The first disadvantage I found with Etsy is it totally remove local market. Your neighbor can buy your stuff and no one will know it's from next door. Shipping cost is a nightmare for both buyers and sellers.
@@neculailucan64the seller can choose how much the shipping is for the buyer but the seller has to pay like 8 bucks and that can't be changed, that's why a lot of sellers have higher price with fee shipping, the shipping is included in the price
@@neculailucan64 I quit etsy after 3 years I was making 700-2,000 month 3-5k around holidays. When I did etsy if a order was less then 25$ buyers payed shipping, and over 25$ sellers payed. Buyers would add something cheap to the cart and the shipping cost forced me to quit.
As one of your customers, I am thrilled with the items you have made so far and will order more when your stores are back online. The 100m Magnetic dust shoes are the best I have ever used
I think the hardest part is actually getting noticed on Etsy, there is probably a hundred thousand sellers and 10,000 in the 3D printing space. Unless you have something that is very niche.
It really depends. I don't find getting noticed super difficult. My main issue with selling physical goods with my day job I just don't have the time to commit to dealing with postage as I generally work during post office opening hours. I have posted stuff on lunch time before but that is not an effective long strategy. I currently only sell 3d models and I'm constantly asked if I can print and post stuff and I'm missing about 4 out of 5 sales because I don't have the time and can't commit to doing it full-time. As for getting noticed on Etsy and other platforms. I think there are two main errors the majority of people make. One is they don't pick a small enough niche and second is selling 3d prints rather than products that happen to be 3d printed. If you try and sell flexis or other crap there will be 100s of other sellers competing with you. People will challenge you on price and a lot of people will not want to pay for 3d printed toys as they are not as strong as injection moulded. On the other hand say you start designing replacement parts for classic cars that have difficult and or super expensive parts to buy. For example indicator lenses. You could resin print them and sell them as replacements. For some cars original parts can go for 100s so if you can offer your printed model for 50 posted after postage cost (as well as a nice box, business card and good packaging) you're still profiting 40. I know this is the case as I regularly get approached by friends in the classic car community asking me to design and print parts for them. You just gotta find a problem that you can create a solution to.
Genuinely had a friend of mine from work ask me to 3d print a Harley Davidson ornament for his motorcycle he was working on, he eventually found it, but I wish I had some modeling skill at the time and an FDM printer instead of resin.@@Raz_Tactical
Hey brother, I've been following your progress for a while now and love your format and particularly your dry wit. I couldnt help noticing in this video that you look a bit defeated so just wanted to drop in and say, dont lose the faith. I also threw away a great salary to follow my passion almost 4 years ago at 43 and there's been some dark times when I've asked myself "what have I done?". So I'm here from the future to tell you, its going to be OK! Keep kissing the frogs (products you thought would sell but dont) and run with the princesses (the products you least expected would make you rich). Most importantly, continue to be; the happy, yet cynical, Swedish maker on TH-cam. As we say in Yorkshire, England; Don't worry, thi sen, tha'll be reet lad.
I can't thank you enough for this encouraging message, I am writing from the age of 43, I recently quit my job to pursue my dreams, and as you said, there can be times of disappointment. Your message reminded me again to keep trying and keep my motivation high.
If anyone is interested, I've recently came across a TH-cam channel named "Etsy Consultant", his name is Nick and lives in Cyprus. According to several comments, his approach is realistic compared to many other gurus.
My wife sold thousands of stitch markers and knitting bags on Etsy. Her frustration came from shipping, being forced into using Etsy Shipping, being charged fees on those shipping prices, and then how much they take as a fee when she drove 80+ percent of the traffic through her Instagram. Shipping within Canada is just not economical unless people are spending $100+
if she has 80% of her customers from here insta page i would definatly just set up a own website! a woocommerce or shopify would be the best way to go i think. within a week(depends on how many items) she would have that up and running. =)
Etsy doesn't force you to use any specific shipping, nor does it require you to buy the labels from them. The fees are less than 10% unless you use their ads which you can opt out of if you are under $10k sales in a year. Most places will charge the fees on shipping as well, and it's because the rampant scammers trying to avoid fees in the first place. They did this by selling items for a penny, but then massively overcharging for "shipping". This was very common on Amazon and Ebay for a while. This is actually a good thing for buyers, it lessens the amount of scammers listing items for "cheap" and then inflating the shipping cost, which you often won't see until you go to place the order.
@@Mike-eb2kn it has been a few years since my wife used ETSY but I don't know if this is the case in Canada. It probably is. But I seem to remember ETSY charging a free for the shipping price regardless of them doing the shipping. In Canada it's expensive to mail something within the country so if you eat a bit of that cost cost and still pay 5% to mail it yourself + packaging it's too much. I guess it depends on the price point of the thing you ship.
5 to 10 USD for shipping internationally are amazing prices. In my country the post is extremely expensive and it costs 50 USD to send the smallest size of boxes internationally.
Success with an Etsy shop is hit-or-miss just like having a TH-cam channel. I have over 65k subs on my channel yet I'm not monetized, so zero income, even with millions of views. I also created an Etsy shop a few years ago (totally unrelated) and while it will never generate enough income to be my primary income I have had several thousand sales. You just have to keep throwing out different ideas until something sticks. The alternative is getting a "real job" and working for someone else, like 99% of the world. We're the 1% who actually dare to do something different. It eventually pays off.
I was shocked at Postnord's prices when I first moved to Sweden. They are a considerable cost, with frankly very poor levels of service in comparison to other state delivery organisations I've used. It's admirable that you're absorbing that cost into your product prices, but you shouldn't have to. It bothers me so much that "the little man" has to bear the burden for their inefficiency. You Swedes, in fact, everyone living in Sweden, deserves better. Bravo to you for caring for your customers though.
