What do small business owners really think of the platform?
I love Etsy. There, I said it. I love spending the hours of an evening scrolling endlessly through the thousands of independent and small businesses, buying gifts for others and treating myself to wonderful handmade items. Launched in 2005, Etsy allows consumers to browse small businesses at their leisure, save their favourite items to their wishlist, and buy from multiple businesses from across the globe with one swipe of a bank card.
However, as much as I love it as a consumer, I wanted to know what those who sold on the platform, and those businesses who did not, had to say about the ever-growing website.
I decided to get in touch with a good friend and Etsy seller Chelsea. I wanted to ask her a few questions about starting her small business – Wongblogstudios – and how she feels Etsy handles the demands placed on the platform as a seller.
HCAU: Hi Chelsea, I hope the world is treating you well! To get us started, could you tell us why you set up your small business, and why you chose Etsy as your selling platform?
C: Hi Iona, I hope you are as well as you can be! I decided to set up my small business because everything I sell are things I have always done as hobbies. I would always show my friends (excitedly) the things I would create and they have always encouraged me to create my own business, which I’ve always wanted to do anyway, so thought why not give it a try!
Etsy also seemed the most obvious place for me because it allowed me to do the process all on my own, which I’ve always liked doing. Other places also take higher fees, or you never actually see what your final product looks like, which I didn’t like as much. I also turn to Etsy already quite a lot to buy things to support other independent businesses, so it seemed natural to become one on a platform I already like so much!
HCAU: Ah, so you like that you get to be independent, which must make the process much easier! How are you finding the platform so far? Living up to expectations?
C: I find it very exciting to be able to do what I’ve always liked to do and seeing other people enjoy what I create brings me so much happiness! Etsy has also made it quite easy for people to learn how to use the tools quite quickly to be able to make their store, which helped and made it seem less daunting!
HCAU: I am so glad you are getting on with the platform! However, I am sure it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. One of the criticisms I have heard from other sellers is that the fees to be an etsy seller are quite high and often off-putting. What are your thoughts on etsy’s seller fees? How have you coped with them?
C: I heard this before and it did put me off originally, though Etsy out of other places seemed more reliable and reputable to me. I also felt a way of dealing with this is to make sure I consider all the costs that enable me to make my products and calculate I am actually making a profit with these added seller fees.
HCAU: That’s a really good point! If the platform is reputable, it might even be worth the higher fees.
Taking a break from the interview with Chelsea for a moment, I wanted to see what other sellers thought of Etsy as a platform. I decided to get into contact with another friend and business owner Chloe Weir. Chloe has run an online face mask business since the start of the pandemic and sells mainly through Facebook. She explained she personally wasn’t keen on the fees bestowed upon Etsy sellers, mirroring the sentiments I have seen from others, but also showing how fees can be a controversial subject considering Chelsea had a differing, more positive view.
She also spoke of how she felt Etsy lessened her engagement with her local audience and immediate community, stating: ‘I wanted to keep my orders more local and setting up a Facebook page helped with that… It’s a lot easier for both me and customers to see which fabrics I have when I post on Facebook. It’s quick erto snap a picture and upload. The customers can then see all the fabrics in the one album compared to having to scroll through multiple listings.’
This, to me, highlights how polarising Etsy can be, and how different businesses react to the platform it offers. Chloe’s thoughts have made me realise that Etsy isn’t the small business utopia I had envisioned in my head, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t have its positives. Still wanting to see the good in Etsy, I endeavoured to ask Chelsea more questions about her experience.
HCAU: What’s your favourite part of being an Etsy seller?
A: My favourite part is getting a notification I’ve got an order! I honestly love every part of being an Etsy seller, from the start of creation, making the final product, even packaging orders to me is so much fun! I do look forward to getting more orders as time goes on and creating more things for me to enjoy making for other people!
HCAU: They do say you have to love what you do! Finally, why don’t you tell everyone exactly why we should be buying our stickers from Wongblogstudios
A: You should buy from Wongblogstudios because everything I make is original and I can guarantee you I have a lot of fun making it! After creating my own Etsy store, it’s made me appreciate the effort put into them a lot more, confirming why I loved supporting independent businesses in the first place. With that in mind – I put every piece of me into my creations, including a sprinkle of happiness, which I hope you will be able to see when you look through my page and possibly even make an order!
So there we have it! Both Chelsea and Chloe’s thoughts on the platform have informed and slightly changed my view of the platform. Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely going to continue buying on Etsy, I have been encouraged by Chelsea to do so, for her and other sellers’ sake. However, Chloe’s points about selling to the local community and general engagement have made think about looking out for, and supporting, those businesses who chose to sell outside of the platform.
Let us at HCAU know your thoughts on our socials!