Hello,

Slowly but surely I’m getting ready to open my new online store.

I’m doing things a little differently, my online store will be on my website (using Shopify) not on Etsy.

Why no Etsy Shop?

The Etsy I experienced treats sellers as just another buyer, with the emphasis obviously on sales (they get a percentage per sale), lots of emails focused on me buying products, and “tips” on how to sell. No sooner had I unsubcribed from one Etsy mailing list I was recieving another email.

There were emails that encouraged grabby sales tactics that I don’t feel comfortable with and lots of advertising. Now, since I have been very adamant about not selling advertising space on my own website, it felt very contradictory paying Etsy a percentage of my sales to be on their website and put up with their advertising.

To be at the top of the page when people did a search on Etsy (eg. for Botanical Postcards) cost extra with no guarantees of actually being at the top. There are people you can employ who make sure you get at the top of listings instead of down the bottom and out of sight and it becomes a rather big financial outlay before even selling anything.

The links to the Etsy shop didn’t always work (which doesn’t make for a pleasant buying experience) and to buy from Etsy you have to register with Etsy, then you are on their emailing list and they have someone else to sell to. This was something I didn’t realise at the time – oh the mechanics of big business and grabby sales tactics.

I had originally decided on having my online shop on the Etsy website because it felt like a good starting point, was convenient, lots of other artists and craftspeople are on there, and with Liliana studying I wouldn’t have to rely on her to help me. It was a great learning experience.

*Can I just pause a minute here to respectfully say that there are lots of fabulous artists and crafts people on Etsy who I admire (and have bought from) and that they find Etsy a good fit for them, unfortunately it just didn’t fit well for me. No judgement, what suits one person doesn’t necessarily suit another, I’m simply sharing why I won’t be re-opening my shop on Etsy. I am not in any way criticising other people, this is about me, nobody else.

Etsy have a big audience (which I initially thought would be a bonus), but for me I felt lost in a very overcrowded, very competitive market place.

I prefer to be that little shop tucked down a lovely country laneway, a bell on the door with big double windows either side to let the sunshine in. An old oak shop counter with lovely flower arrangements on it and my botanical artwork displayed. In wintertime there is a wood heater to heat the shop and boil the kettle on, in the summertime you can smell the roses and cottage flowers on the front nature strip that lines the pathway to the shop door.

I’m looking forward to welcoming you to my new store. Regardless of it being online, it will be a peaceful place to visit like that beautiful country shop I just described. You will be welcome to take your time, ask any questions you have and there will be real connection, I’m here on the other side of the shop counter. There will be a bespoke selection of botanicals on canvas, my photography printed on museum quality paper, and stationery. Lovingly created to capture the beauty of nature.

Much love,

Jude

The Fairy Wren Cottage Shop Keeper.