I started out making just for myself, and putting some of the designs online. I opened my Etsy store in a fit of pique after the site I usually upload my designs to rejected one item, so I thought "oh, I'll open an Etsy shop". In six months I've filled and posted almost 250 orders, which is crazy. Not making huge amounts of money - it's basically paid for my new Bambu + AMS, as well as paying for filament and design time, but it's worth it to me. Like you, my products are niche - in my case, VERY niche. Certainly not enough to let me scale back my day job, let alone give it up! But I wouldn't want to do this full time - it't enough that the hobby pays for itself. Etsy takes a LOT in commission, and the fact that they take commission on postage costs as well is taking the mickey. But it gives me a presence and a marketplace, so I put up with it.
when it comes to the question "when am i ready to go into business for myself?" the short answer is "never" ... the best way to look at it is "you are ready enough" .. you will be making lots of changes, adaptations and course corrections in the first few months/years. it can be totally frustrating and disheartening, especially when you have a clear vision of what you want your business to be and look like and then have to throw most of your plan out the window because the market has shifted or your customer base is looking for something totally different. having a business takes more out of you than a marriage
Great video! I also ship as international letter from sweden and I can drop my orders at any postnord office (usually it's an ICA store). The limit for doing this Postnord told me is 10pcs a day. I preprint all my shipping labels via the postnord business portal and just hand them in. Both letter and tracked letter works fine.
Thank you for posting these videos, I enjoy watching your process and your honesty. As an introvert who likes to dabble, tinker, and make things, I've thought about doing something like this, and it is illuminating to watch you document how it's going for you.
A year late, but just ran across this one today. I've seen many makers use "shipping days" where they ship out all their orders one day a week, and the same day every week (sometimes the interval is different based on their volume, but mostly I've seen weekly). Basically state that orders before Wednesday each week will be shipped out on Thursday, any orders after Wednesday will be shipped the following Thursday (for example). This could help with your international stuff, basically pool up everything you have for the week, and then drop it off at the post office on that day. (you can do this with your domestic stuff too, to help structure your shipping better)
I think "fully ready" isn't something that can happen before you start. I've had a lot of things only improve or get figured out through the process of doing. The annoying bureaucratic stuff like business licenses, knowing how and when to collect taxes, and finding out how to do shipping quotes need to be done first. Some of the things you mentioned I don't think you would have just known before hand to do. I'm thrilled for you doing that well so quickly though! I've been floundering for longer mostly because [with the work and 3 kids and] not being focused enough on WHAT I want to make and do the limited time I can dedicate goes to poking at all the things instead of making meaningful improvements in specific areas. 🤷♀ Choosing is hard when as you said, everything is market testing in way. It is hard to say that anything is or isn't working when there are limited views on them.
My first time watching one of your videos. I think it came up because I'm new to Etsy (3+ months) and I've been watching a lot of Etsy-related content recently). Your experience sounds very much like mine, in terms of juggling home life, a full time job and an Etsy shop. I hand make wood crafts. I have a bottle opener, a wine bottle holder, some plants stands and such in my shop but they're not selling. I also have some bird and squirrel feeders and they are very popular. I've made almost 40 sales since I started my shop. I added some Halloween-related items a few weeks ago and the visit/view count for my shop has really gone up. I'm excited to see what Halloween and the holidays will bring for me. I only sell in the US so shipping has not been a problem for me, cost-wise. I don't offer free shipping (unless it's a sale) so I don't have to worry about how to work it into my prices. I think the most anyone has paid, i.e. the furthest point from me, is about $12. Not too bad. The fees Etsy charges can seem excessive but they're really not. When I compare my product sales (just the price of the product) to the amount of fees, it works out to be 15%. Shipping and sales tax are a wash. Etsy collects those and then I end up paying those back out so it's like they don't exist. I'd love to have a website but I don't have the desire to do all the marketing that's required to make it successful. All of my business on Etsy has been organic. I've tweaked my SEO here and there but otherwise, I have just sat back and let Etsy do it's thing. The results I've seen for the work I've put in tells me that Etsy is where I'll be for the foreseeable future.
I also started a shop on Etsy recently. I only sell one SVG file of a chair for CNC machines and it makes me around 1k$ a month without any shipping involved. Working on more files to add. But I have to constantly market it in FB groups or pay for ads. Have you thought of selling the stl files?
Really informative video thank you! As a maker who sells a few things on Etsy I think you hit the nail on the head. Thanks for your videos your one of the creators that’s inspired me to start TH-cam (just posted first full video) so thank you also for that!
In Canada, we are restricted to letter mail; Etsy only uses Canada Post and shipping to a city 14 minutes drive from home costs $20. No one shipping in Canada uses Canada Post because they are slow, your parcel could be damaged or stolen by Canada Post (this has happened even with automated shorting), and they are expensive. So, of the printers I have seen, they focus on shipping to the US, where they can flat rate ship for $7 CDN. So, I stopped selling on Etsy; it was way too troublesome with shipping.
thank you for that great video and for sharing your experience. very valuable! I can understand how difficult it is, bringing it all together with the main job and a big family. Stay strong and happy!
An easy way to account for repairs is to add a fraction of the cost to replace your 3D printer after the expected lifetime when calculating your item price. In other words, depreciation. For example, if your printer costs 1000 USD and has a lifetime of about 10,000 hours, a 10 hr print should have an extra 1 USD added to the price. You might have to make some educated guesses on the printer lifetime.
@TheSwedishMaker I suggest you get the Bambu labs P1S combo or just the simple P1S, it is only $100 more expensive and has an enclosure, all fans and the carbon filter! it is an amazing printer for you needs also because it can print materials like nylon, ABS and ASA, Bambu labs has a material called PAHT-CF (CF High Temp reniforced Nylon) which is perfect for you needs, strong and temperature resistant which seems suitable for wood-working.
Hey, fellow Etsy 3D printing seller here! I've had my shop for a couple of years or so and made 58 sales so far, possibly earning about as much as you've done in that time. I only have the one (slow) printer and agree that posting the finished product is a pain. I sell an assortment of random stuff, but my biggest seller and most expensive item is a 15 inch+ long model of the Liberator from Blake's 7. I've gradually added things for sale to my shop and currently have 24 listed. It varies a lot, but I can sometimes go a couple of months or so between orders whereas other times I get two or three in as many days. I work full time too, so it's a side hustle at the moment.
