Etsy and trying to run a business

I am not sure who you are and why you are reading this.

You are probably a friend of mine and you got here because I posted the link to this post on facebook and it is likely that you've read or at least skimmed over some of the last posts. Then you probably know that I am trying to get my new business with hand made crochet accessorize running.

I am not sure how else you might have gotten here. I posted the link to this blog in some Etsy teams. If you got here that way, well than you know how it is trying to run a business with handmade or vintage stuff and why Etsy or similar sites can be one way to get your stuff out there.

the handbag

Anyways in this post I will try to explain Etsy to non-Etsians.

The idea to open up a business didn't happen over night. It grew, slowly. It took at least a year and a half, if not more. First there was just me, finding a new hobby in times of total boredom (full time night portering at the hostel) and lack of money for buying a new purse and a cover for my kindle. It had nothing to do with what it is now. Then there were friends telling me that they liked what I had made and requesting that I make stuff for them. Still it was just a hobby.

And it grew and grew and at some point I just had to make it an official business because things had gone a bit out of hand and I spend most of my day crocheting and watching crochet videos on Youtube.

But I knew that I wouldn't stay here at the hostel forever, but since I sold all my stuff here, I had to find another way to sell my items and build up a business outside of the hostel. There are different ways to do that of course and depending on what you make my way of doing things might not be the right one for everyone. Sometimes I am not even sure, if I am doing the right thing here.

At some pint people started asking me, if I had an Etsy shop and I didn't even know what they were talking about, so I had to look into it. I did sign up with Etsy in July 2013 but it took me almost a year to put my first items up for sale.

Etsy seems to be its own little world and it took me a while to understand what the hell was going on.

There are basically three types of shops you can have:
- vintage stuff, which means it has to be older than 20 years
- arts and crafts supply, as in buttons, yarn, earring hooks and so on
- handmade goods, like jewellery, paintings, beanies, clothing, soap, shoes.... and so much more.

So Etsy (and other websites like that) is like a quirky online mall of artsy little shops and people where you can find the coolest, prettiest, ugliest, craziest, most amazing things. It is impossible to keep up with and see everything. You can dive in and never come back - just like with youtube or facebook. There are always new items, new shops and tutorials to discover.

If you decide to sign up you can do that either just as a customer or open up your own little shop. Of course Etsy takes a basic fee for every item you put up for sale through their website  - that's how they earn their money, just like Amazon or Ebay. The main reason I prefer Etsy is, that this site is especially made for handmade arts and crafts. People with small businesses all come together, we are all more or less in the same boat, all of us in different stages but we are all struggling to make this thing work for us, build an audience and the big dream of course is to be able to quid your day job one day.
And because we are all in the same boat, there is a lot of support from the other members, even when you are brand new. You still have to work hard to get attention for your shop and items and it can take quite a while till the ball starts rolling. So far I haven't had a single sale yet, I am still in the phase of letting people know that my shop exists and trying to get people to have a look at my items.
You can do that in all different kind of ways but in the end it is all about putting yourself out there and connecting with other people, let them know that you're there. You can like other peoples items and shops, they will see that in their news feed. There are teams with certain themes, like crochet, punk, origami, local support teams.... well you get the idea and in some of them you can show off your new items (called listings).

And of course you can try to get people's attention outside of Etsy.

Both my Facebook page and this blog got a button that directs you to my shop, so you can check my stuff out. That would make me very happy and maybe even bring me one step closer to my first sale.

yarn yarn yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarn

I think I briefly mentioned that crafts have always been a big deal in my family, like a huge deal.
My grandmother was a tailor and I think my mother would as a teenager use her mom's sawing machine even though she knew that it would get her in trouble. I am pretty sure that she also learned crochet and knitting from my gran as well as in school.
So I've had hand made stuff all my life. In fact when I was born my mother was a single parent with a limited income and it was possibly cheaper for her to make linen and other things herself. My whole life, I had jumpers, dresses, skirts, shirts and socks that she or my grandma made, I still do actually.

I think I've also mentioned that when it was my turn to learn any of these crafts, I wasn't very interested, even though I didn't suck at crochet or knitting. In the past 20 years I've made a scarf here and there, but that was all I ever did. Until about 2 years ago I think. And well, you know the story of how I started to crochet here at the hostel and how my mother send me huge box of yarn.

At the end of June, I went to Germany to see my fiends and family and hang out on the coast for a wee while and of course I paid my mother a visit. Since my mother retired a couple of years ago and since I have moved out she has turned the whole house into a crafts centre. Literally every room, every shelf every corner is stuffed with fabric, yarn, craft magazines and books. It's crazy, I am actually kicking myself for not taking any pictures, because it is hard to put into words. My old room of over 20sqm has barely space for the mattress I sleep on when I come over (yeah, my bed and any other piece of furniture I used to own is gone). What used to be the attic is now a studio and that has about 80sqm (which is bigger that my last flat) filled with.... well you've guessed it. The old dining room is full of.... yep yarn and fabric.

So since I've picked up crochet, when ever I come over my mom gets a big box out and goes through her yarn with me - well some of it, all would be impossible - to see if I have any use for it, because she can't possibly knit that much (she doesn't really crochet anymore).

And this time was no different. We started at one end of the studio made our way through the whole thing and boom, the first box was too full. On we went to the living room, where she keeps the yarn for socks (one entire dresser full) and I think it was the next day she remembered some yarn she didn't need in boxes in the former dining room. And that's when the second box turned out to be too small.

So while I continued my travels (taking some yarn with me, so I could crochet on the road) she found an even bigger box to fit all the yarn in and send it to me. A few days after I got home it finally arrived. And maaaaan, I didn't even realise how much stuff it was, because we simply kept adding to the pile. Now I have sooo much yarn. As I've said, I already started to crochet away, while I was still in Germany and since I've come home I haven't stopped. Unfortunately the box is so big, that there is no space in my room other than my bed, so I am sharing it now with said box. Here are a few pictures of the box and the results, although it really doesn't feel like I've done any damage to the mountain of yarn.