Excellent video and very truthful. Etsy has virtually destroyed themselves with print on demand, drop shippers, and stuff not hand-made from China. Etsy is inly interested in getting more and more money. They have let its sellers down, and now we are leaving. I just add a few products now and virtually ignore my shop now. And fees are going up and up.
Thank you! It's sad to see how its changed over the years. I haven't met too many people who are very happy on it. I do hope that some real artists are making a livelihood on it but I fear there's not many.
2022 was part of the Covid affect on sales and buying on the internet. I noticed the same issue. This past year I started selling at craft markets. The sales income is better and personally I like meeting the people buying my items.
That's a good point, I hadn't thought about the covid bounce, I'd imagine that did have an impact. It's good to hear that in person markets are working for you (I may need to get over my introversion 😹)
My dad was a wood carver and rarely sold them. He would give away. I crochet and sold a few things only to have people not that happy. I too now give things away and amazing how happy people are with free !
Aw sorry that you had that experience, distance selling is hard. Just like the internet in general people can be meaner when they are behind a screen. 💔 glad you do have folks who appreciate your hard work and craft.
It hurts to hear the disappointment in your voice when you recount the effort and love you put into making and packaging your products. I'm so sorry etsy has let you down. I hope that you may reconsider and open an online shop on your own since it sounded like such a nice experience for you. You pointed out how you had a niche, cat themes, and you mildly abandoned it for etsy, I really hope you can get back to that, I think you'll find more sales that way. Either way, best of luck to you. I'm currently where you were when you 1st started, I lost my orange baby in March and am losing myself in my crafts, its good to see someone going through the same thing going on so strong. Thank you for sharing. Sorry this was so long!
I'm so sorry for your loss, the grief can be so consuming ❤ crafting made a huge difference for me, keeping busy and relaxed at the same time! Hope craft is offering you moments of peace ❤ Yeah Etsy definitely steered me more towards non cat themed makes. If I were to try again I think I would focus more on being unique and sticking to the cat theme 😊😻
Thank you for making this video! I've had a hard relationship with etsy for several years, and have gotten increasingly disappointed with the way they are running the company and I am looking at other platforms to sell on with little success. I sell physical items and I feel like it's very difficult to get your items seen by people unless you spend a lot of money promoting not only on etsy but also on social media.
Totally agree! I even tried paying for advertisements on Etsy but it didn't make any difference. I think I might have tried harder if it were a positive place, but everyone is so disheartened by it all.
@@jacksyarn don't give up. I did really well this 4th quarter. I optimized my crochet listings and actually made Best Sellers. Think like your customers, what keywords and tags are they entering to help find you.
I really appreciate hearing your thoughts and experiences with Etsy as a very new seller on there (of physical products from Norway, so GPSR catches me also). Thank you for sharing with us
You're welcome ❤ The EU are supposed to be releasing guidelines soon for micro businesses and small businesses, so I'm hopeful there's going to be more information in that. Etsy have said it will likely be the end of February before they have a shipping option to exclude Northern Ireland from the UK. How are you finding Etsy?
@@jacksyarn For me Etsy has been ok so far. They withheld revenue from sales for a long time in the beginning, but I wrote that up to being safe for scams from new shops so it didn't bother me too much. What does bother me is that it seems like Etsy doesn't care even the tiniest little bit about its sellers and would never stand up for any of us. Like the Smiley thing. I wish Etsy was much more active in at least helping to organise the sellers, recommend legal representation and not close whole stores based on something so silly. So I do feel that I can't base everything on Etsy, I have to find other sales channels as well since a future there seems almost to be random whether it works out or not.
Yes very true that they don't support sellers. It does kind of feel that you are on your own trying to stay within all the guidelines, having fear of trademark strikes, AI bots and malicious buyers using the purchase protection program to get instant refunds. It's been a lot for sellers!
Good to see a video from you! Etsy sounds like a tough place to be at the moment. It must have been a hard decision to make. Your packaging is adorable and I felt for you talking about missing packaging the items you sold as you put so much care into them. You could wrap Christmas gifts with it, it would be lovely. Did you enjoy the embroidery class that you mentioned in your last video?
Oh what a good idea to use the packaging for Christmas presents! Oh yeah I loved the embroidery class, it was great fun, and I made a good start on an embroidered ogham piece. I used a little tote bag as that was the only material I had to hand 😂 But I feel like you need good eyesight for embroidery, more than you do with crochet, so I'm only working on it during the day!!! (Doesn't help I'm using black thread!)
Excellent take on Etsy at the moment ..I started selling on Etsy in 2021 and can definitely see the same patterns your talking about here… so sorry to hear about your little ginger baby your packaging with the paws and everything is such a cute little tribute ❤
Started selling crochet on Etsy also in 2022! I can tell you’re from Ireland (I am). I’ve had the same issues, basically no organic traffic whatsoever! I haven’t seen my sales decrease but, increase but, I get all my traffic from advertising on social media. There’s just too much Temu crochet on Etsy to compete with. They’re similar to some of my products but like half the price which is so annoying! I started selling on Amazon handmade in February and it went really well! My sales were probably double what I got on Etsy even though I did no advertising for my Amazon handmade. I also started selling in handmade gift shops! I’m in 2 lovable small gift shops currently and, it’d great! I constantly sell out and I’ve made way more money from them compared to Etsy. In 2025 my goal is to get into more gift shops and get monetised on RUclips! I want to make more tutorial videos but also sell the digital pattern on my Etsy and promote it.
