The jury is still out on my experience running my first sale at the Crafty Princess Etsy Shop since I set it up for the month of August and we still have a few more days left in the month, but so far, I hesitate to say it has been an overwhelming success. I have made sales this month, six sales actually, so that is something. However, who is to say I wouldn’t have made these sales any way without running my shipping for a buck sale? From what I’ve read on the Etsy forums, most Etsians claim that sales are never worth it. However, I sure see a lot of other Etsy shops running sales, so I figured why not give it a try.

I listed my very first item for sale in my shop (some stone beads) on June 15, 2008. More than two months later, I’m still learning the ropes and trying to figure out what will sell, how much to charge, how much to cover shipping/handling, so as I suspected, it really is a continuing learning process. Because I don’t have time to dedicate a lot of energy to it, I’m probably learning at a much slower pace than if I was actively listing daily, being more involved in the Etsy world, and generally spending time promoting my store, but I’m okay with that. I am learning, and I am selling items now and then. Both are good things.

Therefore, I’m still a fan of Etsy, as both a seller and buyer. Just be aware that if you decide to dip your own toe into the Etsy sales pool, it really isn’t that different than any other type of selling venue: it takes time, work, and patience.