Thanks for the sharing your experience with this venture. You are defiantly pronouncing bamboo lab just fine, Id like to hear the commenters Swedish... Good luck with the move! Cheers from California
Hi 👋, The Swedish Maker , great content, explaining you’re good and bad problems of setting up a business, I work for myself are probably best part of 40 years. Something I didn’t do when I first started out who is putting in the cost of the electric travelling costs going and picking up supplies and this all has to be accounted for, I was a specialist joiner cabinetmaker working from the UK, I’m now retired and living in France. That sounds great., but I’ve had a big problem with my ex partner, I’m now even thinking of starting a small business up, trying to earn extra money, not very good with computers, but I am capable of doing Woodturning making furniture and things like that so that’s what I think I might be doing in the future, all the success for you in the future. Hope you get sorted soon in your new property . Phil from the moulin France.
About the shipping some Ebay sellers states that they ship certain days of the week, like some only ship on fridays or mondays so maybe consider that policy so you have a bit less stress by habing more time for the preparation of the shipping and less trips to the post office.
If you are giving etsy 3 months it is not long enough. I started 2 yrs ago, very slow the first year, just hit over 35 thousand sales, spanning 37 countries last year. First year was tough, intended to close shop numerous times. Etsy is all about building momentum, takes time to do that but it is worth the effort. If everything is right, product, photos, tags, descriptions, titles, it is just about building momentum. Pinterest helped give me a boost, it has a massive reach. I have to be honest I do not really understand Pinterest, all I know is that my links to my etsy shop get thousands of views per months, so I just keep pinning lol.
Thank you for the honest status report on your progress with the sale of 3D printed products. I have the same experiences, but after trying selling on ebay, I have ended up with my own online store. ebay and etsy charge too much and when I, who live in Norway, have to send the products, the price of shipping is decisive if it is possible to sell anything at all. Fortunately, the parts I sell are also so small that they can be sent as letters, but the customers still have to pay 12-15 USD for shipping. You are a bit luckier than me regarding tax, since Sweden is in the EU, but it is also something I have to deal with. I can't wait to see how things progress with you, and hope you don't give up even if sales are a little slower than you first expected. I'm also in the starting phase, so now it's just a matter of working on it and not giving up. Good luck, country neighbor!
Really interesting video, thanks for sharing. I started a side hustle during Covid and I now sell through eBay, Shopify and just last week Etsy. The business generates about $40,000 (gross) with a fairly healthy profit margin. It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how the sales rack up on Etsy, first month is slow with a 1.7% conversion rate but that could be worse. The one thing that most folk don’t think about is the huge amount of money these platforms take. You can right off 50% of your gross sales with fees and postage, you then have packaging, your manufacturing method and associated costs (mine is also a 3D print business). I use promotions with eBay and Etsy, you have to be in eyesight otherwise you just get lost. You are absolutely right, being organised is the key to helping streamline your workflow and reduce time and wastage. I’m not sure how long I’ll continue with my second business (I already own a 7 figure turnover main business), the problem is now it’s making enough money to warrant the little amount of time I spend on it. Keep up the good work 👍
Some of the items that sell well and are soap stamps, either customised or you can deside on some designs- Look what others are doing. Another thing is bath-bomb and shampoo bar presses
Thanks for the update. This was very helpful. Hey, Hope the move is going well! (P.S. Your pronunciation is fine. From my experience, trolls will be trolls. No reason to let them live rent free in our heads)
As part of a sentence, I hardly would've noticed your accent (a de-emphasis of the U, and not a mispronunciation) of Bambu Labs. When you say it all alone, I can't help hearing it against the background of "Black Betty." "Whoa, Black Betty--BambuLabs..." I may never unhear this, and I thank you for the little smile you have given me every time I see this logo. If you actually want to "correct" your "pronunciation," then all you need to do is emphasize the BamBU part... although why you would want to is beyond me. It's your thing, it's honest and sincere, and it shares smiles. It's beautiful.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences! I'm thinking of beginning a similar venture. I bought a X1C and can't abide the old printer any longer. I'm not one to putz with the printer, I want it to work and cause me as little frustration as possible to achieve my goals. Thanks for mentioning that in your video. For me 3D printing is a path to a goal, not a goal in itself. Finally, the FLSUN printer was one I was looking at. Your short review helps, thanks! Maybe, do a little longer review of the FLSUN and the enclosure for the P1P.
I'd wanna see ROI in this project. Or projected ROI. Because the printers, your time, shipping, packaging. Etc... Good thing is that you can make a video about it a sunk the cost that way too but still
Some shipping companies allow you to pre bulk buy shipping for small packages in advance this can come out quite cheep per package as long as you use enough of them
hearing this I feel privileged with postage in the UK Royal Mail is AMAZING good price if you have a label printer you can post via a postbox or parcel postbox so you don't have to be in the post office for 20 minutes. Or you can have the postman come to you and pick it up for free and they'll bring the label if you don't have a label printer.
I tried Etsy once and they banned me before I even did the email verification and refused to tell me why. Even made me wait weeks and for one email nearly over a month to even get a response. Claimed I violated TOS somehow. Went over the TOS and there were no clues at all as to what I violated. The only thing I could think of was maybe my name as some bots think it's profanity. I asked if this was the case and they still would not tell me.
Thanks for the insight! Im thinking about doing my own stuff on etsy soon and don´t know much about it. But this video really helps to see the buisness end of it and the struggles along the way. Hope your doing great and wish you the best for the future!
Thank you! I needed this. I loved the "nothing is crucial but might help" vibe. I am in the starting phase. My plan on the repair costs is to bake in (or allocate) a printing cost of 1-2kr(10-20 cents) per hour of print time. My thoughts being that if my 2k printer dies after 2k hours I can replace it. If it doesn't break I can either save the money or expand the farm.