Oh wow, well done on your shops success! That's awesome! ☘️ Is Amazon handmade a separate website (now I sound old 😂) Temu is so cheap, it was only a matter of time until stuff from there started popping up on Etsy. It's such a shame.
@ Thanks so much! Amazon handmade is on the Amazon website but there’s a like badge that says handmade on your listing. The thing is it’s much stricter than Etsy. You have to send pictures and videos of your handmade process and they have to review and approve your shop. Temu resellers who claim to be handmade are so annoying and Etsy is full of them!
Sales during the shut down gave us an unrealistic estimate of what we could make. Of course like previous commenters said, print on demand, drop shipping etc we can’t compete.
This is true, I was somewhat aware of the boost in online selling but hadn't thought it until someone mentioned here in the comments. My first year was probably the end of that lockdown boost.
I used to sell on Etsy for 8 years, and one of my gig items was crochet willy warmers which I had great fun making and sold as soon as I listed them! Then came the hammer down; Etsy demanded free shipping... It was clear; either I provide free shipping, or my items would not be visible..... I closed my account and took all my shop down. That was 3 years ago, and I would never sell anything on that platform again.
You are 100% spot on. Everything you said is 100% truth. I actually made the same decision for the exact same reason. We are artist not corporate employees without the health benefits. I'm not here for your corporate portfolio. AI is freaking everywhere and they run these chop shops that are running the margins pushing out artist. I think the sadist thing in this saga is that people are obviously buying this crap which feeds the corporate mindset. Which is push out the competition with cheap trinkets and work the margins for profit. This happen to me in the furniture business. Flood the market with cheap goods and control the prices and work the margins for profit. Rinse and repeat. They did in 2008 and we bailed them out. They are about to do it to us again with the AI junk that still to this day sucks at spell check.
Partly subscribing because I love the accent :) and I also agree! I've been on Etsy since 2015 and so much has changed. I'm hoping to start my own site in 2025. Best of luck to you!
😁 amazing 🍀 Oh I've heard lots of folks say that having your own website is the way to go. I think if you can generate the traffic it's a much safer bet, as you have control over it all.
Hi thanks for checking it out, I've paused sales on all my patterns as it appears that patterns might also fall under the GPSR I mention in the video. I only found that out after filming. I'm hoping to get more information about how I can list my patterns without breaking any laws! 😬
Worth a mention is that Folksy is actively trying to help people understand GPSR and trying to find ways to help sellers deal with it. They have a page with a bullet point list of stuff we need to understand, and steps they've taken to help (which includes separating NI from UK and EU for postage lol) It's defo worth giving Folksy a look, and I won't say no to an Etsy competitor.
Oh yeah, I forget about Folksy! I opened a shop there in 2014 but never sold anything! But they do seem to be more proactive with supporting sellers. ❤
Thank you for this video. I crochet mainly baby things but that too has become very saturated. I tried an Etsy shop but didn't sell anything, so I sold off most of my stock on vinted and now I'm just making what I want too
Yeah, I think there's a lot of us who are doing the same. Its too difficukt to make money. I'm looking forward to using my energy for Craftivism and charity crochet in the new year.
Yeah feels like it’s commercialized. I haven’t sold on Etsy but used to sell collectibles on eBay when I acquired a bunch of things from my uncle when he passed. It seems like all drop ship items over there too. I’m not selling anything these days bit still watching and keeping as up to date as I can. I hope your local sales go well!!
Aw that's a shame. I have heard from a few people who have said that online sales on all platforms have slowed a lot this year. (Except Amazon of course!)
I think ETSY knew exactly what was going on and what would happen but did not do anything in advance because the new rules could easily be predicted as having a chilling effect on new shops opening and to be the straw on the camel's back that would make a lot of shop owners just close their shops.
Good point!!! It's definitely going to have a big impact on the EU market. So many people are closing their shops or putting on holiday mode; there'll be a big drop in sales on Etsy this December!
@jacksyarn "Where to go to next?" is the question🤣..Amazon has taken over and as you rightfully said.. on other platforms many competitors undersell so how can we possibly get around this?🤣🌷
I understand your concerns with Etsy and why you want to quit your physical sales. You should keep trying! With Etsy, you really need to find your niche product(s) to be successful. This is easier said then done. I have a shop and it is doing well (not a huge amount sales, but steadily going up), but it did take some time to find something people wanted to buy from me. It started out in one direction with fair isle knitting and ended up going in more of a sewing direction with products for knitters and crocheters. I also find different products sell well on Etsy as opposed to in person at markets. My knitted hats and mittens sell way better in person. The thing that frustrates me about the platform is the lack of personal support if you have a problem or issue and all the fees (particularly Offsite Ads). I do feel my reach is way better with Etsy than without and it is an easy platform to use.
That sounds great! I'm glad to hear that genuine makers are selling well on Etsy. Gives us all hope! Supplies for the makers is a good way to go on Etsy, because most of us sellers are also buyers. I definitely didn't niche down, if I were to try again I would have a good think about what is unique to me as well as what is in demand.
