First off, I just want to say that I LOVE Etsy! We wouldn't have a brand if it weren't for Etsy, because this platform is what gave us the ability to market when we had no idea what that even meant.
We started out with a website on VistaPrint. We had no idea what SEO was. No idea about branding. No idea about marketing period. We didn't have any sales, either. Then we found Etsy, and had a sale in our first three weeks (I have no idea how, our pictures were so horrible!). We have since then had well over 1000 sales, and we're 2.5 years into this. I guess, it'll be three years in May.
We've TRIED other marketplace venues. They don't work. There simply isn't the kind of traffic anywhere else that Etsy has. We do sell a BIT on Ebay, but that is at discounted prices, and the fees are outrageous. We don't sell there currently.
Recently, we discovered Shopify. Now, I am picking up on the fact that most people are under the impression that Shopify is simply a plug-in for facebook. That is not the case (though Shopify does have an app that does this). Shopify is an amazing, marvellous platform that allows you to build a 100% professional website with no knowledge of coding whatsoever. I've SEEN other places that promise this, and the results are...welllll....less than satisfactory (to me). I see nice websites. Beautiful websites. And I want one like that. With a slider (oh, yes! A bee-yoo-ti-ful slider!). Shopify has allowed me to get that look that I want.
Ok, now yes, I wouldn't have been very successful using Shopify 3 years ago, because our photos were so bad that no matter what platform they were on they would have looked awful. Thats not the case anymore, and the combination of awesome templates and good photos, plus a little playing around with theme settings, has ended up producing a super professional website for $40.00 per month. That sounds like a lot, I know. But if you look into having a professional build your site, it will all of a sudden sound affordable. And what I'm about to say will prove that it IS!
Do you know something? We have been blown away. Why? Because all of a sudden, people who visit our website instead of our Etsy are spending DOUBLE what the average buyer on Etsy is spending. While most of our orders on Etsy range from $25-$80...our website orders are often well over $200! Many of them are over $300-$400. People are buying into our brand more when they visit our website. People are feeling that we are reputable. That we are professional. That we definitely make the most awesome kitchenware ever. And they come off their pocketbook (I hate that word!).
I think it's sort of crazy, but we've been observing and tracking this for months now. We are more successfully branding on our website that we can possible do on our Etsy shop, and it is so obvious that this translates directly into sales. So, the old adage "you have to spend money to make money" is true.
I'd like to hear some other viewpoints from people who have both site and etsy shop...and I'm also very happy to try and answer questions about Shopify, if anyone has them :-)
Hooray!
-Loran
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