Thinking about selling on Etsy

I notice that some Shapeways sellers also sell their products on Etsy.com. What are the advantages/disadvantages of that? Is it worth paying the listing fees? Thanks for the info!

The listing fee shouldn't keep you from posting on Etsy, since it's very low. You should be more aware of the unique and amazing items that are sold there for very reasonable prices and made by handcrafters that use traditional build processes and material.

From my personal experience, I think it's a great platform for selling and buying cheap and retro-like items that are ready to ship. In such an environment, people are probably not used to wait two to four weeks for their items to arrive. And maybe your 3D prints might need some extra post-production handling, which means even extra time and costs.

Or use it for offering a side or add-on product. This can even get you featured on Cult of Mac:

http://www.cultofmac.com/conductive-material-paintbrush-sock s-for-painting-on-your-ipad/63042

Cheers, Ivo

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

Your post sort of confused me. So, are you for or against selling 3D printed products on Etsy? Because there would definitely be a wait time, since I can only order models as the customers place an order.

You're right about the listing fee. Not too bad.

I think selling your items on Etsy is a good idea, but I would not wait until the item is purchased to order it from Shapeways. The main reason is the wait, but you could be offering your customers an added value, too.

There are some fundamental differences between the two sites, and Etsy states explicitly that the site is for handmade items. That doesn't mean you had to do every part of it's creation, otherwise people would be growing fiber and weaving textiles just to make clothing. That said, if you never actually touched or looked at the piece the person is buying, I don't think that would be in the spirit of the site. They won't shut down your page for not abiding by this standard, but I think it would come across as a little spammy. They have a similar issue over at Thingiverse where people sometimes show what they made but don't include the digital files used to make it, which is the whole point of the site. My personal feeling is that you would be showing respect to that community by presenting your work appropriately.

I would consider Etsy a great way to diversify your product by adding a handmade touch to it like extra polishing, painting, or combining pieces on a necklace or bracelet. It could also be something as simple as a style of packaging specific to your shop. These infinite variations beyond the actual production are not things that Shapeways can do, and they are the sole reason that Etsy exists.

I think you misunderstand me. My whole intention is to sell my jewelry that I hand polish on Etsy, not to simply sell raw prints that I get from Shapeways. But I don't have the capital to keep a stock of my items for sale. That's why I'd need to order the items from Shapeways as customers buy them. Then once I received the items, I'd polish them and ship to the customer.

I see you have a nicely polished piece in your profile pic, so my mentioning the standards Etsy uses was more to emphasize the advantage of using it, not to say you should not sell there. Many Etsy sellers create on demand and use the photo as an example, so as long as you mention your lead time there's really no reason not to branch out into a new market.

I think I'll start selling there too!

Maybe preorder several and as they sell, order several more. That way you won't overstock, get a feel of how good it's doing, but still give the customers the impression that you have a quick turnaround time.

Actually, Etsy allows the sale of three categories of items: handmade, crafting supplies, and vintage. Obviously, nothing from Shapeways is going to qualify as vintage, but you could sell items from Shapeways if they are to be used as crafting supplies (e.g. buttons, possibly), even without additional finishing. (However, from "The DOs and DON'Ts of Etsy": "A third-party vendor may not fulfill your orders to your Etsy customers on your behalf (no drop-shipping).")

For handmade objects, Etsy states that "production assistance for certain intermediary tasks in some crafts may be acceptable." However, they add that "an assistant or third-party vendor's involvement may not comprise a majority share of a handmade item's creation." It seems unlikely that an item from Shapeways that has merely been polished or finished really meets this condition, but I know that Nervous System have been selling their rings on Etsy, and they apparently haven't had any difficulties yet.

(If Etsy does decide that you are listing something inappropriate, you forfeit your listing fee for the item, but I don't think the listing fees are very high.)