Yes.The feeling of a heartfelt item we made ourselves against sellers that just mass produce something without the effort and love and just want money is overwhelming at times. Everyone making the same thing, but mine is made with more effort and has a better result than some similar ones I see. I have been tempted to quit. Etsy is turning into an ai generated fakery, no one really knows what they are buying, and to almost guarantee you buy from genuine seller....costs a huge fee
It's so disheartening isn't it?! Especially when you see shops selling mass produced stuff doing really well. Some days I had zero views and shops filled with stolen patterns had Etsy saying '20 sold in the last 24 hours'. I really hope they turn it around but they'll need to invest a lot more in human staff to get to the bottom of it all, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. ☹
It's every seller on Etsy. The views are down by 50-60% across the board (it hasn't bottomed out yet) because Etsy oversaturated their platform with shops. And they ruined the brand. There are only so many seconds in a day and the spin cycle gets longer. Even conversion rate has nothing to do with it. Nothing anyone can do can overcome that. It appears Etsy was a cash grab and/or corporate raid because the business is tanking. No one can work for free so one has to decrease the labor to match the revenue. I wish you the best.
Yeah it's feeling like a downward spiral. It would be better if they could invest in the long term, hire more staff to help manage all the scam shops and support the good sellers ❤
@@jacksyarn I don't know that I see it changing because new shops are what increases their revenue and they went from 2 million to over 7 million shops in a very short time. I used to have the exact time frame, I think it was from 2021 to the end of 2023. I think the shops to buyers ratio was way overestimated. That's a huge influx of shops which they saw coming but nobody else did. That's why I called it a cash grab. You'd almost think the goal was to tank Etsy. They made the shareholders happy.
I’m in the US, but selling online is hard. Etsy doesn’t care about actual handmade sellers anymore, so they’re out. All other platforms require so much time and promotion. I’m horrible at promotion and social media, so that is a me problem for sure. I’m working on doing more in person markets this year because it’s fun, I’m better at it, I don’t rely on this income to live (it just helps), and the customer isn’t just a faceless username on the screen.
Yeah I've been think that in person selling would be better for sure. I just have be more extroverted 😹😂 I agree, there's no other way to view it, Etsy as a company care about profits, not sellers or buyer 😔
@ - I am so introverted, so I take my BFF with me to craft fairs as my emotional support human. When she’s unable to come, I definitely struggle internally, but treat it like a stage show and I’m just acting in a public theater. Then crash out hard after the event.
The one time I ordered on Etsy it turned out to be an item from China and took a month to arrive. I was shocked because I thought Etsy was handmade and small businesses. Seeing all these videos I realise Etsy is not what it advertises itself as.
I use to sell crochet on Etsy and I agree that the market is saturated. The fees are ridiculous. However, I wouldn't give up selling. Not if it's something you enjoy. You can use your channel to sell your items. If you create a Shopfiy store or a website, you can direct people to go there. I can spread the word about you and your patterns through my blog, it's very small right now. But it's still free advertising. You can reach out with a link to your Ravlery account. I'll do a small interview and you will be up on the blog. Every little bit helps. Times are tough, so you may need an extra income. I'd keep working on it. Good luck.
Oh that's incredibly generous of you ❤ I've paused sales on my patterns until I get feedback about whether I can sell them, as some in UK have been told that they will also fall under the GPSR, but others have been told that they won't. 🤞 we get an update soon and I can make more decisions about next steps. Everyone is motivating me to consider other selling opportunities, and I'm definitely going to look into some in person markets in my area. ❤
@jacksyarn I also heard that digital products, such as patterns, will fall under the new regulations. I've digged a bit more into the regulations and they're not as scary as they're portrayed to be but they are very annoying. I think that it will impact many small businesses in the EU. A lot of sellers from across the pond will stop selling to us, because who would bother with having an EU representative (except for big corporations who already are prepared for it) 🙄 As Polish people say, they poured the baby out with bath water 😔
@@wigglytailscreations Totally the baby out with the bath water! I get the reason, items should be safe! And there's been a huge influx of unsafe, poor quality items on the market, but it feels like the small businesses are the ones paying the price for it 😔 Hopefully digital items won't be included but at this stage who knows!!
Hi, I've been selling on Etsy since 2013 & have stuck it out because I'm basically stubborn & b) there isn't an alternative platform imo. I'd LOVE to find someone who is willing to be a responsible person in NI/EU to enable me to keep selling there, but theres no way I can afford the prices I've seen quoted. What we small makers need is a buddy up scheme where small makers in the UK pair up & help other small makers in NI/EU countries, like twinning with shared dropboxes for necessary files. I'm sure it can be done! This GPSR stipulation of having to have a rep hurts so many small businesses, but micro businesses are going iunder because of it & that simlpy is not fair. Its only a matter of time before the UK follow suit I'm sure, so I for one would buddy up in a heartbeat..
I was so tempted to do this with friends in the EU, but I watched a video by Pam Duthie, she mentioned that the EU representative will be legally responsible if anything did happen. Scary! 😯 She doesn't recommend using anyone other than official company/business. So I don't know. It's all very confusing, and we're still waiting for updates from the EU for small businesses.