Repairing stuff or replacing. Just do a number, kinda high from start. Maybe 36 or 200 products you can sell off of the replacements until you kinda know how long it lasts and keep good records of how many and what size. A lot to keep track of but it’s a job of business owner
I'm printing a little in the Philippines since I moved here, completely different market than back in Europe. Only way to compete in that sphere in terms of shipping cost internationally is a network of printing hubs, so you print & ship locally
Great video. Your transparency and realistic outlook is very welcome and refreshing. There are so many videos on TH-cam from web entrepreneurs who make it sound so simple and focus on how much they sold in a month. They rarely talk about the actual time it took and the real profit that they earned. You said you earned $1600. Over the course of how many months? Is this $1600 in profit or $1600 in revenue?
if you want another weird submarket, vacuum bag adapter plates. there is a ton of different formats of vacuumbags that have approx the same volume or close enough. The only thing currently preventing you from attaching them is the connector plate. dunno how big Vacuum feels about that though
Do you offer customization? I actually love the idea of mic cover, looks smart, but would look twice a good with the persons logo on. People love to promote themselves and would 2x as much for that
great vid, im like you and have Etsy as a bit of a side hustle. I really like the photo box idea, I found it'll take ages clearing an area, setting up a white background card and then lighting to get a few pics of something i just made. Im definitely going to get one.
For shipping I heard that it is better to make it free and advertise it on your page but make your parts more expensive but it depends if everything on esty has shipping then baking it into your product could make it look more expensive at first glance
Great video man thank you and keep going! I’m excited for the move and to see you grow. Question - how do you like the Bambu Labs printers? I know there’s a ton of reviews but I’m interested in your opinion, thanks!
Great insights, thank you for sharing ^^ I'm looking into doing the same setup, just to try and see if it can become something, the shipping prices in the netherlands are insane as well xD
I am not an expert but a while ago I saw a video of an alike biz (leatherwork) and they had alike logistics problems (package time, sending price, transport to send...) until they had made a deal with a "fulfillment center" . They send batches of product to the FC and there things get repacked and send. Also FC has a better deal with postal companies.
Thank you for telling your story! Sounds fantastic and hope that you can continue your store once you sort out your moving project. Since, I have a collection of five Creality K1 Max 3D printers and laser engraver, I am thinking of opening a Etsy store to sell 3D printing unique art and also men’s evening jackets and vests.
Congratulations, sounds like younare working theough any issues you have encountered. Hope the more go smoothly. Thank you for sharing. Everyone stay safe, happy and healthy. From Henrico County Virginia
I work for the us post office I’m not sure how the post office works over there but you should be able to go online and schedule a daily pickup just make sure you set a standard place where the carrier can pickup your packages daily, please Make sure they don’t have to worry about gates dogs or finding the packages please try and make things easy for them so they don’t get the impression that your a difficult customer. Just saying we carriers are humans and we get frustrated just like anyone else so please just make it easy for us if you can
The first disadvantage I found with Etsy is it totally remove local market. Your neighbor can buy your stuff and no one will know it's from next door. Shipping cost is a nightmare for both buyers and sellers.
why? whu pay the shipp buyers or sellers?
The local market is fuckking trash !! You’re not a real business if you can’t sell across the USA.
Shipping cost is a matter of patience with figuring it out. You’re lazy minded.
@@neculailucan64the seller can choose how much the shipping is for the buyer but the seller has to pay like 8 bucks and that can't be changed, that's why a lot of sellers have higher price with fee shipping, the shipping is included in the price
@@neculailucan64 I quit etsy after 3 years I was making 700-2,000 month 3-5k around holidays. When I did etsy if a order was less then 25$ buyers payed shipping, and over 25$ sellers payed. Buyers would add something cheap to the cart and the shipping cost forced me to quit.
As one of your customers, I am thrilled with the items you have made so far and will order more when your stores are back online.
The 100m Magnetic dust shoes are the best I have ever used
So glad you enjoyed the magnetic dust shoe! It's definitely my favourite too
I think the hardest part is actually getting noticed on Etsy, there is probably a hundred thousand sellers and 10,000 in the 3D printing space. Unless you have something that is very niche.
There are 6 millions active sellers on Etsy, not a couple hundred thousand.
@@financialchimes4546a couple of hundred thousand in the 3d printing space!
It really depends. I don't find getting noticed super difficult. My main issue with selling physical goods with my day job I just don't have the time to commit to dealing with postage as I generally work during post office opening hours. I have posted stuff on lunch time before but that is not an effective long strategy. I currently only sell 3d models and I'm constantly asked if I can print and post stuff and I'm missing about 4 out of 5 sales because I don't have the time and can't commit to doing it full-time.
As for getting noticed on Etsy and other platforms. I think there are two main errors the majority of people make. One is they don't pick a small enough niche and second is selling 3d prints rather than products that happen to be 3d printed.
If you try and sell flexis or other crap there will be 100s of other sellers competing with you. People will challenge you on price and a lot of people will not want to pay for 3d printed toys as they are not as strong as injection moulded.
On the other hand say you start designing replacement parts for classic cars that have difficult and or super expensive parts to buy. For example indicator lenses. You could resin print them and sell them as replacements. For some cars original parts can go for 100s so if you can offer your printed model for 50 posted after postage cost (as well as a nice box, business card and good packaging) you're still profiting 40.
I know this is the case as I regularly get approached by friends in the classic car community asking me to design and print parts for them.
You just gotta find a problem that you can create a solution to.
@@Robc509 That's not what he said. He said "probably a hundred thousand sellers and 10,000 in the 3D printing space".
