My First Tooled Belt On Etsy - Comments?

[Halitech]

I hope it lasts a bit longer, got a wallet I have to ship back there after I get the shipment of roo leather from him

[jmkjmk2]

Great job!

[TexasLady]

Halitech-I wish I could get to make things out of kangaroo hide like you are. Must be nice. Maybe later, when I've improved my skills. I found somebody's site with a nice description of why 'roo' hide us so special. Stronger and lighter weight than cowhide, for starters.

[Excerpt]

"Kangaroo leather is lighter and stronger than the hide of a Cow or Goat. It has 10 times the tensile strength of Cowhide and is 50% stronger than the skin of a goat."

http://www.waynesplaitedleads.com/why-choose-kangaroo.asp

[Halitech]

I know roo is highly prized by those making whips and this will be my first time using it. He's also sending me the card and contact info of a reseller so I'm hoping we can make some kind of deal to have him ship me more.

[Grey Drakkon]

Looks like it's not quite that bad, according to the Australiangovernment website: http://www.agriculture.gov.au/travelling/mail/cant-mail if you look in the animals/animal by-products, it's RAW leather that's not allowed, which makes sense because cured leather (the stuff we work with) can't possibly infect anything with the chemical bath it sits in. If it's say, just salted hides though, that would be forbidden.

[TexasLady]

That's great, Grey. Thanks for pointing that out.

For Western Australia, this page says:

Animal skins & hides (must be free of plant material, seeds, soil & pests)

http://www.quarantinedomestic.gov.au/destination-western-australia.html

I've been tanning my own salmon skins, so that would probably be considered of dubious and origen, and not permited. Jars of honey are another item that were being confiscated enthusiastically in Western Australia,...though 'off topic' here.

[TexasLady]

GMK, I was researching Etsy just now for 'myself', and came upon this current comment about cheap mass-produced items being sold there and causing many artisans to switch to 'other platforms like Shopify'. In a related story 'Big Cartel' was mentioned. So now I'm off to research Shopify and Big Cartel.

http://www.businessinsider.com/longtime-etsy-seller-on-shutting-down-store-2015-5

Other forum members such as Bob Blea, wmartin636, and JLSleather had mentioned this Etsy phenomenon previously in this Thread, so I wanted to bring this 'confirmation' of the problem back here. I haven't tried to sell anything yet, but when I do I'll want my hand carving to be recognized as the real Mccoy.

Here's a refreshing video from Big Cartel.

https://www.bigcartel.com/

Edited May 20, 2015 by TexasLady

[cicftaiwan]

Establishing a name and trust in this business is hard work. But there are ways to attract attention. Most of my sales come through social media advertising. Do you have a business page? It really pays to set one up and start attracting attention to your work and products. Best of all, it's free! Here is an article that might give you some good idea about advertising on facebook that have benefited my sales. Here's a link, http://www.career-evolution.net/how-to-promote-your-business-on-facebook.php

PS. I live in Asia and the competition is high! So people are very picky about details in tooling. So when I started out I would work really hard on tooled projects and sell them for much less than the time I spent on them just to pay for materials, so I could improve my skills. You've done a pretty good job on your belt, but your lines could be smoother and the tooling details could be improved on. I have a video blog illustrating the tooling process I go through on youtube. Here's the link if you are interested,

Edited May 20, 2015 by cicftaiwan

[ConradPark]

I think that most people have mentioned the most important things on this thread already, however I would like to emphasize that you need to realize that your belt, the craftsmanship and quality etc. has very little to do with if that item will sell on Etsy or not. The truth is that Etsy and all the similar market places work in a specific way and to succeed there requires very much of an effort - too much to mention all of it here.

Basically, you need to enter it as you would with running any business and you need to have that mindset.

A lot of people complain about Etsy and how difficult it is. It is difficult to succeed there, but the truth is also that most people - regardless of how beautiful and well crafted items they produce - aren't very good at running a business.

This is why you see many successful shops selling mediocre and sometimes crappy stuff, because they know how to run their business, they know how to price according to demand and how their target demographic perceives value, they have professional photographs taken with studio equipment, well researched business plan, they know what works and what doesn't and they are ready to change to make it work and everything is about making the sale and run a profit.