@@jacksyarn Hi thanks so much for replying. Yeah I watched Pams video too. I personally think the liklihood of anything untoward happening regarding safety is incredibly slim, if you're 100% on top of your game product safety wise. I would take the risk personally & find this necessity to have someone based in the EU punitive toward small & micro businesses. I make soaps as well as other non cosmetic, (soaps are classified as cosmetics btw) things, like crochet wash cloths. UK soapmakers have already had a post Brexit moritorium on selling in the EU imposed upon us which came into effect in 2021. Prior to Brexit, we could sell soaps to NI & EU countries, but small businesses were effectively kicked out as the new dictat expected us to not only have a responsible person based in the EU, but buy in new per product safety assessments, (any reputable soapmaker would already asassessments, but apparently we're expected to buy them over again for the EU), as well as purchase EU based insurance to be able to sell there. It's hard to see GPSR and the EU cosmetics regs for UK sellers as anything other than protectionism masquerading as safety legislation. It favours big business who can shoulder the burden, but does nothing to help small businesses. To be honest it all makes me furious. Of course we care about safety, but we also care about ensuring micro and small businesses are able to flourish and grow and this, as the saying goes, 'aint that'.
I haven’t started selling anything yet and my business is still very much at a “newborn” level, but I saw so many other crochet businesses selling on Etsy so I thought I should sell there too. Sadly I’ve only been hearing negative things about the platform, stuff like fees and AI, etc. Would you have any alternatives of Etsy? I was thinking of maybe using Shopify? Maybe Facebook Marketplace?
It's a difficult time, but I would say don't be discouraged about Etsy. There are some sellers on there who do really well, it all depends on your business, your products, your audience outside Etsy, loads of factors which mean some people can do really well. For Etsy info and advice I would say you should check out Starla Moore, Pam Duthie & ERank RUclips channels, lots of good advice. I think most platforms will have problems, Shopify you need to direct all the traffic yourself, and FB Marketplace can be good for local sales but is also overrun with scammers :(
I'm sad to see you leave the platform. I would love to help your store for free just to see you have a little bit more success because I think your designs are amazing.
aw that's really kind of you to say! I think for now I'm okay with leaving Etsy behind. There are other creative projects that I'm going to switch my attention to for now. :)
@jacksyarn Okay well I wish you the best. I am also against how Etsy treats sellers but I look at it as just a way to build an audience just like RUclips. As much as I am against these large companies, they have the audience. I do respect your decision though.
It sounds like it's not only Etsy that's really against the small artist, but the EU as well. They want to make laws so that only a large company has the legal team to handle all the possible issues.
Yeah they've completely overlooked small creators with this law. It's such a shame. I understand what they're aiming for, safety, but it's been implemented all wrong.
I quit Etsy too. Did print on demand clothing for a year. I sold 350 items but these taxes and new laws made me bankrupt. Eventually i didnt make any profit. I instead lost 700$ doing this business.
GPSR is a small business killer, sadly. It also includes bricks and mortar shops who sell to the EU and NI. Were supposed to provide safety information in written form in the language of the person who buys an item from us! I sell vintage items on ebay and etsy and it makes no sense in terms of the items i sell. For example, for a 1980's mug i need to provide a name and contact details for the manufacturer, even if they no longer exist and the contact details for a company in the EU who will vouch for the item....no sense and may mean the end to my 20 years selling on ebay, and 8 years selling on etsy.
Oh wow! I hadn't even thought about vintage or second hand items, how could you known where and when it was created!!! Its a great idea to ensure people have safe products but I'm not sure they thought about all the practicalities. Sorry to hear it's going to have such a negative impact on your business.
the underselling ones were porably drop shippers there are machines that do fake crochet now its a relatively new technology that machines couldn't do crochet so less sellers and for a stable price
I’d like to make 1 clarification. The Ai isn’t going after copyright stuff. Only the person who holds the IP can make a claim about that sorta thing, not Etsy themselves. The ai is looking for images that are known to be used in fake or mass produced items that are consistently coming up. It’s our jobs as Etsy sellers to take our own pictures and create images ourselves. That’s the whole point of Etsy and hand made items. Not just use all the same mock up images. It shows a lack of quality and care in the items which is why Etsy is trying to remove them, and rightfully so.
Good catch, yes, the AI is not looking for copyright stuff! And I don't really have an issue with copyright things being taken down personally. I just feel for the few sellers who have had their beautiful photos stolen and put up on these reselling sites, then to find themselves in trouble on Etsy, when they are the victims in the first place. But to be fair, they are a small number compared with the very large number of resellers. It'll be good as a buyer to see more print on demand products in real life with real photos.
I see Etsy has put my whopping $3 in reserve because the item was flat so I sent it without tracking. Nooooooooo, will I starve? Will my power be shut off? How will I live without those three dollars for the next 90 days??!!😂😂😂😂😂😂
Aw hopefully my patterns will be available again in the future, I just need to be sure I'm selling them legally. I do have some free patterns on my website which is jacksyarn . co . uk
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Excellent video and very truthful. Etsy has virtually destroyed themselves with print on demand, drop shippers, and stuff not hand-made from China. Etsy is inly interested in getting more and more money. They have let its sellers down, and now we are leaving. I just add a few products now and virtually ignore my shop now. And fees are going up and up.
Thank you! It's sad to see how its changed over the years. I haven't met too many people who are very happy on it. I do hope that some real artists are making a livelihood on it but I fear there's not many.
2022 was part of the Covid affect on sales and buying on the internet. I noticed the same issue. This past year I started selling at craft markets. The sales income is better and personally I like meeting the people buying my items.
That's a good point, I hadn't thought about the covid bounce, I'd imagine that did have an impact. It's good to hear that in person markets are working for you (I may need to get over my introversion 😹)
My dad was a wood carver and rarely sold them. He would give away. I crochet and sold a few things only to have people not that happy. I too now give things away and amazing how happy people are with free !
