Etsy

[Amy]

I just got an etsy, (http://www.etsy.com/shop/LoneSockDigest) because many people here made reference to it.

What do you guys think of it? Is it worth it to keep relisting? It's very convienent to buy zines, but it doesn't do much to get other people to read yours.

I'm sorry if there's already another discussion about this.

[Harley R. Pageot]

Like anything, it takes time.

I didn't sell a thing for the first month or two I was on there but, in the past month, I've had 3 different orders from complete strangers. I have no idea how they found my stuff but they bought multiple zines each, so that's cool.

And it's also convenient to have an online shop that you can direct your friends and other people too, especially Internet friends that you don't see in real life.

[Amy]

That's true. I never thought about that part.

Harley R. Pageot said:

And it's also convenient to have an online shop that you can direct your friends and other people too, especially Internet friends that you don't see in real life.

[Monstress Zine]

my experience is pretty much the same as harleys and i also pretty much think of it as a place to direct people to if they're interested in my stuff.

[Katie]

I like etsy for selling zines, very much. To me it's neat because you can reach people who aren't already a part of the zine community but are predisposed to like handmade things because they're shopping on a craft site. I started a shop there a few years ago and I only sold a few things for a long time. Maybe once a month I'd make a sale. Then early last year things picked up, and I haven't known whether to attribute it to etsy's increased popularity or my own better pictures - at first I had scans that didn't look too great but then I got a digital camera for Christmas and had fun doing "photo shoots" around my apartment. :) Here's my shop: thelalatheory.etsy.com

[Amy]

I discovered your zines on etsy. Just read W.E. It's amazing. I'm going to send you a more detailed response later ;-)

Yeah, browsing the zines on there is fun. A lot of them are kind of expensive. I feel like a cheapo refusing to spend $5 on a zine, but...

Katie said:

I like etsy for selling zines, very much. To me it's neat because you can reach people who aren't already a part of the zine community but are predisposed to like handmade things because they're shopping on a craft site. I started a shop there a few years ago and I only sold a few things for a long time. Maybe once a month I'd make a sale. Then early last year things picked up, and I haven't known whether to attribute it to etsy's increased popularity or my own better pictures - at first I had scans that didn't look too great but then I got a digital camera for Christmas and had fun doing "photo shoots" around my apartment. :) Here's my shop: thelalatheory.etsy.com

[Danny Olda]

To be terribly redundant it does take time. Things started off slow but after a couple of months things got going pretty well. I opened a new shop dedicated only to my zines with a new name and things were slow again. Once again, however, it's beginning to speed up.

When it comes to if its worth relisting...I'm still trying to figure that out. I feel like I'm the only person that visits the same Etsy shop more than once (or maybe one is enough with my zines). Anyhow, I keep re-listing them because of the sixty-something I've sold since July, they've all been to new people (as opposed to repeat buyers) that I suppose re-listing found (whereas repeat people would've just known to find my shop(?)). I'm sorry: after reading this I realize it probably isn't much help. I will say the nice thing about Etsy is the feedback - I get a lot of it that way - which is good for the self esteem and motivation. Anyhow, I'm at footnotepress.etsy.com

[Amy]

I think I've bought one of yours too. Karl Marx's Beard, right?

[Danny Olda]

ha! That's right! (it musta been under a different profile?) That's good to hear. I'm going to bed while I'm in a good mood. Thanks!

Amy said:

I think I've bought one of yours too. Karl Marx's Beard, right?

[Monstress Zine]

hey, i'm glad the name change is working out for you after all! i felt bad after you seemed to regret going with the new shop.

it's interesting that you keep getting new customers. my pattern is more repeat customers. someone new shows up, then returns a few weeks later and buys a bunch of stuff at once. i don't relist outside of renewing expired items, so i'm not sure how that plays into the pattern--if i set myself up for few new customers by not relisting.

also, amy, there's a etsy group here on we make zines. it's sorta the meeting place for etsy's team zine.

my shop's: www.monstrousindustry.etsy.com

Danny Olda said:

To be terribly redundant it does take time. Things started off slow but after a couple of months things got going pretty well. I opened a new shop dedicated only to my zines with a new name and things were slow again. Once again, however, it's beginning to speed up.