Genuinely had a friend of mine from work ask me to 3d print a Harley Davidson ornament for his motorcycle he was working on, he eventually found it, but I wish I had some modeling skill at the time and an FDM printer instead of resin.@@Raz_Tactical
Hey brother, I've been following your progress for a while now and love your format and particularly your dry wit. I couldnt help noticing in this video that you look a bit defeated so just wanted to drop in and say, dont lose the faith. I also threw away a great salary to follow my passion almost 4 years ago at 43 and there's been some dark times when I've asked myself "what have I done?". So I'm here from the future to tell you, its going to be OK! Keep kissing the frogs (products you thought would sell but dont) and run with the princesses (the products you least expected would make you rich). Most importantly, continue to be; the happy, yet cynical, Swedish maker on TH-cam. As we say in Yorkshire, England; Don't worry, thi sen, tha'll be reet lad.
thanks for the support mate! Truly appreciate it! you've got a good eye for catching things :)
best coment that I read on Etsy videos
A very warm encouraging comment for any of us who wish to start a shop at Etsy, but feel a bit Yes and No because of some negative comments.
I can't thank you enough for this encouraging message, I am writing from the age of 43, I recently quit my job to pursue my dreams, and as you said, there can be times of disappointment. Your message reminded me again to keep trying and keep my motivation high.
If anyone is interested, I've recently came across a TH-cam channel named "Etsy Consultant", his name is Nick and lives in Cyprus. According to several comments, his approach is realistic compared to many other gurus.
My wife sold thousands of stitch markers and knitting bags on Etsy. Her frustration came from shipping, being forced into using Etsy Shipping, being charged fees on those shipping prices, and then how much they take as a fee when she drove 80+ percent of the traffic through her Instagram.
Shipping within Canada is just not economical unless people are spending $100+
I get what you mean. If you have your own stream of sales - the fees of etsy are expensive.
if she has 80% of her customers from here insta page i would definatly just set up a own website! a woocommerce or shopify would be the best way to go i think. within a week(depends on how many items) she would have that up and running. =)
i have etsy shop from 4 months, literally 0 people from "natural" movement on website, everything flooded by AI-garbage and cashgrabs sellers
Etsy doesn't force you to use any specific shipping, nor does it require you to buy the labels from them. The fees are less than 10% unless you use their ads which you can opt out of if you are under $10k sales in a year. Most places will charge the fees on shipping as well, and it's because the rampant scammers trying to avoid fees in the first place. They did this by selling items for a penny, but then massively overcharging for "shipping". This was very common on Amazon and Ebay for a while. This is actually a good thing for buyers, it lessens the amount of scammers listing items for "cheap" and then inflating the shipping cost, which you often won't see until you go to place the order.
@@Mike-eb2kn it has been a few years since my wife used ETSY but I don't know if this is the case in Canada. It probably is.
But I seem to remember ETSY charging a free for the shipping price regardless of them doing the shipping.
In Canada it's expensive to mail something within the country so if you eat a bit of that cost cost and still pay 5% to mail it yourself + packaging it's too much.
I guess it depends on the price point of the thing you ship.
Bro this know-how and your fully honest knowledge is just priceless. No world to thank you!
5 to 10 USD for shipping internationally are amazing prices. In my country the post is extremely expensive and it costs 50 USD to send the smallest size of boxes internationally.
There's no tracking on those orders tho...so it doesnt work out great in the end. I never know if the customer has recieved or not.
@TheSwedishMaker if you don't hear from them, you can be sure they got your package
Appreciate the transparency and sharing your experience with this. Especially, as a father myself. Keep it up, man.
Thanks a lot!
Inspirational man! Thanks for the openness and authenticity! You're doing amazing!
Success with an Etsy shop is hit-or-miss just like having a TH-cam channel. I have over 65k subs on my channel yet I'm not monetized, so zero income, even with millions of views. I also created an Etsy shop a few years ago (totally unrelated) and while it will never generate enough income to be my primary income I have had several thousand sales. You just have to keep throwing out different ideas until something sticks. The alternative is getting a "real job" and working for someone else, like 99% of the world. We're the 1% who actually dare to do something different. It eventually pays off.
I often rattle around the idea of selling on Etsy but haven't taken the leap. I appreciate you sharing your experience!
I was shocked at Postnord's prices when I first moved to Sweden. They are a considerable cost, with frankly very poor levels of service in comparison to other state delivery organisations I've used.
It's admirable that you're absorbing that cost into your product prices, but you shouldn't have to. It bothers me so much that "the little man" has to bear the burden for their inefficiency.
You Swedes, in fact, everyone living in Sweden, deserves better. Bravo to you for caring for your customers though.
thank you! Appreciate it
I started out making just for myself, and putting some of the designs online. I opened my Etsy store in a fit of pique after the site I usually upload my designs to rejected one item, so I thought "oh, I'll open an Etsy shop". In six months I've filled and posted almost 250 orders, which is crazy. Not making huge amounts of money - it's basically paid for my new Bambu + AMS, as well as paying for filament and design time, but it's worth it to me.
Like you, my products are niche - in my case, VERY niche. Certainly not enough to let me scale back my day job, let alone give it up! But I wouldn't want to do this full time - it't enough that the hobby pays for itself.
Etsy takes a LOT in commission, and the fact that they take commission on postage costs as well is taking the mickey. But it gives me a presence and a marketplace, so I put up with it.
when it comes to the question "when am i ready to go into business for myself?" the short answer is "never" ... the best way to look at it is "you are ready enough" .. you will be making lots of changes, adaptations and course corrections in the first few months/years. it can be totally frustrating and disheartening, especially when you have a clear vision of what you want your business to be and look like and then have to throw most of your plan out the window because the market has shifted or your customer base is looking for something totally different. having a business takes more out of you than a marriage
Great video!
I also ship as international letter from sweden and I can drop my orders at any postnord office (usually it's an ICA store). The limit for doing this Postnord told me is 10pcs a day. I preprint all my shipping labels via the postnord business portal and just hand them in. Both letter and tracked letter works fine.
Thank you for posting these videos, I enjoy watching your process and your honesty. As an introvert who likes to dabble, tinker, and make things, I've thought about doing something like this, and it is illuminating to watch you document how it's going for you.