Aw sorry that you had that experience, distance selling is hard. Just like the internet in general people can be meaner when they are behind a screen. 💔 glad you do have folks who appreciate your hard work and craft.
It hurts to hear the disappointment in your voice when you recount the effort and love you put into making and packaging your products. I'm so sorry etsy has let you down. I hope that you may reconsider and open an online shop on your own since it sounded like such a nice experience for you. You pointed out how you had a niche, cat themes, and you mildly abandoned it for etsy, I really hope you can get back to that, I think you'll find more sales that way. Either way, best of luck to you. I'm currently where you were when you 1st started, I lost my orange baby in March and am losing myself in my crafts, its good to see someone going through the same thing going on so strong. Thank you for sharing. Sorry this was so long!
I'm so sorry for your loss, the grief can be so consuming ❤ crafting made a huge difference for me, keeping busy and relaxed at the same time! Hope craft is offering you moments of peace ❤
Yeah Etsy definitely steered me more towards non cat themed makes. If I were to try again I think I would focus more on being unique and sticking to the cat theme 😊😻
@jacksyarn if you do, I wish you the best of luck and hope you update us all on it!
Thank you for making this video! I've had a hard relationship with etsy for several years, and have gotten increasingly disappointed with the way they are running the company and I am looking at other platforms to sell on with little success. I sell physical items and I feel like it's very difficult to get your items seen by people unless you spend a lot of money promoting not only on etsy but also on social media.
Totally agree! I even tried paying for advertisements on Etsy but it didn't make any difference. I think I might have tried harder if it were a positive place, but everyone is so disheartened by it all.
I have had the very same experience and totally agree!
@@jacksyarn don't give up. I did really well this 4th quarter. I optimized my crochet listings and actually made Best Sellers. Think like your customers, what keywords and tags are they entering to help find you.
I really appreciate hearing your thoughts and experiences with Etsy as a very new seller on there (of physical products from Norway, so GPSR catches me also). Thank you for sharing with us
You're welcome ❤ The EU are supposed to be releasing guidelines soon for micro businesses and small businesses, so I'm hopeful there's going to be more information in that. Etsy have said it will likely be the end of February before they have a shipping option to exclude Northern Ireland from the UK. How are you finding Etsy?
@@jacksyarn For me Etsy has been ok so far. They withheld revenue from sales for a long time in the beginning, but I wrote that up to being safe for scams from new shops so it didn't bother me too much. What does bother me is that it seems like Etsy doesn't care even the tiniest little bit about its sellers and would never stand up for any of us. Like the Smiley thing. I wish Etsy was much more active in at least helping to organise the sellers, recommend legal representation and not close whole stores based on something so silly. So I do feel that I can't base everything on Etsy, I have to find other sales channels as well since a future there seems almost to be random whether it works out or not.
Yes very true that they don't support sellers. It does kind of feel that you are on your own trying to stay within all the guidelines, having fear of trademark strikes, AI bots and malicious buyers using the purchase protection program to get instant refunds. It's been a lot for sellers!
Good to see a video from you! Etsy sounds like a tough place to be at the moment. It must have been a hard decision to make. Your packaging is adorable and I felt for you talking about missing packaging the items you sold as you put so much care into them. You could wrap Christmas gifts with it, it would be lovely. Did you enjoy the embroidery class that you mentioned in your last video?
Oh what a good idea to use the packaging for Christmas presents! Oh yeah I loved the embroidery class, it was great fun, and I made a good start on an embroidered ogham piece. I used a little tote bag as that was the only material I had to hand 😂 But I feel like you need good eyesight for embroidery, more than you do with crochet, so I'm only working on it during the day!!! (Doesn't help I'm using black thread!)
Excellent take on Etsy at the moment ..I started selling on Etsy in 2021 and can definitely see the same patterns your talking about here… so sorry to hear about your little ginger baby your packaging with the paws and everything is such a cute little tribute ❤
Aww thank you! I think if I ever sell in person at markets, I'll use this same packaging 😻
@ you definitely should x
Started selling crochet on Etsy also in 2022! I can tell you’re from Ireland (I am). I’ve had the same issues, basically no organic traffic whatsoever! I haven’t seen my sales decrease but, increase but, I get all my traffic from advertising on social media. There’s just too much Temu crochet on Etsy to compete with. They’re similar to some of my products but like half the price which is so annoying! I started selling on Amazon handmade in February and it went really well! My sales were probably double what I got on Etsy even though I did no advertising for my Amazon handmade. I also started selling in handmade gift shops! I’m in 2 lovable small gift shops currently and, it’d great! I constantly sell out and I’ve made way more money from them compared to Etsy. In 2025 my goal is to get into more gift shops and get monetised on RUclips! I want to make more tutorial videos but also sell the digital pattern on my Etsy and promote it.
Oh wow, well done on your shops success! That's awesome! ☘️ Is Amazon handmade a separate website (now I sound old 😂)
Temu is so cheap, it was only a matter of time until stuff from there started popping up on Etsy. It's such a shame.
@ Thanks so much! Amazon handmade is on the Amazon website but there’s a like badge that says handmade on your listing. The thing is it’s much stricter than Etsy. You have to send pictures and videos of your handmade process and they have to review and approve your shop. Temu resellers who claim to be handmade are so annoying and Etsy is full of them!
