Have Any of You Used etsy.com for Selling or Purchasing Items??

I use it for both. A good friend of mine makes a mint on etsy. It needs to be handmade, supplies or vintage to sell en etsy. I have bought yarn and other supplies as well as earings and soaps and been very happy

I have an Etsy store and have had a great year of selling on there! I make cloth dolls, kids jammies, girls dresses, etc. Its been a great experience and I've done fairly well so far. www.justplainbeckyw.etsy.com

Etsy is VERY busy and it can be easy to get lost, but I've found that word of mouth has worked for me, posting in the forum's, running sales or promo's on your blog, doing a giveaway, etc all drums up business, and once you get a couple customers, and get people to favorite you, others find you.

It can also be harder to understand at times, with setting up, listing, etc, but once you get the hang of it its not bad. The fees aren't bad at all and you have a monthly bill.

Good luck, and go for it!

I have not used etsy, but there is another company called Real Cost Plus online store. They are a start-up, but they will be building "real" stores in Dallas and Miami in addition to their online venue. They do add vendors. If you'd like to learn more, feel free to contact me! Good luck with your venture :)

I tried to buy something on etsy a couple of weeks before Christmas. After a couple of follow-up emails after the holidays I had to submit a complaint to PayPal because the seller wasn't responding to my emails. (PayPal found in my favor and returned the full payment.) That was the first time I'd tried to purchase something on etsy and while my experience wouldn't necessarily keep me from trying again, I like that eBay is more hands-on (as in: the seller is less likely to walk away and leave the "store" untended). I don't know what happened to my order on etsy. The item ordered was never received and I never heard back from the seller.

I enjoyed reading all the answers that have been posted. Im a ETSY buyer and a seller. I've been on ETSY for a couple of years and sold very little. I've been sewing for 48 years and my items are made very well and are for little girls, pillowcase dresses, ruffle pants, applique tops, twirl skirts and more. I've sold a totla of 35 items. ETSY is affordable to list items but at times is so frustrating when you don't sell much. I also do two consignment shops that do far better than ETSY.I also have my own website and have done nothing from it.I just don't know how to addvertise or promote my things.I wish you good lock on your adventure.dancingdragonflygirlsboutique.com
dancingdragonflydesigns on ETSY
S.J.

I wish I could tell you that there is a guarantee to having an online business but I can't. As a previous poster stated etsy is very busy, my sister can post an item and it's gone off the front page in moments. She sells pretty steadily and her prices are more than reasonable but she's not making the money she really wants. She has tried several other places and just can't seem to make it. She has sold stuff on ebay, and has even made her own web site and still struggles. So, I guess I would say follow that previous posters advice about forums and things.

You might look around your town for nice boutiques that sell various items and see if they would either buy them outright or on consignment.

I am going to list my sister's etsy store and her web site, I don't want her to feel bad about my posting it and she is very talented but maybe you could see if there is something she is doing that is keeping her from getting the customers she deserves. She stays busy sewing for orders but really wants to sell more.

Her etsy.com store:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/dancingdragonfly?ga_search_query...

Her website:
http://www.dancingdragonflygirlsboutique.com/index.html

I have a friend who has been selling knitted goods for some years, and she sold a lot, especially around the holidays.

I both buy and sell on etsy! You could also try advertising on craigslist.org! I actually sell through myspace as well and make pretty good money! If you want to check out my site or have any questions, feel free :-)

www.ladybugtutus.etsy.com
www.myspace.com/ladybugtutus

I have bought from Etsy several times... all great good transactions and pleased with the gifts I bought.
its a great site.

i have actually purchased things on etsy and found it very easy and painless. i am sure every once in a while you'll get a bum deal but thats with any online thing. the things i have received have been very well made. good luck!

I have purchased a few items on Etsy, and had a good experience as a customer that one time.

I do love the unique and handmade aspect of the site, and really prefer to support artisans, but there is (if this is possible) too much to choose from on Etsy. I have gone back a couple of times to look for gifts, and simply become overwhelmed before I got my choices narrowed down. For shoppers who have more leisure time, that's probably a good thing. For an individual artist, it's both good and bad – the site does attract people, but you might get lost in the crowd.

Good luck with whatever outlet you choose.

Etsy is pretty much THE store to sell handmade or vintage items. Any other place besides ebay isnt going to get the traffic that etsy is going to. I haven't sold yet because I cant seem to get up a good amount of product, but I have made purchases and was very pleased with how easy it was. You are always at the mercy of the seller being a decent business person, but ebay is no different. And etsy helps oversee issues so you aren't just buying from some random person. I know lots of people who purchase and a couple who sell, and have never heard any negative feedback about it.

I LOVE buying from etsy! Make sure you set up a facebook fan page for your etsy store so you get more traffic on your site.