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.

[MonicaJacobson]

Nice belt. You are not underpricing it at all. Like Bob said, you really need more than 2 items in your shop. I'd give Rohn's advice a try and put it on ebay. You may not sell it at once, but you'll only lose a dollar or two listing it, and you might get a more cowboyish audience there. That said, there are a lot of people on here who sell that kind of tooling on etsy, and they seem to do all right.

However, the higher my items price (for example), the longer it takes me to sell them. Maybe etsy just isn't the right place. I haven't even tried Ebay. However, I usually don't care how long it takes. Sometimes, if it wasn't my best idea, it takes a year, but things usually sell in the end.

[mickthedig]

I just read your belt listing, most people use inches for belt size. You may want to add the inch size.

A great belt

[splitrail]

Great Belt, be patient it takes time. I joined ETSY in November I've had 1210 views, 70 Favs but only 5 sales. I agree that the traffic seems to increase with the more items you list on there.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SplitrailLeather?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Good Luck

[leatherwytch]

I am about to throw my hat into your belt ring. It is a lovely belt and people looking for that type of belt will buy it. This is how your price your work.

The cost of goods, all of them +Then how much your time is worth per hour+40% mark up= total.

Now is your belt lined. I could be wrong but it didn't look lined to me. Lining a belt prevents it from stretching out of shape. You are not over priced on that belt. Now it may take a while for the perfect customer to come and buy it but they will come. Put it all over your social media.

You may take up making messenger bags and purses they will sell faster.

Best of luck/.

[JLSleather]

It's possible that etsy might have been more appropriately named "cutesy". There are some quality items sold there, but they are largely drowned in a sea of ....well..... something else. In the leather category, the big sellers appear to be luggage tags and eye patch (yeah, like a pirate). Really.

I list patterns over there due to some tax considerations way too long-winded for here. But, doing the homework, it seems that etsy sellers generally agree that sales are a result of traffic driven from other sites - usually some 'social' thing. Which of course, leaves the question -- if they found your belt on some social goop, then WHY send them to etsy to buy it? So you can pay the etsy fees? You could have just used paypal right from where you were. That may sound silly, but I recently spoke with some people who use those etsy card readers. Craft fairs and such. People buy something, hand them cash. Then they go in, "report" it on etsy so that the visible 'count' of their sales goes up. I think that works out about 7% of the price - which they donated WHY? Ahhh.. not my problem .. just information.

As for the belt, I like to see a guy tooling a belt because he likes tooled belts, and likes tooling belts. Have I seen that design somewhere before? Looks a bit familiar.

From a money standpoint, $150 per belt would work if you don't have hours and hours in it. Some perspective, maybe. Welfare recipients "make" $800-$1000 per month, plus generally food and shelter (lets not get into the medical benefits). So, how hard should we work to earn that same amount as the one who - for instance - goes fishing every day? Again, just thinking out loud here.....

[DoubleC]

Gmk I think it's a beautiful belt and you might try using it as an sample of what you can make custom since it's already sized. I read these post and I can't help but think your confused about welfare recipients that can't afford your work or go fishing everyday? But I know people who say they work that fish everyday and I doubt you're going to sell your belt to a fish. Other posters have said etsy is not the place to sell but I've sold on there successfully and unfortunately know belt makers that just didn't make the cut. And it's as cut throat there as anywhere. so leave your belt up and at that price and just mention you will do them custom made. Then you don't have to guess at a size. Good luck, Cheryl

[leatherwytch]

I am a little confused by the comment made about welfare recipients. I never saw where, Glen, said that was his target sales audience.I am also confused how one would know how much a person on welfare receives unless they are on welfare. I doubt people on welfare as much as they may love tooled items could afford them and I strongly doubt if they are getting medical benefits those would be considered medical aides. Some people have spouses that work and they probably have even better medical benefits than those on welfare and I bet they get to go fishing because they can afford the bait.

I doubt other college students can buy lovely tooled items because they are no better off than welfare recipients. So, perhaps small items like key fobs, bracelets, luggage tags, eye patches (yes, like a pirate) may be good things to get up on your Etsy site too, Glen. Little Items are great as gifts for oneself or others and don't require a lot of work or money. Then maybe student and welfare recipients can buy them too.

[silverwingit]

I am not on welfare, never have been. Paid my way my whole life and proud of it.

But I found that comment about welfare recipients to be unnecessary, in poor taste and highly offensive. In my opinion, such ill-informed class judgments have no place on such an otherwise constructive forum as leatherworker.net.

Michelle

Edited April 4, 2015 by silverwingit

[leatherwytch]

silverwingit,

I totally agree with you, that is why I said what i did. I like yourself have worked my whole life three jobs at a time, I am still doing that. I was appalled that he would say such a heinous thing. It was not called for, not being discussed and he needs to open his narrow mind and think before inserting both his big feet.

[TexasLady]

I guess everyone is talking about JLSleather's comment on how much people get while on welfare in comparison with how much one's time is worth when doing leatherwork? Maybe I'm just in a good mood this morning, but what he said sounded perfectly logical to me.

Edited April 25, 2015 by TexasLady

[Spindrift57]

Good looking belt GMK but sadly there are loads of good looking, mass produced belts out there. For what it's worth I'd encourage you to think of early pieces as 'lost leaders' and move them on in order to make more almost regardless of price. As you make more develop your 'point of difference' what makes your pieces stand out from the crowd? Have a look at Monica's work, her violin bags are original and stunning.

Market places are great if you have a steady output but friends and family are a far more accessible market and is where most of my early pieces have gone. Once word gets out you'll get commissions and then you can start thinking about racking up your price per hour.

I'd agree with the earlier comment about lining your belts. I'd also stitch the buckles and keepers rather than using rivets which, please don't be offended, make it look like a mass produced item.

As has been said before, it takes time to get known. Keep plugging away, as with your obvious talent it will be sooner rather than later!

[Harrybodger]

Thats a great belt. Others here have given some great advice on ETSY, I echo that I found I needed at least 20 items to get interest. Ideally you get some good feedback on a couple of items to get confidence, and you should ship around the world. I am using other social media channels now and my own website....though I may restart Etsy at Christmas. Good luck. Harry

[TexasLady]

I love the belt, too. And as already mentioned, the photo looks artsy and professional.

I'm not wanting to derail our "pretty belt" topic, but, on shipping internationally, I do know that certain places (like the Australian outback near Norseman) has laws against bringing in/sending in leather. They are terrified - probably with good cause - of receiving our hoof and mouth decease, etc. So any leather goods shipped there could feasibly be confiscated and destroyed. Or, yes, it might be returned to sender. But this is something to keep in mind and to check into before shipping internationally. The buyer might not even be aware, especially if he is not a native.

[Gov website]

"Why cant I bring or send goods into Australia that are already available in Australia?

The items you buy in Australia have been commercially produced and imported under strict biosecurity conditions. Similar items that are home-made, traditionally produced or purchased overseas could carry biosecurity pest or disease risks and cannot be imported."

http://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity/faqs

Edited April 29, 2015 by TexasLady

[Halitech]

I didn't know about that TexasLady but I have shipped things in that I've made with no problems so far.

[TexasLady]

... and I hope you'll continue to be able to do so. Sometimes there's no rhyme or reason to import laws. They can be relaxed for a while, then suddenly there's a clampdown.

In the movie Roadgames, Stacy Keach plays an American truck-driving in Australia. He's wearing old beat up leather boots, which the movie makes a point of saying is illegal. I tried to find the spot in the movie, but couldn't. Anyway, here's a link to the whole thing on YouTube:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W32HPqf741E

Edited April 30, 2015 by TexasLady