Setting Up an Etsy Store is Easy!

Napa Vineyard - Original California Impressionistic Landscape

I recently opened an Etsy store as a new adventure into marketing my work. Etsy is an amazing site that provides a free store to any artist looking for an easy way to set up his or her own shop. I literally had completed establishing my Etsy site within minutes, and after a couple of hours, I had uploaded artworks and listed them for sale with descriptions, shipping information and prices.

Etsy is a huge online market dedicated to the sale of hand-made or vintage products. There is no charge for owning or creating a shop. Artists pay a 20 cent fee for each item when it is listed, and this fee allows for the listing to remain active for 4 months. When an item is sold, a 3.5% sales fee is paid to Etsy. This has got to be the best deal in world!

My store has been up since early July, and I've been adding items and refining my listings based on research I've conducted. It turns out there are some really successful businesses that have been launched through Etsy with folks quitting their day jobs after finding amazing success online through their Etsy stores. I have studied other Artists' shops to identify those that have high volume sales, trying to find a formula I might use to optimize my own shop.

I'm impressed by the professional quality of many of the sites. Product photo's are very important as that is typically what will draw in potential customers as they browse the huge catalog of items available. I've worked hard on my own photo's to make sure they are clear and accurate. The color accuracy is really important, since customers are going to make decisions about purchasing my paintings, for instance, based on the online images, and I don't want any surprises when a customer opens the delivered package at home only to find what they're holding in their hands is not at all what they saw online.

I'm finding I'm needing to learn more about how searches work on Google and Etsy, since product descriptions will determine whether anyone even finds my listings among the amazing amount of art available. Each item I list includes up to 14 tags that search engines will use to help customers find my items. My shop description is also important. It's important to use words that accurately describe what I'm offering, and to consider how shoppers might search for items like mine. I have to think like a Googler!

Four Bowls - Limited Edition

Price point is core to attracting customers. The challenge is to find the sweet spot for price that is fair compensation for my time, effort, training, and talent, and is attractive from the perspective of the client. While I personally lean toward lowering my prices to generate sales, that approach can actually counteract the intentions, as price does project a psychological affect on perception of value. In other words, if one under-prices something, it may be perceived to be of lower quality and not worth even the lower price. On the other hand, one doesn't want to over price an item as that can turn sales away as well. There's a sweet spot where value to the customer and compensation to the artist is balanced, and business prospers.

I'm very excited about offering limited edition prints of some of the original paintings I've listed. While many collectors would prefer an original work of art, a reproduction of an original is an affordable option for those who maybe can't afford the original but would still like to own the image. I've discovered that technology today allows an artist to produce beautiful reproductions that are accurate, archival and of museum quality at a very affordable price. The result is a collectible print that will retain it's original quality up to 200 years in normal conditions. Giclee prints can be produced on heavy, archival paper and even on canvas. It is now possible to make available to the collector affordable images that are remarkable representations of the original in color and detail, and this at a fraction of the cost of an original work of art.

Much of my time lately has been occupied with listing items from my current inventory and researching and refining my shop. I'm learning that if I want to earn an income as an artist, I must not neglect the business side of art. I am becoming a shop-keeper, a marketer, and a self-promoter, and thank goodness Etsy provides the tools to make the business end as easy as it could be.

It's time for me to get back to work producing art. I hope to complete a few more pieces over the next couple of weeks and get them listed in my store.

If you're interested in opening you own Etsy store, get started now.