ebay and Etsy Shops. Anyone have one?

[DavidJHolmes]

Does anyone make and sell their things on either of the shops mentioned? Or anything else similar?

If you do/did? Can I ask how well do you do? How long did it take to get established, get orders?

I make odds and ends on the CNC mainly for friends and family, I've listed things in the past but never had much luck, although there are hundreds, if not 1000s of people doing it which won't help I know. Should I stick with it and keep adding items to build an inventory so to speak. I'm by no means wanting to make a living from it, it's a hobby and I'd like it to stay as a hobby, however it paid for some nice wood for additional projects that would be great, maybe even some endmills for the CNC.

 

[MARK.B.]

Cant help you with the shops, but would be interested to know what sort of things you can do on your CNC machine and a rough idea how much you would charge for your work be it in cash or exchange for some nice wood :?: :wink: :wink: . I have in the past wondered how much it would cost for a one off piece or small number of items to be engraved with a image or name etc and having someone here on the site that can offer a reliable / reasonably priced service could come in very useful in the future , i reckon that there will be a number of members on here that could benefit from your services as well .

 

[DavidJHolmes]

It will handle wood with ease, metal is a bit pot luck sometimes so I do avoid it unless its a one off personal piece for myself/mrs. The machine runs 3D although my 3D skills are limited, I find it easier to buy commercial files and run them. Anything 2.5D though is no problem. If you can draw it out, I can generally cut it. The machine is limited to a cutting area of around 650mm x 1200mm. I find pricing work very hard as nothing is ever the same, so generally price per job depending how much time the machine will run and how much input I need to put into it. I don't mind one off items, in fact I prefer them, I'm often asked for odd batches of things (family members work in schools) maybe 4 or 5 pieces, I tend to make an extra couple and put them on ebay if I can (think templates and general shapes).

I'll dig some photos out and post them up.

 

[DavidJHolmes]

Here's a fair few photos (sorry if there's too many) but they show 2.5D cutting, VCarving and 3D work.

 

[MARK.B.]

Nice work =D> =D> =D> , could well be calling on your services in the not to distant future

 

[DavidJHolmes]

Nice work =D> =D> =D>

Thanks

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

I used to have both ebay/etsy shops where I sold some of my stuff, you can be ''established'' in as little as 1day
You need to have a VERY decent camera to make VERY decent photos ( as in to beat your competition) , the pictures were Everything!
However... I stopped doing it, because I had to pay roughly 15% fees ebay/etsy , shipping fees, packaging costs(not small!) , sourcing the materials also was a pain... Did it as a side hustle just to pay for some new tools and to keep me busy.

Be warned, Most of the people who do it don't even make a minimum wage and work for peanuts if you count in all the actual hours..
When I had enough orders it was maybe some £20/hour net earnings after everything ( my items were rather high-priced and of course I did it from my garage), bear in mind I had actually done my research and I had unique products that a lot of people purchased in the right season + I didn't had much variations to keep the time spent making to minimum, I streamlined everything and shaved minutes wherever it was possible, invented new ways to do things etc-only after that it was some £20/hour earnings and I could bet that I was one of the if not the highest-earning guys in my niche (actual hourly rate). If you do not treat it as a business, be ready to make £3-4/hour IF you are lucky and get orders.

Than... February came ( after xmas/newyear season) and my sales Halted to maybe 10% of what they were... at that moment I realized it's not worth it, and I had already earned enough money for some very nice stuff The season where you will actually sell these kind of things are from october-mid january , so about 3.5months in the WHOLE year where you will get steady orders, for the rest of the year- find something else to do
btw nice work,however would I go in again with the stuff you are making -I don't think so..., if you could buy for example chopping board for £2 in bulk, cut out custom stuff in them if that takes few minutes for each and than just ship them- yes that would probably work. However that stuff has Fierce competition and You would be lucky if you could get any orders in.

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

oh also, focus only on Few things.
Do your research, see what actually sells before making something, try to make the stuff totally unique or way way better than anyone else!
There's no start-up time, it's all about finding the right product which can get enough orders in.
research research research.. try to make things that are useful and people would need to buy them anyway not just things that are impulse-buys.

I reckon the stuff you are making are just impulse-buys for someone and provides no actual purpose, as in you can't compete with all the made-in-china nicknacks that sell for £1 in homebargains and would provide the same value to your potential buyer.

Making the product really is the easy part, finding what works, promoting,packaging,shipping,dealing with customers is the actual hard part!

 

[DavidJHolmes]

I reckon the stuff you are making are just impulse-buys for someone and provides no actual purpose, as in you can't compete with all the made-in-china nicknacks that sell for £1 in homebargains and would provide the same value to your potential buyer.

Making the product really is the easy part, finding what works, promoting,packaging,shipping,dealing with customers is the actual hard part!

This about sums it up. My girlfriend will go round the shops and point things out she reckons I can make and then when I see its £2 I say what's the point! I wouldn't want to make a living on it, just buy some nicer wood (I end up using mostly MDF which is boring) and maybe some upkeep on the machines. I might run the 3D stuff for a bit, I'm making moulds for a project so knocking a few out if someone wants one will be easy but I'll probably knock the other stuff on the head until September/October and do a Christmas item again. People seem to buy more willingly at Christmas if it has their name on it!