Sales during the shut down gave us an unrealistic estimate of what we could make. Of course like previous commenters said, print on demand, drop shipping etc we can’t compete.
This is true, I was somewhat aware of the boost in online selling but hadn't thought it until someone mentioned here in the comments. My first year was probably the end of that lockdown boost.
I used to sell on Etsy for 8 years, and one of my gig items was crochet willy warmers which I had great fun making and sold as soon as I listed them! Then came the hammer down; Etsy demanded free shipping... It was clear; either I provide free shipping, or my items would not be visible..... I closed my account and took all my shop down. That was 3 years ago, and I would never sell anything on that platform again.
The free shipping thing is wild!! They haven't really put that pressure on UK sellers.
You are 100% spot on. Everything you said is 100% truth. I actually made the same decision for the exact same reason. We are artist not corporate employees without the health benefits. I'm not here for your corporate portfolio. AI is freaking everywhere and they run these chop shops that are running the margins pushing out artist. I think the sadist thing in this saga is that people are obviously buying this crap which feeds the corporate mindset. Which is push out the competition with cheap trinkets and work the margins for profit. This happen to me in the furniture business. Flood the market with cheap goods and control the prices and work the margins for profit. Rinse and repeat. They did in 2008 and we bailed them out. They are about to do it to us again with the AI junk that still to this day sucks at spell check.
Yeah I feel bad for customers getting cheap rubbish, especially even paying artisan prices for it! Sadly I don't see it changing any time soon.
@@jacksyarn Nope neither do.
Partly subscribing because I love the accent :) and I also agree! I've been on Etsy since 2015 and so much has changed. I'm hoping to start my own site in 2025. Best of luck to you!
😁 amazing 🍀 Oh I've heard lots of folks say that having your own website is the way to go. I think if you can generate the traffic it's a much safer bet, as you have control over it all.
Went to your etsy shop to see patterns but there is nothing there
Hi thanks for checking it out, I've paused sales on all my patterns as it appears that patterns might also fall under the GPSR I mention in the video. I only found that out after filming. I'm hoping to get more information about how I can list my patterns without breaking any laws! 😬
Worth a mention is that Folksy is actively trying to help people understand GPSR and trying to find ways to help sellers deal with it. They have a page with a bullet point list of stuff we need to understand, and steps they've taken to help (which includes separating NI from UK and EU for postage lol)
It's defo worth giving Folksy a look, and I won't say no to an Etsy competitor.
Oh yeah, I forget about Folksy! I opened a shop there in 2014 but never sold anything! But they do seem to be more proactive with supporting sellers. ❤
Thank you for this video. I crochet mainly baby things but that too has become very saturated. I tried an Etsy shop but didn't sell anything, so I sold off most of my stock on vinted and now I'm just making what I want too
Yeah, I think there's a lot of us who are doing the same. Its too difficukt to make money. I'm looking forward to using my energy for Craftivism and charity crochet in the new year.
Yeah feels like it’s commercialized. I haven’t sold on Etsy but used to sell collectibles on eBay when I acquired a bunch of things from my uncle when he passed. It seems like all drop ship items over there too. I’m not selling anything these days bit still watching and keeping as up to date as I can. I hope your local sales go well!!
Aw that's a shame. I have heard from a few people who have said that online sales on all platforms have slowed a lot this year. (Except Amazon of course!)
I think ETSY knew exactly what was going on and what would happen but did not do anything in advance because the new rules could easily be predicted as having a chilling effect on new shops opening and to be the straw on the camel's back that would make a lot of shop owners just close their shops.
Good point!!! It's definitely going to have a big impact on the EU market. So many people are closing their shops or putting on holiday mode; there'll be a big drop in sales on Etsy this December!
I totally feel your pain because I tried mighty hard and share all of your same thoughts and eventually gave up..
It's so disappointing!
@jacksyarn "Where to go to next?" is the question🤣..Amazon has taken over and as you rightfully said.. on other platforms many competitors undersell so how can we possibly get around this?🤣🌷
I understand your concerns with Etsy and why you want to quit your physical sales. You should keep trying! With Etsy, you really need to find your niche product(s) to be successful. This is easier said then done. I have a shop and it is doing well (not a huge amount sales, but steadily going up), but it did take some time to find something people wanted to buy from me. It started out in one direction with fair isle knitting and ended up going in more of a sewing direction with products for knitters and crocheters. I also find different products sell well on Etsy as opposed to in person at markets. My knitted hats and mittens sell way better in person. The thing that frustrates me about the platform is the lack of personal support if you have a problem or issue and all the fees (particularly Offsite Ads). I do feel my reach is way better with Etsy than without and it is an easy platform to use.
That sounds great! I'm glad to hear that genuine makers are selling well on Etsy. Gives us all hope!
Supplies for the makers is a good way to go on Etsy, because most of us sellers are also buyers. I definitely didn't niche down, if I were to try again I would have a good think about what is unique to me as well as what is in demand.
Yes.The feeling of a heartfelt item we made ourselves against sellers that just mass produce something without the effort and love and just want money is overwhelming at times. Everyone making the same thing, but mine is made with more effort and has a better result than some similar ones I see. I have been tempted to quit. Etsy is turning into an ai generated fakery, no one really knows what they are buying, and to almost guarantee you buy from genuine seller....costs a huge fee
It's so disheartening isn't it?! Especially when you see shops selling mass produced stuff doing really well. Some days I had zero views and shops filled with stolen patterns had Etsy saying '20 sold in the last 24 hours'. I really hope they turn it around but they'll need to invest a lot more in human staff to get to the bottom of it all, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. ☹
Sell your patterns. It's wild. If you do, I wish you a good adventure !