When it comes to if its worth relisting...I'm still trying to figure that out. I feel like I'm the only person that visits the same Etsy shop more than once (or maybe one is enough with my zines). Anyhow, I keep re-listing them because of the sixty-something I've sold since July, they've all been to new people (as opposed to repeat buyers) that I suppose re-listing found (whereas repeat people would've just known to find my shop(?)). I'm sorry: after reading this I realize it probably isn't much help. I will say the nice thing about Etsy is the feedback - I get a lot of it that way - which is good for the self esteem and motivation. Anyhow, I'm at footnotepress.etsy.com

[James N. Dawson]

If Etsy works for zine merchants and shoppers, far be it for me to impose my negativity on it. But here are a few comments.

In the "Books and Zines" category there are 1345 +/- CYBERpages. (A cyberpage is bigger than a 8 1/2 x 11 paper page). In order to get the details of a zine you have to "click onto" its picture. Why not just have it all there---size, number of pages, subjects/description/etc.? The less clicks the better, like in a paper-zine/catalogue. Even on high speed, clicking through 1,345 pages is extremely tedious and wearisome for me. I just don't think I could do it.

The prices---25, 100, MORE???, dollars is so much more than the zines I used to buy, and I don't think adjusting for inflation would explain all of that. I don't even buy books for that much. I did come across one for $3, but add the $1.50 for postage and $4.50 for a mini just seems rather exorbitant. Admittedly, I'm a super cheapo.

I haven't gone through the process of trying to order anything, but I don't have PayPal---I tried getting it, got confused about it, and recently was e-mailed that they've frozen my account due to suspicious activity---but I find it limiting not having a cash option. I guess they'd take a debit card, which I use now and then, but it's not my favorite way of doing things.

"Boutiques" are fine, but the idea of a "zine" or "underground" or "punk" boutique sort of clashes.

I guess if your zine is out there in other venues, I really shouldn't whine. And if it works for you and your readers/customers, I shouldn't butt in. But that's my old-school, techno-challenged, "gut-level" response to Etsy.

[tim scannell]

i will not 'buy' any zine...i send $$ to swapped zines that
i VALUE............for the author's intelligence and/or
creativity...............but we gotta get away from this
silly $$ thing...in my view....................

James N. Dawson said:

If Etsy works for zine merchants and shoppers, far be it for me to impose my negativity on it. But here are a few comments.

In the "Books and Zines" category there are 1345 +/- CYBERpages. (A cyberpage is bigger than a 8 1/2 x 11 paper page). In order to get the details of a zine you have to "click onto" its picture. Why not just have it all there---size, number of pages, subjects/description/etc.? The less clicks the better, like in a paper-zine/catalogue. Even on high speed, clicking through 1,345 pages is extremely tedious and wearisome for me. I just don't think I could do it.

The prices---25, 100, MORE???, dollars is so much more than the zines I used to buy, and I don't think adjusting for inflation would explain all of that. I don't even buy books for that much. I did come across one for $3, but add the $1.50 for postage and $4.50 for a mini just seems rather exorbitant. Admittedly, I'm a super cheapo.

I haven't gone through the process of trying to order anything, but I don't have PayPal---I tried getting it, got confused about it, and recently was e-mailed that they've frozen my account due to suspicious activity---but I find it limiting not having a cash option. I guess they'd take a debit card, which I use now and then, but it's not my favorite way of doing things.

"Boutiques" are fine, but the idea of a "zine" or "underground" or "punk" boutique sort of clashes.

I guess if your zine is out there in other venues, I really shouldn't whine. And if it works for you and your readers/customers, I shouldn't butt in. But that's my old-school, techno-challenged, "gut-level" response to Etsy.

[Danny Olda]

That's right: Etsy doesn't offer cash as an option for payment. However if you want to accept cash it may not be a bad idea for to put in the description of your item or shop that you accept cash. Most people who pay in cash seem to just choose 'money order' and send you well concealed cash instead. I've gotten a few orders like that at least.

James N. Dawson said:

---but I find it limiting not having a cash option. I guess they'd take a debit card, which I use now and then, but it's not my favorite way of doing things.