ETSY, Webrings, and Cria Watch
ETSY
I've held off marketing my alpaca fiber and handspun alpaca on eBay because I see that as selling a luxury product in a discount marketplace. I believe that if alpaca is to be marketed as the luxury fiber it is, it shouldn't be sold as a discount commodity in a forum like eBay. I know other alpaca breeders, having not a clue what to do with it, do dump their fiber on eBay, thereby setting the tone and the price. I suppose my luxury fiber high ground becomes sort of a moral tilting at windmills because of these other breeders. It's all a big, long, philosophical and marketing topic, but what I'm really leading to is ETSY.
Many of my readers are selling on ETSY and I'm interested in your experience and reaction. Is ETSY just another discount marketplace or is it a place where crafters really can get something -- if not full value -- for their skill and time? What has your experience been? What is your advice regarding selling or not selling on ETSY?
Those of you who have visited The Alpaca Marketplace, our on-line store, will notice the catalog function is, to be honest, rudimentary. (The inventory isn't updated very often either, but that's mostly a different issue.) I'd like to update the store a bit, and I don’t particularly feel like taking the time and effort to customize osCommerce or anything similar. I'm considering ETSY as an option and I would like to know if ETSY is a good option.
Webrings
Many of my readers are also members of the Handspun Luxury Yarn webring. This webring is giving us fits. We're getting weekly (or more frequent) messages telling us our code is wrong, yet our code looks right to our eyes and when we run the webring code checker on our page, it says our page is right. It's all rather frustrating. I've also noticed that the amount of traffic we're seeing from the webring and webring-associated sites is down considerably. I'm almost to the point of dropping the ring completely. Is anybody else having any problems with the ring?
Cria Watch
Chloe's due date is May 10, 2006. Alpaca gestation is 345 days, plus or minus thirty days. This means official cria watch begins April 10th. Unofficial cria watch is already starting ...
Supposedly, alpaca babies tend toward the summer solstice slightly from the due date. This means spring babies tend to be slightly late while fall babies tend to be slightly early. Tend, of course, is no guarantee. Therefore, Alpaca breeders tend to plan their days around the mere possibility of a cria's arrival for six to eight weeks before the actual event.
To balance the inconvenience of uncertain gestation periods, alpacas have the very nice habit of delivering babies during daytime hours -- generally between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM. (Horse breeders take note.)
We're on cria watch. We can't do lunch, but what about supper?
I've held off marketing my alpaca fiber and handspun alpaca on eBay because I see that as selling a luxury product in a discount marketplace. I believe that if alpaca is to be marketed as the luxury fiber it is, it shouldn't be sold as a discount commodity in a forum like eBay. I know other alpaca breeders, having not a clue what to do with it, do dump their fiber on eBay, thereby setting the tone and the price. I suppose my luxury fiber high ground becomes sort of a moral tilting at windmills because of these other breeders. It's all a big, long, philosophical and marketing topic, but what I'm really leading to is ETSY.
Many of my readers are selling on ETSY and I'm interested in your experience and reaction. Is ETSY just another discount marketplace or is it a place where crafters really can get something -- if not full value -- for their skill and time? What has your experience been? What is your advice regarding selling or not selling on ETSY?
Those of you who have visited The Alpaca Marketplace, our on-line store, will notice the catalog function is, to be honest, rudimentary. (The inventory isn't updated very often either, but that's mostly a different issue.) I'd like to update the store a bit, and I don’t particularly feel like taking the time and effort to customize osCommerce or anything similar. I'm considering ETSY as an option and I would like to know if ETSY is a good option.
Webrings
Many of my readers are also members of the Handspun Luxury Yarn webring. This webring is giving us fits. We're getting weekly (or more frequent) messages telling us our code is wrong, yet our code looks right to our eyes and when we run the webring code checker on our page, it says our page is right. It's all rather frustrating. I've also noticed that the amount of traffic we're seeing from the webring and webring-associated sites is down considerably. I'm almost to the point of dropping the ring completely. Is anybody else having any problems with the ring?
Cria Watch
Chloe's due date is May 10, 2006. Alpaca gestation is 345 days, plus or minus thirty days. This means official cria watch begins April 10th. Unofficial cria watch is already starting ...
Supposedly, alpaca babies tend toward the summer solstice slightly from the due date. This means spring babies tend to be slightly late while fall babies tend to be slightly early. Tend, of course, is no guarantee. Therefore, Alpaca breeders tend to plan their days around the mere possibility of a cria's arrival for six to eight weeks before the actual event.
To balance the inconvenience of uncertain gestation periods, alpacas have the very nice habit of delivering babies during daytime hours -- generally between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM. (Horse breeders take note.)
We're on cria watch. We can't do lunch, but what about supper?
posted by Upper Alpacas | 6:36 PM
4 Comments:
Can't wait to see pictures of the baby. Thanks for letting us know of the impending birth. I will look out for your fiber on Etsy.
Glad to see you posting again. I think of the Etsy shops as a step or two above Ebay. The ones I have visited look very nice and professional. I would much rather see alpaca sold through an Etsy shop.
We are also on cria watch. Our first ever cria is due April 21 so I'm in the nervous nelly mode. Especially since we both work regular jobs and have a 45 minute commute. I'm looking into barn cams so I can keep an eye on her during the day and at least be able to call the vet if anything starts happening.
I mostly make jewelry and am starting to do some with fiber and beads now, and I have an Etsy store. One of the reasons I branched out into fiber combination jewelry is because there really seems to be a market for fiber, both in finished pieces and as raw material. I don't see why you couldn't get a fair price there, as there are some fiber enthusiasts who will pay any price to get what they want. Sure there are people who under-price their work there but probably only because some are hobbiests and others run serious businesses. I do think however that Etsy is geared toward those interested in serious business more than weekend warriors, as the focus of the 5 guys running it is really entreprenurial in nature, and (unlike Ebay) they believe in the value of handmade and feel that this market should not be overtaken by commercial manufacturers. I'd recommend it.
I think giftbearer is on the right track about Etsy. There are some under priced items there, which I agree are hobbyists trying to support their crafting habits. However, when I look at prices on fiber items, they seem in line with regular web stores, not discounted. (Granted that web stores run all over the place for their fiber offerings.) I have had some success selling my novelty handspun there, and I'm sure that if my store had more items to choose from, I would sell more. IMO, you have nothing to lose by opening a store, and it's much simpler than listing on ebay, so why not give it a try?
As for the web ring traffic, I got a ton at first, and then it dropped off significantly.
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