A year late, but just ran across this one today. I've seen many makers use "shipping days" where they ship out all their orders one day a week, and the same day every week (sometimes the interval is different based on their volume, but mostly I've seen weekly). Basically state that orders before Wednesday each week will be shipped out on Thursday, any orders after Wednesday will be shipped the following Thursday (for example). This could help with your international stuff, basically pool up everything you have for the week, and then drop it off at the post office on that day. (you can do this with your domestic stuff too, to help structure your shipping better)
I think "fully ready" isn't something that can happen before you start. I've had a lot of things only improve or get figured out through the process of doing. The annoying bureaucratic stuff like business licenses, knowing how and when to collect taxes, and finding out how to do shipping quotes need to be done first. Some of the things you mentioned I don't think you would have just known before hand to do. I'm thrilled for you doing that well so quickly though! I've been floundering for longer mostly because [with the work and 3 kids and] not being focused enough on WHAT I want to make and do the limited time I can dedicate goes to poking at all the things instead of making meaningful improvements in specific areas. 🤷♀ Choosing is hard when as you said, everything is market testing in way. It is hard to say that anything is or isn't working when there are limited views on them.
Bravo on doing this with a family, full time job, and 3 kids!!! bravo, keep that hustle going!
My first time watching one of your videos. I think it came up because I'm new to Etsy (3+ months) and I've been watching a lot of Etsy-related content recently). Your experience sounds very much like mine, in terms of juggling home life, a full time job and an Etsy shop.
I hand make wood crafts. I have a bottle opener, a wine bottle holder, some plants stands and such in my shop but they're not selling. I also have some bird and squirrel feeders and they are very popular. I've made almost 40 sales since I started my shop. I added some Halloween-related items a few weeks ago and the visit/view count for my shop has really gone up. I'm excited to see what Halloween and the holidays will bring for me.
I only sell in the US so shipping has not been a problem for me, cost-wise. I don't offer free shipping (unless it's a sale) so I don't have to worry about how to work it into my prices. I think the most anyone has paid, i.e. the furthest point from me, is about $12. Not too bad.
The fees Etsy charges can seem excessive but they're really not. When I compare my product sales (just the price of the product) to the amount of fees, it works out to be 15%. Shipping and sales tax are a wash. Etsy collects those and then I end up paying those back out so it's like they don't exist.
I'd love to have a website but I don't have the desire to do all the marketing that's required to make it successful. All of my business on Etsy has been organic. I've tweaked my SEO here and there but otherwise, I have just sat back and let Etsy do it's thing. The results I've seen for the work I've put in tells me that Etsy is where I'll be for the foreseeable future.
Thanks for the honest review, good luck with the venture going forward.
I also started a shop on Etsy recently. I only sell one SVG file of a chair for CNC machines and it makes me around 1k$ a month without any shipping involved. Working on more files to add. But I have to constantly market it in FB groups or pay for ads. Have you thought of selling the stl files?
Really informative video thank you! As a maker who sells a few things on Etsy I think you hit the nail on the head. Thanks for your videos your one of the creators that’s inspired me to start TH-cam (just posted first full video) so thank you also for that!
I have two Artillery Sidewinders in my attic! And huge parts bins to go with them. So funny to see you in the same predicament.
In Canada, we are restricted to letter mail; Etsy only uses Canada Post and shipping to a city 14 minutes drive from home costs $20. No one shipping in Canada uses Canada Post because they are slow, your parcel could be damaged or stolen by Canada Post (this has happened even with automated shorting), and they are expensive. So, of the printers I have seen, they focus on shipping to the US, where they can flat rate ship for $7 CDN. So, I stopped selling on Etsy; it was way too troublesome with shipping.
Same. Shipping from Canada was just too expensive.
thank you for that great video and for sharing your experience. very valuable! I can understand how difficult it is, bringing it all together with the main job and a big family. Stay strong and happy!
An easy way to account for repairs is to add a fraction of the cost to replace your 3D printer after the expected lifetime when calculating your item price. In other words, depreciation.
For example, if your printer costs 1000 USD and has a lifetime of about 10,000 hours, a 10 hr print should have an extra 1 USD added to the price.
You might have to make some educated guesses on the printer lifetime.
@TheSwedishMaker I suggest you get the Bambu labs P1S combo or just the simple P1S, it is only $100 more expensive and has an enclosure, all fans and the carbon filter! it is an amazing printer for you needs also because it can print materials like nylon, ABS and ASA, Bambu labs has a material called PAHT-CF (CF High Temp reniforced Nylon) which is perfect for you needs, strong and temperature resistant which seems suitable for wood-working.
Glad to hear the etsy business is working out for you
Nice video , loved the little cheeky text that popped up 😁
haha thanks mate! :)
wow I'm your fan, not that many people withstand that amount of work/dedication. keep it up an best wishes from Mexico
Hey, fellow Etsy 3D printing seller here! I've had my shop for a couple of years or so and made 58 sales so far, possibly earning about as much as you've done in that time. I only have the one (slow) printer and agree that posting the finished product is a pain. I sell an assortment of random stuff, but my biggest seller and most expensive item is a 15 inch+ long model of the Liberator from Blake's 7. I've gradually added things for sale to my shop and currently have 24 listed. It varies a lot, but I can sometimes go a couple of months or so between orders whereas other times I get two or three in as many days. I work full time too, so it's a side hustle at the moment.
Thanks for the sharing your experience with this venture. You are defiantly pronouncing bamboo lab just fine, Id like to hear the commenters Swedish... Good luck with the move! Cheers from California
thanks man!
Hi 👋, The Swedish Maker , great content, explaining you’re good and bad problems of setting up a business, I work for myself are probably best part of 40 years. Something I didn’t do when I first started out who is putting in the cost of the electric travelling costs going and picking up supplies and this all has to be accounted for, I was a specialist joiner cabinetmaker working from the UK, I’m now retired and living in France. That sounds great., but I’ve had a big problem with my ex partner, I’m now even thinking of starting a small business up, trying to earn extra money, not very good with computers, but I am capable of doing Woodturning making furniture and things like that so that’s what I think I might be doing in the future, all the success for you in the future. Hope you get sorted soon in your new property .
