Selling Artwork on Etsy

Early this year, my friend Judy B Freeman, who is also an artist, showed me how to sell on Etsy. Judy has had great success selling her ceramic artwork on Etsy, so she was the perfect person to teach me how to sell my drawings and paintings on Etsy. I asked her if she could teach me and she was so nice to offer her time to show me how she does it. We met at her house and in about an hour, Judy told me all the tricks, the do's and the don't to succeed on Etsy.

So following her advice, early this month, I adventured to post my first item on Etsy. I posted "the swimmers", a small painting with an easel (see picture). My strategy was to just post one painting and see what happened. Whether I sold it or not sold it, this was going to be a learning experience. The first couple of days, I checked the store every single day to see how may people had seen the piece; however, after a couple of days I got busy at work and I forgot about it. Then, one day, I opened my email and there it was. My little piece was sold. I was so happy. I was jumping up and down away.

As a result of this first step success, I have decided to post almost daily for a month and see what happens. So far, last week, I have posted 3 drawings. Here are the links to see the drawings.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/vanessamontenegro

http://www.etsy.com/listing/48456271/cyclist-racing-original-pastel-drawing

http://www.etsy.com/listing/48285988/great-blue-heron-florida-sunrise?ref=v1_other_2

http://www.etsy.com/listing/48279841/drummer-playing-drums-original-soft?ref=v1_other_2

I hope they get sold and I can keep telling the great stories about Etsy.

If you are an artist and you want to sell your work, I hope this story inspires you and get you started selling your artwork online too. If you decide to sell on Etsy, here are some tips Judy B Freeman shared with me and which have helped me getting started

1) Roam Etsy before posting something. See what is selling and time machine to see recent listings

2) Visit the treasure for collections

3) Check the forums

4) Get familiar with the Search features

5) Check if your work is a good fit by checking your competition on Etsy

6) Photograph your work before you start

7) Check competition prices and then price your artwork

8) Calculate your shipping

9) Set up a Pay Pal Account

10) Set up your shop

11) List new stuff as often as possible

12) Join a team

13) Post in the forums twice a day

14) Post your store on facebook, twitter and so on...

Good luck!