It's every seller on Etsy. The views are down by 50-60% across the board (it hasn't bottomed out yet) because Etsy oversaturated their platform with shops. And they ruined the brand. There are only so many seconds in a day and the spin cycle gets longer. Even conversion rate has nothing to do with it. Nothing anyone can do can overcome that. It appears Etsy was a cash grab and/or corporate raid because the business is tanking. No one can work for free so one has to decrease the labor to match the revenue. I wish you the best.
Yeah it's feeling like a downward spiral. It would be better if they could invest in the long term, hire more staff to help manage all the scam shops and support the good sellers ❤
@@jacksyarn I don't know that I see it changing because new shops are what increases their revenue and they went from 2 million to over 7 million shops in a very short time. I used to have the exact time frame, I think it was from 2021 to the end of 2023. I think the shops to buyers ratio was way overestimated. That's a huge influx of shops which they saw coming but nobody else did. That's why I called it a cash grab. You'd almost think the goal was to tank Etsy. They made the shareholders happy.
I’m in the US, but selling online is hard. Etsy doesn’t care about actual handmade sellers anymore, so they’re out.
All other platforms require so much time and promotion. I’m horrible at promotion and social media, so that is a me problem for sure.
I’m working on doing more in person markets this year because it’s fun, I’m better at it, I don’t rely on this income to live (it just helps), and the customer isn’t just a faceless username on the screen.
Yeah I've been think that in person selling would be better for sure. I just have be more extroverted 😹😂 I agree, there's no other way to view it, Etsy as a company care about profits, not sellers or buyer 😔
@ - I am so introverted, so I take my BFF with me to craft fairs as my emotional support human. When she’s unable to come, I definitely struggle internally, but treat it like a stage show and I’m just acting in a public theater. Then crash out hard after the event.
The one time I ordered on Etsy it turned out to be an item from China and took a month to arrive. I was shocked because I thought Etsy was handmade and small businesses. Seeing all these videos I realise Etsy is not what it advertises itself as.
Sorry that happened to you, it's very disappointing. Hopefully Etsy will turn it around at some point!
I use to sell crochet on Etsy and I agree that the market is saturated. The fees are ridiculous. However, I wouldn't give up selling. Not if it's something you enjoy. You can use your channel to sell your items. If you create a Shopfiy store or a website, you can direct people to go there. I can spread the word about you and your patterns through my blog, it's very small right now. But it's still free advertising. You can reach out with a link to your Ravlery account. I'll do a small interview and you will be up on the blog. Every little bit helps. Times are tough, so you may need an extra income. I'd keep working on it. Good luck.
Oh that's incredibly generous of you ❤ I've paused sales on my patterns until I get feedback about whether I can sell them, as some in UK have been told that they will also fall under the GPSR, but others have been told that they won't. 🤞 we get an update soon and I can make more decisions about next steps.
Everyone is motivating me to consider other selling opportunities, and I'm definitely going to look into some in person markets in my area. ❤
@@jacksyarn That's great. I'm rooting for you. Best of luck.
@jacksyarn I also heard that digital products, such as patterns, will fall under the new regulations. I've digged a bit more into the regulations and they're not as scary as they're portrayed to be but they are very annoying. I think that it will impact many small businesses in the EU. A lot of sellers from across the pond will stop selling to us, because who would bother with having an EU representative (except for big corporations who already are prepared for it) 🙄 As Polish people say, they poured the baby out with bath water 😔
@@wigglytailscreations Totally the baby out with the bath water! I get the reason, items should be safe! And there's been a huge influx of unsafe, poor quality items on the market, but it feels like the small businesses are the ones paying the price for it 😔 Hopefully digital items won't be included but at this stage who knows!!
Hi, I've been selling on Etsy since 2013 & have stuck it out because I'm basically stubborn & b) there isn't an alternative platform imo. I'd LOVE to find someone who is willing to be a responsible person in NI/EU to enable me to keep selling there, but theres no way I can afford the prices I've seen quoted. What we small makers need is a buddy up scheme where small makers in the UK pair up & help other small makers in NI/EU countries, like twinning with shared dropboxes for necessary files. I'm sure it can be done! This GPSR stipulation of having to have a rep hurts so many small businesses, but micro businesses are going iunder because of it & that simlpy is not fair. Its only a matter of time before the UK follow suit I'm sure, so I for one would buddy up in a heartbeat..
I was so tempted to do this with friends in the EU, but I watched a video by Pam Duthie, she mentioned that the EU representative will be legally responsible if anything did happen. Scary! 😯 She doesn't recommend using anyone other than official company/business. So I don't know. It's all very confusing, and we're still waiting for updates from the EU for small businesses.
@@jacksyarn Hi thanks so much for replying. Yeah I watched Pams video too. I personally think the liklihood of anything untoward happening regarding safety is incredibly slim, if you're 100% on top of your game product safety wise. I would take the risk personally & find this necessity to have someone based in the EU punitive toward small & micro businesses.