Phil from the moulin France.
thanks man! I hope you work something out starting a small business and enjoying it
About the shipping some Ebay sellers states that they ship certain days of the week, like some only ship on fridays or mondays so maybe consider that policy so you have a bit less stress by habing more time for the preparation of the shipping and less trips to the post office.
If you are giving etsy 3 months it is not long enough. I started 2 yrs ago, very slow the first year, just hit over 35 thousand sales, spanning 37 countries last year. First year was tough, intended to close shop numerous times. Etsy is all about building momentum, takes time to do that but it is worth the effort. If everything is right, product, photos, tags, descriptions, titles, it is just about building momentum. Pinterest helped give me a boost, it has a massive reach. I have to be honest I do not really understand Pinterest, all I know is that my links to my etsy shop get thousands of views per months, so I just keep pinning lol.
That’s great! Do you pay for advertising on Pinterest?
Thank you so much for all your work and insight.
In general I take 15% of the gear purchase price and set that aside for repairs. It does give you a given number to use for pricing your items
This was an honest and informative video. Really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing! And good luck with the move!
Thank you for the honest status report on your progress with the sale of 3D printed products. I have the same experiences, but after trying selling on ebay, I have ended up with my own online store. ebay and etsy charge too much and when I, who live in Norway, have to send the products, the price of shipping is decisive if it is possible to sell anything at all. Fortunately, the parts I sell are also so small that they can be sent as letters, but the customers still have to pay 12-15 USD for shipping. You are a bit luckier than me regarding tax, since Sweden is in the EU, but it is also something I have to deal with. I can't wait to see how things progress with you, and hope you don't give up even if sales are a little slower than you first expected. I'm also in the starting phase, so now it's just a matter of working on it and not giving up. Good luck, country neighbor!
Thanks!
Thank you from Sweden!
Great video. I’m on the fence about starting to sell some products on line so it was nice to hear a review on Etsy that was more positive. Thank you.
Glad you liked it! Thank you!
Really interesting video, thanks for sharing. I started a side hustle during Covid and I now sell through eBay, Shopify and just last week Etsy. The business generates about $40,000 (gross) with a fairly healthy profit margin. It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how the sales rack up on Etsy, first month is slow with a 1.7% conversion rate but that could be worse. The one thing that most folk don’t think about is the huge amount of money these platforms take. You can right off 50% of your gross sales with fees and postage, you then have packaging, your manufacturing method and associated costs (mine is also a 3D print business). I use promotions with eBay and Etsy, you have to be in eyesight otherwise you just get lost. You are absolutely right, being organised is the key to helping streamline your workflow and reduce time and wastage. I’m not sure how long I’ll continue with my second business (I already own a 7 figure turnover main business), the problem is now it’s making enough money to warrant the little amount of time I spend on it. Keep up the good work 👍
Some of the items that sell well and are soap stamps, either customised or you can deside on some designs- Look what others are doing. Another thing is bath-bomb and shampoo bar presses
Etsy is what Etsy is. Congrats on your successful project proposal to Bambu Lab, I look forward to seeing what else you create with that 3D printer.
Thanks for the update. This was very helpful. Hey, Hope the move is going well!
(P.S. Your pronunciation is fine. From my experience, trolls will be trolls. No reason to let them live rent free in our heads)
As part of a sentence, I hardly would've noticed your accent (a de-emphasis of the U, and not a mispronunciation) of Bambu Labs.
When you say it all alone, I can't help hearing it against the background of "Black Betty."
"Whoa, Black Betty--BambuLabs..."
I may never unhear this, and I thank you for the little smile you have given me every time I see this logo.
If you actually want to "correct" your "pronunciation," then all you need to do is emphasize the BamBU part... although why you would want to is beyond me. It's your thing, it's honest and sincere, and it shares smiles. It's beautiful.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences! I'm thinking of beginning a similar venture. I bought a X1C and can't abide the old printer any longer. I'm not one to putz with the printer, I want it to work and cause me as little frustration as possible to achieve my goals. Thanks for mentioning that in your video. For me 3D printing is a path to a goal, not a goal in itself. Finally, the FLSUN printer was one I was looking at. Your short review helps, thanks! Maybe, do a little longer review of the FLSUN and the enclosure for the P1P.
Might do more on those printers! Thanks for watching
I'd wanna see ROI in this project. Or projected ROI. Because the printers, your time, shipping, packaging. Etc... Good thing is that you can make a video about it a sunk the cost that way too but still
Thank you! IMHO you can pronounce names anyway you want. Good luck on the move.
Some shipping companies allow you to pre bulk buy shipping for small packages in advance this can come out quite cheep per package as long as you use enough of them
hearing this I feel privileged with postage in the UK Royal Mail is AMAZING good price if you have a label printer you can post via a postbox or parcel postbox so you don't have to be in the post office for 20 minutes. Or you can have the postman come to you and pick it up for free and they'll bring the label if you don't have a label printer.
Nice and down to earth. Hope you do well with your new adventures!🙂
I tried Etsy once and they banned me before I even did the email verification and refused to tell me why. Even made me wait weeks and for one email nearly over a month to even get a response. Claimed I violated TOS somehow. Went over the TOS and there were no clues at all as to what I violated. The only thing I could think of was maybe my name as some bots think it's profanity. I asked if this was the case and they still would not tell me.
Thanks for the insight!
Im thinking about doing my own stuff on etsy soon and don´t know much about it.
But this video really helps to see the buisness end of it and the struggles along the way.
Hope your doing great and wish you the best for the future!
Thank you! I needed this. I loved the "nothing is crucial but might help" vibe.
I am in the starting phase. My plan on the repair costs is to bake in (or allocate) a printing cost of 1-2kr(10-20 cents) per hour of print time. My thoughts being that if my 2k printer dies after 2k hours I can replace it. If it doesn't break I can either save the money or expand the farm.
