Starting to like Etsy.

Started my shop on 2nd February and made 11 sales so far. Not bad for carrying stuff that isn't hugely popular.

They only take 6% VS eBay's 12-13% and listing fees are only 20 cents.

Not as fast paced as eBay as far a sales, but the big advantage is you don't have to deal with paypal at all.

 

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hmm... interesting

 

I have been looking for a cheap site to sell cheap stamps in the $1 to $10 range. Will check it out.

 

Then why are you using dear mother's ebay account to liquidate your collection? I am guessing it has something to do with the "not as fast paced" thing, huh?

Good luck though, and please try not to burn any bridges.

Now be honest... the big advantage is that you CAN'T deal with paypal.

 

I am still undecided on whether I should use ebay or something like etsy to begin selling before my website launch... any suggestions?

 

My guess would be that few collectors turn to Etsy for coins. And the fee seems to be 3.5%, not 6%, or am I missing something? I just signed up twenty minutes ago, and will post 5 ads tomorrow. Etsy is a CRAFT site, and you'll be fighting that battle forever.

 

Well, it's 3.5% final value, then 3% direct checkout.

 

Ebay charges 6% in fees, and has no listing fees. It has millions more shoppers on it, As far as paypal goes, I sold on Ebay before paypal was used, and it sucked. I would have to drive to the bank every day, depositing checks and money orders. I would have to wait for checks to clear. I would have to stand in line at the the post office, mailing each package by hand. Now with paypal , I can pay and get paid instantly, I dont have to drive to the bank or wait in line at the post office. Paypal is well worth the 3%

 

This is the same thing I was wondering. If eBay is so bad and Etsy is so good...why is your collection currently listed for sale on eBay?

 

I can't imagine Etsy being a big marketplace for coins. They made their reputation as an outlet for crafts and hand-made goods. The first time Detecto posted about selling on Etsy I was a little puzzled because I could not see how coins fit that category, but it seems that they also allow sales of "vintage" items over a certain number of years old.

Still, if I were in the market for buying coins, Etsy is beyond the last place I would look (meaning I would never look there at all). Costs are one aspect of running a business; exposure to available customers is another. eBay - like it or not - has a far broader reach than Etsy.

 

Agreed. I think this is one thing that Detecto seems to forget (or not understand). eBay's higher fees are justified by the amount of increased exposure you get from them. It's like any form of advertising...the more people it reaches the more it costs.

 

The Direct Checkout feature is like Paypal, except is a little different.

Paypal acts like a middle man for your money, if someone pays via Credit Card, it goes into your paypal account, which you have to transfer to the bank.

The Etsy is all automated, someone buys something, money automatically gets transferred. The end.

Paypal on the other hand, often holds money for up to 3 weeks for new sellers, and when I sold on eBay, Paypal held $480 of my money, for which they can hold for no reason, for up to SIX MONTHS. Google "paypal 180 day hold", and you will see what I mean.

Does it happen to everyone? No, but it happens to quite a few people, and Paypal is not a bank, therefore they can't be regulated like one.

BTW, eBay has RAISED it's final value fee, it is now 10%. They did lower it for those who have over 12,000 items a month. Another way they crap on the small seller.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html

Then if you take Paypal (which you pretty much have to), it's another 2.9% on top of that.

So yes, it's 12.9%.

Guess what? I can print labels off Etsy too, and it's a ton cheaper than going to the post office. To compare, I mailed two parcels of the same weight, and it cost me $3.05 at the post office, and $2.13 on Etsy.

eBay unfortunately is like a necessary evil, they are evil, but you have to use them because they are so popular.

That IS starting to change, if you want to sell stuff all the time to live on, then go with eBay, if you want a more laid back approach, then go with Etsy.

Etsy has been getting over a million new members each month.

It won't be too much longer before they are the next eBay.

 

Because I am liquidating it. Sure, I could of listed it piece by piece and waited months for it to sell, but I'm selling it quickly so I have more capital to buy things to list on Etsy.

I can get more out of some stuff on Etsy than I can eBay.

 

Very true for an eBay store selling coins and paper money.. and well worth the store fee if you do any type of volume.

 

Well, I hope you're not selling for more than 6-10% profit since you're always criticizing ebay for being so greedy and charging that much.

 

There are plenty of folks that are leaving Etsy because they feel it's no longer a niche market for personal products but becoming yet another dumping ground for mass-produced merchandise. In my opinion, there's no way it ever replaces eBay.

 

OK, my only point is the idea of moving inventory faster means you are more profitable. The longer something sits in inventory...the longer you have your money tied up. Despite eBay's higher fees...you can move a lot more stuff faster and make more money. But, if you are having good luck with Etsy and like using them...there is nothing wrong with that. I just know that eBay would be more profitable.

 

Etsy isn't a huge market place for coins, but it's more a place for my shop.

I currently have a website, and I could of paid a few grand for someone to code a shop into my website, and then I would have to go with all the hassle of getting a merchant account.

It works better this way, for me, due to the fact I don't have a high enough inventory amount to justify spending the money on something like that.

I also stick a coupon in each coin mailer, saying if they join my site, they get 5% off their next order.

So it's also free advertising for my site. I would have to spend money each month advertising my online website if it had a shop.

 

You know it's weird, eBay's fees where dirt cheap when they started, as far back as I can go, it was only 5% around 2001.

You would think as the selling volume increased the fees would stay the same.

4 million sales at 5% is more money than 2 million sales at 5%.

Instead, as they got more volume, they RAISED fees.

That, is greed. If your volume has gone up twofold, then you would be making twice as much money at the same percentage.

 

What they did was change their business model. They eliminated listing fees and raised final value fees. (They also include final value fees on shipping to combat the folks that would sell something for $1 and charge $100 for shipping.) As a buyer, I don't care because I control how much I spend by limiting my bidding. As a seller, I now have far more control over my costs because I don't pay anything until it sells and I have the income to offset my costs. I don't call that greedy, I call that good management.