To Etsy or Not to Etsy?

I am so incredibly flattered that my little blog and handmade items are getting so much attention and praise, not just from my friends and family, but even complete strangers! Little did I know when I started this blog just this past October that people would actually request that I make them something. Nor did I imagine that I could actually win a card making contest, or be asked to have one of my items be published in a magazine! Yes, it's true! I can't believe it myself still...My little Christmas stocking card placed second in a Sizzix product contest hosted by the online store Its Cheaper Than Therapy. Unfortunately they haven't posted photos of the winning cards, so I can't see what my competition was like! j/k! As for the magazine, it's still in the works, but I am still amazed that somewhere somehow someone saw something I made and liked it! Very cool. More on this hopefully later...

So now multiple people have suggested that I start my own Etsy shop. Lately I have thought about it, and though I would love to sell my cards or party banners, I just don't think there's any point in trying to sell them just to make pennies of profit, if that. So I thought about maybe first selling my racing bib and medal holders. One night, I decided to check out the Etsy website and click on "Sell." Whoa. There's a whole lot more to Etsy than I ever thought. Etsy does seem to make it easy to set up your shop, though so much planning I think has to go into it before you can even make your first sell. For example, the shopname. One has to choose a shopname that will hopefully make their shop stand out and be easily searched for. That's a lot of pressure already. And then there comes the knowledge that for every item you list, Etsy gets paid $0.20. For every sale you make, they also take 3.5%. If the buyer pays via PayPal, another percentage goes to them too. So now I know why things on Etsy cost so much more than just merely parts and labor. 

These are just the tip of the iceberg. I had to take a crash course in copyrights and trademarks. So apparently there are some things I can and cannot sell. I can't sell things with Disney characters on them. Nor can I sell the medal holder with Nike's logo "Just do it," like I had made for my friend Yas. So now my focus is on what I CAN sell, like phrases from literature more than 95 years old apparently, due to the expiration of copyrights.  

Taxes are another consideration. I learned not only about charging taxes on items I would sell, but also having to report what I've earned on my income taxes. So now, in addition to my MD degree, I guess I also have to earn an MBA, JD, and CPA!! Zoinks! And I would do this, why? Does the world really need more medal/bib holders made specifically by Jackie Heckman? Will it make me happy or will it make me hate crafting? Will I have the time? There are so many questions that I still have yet to answer for myself before I take the plunge.

For now, anyone who wants something made by me can just ask. No Etsy middleman to think about quite yet.

Thanks for reading, as always...

Thought I would end this post with photos of an item made for another happy "customer." It makes me want to read more Shakespeare again...

Coming to an Etsy store near you...maybe

It's hard to tell, but the vinyl is actually silver