It’s not you. It’s me… and sometimes you.
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Etsy.
So I’ve set my shop to “on holiday” and decided not to open again for a couple of months.
After almost a year of selling my creations on Etsy I’ve learned a couple of things and had to accept some hard truths.
So, here are the top 5 reasons why I’m taking a break from Etsy:
1. Finding my niche
Easier said than done.
I am the type of person who wants to do everything and anything! Which isn’t always a bad thing but it does make my shop very confusing!
I started by selling my embroidery hoops on Etsy. I still sell my hoops and do commissions, but I found it difficult to keep up the momentum selling hoops. They are very time consuming and don’t usually sell for what they’re actually worth.
When masks became a necessity in the UK I started making reusable cotton ones in cute fabrics. These sold so well, but I didn’t feel passionate about making them.
So I dabbled in making stickers and loved it! But had no idea what I was doing and struggled to find a style or theme in my art.
Finally, I started making banners for my Christmas collection. They were super popular on Instagram but weren’t getting the same love on my Etsy.
So I’m using this break to fine-tune my products.
2. Improving my product photography
Ugh, my weakest area!
Unfortunately as a single person small business you have to fill every job role. Designer, production, social media manager, accounting and photographer.
Product photography is an area that stresses me out, but it’s so important.
Luckily, there are so many places that I can learn how to improve my product photography and make my style more consistent. I’m also incredibly lucky that my sister is an amazing photographer and can get some tips and tricks from her!
3. Scrapping what doesn’t sell
One of the harsh realities of running an Etsy shop is you find that some products just do not sell. No matter how much you promote, change up the photography, rewrite the description and pull out every trick in the book. Sometimes you have to accept that the product might need to be pulled from Etsy.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again or never make that thing again!
I will be 100% taking all my pulled products to a craft fair when they’re up and running again!
The reason why I’m pulling my unpopular products is because Etsy takes a listing fee which renews every few months. When you have a lot of items listed on your Etsy that aren’t selling it all adds up!
4. Creating new products
Creating new products takes time and a lot of effort. I needed to take some of the pressure off myself to be able to design and offer products that I think people will like.
After almost a year I’ve started noticing patterns of what sells when, what I need to expect around holidays and the types of people that visit my shop.
This shop holiday is going to free up some of my time so that I’m able to put my energy into creating products that I’m proud of.
5. Taking a breather
There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes. No matter how big or small the Etsy shop is, there is a person giving their all to keep the shop open.
This doesn’t stop at Etsy! I use Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to promote my products.
And, to be honest with you, it’s exhausting!
That’s one of the reasons why I created this blog. I feel like my brain is all over the place!
I’m self-employed and have multiple income sources: ESL Teaching, Proofreading and Etsy.
Currently, these all feel so disconnected, even though they all stem from my love of words, stories and creating.
So I needed a breather, a couple of months to regroup and reassess what I want Wild Fable Designs to be, what I want it to represent and what I want to share. And if I even want it to be Wild Fable Designs at all!
To sum it all up…
I’m excited to see what my little Etsy shop becomes. When I opened my shop I thought the name and branding was the most important thing! I overthought it massively. Honestly, none of that really matters! It’s the community you build and what beautiful product you can offer to the world!
That’s the main thing I’ve learned over the past year. People buy from people they like. So, I’m going to make my brand more authentically me; create products that I can offer expertise on, and interconnect my multi-hyphen roles to help organise my tangled mind (if that’s even possible).
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