How Enamel Pins Inspired Me To Sell Online
It was a sleepless night browsing the internet on my cellphone during which I found myself sifting through Etsy listings.
I started coming across loads of listings for these little metal trinkets called enamel pins. They varied quite widely in design with vibrant colours, shiny finishes, unique shapes and sizes.
Being a huge fan of cute cats, there was a large assortment of just that, hundreds of cat pins and I wasn’t the only one who shared the same interest.
Some sellers had thousands of reviews and as we all know that each review means a handful of happy customers who didn’t have the time to leave one themselves.
Besides the overall adorableness factor of these customized pins, there is a lucrative opportunity for us all to take advantage of a home-based activity that can allow us to express ourselves and make a little bank on the side.
Benefits of Selling on Etsy
What are the benefits of making money with marketplaces like Etsy? Let’s take a look at some.
Marketing
You can have the best idea in the world but without an effective way to get the word out, it’s all for nothing. Marketing is the bane of every business because to do it well as an amateur marketer is basically impossible.
Almost every other part of running a retail business is a straightforward process that might require time and overcoming a small learning curve except for the ways to market and advertise.
The reasons for this are not having a large customer base to work with if you’re new and having the ability to emotionally affect customers so that they become interested in what you have to offer.
That’s where places like Etsy come to the rescue.
With an existing and gigantic user base and self-selected customers who are already interested in the crafty nature of all of the listings, Etsy is the perfect place to sell.
Payment Processing
Maybe the least understood or overlooked part of eCommerce is the ability to collect money to facilitate your sales.
The concept is simple, you take a credit card and swipe or enter in details to process a transaction but unfortunately, it’s very complex. There are some hurdles to becoming a business that can accept payments.
Firstly, you’ll need an incorporated company within your city or county.
Secondly, you’ll need a business bank account to deposit your funds into whenever you get a sale.
Thirdly, you’ll need a credit card payment processing company to vet your business, run a credit check, review your bank account and determine your estimated sales.
Let’s say you manage that and think you’re ready to get your business off the ground. Wait just one second because the pitfalls to keeping your money are things like chargebacks, declined transactions and fraud.
Now, imagine if you had to worry about literally none of these things because if you find yourself on a marketplace then they’ll have the infrastructure in place to handle every single payment issue you can think of.
Shipping and Handling
One of the biggest factors to your bottom line or preventing a sale from happening in the first place is the high cost of shipping.
When you calculate your profit, you’ll come to find out that shipping, insurance and handling costs are higher than you could ever imagine.
When you sell through an established e-commerce marketplace you’ll benefit from pre-negotiated shipping costs with the world’s largest carriers like UPS and FedEx along with the USPS as well.
As a bonus, there’s a huge timesaver in the premade labels they make for you so you just print them out and attach them to your package.
Etsy-like companies are life savers when it comes to streamlining your business especially when it comes to shipping.
So what are you waiting for?
Find a niche, be it cute cat pins or handmade soaps, the internet is your tool for financial freedom.
