Changing Things Up!

 This is kind of a crafting post, and kind of a writing post. Well, it's a selling books and crafted items post.

As you may know I've had an Etsy account for many years. I started making and selling jewelry about five years ago now. At first I did well enough on Etsy to make up for the failing book sales and to keep going. I was able to fund book projects with craft sales. But, over the years Etsy has drifted away from their handmade and vintage roots and became a mecca for drop shippers and people who buy wholesale stuff from aliexpress and temu then pass those things off as handcrafted. Then with the implementing of high fee structures and forced participation in their ads, it killed the the market for handcrafted goods. 

Okay, to clarify the forced participation in ads comment. Larger volume sellers were given no choice to opt out on the ads. I am not a large volume seller and I do have the option to opt out. I do opt out. I opt out because the ad structure is not viable for inexpensive items. The structure allows you to set a daily dollar limit on your items, per item. You are charged per click each day until you reach your limit. Even if you do not make a sale. Unlike Ebay who has a fairly decent ad structure of a percentage of your choice and you only pay the fee when the item is sold through the ad click. I tried the Etsy ad on two items for one week and owed more money in clicks per item by the end of the week than I was asking for the item with not nary a sale to be had on either. And, if you do not participate in their ads, your items are suppressed. I chose not to participate. My sales died.

Before I move on to the next topic, I'd like to address book ads on Amazon. I tried that too. For two days. Seemed okay at the time I set up the ad. I'd do 2 dollars a day on one book just to see how it goes. I never saw anything that said how they charge that 2 dollars. I guess I assumed that like Etsy they had a billing process for the ads and I'd pay at the end of the month. But no, they took the 2 bucks directly out of my checking account the following day. I don't have the money to pay a daily fee for ads. I wish I did, but if I had the money to pay for ads, then what do I need the ad for? So that's why I don't do ads on Amazon. And that's why I don't know how to push my books anymore. But... that's not what I want to talk about today. I thought I'd add that to the ad structure conversation.

I think if you have to use ads or promotions then the Ebay structure is probably the best I've dealt with. I like that I set the percentage. I have all of my items set to 2%. If the item is sold through an ad, then the 2% comes out of the purchase price with the other fees. I sell a few items a month with it. I sell more without it, and I don't pay for any clicks, if the sale is not through the ad. It doesn't cost Ebay anything to promote the item and I'm happy to let them have a bit more if that item was found through an ad. It is what it is.

So, with sales damn near dead on Etsy, and the only sales I'm getting are coming from my own social media, what little there is, then why am I still on there? I have a small ton of things I've made that I haven't listed because I can't afford to keep listing items that never sell. Twenty cents per item to list doesn't seem like much but that's 2 bucks for every ten, 4 for every 20 and so on. If I decide to bite the bullet and list, because you can't make money if you don't spend money, I end up just spending money. 10 or 15 bucks in list fees and if I get one sale that month Etsy takes it all in fees.

This is not sustainable. It's actually insane. I don't mind paying the listing fee. If I could reach Etsy buyers without resorting to my own social media then sure fine. If I could make more than I owe, then awesome. But without the ads, the listings aren't featured in search. Without search no one finds. I pay list fees or ads.... and the circle keeps on turning.

I've wanted to list my crafts on my own website for a long time. Again, money. I can't afford a dedicated website right now. That's why I let mercy dot com go.

Why yes, my posts are usually all about money, and the lack of it, Mercy is a pen name. I have always been about sales. I'm selling you books. I failed at that. But that's how you found me. No, you didn't sign up for all the rest of it. And believe me, if you aren't comfortable supporting a for profit author, I completely understand. This is and always has been about paying my bills and feeding my family. Feel free to find another blog to read.

For those that stay...You get the bat shit crazy for free....Ain't you lucky!

So, what was I talking about?

Oh, yeah, selling crafts and books and where and how and all the shit that's happened over the years to make this harder...

I have a Ko-Fi account. I've had it for years too. I've used it to ask for help when money is super tight. It's a donation page. But it's also a page for creatives to share their work. Kinda like a non-subscription Patreon. Sort of. But, they have a shop feature. I can put my stuff up there and the fees are less than Etsy. If the only sales I'm getting are from my own social media then why am I still at Etsy. So, after hours of trying to figure out why the first item wasn't showing, I got my new shop open.

Right now there are only two items in it. The paperback of The 51st Thursday, and the ebook of 51. I'm still undecided if I'm going to offer the ebooks, I wanted to see how it went with the one. But I'm going to start with all of my leftover paperback books, signed of course, so if you want one that's been out of print for a long time, you might be in luck. Then I'm going to start adding my crafts. I have a rubbermaid tote full of bowl cozies and book sleeves that I need to go to new homes. Than I'll add the jewelry as I go through it and see what condition it's all in. 

I have other crafts. Sublimation (we'll talk about that in a future post) tumblers and mugs et al. Stickers and book marks. And other fabric items. 

So, about my Etsy. I'm not closing it just yet. I have paid for those listings there, and when they run out I don't plan to list there again. I'm also going to list items on Ebay for international shipping if that's something that would interest anyone. 

And, if you'd like something made custom, I'll have a link for that too. If it's in my skill set, I will work with you. Or if you'd really just like to "buy me a coffee" that would be nice too, and thank you.

So, that's it for tonight. I'm going to post my K0-Fi Link below. All of my links to Etsy, Ebay, Payhip, Poshmark, etc. are in my link tree which you can find on the About Me page in the menu above.

Talk later, and as always...

Peace,

Mercy

Ko-Fi