My First Tooled Belt On Etsy - Comments?

[GMKLeathercraft]

So I finally gave in and tried selling one of my leather projects on Etsy, a tooled leather belt, every aspect of it hand done, and I put it up to sell to help fund my other leather purchases as I am living on a college budget, but my issue is it hasn;t sold yet and I am wondering if there is something that is unappealing about it, is the price to high? The workmanship not good enough? Or could it be just that I don't have a reputable name yet. Looking for any comments or advice, good and bad. Please let me know. Here's the link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/222050831/handmade-western-floral-hand-tooled?ref=shop_home_active_2

[Nick Bowles]

man...I dig it and it being hand tooled makes it worth that price because I know the time you have in it...however, the majority of the public doesn't. I market all of my stuff to my friends nad get them to put the word out.....however, all of my stuff so far has been under $100. But I'm selling as fast as I can make things. Just trying to build my skills and reputation

[GMKLeathercraft]

so you're saying I should drop the price?

[Nick Bowles]

I'm not saying that at all. I'm not well versed in the niche market of belts, so I can't say what it's worth to someone else. Like I said, I understand the time you have invested in it and $150 probably wouldn't even be $10 an hour for the time you spent on it. Maybe market it to some rodeo/cowboy folks as well as the Etsy shop? That's who I think would be interested in buying it and KNOW what it's

worth.

If I had a nice trophy belt buckle, I know I'd want it to be mounted on a nice belt too!

[RStevenson]

The belt looks to be very well done, great job! However I just don't see a big market for tooled works like that in the general public, I can't really see someone on the street wearing something like that. You might have better luck advertising it as a display piece or like nick said - to cowboy folks (who probably don't shop on etsy). Just my thoughts, good luck.

Edited March 19, 2015 by RStevenson

[DavidL]

The thought process should be in this order,

Who am I selling to (demographic) and at what price point,

make a product that is tailored to that demographic of people and at the right price,

then you can go farther into the thought process and find methods of quickening the process, substituting materials (lower price tier).

You must first set the foundations of the type of goods you are creating and which price tier. Everything after that will be based off the "foundation". Meaning decisions in the design, pricing, process are decided based on the demographic, market, competition among other variables (too many to jot down)

First questions I would ask is what age range is buying my belts,

gender

are they online shoppers

how large is market for these goods

what are the competitors prices

Why will they buy my brand vs another.

A good place to start is a business plan.

If this is too much work you will always be able to tell if its over priced if you don't get steady sales or lack of sales. Other factors may influence lack of sales too.. more so starting out. Everything above is done so you anticipate issues before they occur and solve issues with a calculated plan. Also can cut down on trial and error.

[Bob Blea]

Hello Glen,

So I have a couple of comments after looking over your listing. First, your listing is for a very specific customer. It's a premade western floral leather belt for someone of a specific waist size. So even if I am someone looking for a western floral belt, if I'm not that exact size I have to look elsewhere. A better way to list a belt would be made to order where they specify their waist size and maybe even specify their choice in hardware.

Another problem I see is that you only have two items listed and no sales history. That will make some potential buyers hesitant to purchase. Also, it seems to keep you hidden somewhat in Etsy's search listings. I was once given the advice that you don't seem to get much attention on Etsy till you have around 20 listings, and for some reason it seems to be true. You will also need to do some marketing, making sure you have appropriate tags on your listing and promoting it on places like Facebook. It takes work to get your listing to stand out among all the other belts being sold on Etsy.

Another thing that might be limiting you is the fact that you will only ship to the US. About half of my Etsy sales have been outside the US.

On price, you might be too high for the kind of market Etsy seems to be changing into. There is a lot of dissatisfaction with their recent rules changes regarding what constitutes hand made, and there is a lot of cheap stuff out there that you are competing with. While there are people on Etsy looking for high quality, there are lots of people looking for a good deal on something that is cheap because it's hand made. You can price for the high quality crowd just realize it takes a while for those specific customers to come along. Again, marketing will help to get your product in front of those customers that will pay for a $150 belt versus those just looking for the unusual $50 (or less) belt. You do want to look at what other belts being sold on Etsy are selling for but keep in mind some people are listing belts that really aren't hand made, or that they made by an embosser, and they can and will list for less than your truly hand made product. You can't compete with them on lowest price.

Those are just my opinions. Good luck! As with any business, getting to your first customers is always a challenge.

Bob

[Rohn]

That belt looks nice, I think you did a great job on it. I also don't think the price it too high for the work involved, but it might take some time to find a buyer. I also have tried etsy for a few weeks with a couple of holsters and have not gotten any sales and not much interest. I sell most of my holsters on ebay and usually sell at least one holster every week. Again that belt is a beauty and I hope you can sell it.

[Grey Drakkon]

First off, beautiful belt and GREAT photos! A bad photo makes it much harder to sell a piece, so that's definitely not your problem. Myself, I'm not a huge fan of Etsy. Some people have great success with it, but they're usually putting out a ton of listings, as Bob said.

[wmartin636]

Nice work and probably a fair price for your time and talent for a belt that will last a lifetime, but...

To the general public you are competing with belts that have been run through an embosser or even machine stamped in China. I don't think there are many who will invest that kind of money in a belt unless it is something specific for them, personalized or to commemorate an event, award, etc., or a specific design with meaning to them. You may want to use this belt as an example to market your custom services, even if to offer a size to fit the customer. Just a thought.