Good for you. Keep doing what makes you happy. You videos are great
Thanks for sharing buddy, you seem like the kindest guy in the world. I hope it all works out for you 🙂
Literally saw the first video yesterday and wondered where the follow-up was, and low and behold. Today it arrived
Really enjoy and appreciate your videos. Thank you!
respect! for going around all the stuff in your life with 3 kids ;)
Good luck with the move!❤
thanks!
That's really cool to see, man! Glad it's been going well. Hope the move went well too 👍
You should keep shadows off of your solar panels.....to keep the max output happening!
I really like the back wall of your workbench. That black wall. What is it made of?
Repairing stuff or replacing. Just do a number, kinda high from start. Maybe 36 or 200 products you can sell off of the replacements until you kinda know how long it lasts and keep good records of how many and what size. A lot to keep track of but it’s a job of business owner
I'm printing a little in the Philippines since I moved here, completely different market than back in Europe. Only way to compete in that sphere in terms of shipping cost internationally is a network of printing hubs, so you print & ship locally
Thanks for sharing the insight. I'm in the early stages of getting started. This was perfect! 🙏
hi from belgium... what an honesty... thank you for this video. For me it was very motivational...
honestly you've started at the right time. "later" never exists. Personal experience. Great insight though, thank you so much for it!!!
Great video. Your transparency and realistic outlook is very welcome and refreshing. There are so many videos on TH-cam from web entrepreneurs who make it sound so simple and focus on how much they sold in a month. They rarely talk about the actual time it took and the real profit that they earned.
You said you earned $1600. Over the course of how many months? Is this $1600 in profit or $1600 in revenue?
Tack. I will look into this bussiness. Maybe 3d printed metals next
if you want another weird submarket, vacuum bag adapter plates. there is a ton of different formats of vacuumbags that have approx the same volume or close enough. The only thing currently preventing you from attaching them is the connector plate. dunno how big Vacuum feels about that though
They probably think it sucks
Maybe my hearing is screwed up, but it sounds like you are saying Bambu Lab correct to me.
That new 3D printer looks amazing! Thank you for sharing your journey 💚
Every time I scroll past this thumbnail, I have to double back because I keep thinking “when did Rhett start selling stuff on Etsy?”
Great video and thanks for sharing your experience!
Nice poster you have there. Im from Harplinge and lived there until 1999 then i moved to Halmstad.
Ask for 3 working days for shipping, and ship only twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Do you offer customization? I actually love the idea of mic cover, looks smart, but would look twice a good with the persons logo on. People love to promote themselves and would 2x as much for that
Not currently, but I hope to in the future. I might sell the digital files for people to customize on their own.
Thank you so much for this video - you are a great guy!
great vid, im like you and have Etsy as a bit of a side hustle. I really like the photo box idea, I found it'll take ages clearing an area, setting up a white background card and then lighting to get a few pics of something i just made. Im definitely going to get one.
For shipping I heard that it is better to make it free and advertise it on your page but make your parts more expensive but it depends if everything on esty has shipping then baking it into your product could make it look more expensive at first glance
Great video man thank you and keep going! I’m excited for the move and to see you grow. Question - how do you like the Bambu Labs printers? I know there’s a ton of reviews but I’m interested in your opinion, thanks!
Thank you! Man, I love that printer more than any other printers Ive tried. The quality is outstanding even with the higher print speeds.
Dude, you are a rockstar introvert! Keep going!
You may want to see if "Pirate Ship" is available in your country. I've found them very inexpensive here in the U.S.A.
Great insights, thank you for sharing ^^ I'm looking into doing the same setup, just to try and see if it can become something, the shipping prices in the netherlands are insane as well xD
I am not an expert but a while ago I saw a video of an alike biz (leatherwork) and they had alike logistics problems (package time, sending price, transport to send...) until they had made a deal with a "fulfillment center" . They send batches of product to the FC and there things get repacked and send. Also FC has a better deal with postal companies.
Are you liking the FLSUN or the Bambu labs printer more? I've been debating on upgrading to one of them.
Tack för en informativ och trevlig video!
Thank you for telling your story! Sounds fantastic and hope that you can continue your store once you sort out your moving project. Since, I have a collection of five Creality K1 Max 3D printers and laser engraver, I am thinking of opening a Etsy store to sell 3D printing unique art and also men’s evening jackets and vests.
Great video as usual and really informative as well as fun. I’ve toyed with opening an Etsy store for a while this might just be the push I need
I would love to see you try it as well. I bet you could sell both products and plans
@@TheSwedishMaker you never Know I might just do that
Thanks for sharing 👍🏼
All the best for your continued business 🇸🇪
Any tips on how to choose potential items to sell? I mean it was natural for you as a woodworker to sell accessories for that..
I often go by the simple device - Do I want it myself? - Im not sure thats the best route but it seems to be working quite good for me
where do you get the boxes that you send your products in?
I would love to buy the covers for the wireless go transmitters.
Hej, Have you thought of producing a clip on dust port that can be used on the ryobi 18v router? I know i would be interested.
Sounds like a good idea! Ill look into it
I would imagine quite a few are sold here in Sweden@@TheSwedishMaker
Holy cow man...full time job and three kids!!! Respect!!!🎉
Thank you so much for this video, I have been thinking about how to put products on Etsy and this has helped me understand what I could do.
Congratulations, sounds like younare working theough any issues you have encountered. Hope the more go smoothly. Thank you for sharing. Everyone stay safe, happy and healthy. From Henrico County Virginia
I work for the us post office I’m not sure how the post office works over there but you should be able to go online and schedule a daily pickup just make sure you set a standard place where the carrier can pickup your packages daily, please
Make sure they don’t have to worry about gates dogs or finding the packages please try and make things easy for them so they don’t get the impression that your a difficult customer. Just saying we carriers are humans and we get frustrated just like anyone else so please just make it easy for us if you can