On the other hand, you'll see plenty of well made stuff that hardly sells. At the best it might provide some coffee money, even though their products are superb. The reason is foremost that they lack the will and knowledge to run a business. Secondly, most people that want a high end quality hand crafted whatever and are willing to spend silly money to get it - will most likely not go to Etsy to look for it.

I'm not trying to discourage you. However, I do think that you should worry less about Etsy and more about continuing with your craft and the pleasure of doing it. With time you'll get the hang of Etsy and the rest, even if it will probably take years. The thing is, that if you rush into the whole thing about selling and so on, you'll soon notice that there will be little time over for actually enjoying doing leather craft. Food for thought.

Remember to have fun.

[JLSleather]

There's some truth to what Conrad says. But I personally think that's what's wrong with much of the "handmade" products.... for some reason, people think that quality and business are somehow not compatible with each other. Truth is, a lot of 'poo' gets bought and sold through fakebook, which is [supposedly] not a market site. Despite much of this site discussing Tandy being the 'low-end' material, fact is they sell a LOT of it. Fakebook isn't about quality (at ALL) but about ... well, I don't really know the reason for that And Tandy sells piles, quite simply because the NAME is KNOWN. But, that's long winded, so let me stick that in another attachment and get back to this feller's question ...

In the end, you should be charging what YOU think is correct. That's what "mine" means -- the owner can do whatever he wants with it. This is why I said before that $150 is decent for a belt IF you didn't spend hours and hours on it. If you can make one a day, then you might think that's good FOR YOU (only you can decide what is acceptable for you)

Some didn't apparently feel comfortable with the welfare example, so here's another one. This little girl started a job. She makes about $1000 / week, So, a little over $50k / year. Taxes and soc sec and all that, plus health insurance plans. Still, $750(ish) per week.

She's a good kid. But she walked into that job knowing nothing. Bringing nothing but different boots. She doesn't accept orders. She don't mail packages. She doesn't sharpen tools - or even HAVE any. Never orders materials (or even check to see if she needs any). No marketing. No web site or store to set up and maintain. And after 3:00 pm, none of it is her problem. I could go on... but IF the leather craft is about money for you, then seems logical it should be making you more than the little girl who puts in 7:00 - 3:00 and goes home.

Having said that, without being too detailed, I don't mind saying that leather did NOT make me $50k last year, and I think I know a thing or two about leather That guy at the store, selling cheap trinkets and kits to those who don't have a better understanding of it, likely made more than I did.

And for me, there's the line. I like to make (and sell) items that I would personally buy. If I wouldn't buy it, then I won't sell it. Back when, I used to have people digging projects out of the trash. I had pitched them, they weren't up to my standard for MY work, but others thought they were great. For a while, if I had a belt I wasn't satisfied with, I had to cut it up before throwing it out, or it would show up. Down side of that--- there's one person NOT going to buy a belt (since he has a free one). Well, I already talked about when it's mine I can do what I want with it, so enough about that...

As for etsy specifically, a search this morning for "tooled leather belt" brought up prices from $24 (with free shipping) to $1100 (try it). But Etsy itself is BILLIONS of dollars. Not including any investments or agreements they have, their income is largely 20¢ at a time. One listing, 20¢ each. Multiply that times 1.4 million shops, each with multiple listings..... you get the idea. Business is not necessarily quality....

More perspective?

THIS ONE sold over there at $225 and THIS ONE did not.

[JLSleather]

But, that's long winded, so let me stick that in another attachment and get back to this feller's question ...

For a guy making some spending money between classes, and enjoying leather crafting, might also check on custommade.com Just one more I've heard of.

FWIW.pdf

Edited May 20, 2015 by JLSleather

[wmartin636]

I want that little girl's job!

[TexasLady]

I found this collection of sites. It includes Etsy.

Beyond eBay

50 Niche Sites to Sell Your Stuff Online

https://www.networkingphoenix.com/blog/justinmcgill/2010/05/14/beyond-ebay-50-niche-sites-sell-your-stuff-online.28579

JLSleather,

http://www.custommade.com/ looks like a good site. I scrolled down to the very bottom of the page and clicked on Maker support. There they answered questions about how their site functions for us. I suggest looking under Tips for Success, and read, at least, Tips for winning more jobs.

Edited May 20, 2015 by TexasLady