Ok… I’ve been in a back-and-forth mindset about selling stuff on Etsy for the past… idk… lots of months. The idea started out with patterns, but there is one problem: I HATE making PDFs. They also need to be tested and Ribblr beeing my only social media platform makes testing PDFs really hard. So, I turned to Ribblr and opened a shop with free patterns, because the community is just the best here and you deserve it. Building patterns on here is also not a nightmare. (shoutout Ribblr!!!)
But yesterday, selling plushies came to my mind. It´s just… the whole tax and setup situation feels so complex. But I figured, if I want to make a chance to make money without having to do one of those jobs that feels like underpaid chores (bc I’m 15 and I have to do 3 years of secondary school before I can even go to uni), selling crochet items and/or patterns might be the least bad option. And I need to start somewhere in time anyways.
Hope you understand my going back-and-forth…
So… what is your opinion? Should I do it? If yes, any ideas? Do you have any experience with selling via Etsy?
Anna <3 (aka Saturn :)
PS: school is almost done here and I am SO EXCITED to crochet all day every day for 6 weeks!!! Oh and srry for this looooooong topic 
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yess i think your patterns are AMAZINGG and so many ppl will want your etsy patterns! I suggest you to go with whatever you think you should do!
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Do give it a try to make some money with what you love doing
Your patterns are worth spending a bit of money on and I’m sure plenty people here would be happy to help you turning them into pdf or how ever we can help. Same counting for markets, maybe just start by selling whatever you have from all that pattern designing and crocheting. It might be pricy considering how intricate some of your patterns are but you don’t need to convince lots of people to buy them, just the right ones
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Yess! Do it!! Your patterns are great-
My only suggestion would be to start small and to keep things manageable for yourself!!
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Oh and guys if you were wondering… IF I were to ever start selling patterns, I wouldn’t charge a lot for them. Maybe around €3, as my Ribblr patterns are free, it just needs to be enough for the extra time and ANNOYING task of creating a PDF and the Etsy listing and processing etc fees. (bc another Ribblr pro is the small fees and no listing fees!)
shoutout Ribblr pt.2 lol
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i think you should definitely sell somewhere, but maybe not etsy - i’ve heard from people that it’s not the best platform… @WalktoCrochet might be able to say more. :)
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THE big pro about Etsy is the wide and big audience. But yes, that also contains scammers
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I absolutely understand you going back and forth.
Have you thought about going to markets and selling your makes?
Personally, I hate Etsy and everything they stand for. I really feel for all those hard working hand made businesses who are getting ‘sc^w&d over’ by Etsy. Any time a business goes on the stock market, everything becomes about money and profits
The pro’s and con’s of using Etsy.
PROs:
- great exposure (huge audience)
CONs:
- lots and lots of competition (so whatever you sell needs to be unique)
- lots and lots of drop shippers (cheap Chinese crochet products competing with your makes)
- lots and lots of AI patterns flooding Etsy (and ruining the reputation of real pattern designers).
- high fees that cut into your profit margins
- an algorithm that no one can work out, often changes and often doesn’t work in your favour.
- an attitude that is centred around making money and to h4ll with all the hand made businesses.
- Lots of pattern theft?
At the end of the day,
- you don’t know if you don’t try.
- nothing ventured nothing gained.
Only you know what’s best for you and your circumstances. As long as you go into it with your eyes open. If you do try Etsy it might just be a game changer for you.
If you want to do some more research on Etsy I recommend watching YouTube videos by Starla Moore. She’s the expert on all things Etsy.
Perhaps also consider making a Kofi account.
Good luck with whatever choice you make.
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I think you should start an Etsy! Your patterns are amazing!!
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I can’t really help you because I’ve never sold anything online or made a pdf pattern, I heard Etsy has high fees or something like that, but I think if you want totally go for it! Try it out and see if you’ll like it!
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Thank you so much for your advice! And yes, you don’t know if you don’t try was also ind of my philosophy. We have this saying in Dutch: ‘niet geschoten is altijd mis’, which means: ‘if you don’t shoot, you’ll miss anyways’.
I believe ko-fi doesn’t have an option to sell physical plushies, which is what I want to start with. I know that is not sustainable if I am successfull, but for now I feel like limited drops will work the best.
As for the fees, I sometimes sell something to friends and family and this one market here in the Netherlands (koningsdag for the dutchies under us), VERY undercut (I mean, something a normal person would charge €100 for, I will charge €30 for) but I honestly don’t mind that. I calculated my profit, and so for the fees I actually make more selling on Etsy bc it would not be wheird charging more than I’d usually charge 
You might have just convinced me doing it looking at all of these factors… I am grateful to have more than enough money to open a shop, and I think it will be worth the risk.
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First things first…go with your gut. If you are willing to take a chance, you absolutely could have great success. As far as Etsy goes, I would say that going ahead and starting to network would be great to gain traction as you’re starting out. You may have trouble at first because of many people not knowing about your shop, but as you make more sales you should have better luck. You have unique patterns and I think you’ll do great, but keep it mind that it will take some patience and it may be a while before you get the results you want. (Not speaking from personal experience, but I do know some people on Etsy)
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I think it’s a good idea! Start with the smaller, easier to ship ones and work up to the bigger ones! Personally, I sell my plushies on Facebook marketplace to avoid all the cons of using Etsy, and bc I don’t have enough brain cells to figure out all the shipping details. On fbm I just give pick up, drop off, or meet in the middle options for varying price differences
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Thanks so much! Dutch BTW is crazy (21%!!! excuse me?!) but as long as you make less than 20k a year you don’t have to pay it if you are member or the KOR, but I feel like therr are a few more things in that area that I need to look into
Haha yes same but lucky me I have a dad who LOVES figuring those things out…
I was looking in the tax situation, and I was like….. ???
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I haven’t done much on Etsy, but I can recommend Adobe Express for pdfs, it’s like Canva, you create your pattern and download as a pdf. DM me if you want any help with it.
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So with Etsy, I looked into myself, and found out that they will fee you for posting a pattern, selling a pattern, and promoting your patterns. So you would need to sell your patterns for a lot to get a profit. Tbh, Etsy isn’t the best place to start with selling. If you can set a Stripe account that would be easier bc they only fee you for selling a pattern, and not a lot. If you want to do Etsy then I suggest researching the fee’s and formatting options.
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I really think u should put some on Etsy that would be so cool and I believe u can do it
Lol I have also been thinking of doing the same
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i think you should go for it! your patterns are so cute :)
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You totally should!!! You’ll never know if you never try. I’m in the same boat, i just graduated hs and am trying to avoid having to get a 9-5 job that i hate and am not passionate about. So, I’m trying to get my crochet business off the ground! (Though, i don’t make patterns at the moment and also don’t enjoy selling online, but I’ll get there lol)
But on that topic, if you are thinking about selling physical items, on top of etsy i also recommend looking at craft markets near you to sell at! They’re a lot of fun and you’ll meet lots of other crafters who can give you advice. Plus i find it a lot easier to sell things to someone when they’re in person, holding your product, versus looking at it through a screen.
Sorry if that was too much about me lol, but i say give it a shot and don’t get discouraged, small businesses take time to grow. We’re rooting for you!!! ^^
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