Ok - Who is going to buy my stuff?
Such a basic question, but truthfully, something to really think about for more than 5 minutes. So here is a bit of important knowledge -
Etsy is a relatively new site - it started in 2005 but has really picked up speed in the last 6 months. There are approximately 1 million accounts (although that does not mean they are all active). As of this writing there are roughly 76,000 shops with at least 1 item in them. The total store count is 160,608 which means that there are quite a few shops that are empty and have been left empty for awhile.
The store count on March 1, 2008 was 137,271 versus the 160,608 open today (4/16). 28,337 new stores have opened in 6 weeks. That's alot of new blood, alot of new competition, and alot of new buyers as many sellers are definitely buyers as well.
So that is an overall numbers picture .... More specific data is required to get a much better idea of what the buyer "looks" like -
Etsy did a survey earlier this year to gather some current and informative data that would best describe an Etsy customer:
She - yes, SHE - by a resounding margin (96%) - is 32 years (41% fall in the 25-34 category) - lives in the United States (82%) - has graduated from college or will be graduating (80%) - and has a household income of $67,000. Half of the buyers work and 23% are full-time moms. Many belong to a social networking site (73%) including MySpace and Facebook, shop online frequently, and might have her own blog (36%).
The link to the Storque (Etsy's online blog/newspaper) article is here that summarizes all this information. There is a "download this file" link that contains a .pdf of detailed survey information which is definitely worth a read.
As an artist and or craftsperson, creativity is your driving force and statistics may at first seem like a sure way to limit this creativity. Instead, use this information to provide some structure and perspective - - maybe not so much when you are creating, but definitely when you are marketing yourself and your product. Knowing your audience when you are wearing that "hat" will make the process that much easier.
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Etsy is a relatively new site - it started in 2005 but has really picked up speed in the last 6 months. There are approximately 1 million accounts (although that does not mean they are all active). As of this writing there are roughly 76,000 shops with at least 1 item in them. The total store count is 160,608 which means that there are quite a few shops that are empty and have been left empty for awhile.
The store count on March 1, 2008 was 137,271 versus the 160,608 open today (4/16). 28,337 new stores have opened in 6 weeks. That's alot of new blood, alot of new competition, and alot of new buyers as many sellers are definitely buyers as well.
So that is an overall numbers picture .... More specific data is required to get a much better idea of what the buyer "looks" like -
Etsy did a survey earlier this year to gather some current and informative data that would best describe an Etsy customer:
She - yes, SHE - by a resounding margin (96%) - is 32 years (41% fall in the 25-34 category) - lives in the United States (82%) - has graduated from college or will be graduating (80%) - and has a household income of $67,000. Half of the buyers work and 23% are full-time moms. Many belong to a social networking site (73%) including MySpace and Facebook, shop online frequently, and might have her own blog (36%).
The link to the Storque (Etsy's online blog/newspaper) article is here that summarizes all this information. There is a "download this file" link that contains a .pdf of detailed survey information which is definitely worth a read.
As an artist and or craftsperson, creativity is your driving force and statistics may at first seem like a sure way to limit this creativity. Instead, use this information to provide some structure and perspective - - maybe not so much when you are creating, but definitely when you are marketing yourself and your product. Knowing your audience when you are wearing that "hat" will make the process that much easier.
posted by 3bagsfull at
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
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