etsy sales

[twilight gecko]

for those of you with an etsy shop and selling zines, how has that worked out for you?
i haven't added new stuff to my shop, because i wasn't getting any sales.. even tho i've bought a hand full of zines from etsy myself..
do alot of your sales come from this site? or do you think most people here trade?

[CocoaPuss Zine]

i do sell some zines on etsy but mostly to people i already know. very few to people i don't know. i don't really like etsy all that much.

[Alex Wrekk]

Selling zines on Etsy is sort of tricky. For one, the system on Etsy isn't set up for people that sell multiple copies or lower priced items and people who spend the time and the money to relist items are more visible. That being said, I have done ok selling zines and books on Etsy. People on Etsy expect to pay for postage so that makes up for some of the fees. The nicest thing about Etsy is that there is a built in audience of browsers and we have Team ZIne!

[Danny Olda]

I've been doing ok. Lately (october) I've been selling maybe like 5-10 a week. I've sold about almost 50 since August. In fact because I haven't been able to muster the courage to send my zine to a distro yet its the only place I've sold it. It seems that there's new people scouring the site all the time. A lot of the people that buy them seem to have few to no feedback yet. I could be wrong but it seems that relisting the zines once they've been on there for a while can help. I've been doing ok on etsy, but I think I need help with the oppisite: I actually need help doing anything independent of it.

[Alex Wrekk]

Danny, is it you who sent me a convo about joining Team Zine? It's on my to-do list as soon as I get home in a week or so. The Etsy people like it when I send more than one name at a time for them to add to the team. I have to e-mail them your name and fish out the convo I have written with more info about team zine to send to you. I'm not ignoring it, it's just not right in front of me right now.

Danny Olda said:

I've been doing ok. Lately (october) I've been selling maybe like 5-10 a week. I've sold about almost 50 since August. In fact because I haven't been able to muster the courage to send my zine to a distro yet its the only place I've sold it. It seems that there's new people scouring the site all the time. A lot of the people that buy them seem to have few to no feedback yet. I could be wrong but it seems that relisting the zines once they've been on there for a while can help. I've been doing ok on etsy, but I think I need help with the oppisite: I actually need help doing anything independent of it.

[Danny Olda]

No problem - I can't imagine how busy you are. I'm only doing three issues of a zine on Etsy right now and I almost feel in over my head. But yeah, that was me.

Alex Wrekk said:

Danny, is it you who sent me a convo about joining Team Zine? It's on my to-do list as soon as I get home in a week or so. The Etsy people like it when I send more than one name at a time for them to add to the team. I have to e-mail them your name and fish out the convo I have written with more info about team zine to send to you. I'm not ignoring it, it's just not right in front of me right now.

Danny Olda said:

I've been doing ok. Lately (october) I've been selling maybe like 5-10 a week. I've sold about almost 50 since August. In fact because I haven't been able to muster the courage to send my zine to a distro yet its the only place I've sold it. It seems that there's new people scouring the site all the time. A lot of the people that buy them seem to have few to no feedback yet. I could be wrong but it seems that relisting the zines once they've been on there for a while can help. I've been doing ok on etsy, but I think I need help with the oppisite: I actually need help doing anything independent of it.

[Samantha Blythe]

What's Team Zine? I have been thinking of starting an Etsy shop...not only for zines, though.

[Amy]

I looked at Etsy... and ordered a zine from there. I figured I'd just try it out.

Samantha Blythe said:

What's Team Zine? I have been thinking of starting an Etsy shop...not only for zines, though.

[ramsey everydaypants]

etsy is a nice way to put it out there and not really have to try. even if your zine just sits there, it's bound to get hits eventually and that increases your chances of selling some. the listing fee is small enough that you can upload a handful of them and not worry about it. i usually do put up 5 of each issue at a time. that way when those sell out and i relist, it's back on the radar and pops up on the front page as a newly listed item, etc. i just have to remember to relist which i often forget and end up with an empty shop.

make sure you fill out all five photos with samples from the issue. the more photos you have, the more things sell.

[twilight gecko]

thanks for the feedback.. i may start up my shop again soon.. :)

[Dorian Shaw]

Ohhh... could you add me to Team Zine too?! I'd really appreciate it! My username is hotweinerdog.

Alex Wrekk said:

Danny, is it you who sent me a convo about joining Team Zine? It's on my to-do list as soon as I get home in a week or so. The Etsy people like it when I send more than one name at a time for them to add to the team. I have to e-mail them your name and fish out the convo I have written with more info about team zine to send to you. I'm not ignoring it, it's just not right in front of me right now.

Danny Olda said:

I've been doing ok. Lately (october) I've been selling maybe like 5-10 a week. I've sold about almost 50 since August. In fact because I haven't been able to muster the courage to send my zine to a distro yet its the only place I've sold it. It seems that there's new people scouring the site all the time. A lot of the people that buy them seem to have few to no feedback yet. I could be wrong but it seems that relisting the zines once they've been on there for a while can help. I've been doing ok on etsy, but I think I need help with the oppisite: I actually need help doing anything independent of it.

[Danny Olda]

I agree. Oddly enough I stumbled onto zines sort of through Etsy. It was a refreshing change when I put in order in with Parcell press and Taylor there sent me a note and some suggestions on which zines to move on to from there. I get disappointed when someone buys a zine without leaving any note or feedback.


Amber / Culture Slut said:

I have a love / hate relationship with Etsy.

The downside of Etsy, in my opinion, is that it turns the wonderful act of making zines into a simple transaction. I find that regular buyers on Etsy are less likely to send me letters after they've read my zine and less likely to ask me if I'm up for trades.
br /> www.helloamber.etsy.com

[Bethany]

I sell on etsy. Sold quite a few zines too. Look me up... bethanysart