Saturday, November 13, 2010
Online marketing of art - Etsy?
Last year my website got a total makeover since I had a bunch of brand new prints to offer fresh from my exhibitions. I also set up an account with PayPal so that those interested in purchasing prints could have the option to buy directly through my site.
Unfortunately one thing I hadn't counted on was visibility of my website. Since I haven't yet found a paid host site to promote me visits by guests to my website have been lacklustre to say the least.
The question is how can one reach a broader market and become visible without having to break the bank?
This topic came up a while back in the printmaking forum at WetCanvas. One site kept coming up in the conversations, that being Etsy which is a site dedicated to hand crafted items. Several printmakers have marketed their prints in this site and appear to have found some success reaching buyers.
After much deliberation I decided it was time to bite the bullet and test the waters so I joined up. So...I now have a store (page) in Etsy under the name of Borealart.
The terms are pretty reasonable actually, I pay $0.20 cents an item for it to be listed for a 4 month period. If an item sells then Etsy take a 3.5 % commission on the sale. Fees are deducted at the end of the every month and since I am set up with PayPal the amount owing to both Etsy and myself can be processed using this option.
I have a couple of local shops who sell my work but one of them takes a hefty 40% commission on sales. I don't like to overprice my work and want to offer a fair market value. However if you apply the cost of framing to this after the commission of 40% is taken it doesn't leave me with much, sometimes less than what the unframed print is valued at. So not making any profit makes me wonder why I am even selling there. The tradeoff is this place gets a lot of traffic and many seeking inexpensive works of art.
Perhaps Etsy might be a better alternative, however I am approaching this with cautious optimism since there are a lot of listings in Etsy, not only by hundreds of talented artists but also other types of crafts and such. This means a visitor to the site is somewhat overwhelmed with choices. A listing I can put in can find itself buried on the twelth page within a few hours depending on the number of items being renewed or listed by other artists in the same genre that particular day. I think the secret is to list a new item every few days as these will appear top of the list for a while. Hey any chance is better than nothing. Clicking on the listing also allows visitor access to view every other item that is being displayed in my store page.
A seller also may choose an option to pay an additional fee of $7 per day if they want to be prominently featured in the main page. I have chosen not to go that route due to the expense factor. Sure, perhaps it might bring more attention to my page but hopefully if someone discovers my offerings in the great list of printmaking or whatever the work will speak for itself?
I plan to provide a link from my own website to the Etsy store as most of the items I will be listing in Etsy are recent smaller less expensive work. I also produce reproduction notecards of my paintings and photos so this may be a good avenue to market these.
Below is a detail from my page.
Labels:
Etsy,
online marketing
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Etsy is great. I sell my ceramic work there at:
ReplyDeletehttp://shyrabbit.etsy.com
and I just opened an Etsy shop for my printmaking at:
http://dmichaelcoffeeprints.etsy.com
Give it time and think about joining a printmaking team like Printsy, the cross promotion is a big help. Good luck.
Michael
Thanks for the tip Michael
ReplyDeleteyour printmaking and ceramic works are outstanding!
Printsy...my friend Amie (Ploverwing) from BC often provides links to posts in that site from her blog.
I will have to take more of an indepth look.
Hi Brian - I've been on Etsy for a year. It took several months before I got my first sale - and that was from my sister! It's been very slow because it's so difficult to stand out there amongst thousands of sellers. That's been my biggest concern about Etsy, but I'm going to stick with it. I have my work in a few shops and I've been doing more shows lately, which has proven to be much more profitable than Etsy. However, it's also very time-consuming and difficult to do with a day job.
ReplyDeleteI've just upgraded to a business Paypal account so I can now add it to my website. But like you, I'm concerned about visibility. I would agree with Michael about joining Printsy (I haven't yet, but I should really talk to Amie about it). We need all the help we can get to stand out from the crowd on Etsy. Your work is wonderful - I hope it turns out to be a good venue for you.
best,
Roxanne (aka greengal & tuckamore design)
thanks for the vote of confidence Roxanne re: my work
ReplyDeleteI imagine Etsy is all about having a lot of patience and hoping that the right person comes along who sees and desires one of our works right?
By the way your work is awesome. I have one of those little embossed prints you did from last years WetCanvas Christmas card exchange.
Printsy is a great resource from what I discovered.
Hallo Brian, ditto ditto! Have also opened the etsy shop but things are moving slowly too! I think like you that it will probably be a good home for cards and less expensive work to start with. Was interested to read tips for Printsy will try that! Good Luck ! We will have to compare notes in a few months time !
ReplyDeleteI found Brian's work on etsy. I am very glad that you set up shop there, Brian, or I wouldn't have seen your beautiful creations!
ReplyDeleteAs an etsy consumer (not an artist), I know that I like hand-pulled prints, so I do searches for those. Then I go through artist after artist looking for things I like. When I find something, I mark it as a favorite. Then I check out the rest of that artist's work. This is how I found Brian, as well as Viza Arlington (VIZart)and Alina Gridley (atlantisprints). Now that I've completed my first round of purchases, I am saving up for round two.
I find the printsy blog extremely helpful since, besides relying on my own taste, I like to know what an artist's peers think of their work. Now that I've discovered printsy I don't have to wade through as much garbage before I find the good stuff.
I have limited funds, so I am thrilled to be able to afford so many of the things on etsy. Poor people want beautiful things, too! If I could, though, I would gladly pay more to keep you wonderful artists in business. Thanks to you all for sharing your gifts with us ungifted ones:)