit-of-that helps despite being a disaster as far as branding is concerned.
Anyhow, I'm also looking at ways to improve my shop. My photography's come a long way, but it has a long way to go, still. I'd like to start photographing in natural light, as I have a hard time capturing the luminescence of the stones. The kyanite & apatite necklace, for instance, looks way darker than it is in person despite my trying to color-correct. The stones are actually a quite lovely smoky, vibrant blue. And next time: lots more earrings. Those babies sell like hotcakes, so give 'em what they want.
Today, I search for blue sapphire. My coworker's getting married soon and wants sapphire briolette necklaces for her bridesmaids. Exciting!
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