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This isn't really a problem with Etsy dropshippers, handmade goods simply cannot compete with mass-produced goods as you can't scale your time. Without scale yo

This isn't really a problem with Etsy dropshippers, handmade goods simply cannot compete with mass-produced goods as you can't scale your time. Without scale you need magnitude, people must be willing to pay you for a piece of work much more than it cost you to make it, and you must do so consistently. My suggestion is to put a few example woodworks you've done on your spare time for sale with no expectation of making any money from them, and then offer to make custom handmade designs for people. You can charge a lot more for those and you are basically guaranteed a sale for the time you spend on each one. The rest comes down to marketing, I have a print-on-demand shop with my own designs with 0 sales. I mostly use it as a way to leave a mark somewhere of things I've made that didn't involve coding. Burnout does that to you. Losing 20 cents for each design I make, but hey, I enjoy it.

gilleain 4y ago
Heh, I do this too - create stuff, put it on Etsy and watch the 0 sales just roll in. I also see it as a way to show the world that I make stuff, dammit, and not just type code into an IDE! :)
xwdv 4y ago
Yes, this is a common thing to think of e-commerce sites like Etsy as a sort of social network page where you post stuff but maybe have no intention on making any sales, it’s just another way to display your hobby.
zeruch 4y ago
This is the reason I haven't started putting my original artwork on Etsy. I make a small amount annually with JIT art prints from Society6 and RedBubble (I used to do DeviantArt as well, but since their AI debacle, I've got a moratorium on that option). Originals cost much more than prints (my stuff is priced between 100-10,000 USD depending on size and complexity) and mostly come via work of mouth commission. I want to market, but the time commit seems onerous, and I like it not being "work" (that's what the day job is for)

gilleain 4y ago

Heh, I do this too - create stuff, put it on Etsy and watch the 0 sales just roll in. I also see it as a way to show the world that I make stuff, dammit, and not just type code into an IDE! :)

xwdv 4y ago

Yes, this is a common thing to think of e-commerce sites like Etsy as a sort of social network page where you post stuff but maybe have no intention on making any sales, it’s just another way to display your hobby.

zeruch 4y ago

This is the reason I haven't started putting my original artwork on Etsy. I make a small amount annually with JIT art prints from Society6 and RedBubble (I used to do DeviantArt as well, but since their AI debacle, I've got a moratorium on that option). Originals cost much more than prints (my stuff is priced between 100-10,000 USD depending on size and complexity) and mostly come via work of mouth commission. I want to market, but the time commit seems onerous, and I like it not being "work" (that's what the day job is for)