Miss Fickle (aka Shannon LeVart) is Riding The Etsy Wave And Doing Quite Well For Herself:
Back on July 2, 2008 I posted a chart showing the tremendous success Etsy has had over the last few years. Today I am providing an updated version of that chart. It seems to show that the Etsy community is doing a pretty good job of ignoring the current recession, as the overall curve is still showing a substantial growth trend.
That’s great news for all of us who make handmade goods, jewelry and polymer clay beads. In fact, one of the regular readers here at blog, just recently celebrated her 4000th sale at her Etsy Shop. Shannon LeVart is her name, but you will probably remember her better as MissFickleMedia.
Not only has Miss Fickle crossed the 4000 milestone for completed sales (btw – she celebrated by baking cupcakes with her kids – very fun)… she has also has succeeded in attracted over 5573 people to favorite her Etsy Shop. It’s not surprising that she has a 100% positive feedback rating. Way to go Shannon!!! Keep up the great work! You are an inspiration to us all!
Here’s some of the reasons why I think missficklemedia is doing so well on Etsy:
- Her brand is memorable. It’s hard to forget a name like MissFickleMedia.
- Her designs are simple, cool looking and very wearable.
- Her workmanship is impeccable. She sands, buffs, polishes and often coats her pieces with resin.
- Her prices are good. Not too low and not too high.
- She has a wide selection of items ranging from $2 to $300 with a good portion at about $10 – $15.
- She has tons of products listed. At the time of this post there were 230 items for sale.
- She provides good close up photographs of her pieces.
- Her listing titles are cute and descriptive.
- Her descriptions are clear, easy to understand and friendly.
- Her shipping costs are very reasonable.
- She blogs regularly and promotes her Etsy store in her blog.
- She visits and comments on others blogs (like this one) and has a sweet friendly way about her.
Hopefully you can apply some of these success points to your situation. For more information about Etsy, here’s a list of articles you can read:
- Etsy Market Boom is a Boon to Handmade Polymer Clay Jewelry Sellers
- Bird Pendant Jewelry Trends on Etsy – Make Them with Polymer Clay
- Another Bird Necklace Pendant | Etsy Tips For Your Jewelry Business
- Pricing Jewelry Focal Beads on Etsy – Tips for Polymer Clay Artists
I’m curious as to how many of you have already set up an Etsy Shop or Store? If you haven’t, is it something in your plans? Please share your thoughts below.
I have an Etsy shop but didn’t sell much so I quit putting things on it. Haven’t closed it completely yet.
That’s too bad Freda. Maybe if you take a look at missfickles site and the list of things that make her site successful, you may be able to find some things you could tweak in your shop to make it work for you. Sometimes its only a few minor things that make all the difference in the world. Good luck, I hope things get better for your store!
I have an Etsy store at www.naamaza.etsy.com
i found this post very helpful
thank you Cindy
Naama
I have been listing on etsy for about a little less than a year now. It is slow going but I know that is partly my own fault. I have sold about 10 pieces through my site. I just bought a new camera so I am retaking the pictures in my store. I have recently started blogging too. So I am trying to get myself out there more. I have been handing out business cards as well. Oh and my hubby bought me a digital key chain so I can upload pics of my work and carry it around with me!
@Naama: Thanks! I’m glad it was helpful for you! Your work is so beautiful. You deserve to get tons of business to come your way!
@Deborah: Your work is lovely, so with some tweaking of your store and your products you will find success. Have you thought about making your figurines onto something functional like bookends, lamps, light pulls or even drawer pulls? They are so sweet looking and would be wonderful in a babies room. Your corseted hearts are cool too and may be of interest to the steampunk crowd. Could add steampunk to your title and see if it works. Your prices could be a little too low too. You don’t want people thinking the quality isn’t there. Try testing different prices to see what works best for you. Great idea for putting photos of your work on a key chain! Continue doing what you’re doing and you will have great success!
Cindy, this is such a wonderful post, I was really touched.
It is because of talented people like you who take the time to teach us and continue to explore that I have been able to grow as an artist and professional crafter.
Thank you!
You are very welcome Shannon it was my pleasure! It is exciting to write about a success story when much of the talk is of doom and gloom during this current recession that we are in! Keep up the great work!
Love etsy.com and am so glad so many of you profile your art work there. So much fun to see!
Also like their newsletters. Always have to stop whatever I am doing and look at them whenever they pop up in the email in-box.