I make soaps as well as other non cosmetic, (soaps are classified as cosmetics btw) things, like crochet wash cloths. UK soapmakers have already had a post Brexit moritorium on selling in the EU imposed upon us which came into effect in 2021.
Prior to Brexit, we could sell soaps to NI & EU countries, but small businesses were effectively kicked out as the new dictat expected us to not only have a responsible person based in the EU, but buy in new per product safety assessments, (any reputable soapmaker would already asassessments, but apparently we're expected to buy them over again for the EU), as well as purchase EU based insurance to be able to sell there.
It's hard to see GPSR and the EU cosmetics regs for UK sellers as anything other than protectionism masquerading as safety legislation. It favours big business who can shoulder the burden, but does nothing to help small businesses. To be honest it all makes me furious. Of course we care about safety, but we also care about ensuring micro and small businesses are able to flourish and grow and this, as the saying goes, 'aint that'.
I haven’t started selling anything yet and my business is still very much at a “newborn” level, but I saw so many other crochet businesses selling on Etsy so I thought I should sell there too. Sadly I’ve only been hearing negative things about the platform, stuff like fees and AI, etc. Would you have any alternatives of Etsy? I was thinking of maybe using Shopify? Maybe Facebook Marketplace?
It's a difficult time, but I would say don't be discouraged about Etsy. There are some sellers on there who do really well, it all depends on your business, your products, your audience outside Etsy, loads of factors which mean some people can do really well. For Etsy info and advice I would say you should check out Starla Moore, Pam Duthie & ERank RUclips channels, lots of good advice. I think most platforms will have problems, Shopify you need to direct all the traffic yourself, and FB Marketplace can be good for local sales but is also overrun with scammers :(
I'm sad to see you leave the platform. I would love to help your store for free just to see you have a little bit more success because I think your designs are amazing.
aw that's really kind of you to say! I think for now I'm okay with leaving Etsy behind. There are other creative projects that I'm going to switch my attention to for now. :)
@jacksyarn Okay well I wish you the best. I am also against how Etsy treats sellers but I look at it as just a way to build an audience just like RUclips. As much as I am against these large companies, they have the audience. I do respect your decision though.
It sounds like it's not only Etsy that's really against the small artist, but the EU as well. They want to make laws so that only a large company has the legal team to handle all the possible issues.
Yeah they've completely overlooked small creators with this law. It's such a shame. I understand what they're aiming for, safety, but it's been implemented all wrong.
I quit Etsy too. Did print on demand clothing for a year. I sold 350 items but these taxes and new laws made me bankrupt. Eventually i didnt make any profit. I instead lost 700$ doing this business.
Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear that. I also didn't make much profit, it's definitely one of the reasons why I quit. It's a tough business!
GPSR is a small business killer, sadly. It also includes bricks and mortar shops who sell to the EU and NI. Were supposed to provide safety information in written form in the language of the person who buys an item from us! I sell vintage items on ebay and etsy and it makes no sense in terms of the items i sell. For example, for a 1980's mug i need to provide a name and contact details for the manufacturer, even if they no longer exist and the contact details for a company in the EU who will vouch for the item....no sense and may mean the end to my 20 years selling on ebay, and 8 years selling on etsy.
Oh wow! I hadn't even thought about vintage or second hand items, how could you known where and when it was created!!! Its a great idea to ensure people have safe products but I'm not sure they thought about all the practicalities. Sorry to hear it's going to have such a negative impact on your business.
the underselling ones were porably drop shippers there are machines that do fake crochet now its a relatively new technology that machines couldn't do crochet so less sellers and for a stable price
Very possibly! Some were definitely crafters as you could kind of tell from the quality of the photos 😕 shame all round.
@jacksyarn if i makes you fell better it's happening all over the place and popping up in all the craft fairs
I’d like to make 1 clarification. The Ai isn’t going after copyright stuff. Only the person who holds the IP can make a claim about that sorta thing, not Etsy themselves. The ai is looking for images that are known to be used in fake or mass produced items that are consistently coming up. It’s our jobs as Etsy sellers to take our own pictures and create images ourselves. That’s the whole point of Etsy and hand made items. Not just use all the same mock up images. It shows a lack of quality and care in the items which is why Etsy is trying to remove them, and rightfully so.
Good catch, yes, the AI is not looking for copyright stuff! And I don't really have an issue with copyright things being taken down personally. I just feel for the few sellers who have had their beautiful photos stolen and put up on these reselling sites, then to find themselves in trouble on Etsy, when they are the victims in the first place. But to be fair, they are a small number compared with the very large number of resellers.
It'll be good as a buyer to see more print on demand products in real life with real photos.
I see Etsy has put my whopping $3 in reserve because the item was flat so I sent it without tracking. Nooooooooo, will I starve? Will my power be shut off? How will I live without those three dollars for the next 90 days??!!😂😂😂😂😂😂
Noooooo $3 😂 This is where automated technology can be funny! (Sometimes 😂)
So sad I just found this wish i found it before so I could have gotten some patterns and items i love cat stuff.
Aw hopefully my patterns will be available again in the future, I just need to be sure I'm selling them legally. I do have some free patterns on my website which is jacksyarn . co . uk
quitting? not quiting
Oh, so it is! 👍
Etsy is a business destroyer , Not business builder.
Etsy is a public company now and unfortunately like all the others, they prioritize their investors wants over their sellers
Yes, I think you're right. It's sad to see it go that way.