Thanks for the input

 

[pcb1962]

There's all sorts of occasions you can make stuff for apart from Christmas. The people I know who do it also do Valentine's day, Mothers' day, Fathers' day, new baby, weddings, In Memoriam etc, no reason to just stick with Christmas stuff.

 

[DavidJHolmes]

There's all sorts of occasions you can make stuff for apart from Christmas. The people I know who do it also do Valentine's day, Mothers' day, Fathers' day, new baby, weddings, In Memoriam etc, no reason to just stick with Christmas stuff.

We did make some stuff a few years back for Easter for a few people but the ones I put on ebay never sold. I also at that time made stuff for Mother's Day specifically to sell which never did. I think the market is pretty saturated with makers already now to get in on stuff like that. The stuff from China is coming over cheaper than it's worth to run the machine. They will sell stuff for a £1 with free postage! The quality is naff but people still buy it (hammer)

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

those one-day festive seasons aren't worth it- they really are just 1 day and some people don't even care about them.
But xmas... is a whole season where people will open their wallet to just buy all kind of stuff at least 3months before the xmas itself, I don't think I have ever made an x-mas item, just In my other business as well Xmas (october-january) is the season where we make most of our profits , for the rest of the year I'm doing something else.

but it's really all about research, just spend few hours browsing ebay/etsy and find stuff that looks cool and has actual sales, than compare the sales flow, calculate your profits and only than start making the stuff.

hint-look at wedding stuff, it has its own season (almost half of a year) and you can sell rather pricey well customized stuff.
Don't look at it as just some spare £5 earnings here and there, spend a bit more time and do it properly, I built &stocked a very very nice home-workshop only from the money earned this way+ managed to earn enough to build a small extension for our house. I might get in it again the next xmas season if I find myself with some free time.

 

[MarkDennehy]

Whatever about making a profit from it, what are the odds you could sell something you made for the cost of the timber you put into it (and maybe enough extra to buy a chisel off ebay)?
I'm wondering if it's possible to make the hobby of woodworking "revenue neutral", to use the euphimism, rather than the profession, if that makes any sense.

 

[timbo614]

Just to add, unless there is a huge profit margin Ebay is not a place to sell any quantity of goods if you want to remain sane.

The pressure is always on not to lose those ratings. That's in the face of (mostly) hopeless couriers/blatanly over priced post office added to (some) blatantly dishonest customers who are absolutely certain that Paypal & ebay will take their side in any dispute.

 

[custard]

I'm wondering if it's possible to make the hobby of woodworking "revenue neutral", to use the euphimism, rather than the profession, if that makes any sense.

That's a very good question, it's surprising it doesn't get asked more frequently.

IMO yes, it is possible. You could achieve that objective, and a bit more besides, in dozens of different ways. In fact if you look at the way most small professional furniture makers operate it's really just a loose collection of completely separate, small revenue streams. There's no reason one or two of those revenue streams couldn't be separated out and delivered by a serious hobbyist working in their free time.

 

[thetyreman]

Just to add, unless there is a huge profit margin Ebay is not a place to sell any quantity of goods if you want to remain sane.

The pressure is always on not to lose those ratings. That's in the face of (mostly) hopeless couriers/blatanly over priced post office added to (some) blatantly dishonest customers who are absolutely certain that Paypal & ebay will take their side in any dispute.

.

 

[Inoffthered]

For those setting up shops on Etsy and Ebay, dont forget that HMRC now receives details of shop accounts and is actively looking for cases of tax evasion.
Setting up a shop will be deemed to be a business enterprise and HMRC will expect profits to be declared and the appropriate tax paid.
Some of the more successful sellers on eBay have come a cropper for not registering for VAT and the associated penalties can be brutal.
For those traders that successfully operate below the vat threshold without attracting the attentions of HMRC should remember that if they do make an enquiry, they can go back six years. If they suspect evasion HMRC will issue an assessment and then it is up to the trader to prove that is wrong. So if considering setting up an online shop it is advisable to factor tax into your profit projections.

 

[thetyreman]

For those setting up shops on Etsy and Ebay, dont forget that HMRC now receives details of shop accounts and is actively looking for cases of tax evasion.
Setting up a shop will be deemed to be a business enterprise and HMRC will expect profits to be declared and the appropriate tax paid.
Some of the more successful sellers on eBay have come a cropper for not registering for VAT and the associated penalties can be brutal.
For those traders that successfully operate below the vat threshold without attracting the attentions of HMRC should remember that if they do make an enquiry, they can go back six years. If they suspect evasion HMRC will issue an assessment and then it is up to the trader to prove that is wrong. So if considering setting up an online shop it is advisable to factor tax into your profit projections.

.

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Don't forget circa 4% paypal fees as well
+ the 10% they take from shipping costs as well, I now price stuff 15% above what I want to get for it to be able to pay their extortion money.

 

[thetyreman]

Don't forget circa 4% paypal fees as well
+ the 10% they take from shipping costs as well, I now price stuff 15% above what I want to get for it to be able to pay their extortion money.

fun isn't it! lol