Sunday, November 30, 2008

No More Artwork on Etsy (or... time 2 update my website!)

I've made a decision... After giving it a lot of thought and after reviewing my sales for the past two years, I've decided that I'm going to let all of my artwork listings expire and/or be sold and discontinue offering my artwork/ACEOs for sale in my Etsy shop.

The funny thing is that when I first joined Etsy it was with the intention of selling prints of my ACEOs. I had been selling originals on eBay for about a year, and they were doing pretty well, but I wanted to get more mileage out of the work I put into the drawings. They've done okay on Etsy, and I get lots of comments from people who think they're cute; but I find that I'm doing more renewing than relisting because the sales are rather infrequent.

I still enjoy all my little drawings, and this will be added incentive for me to finish work on my website and provide a way to purchase my artwork there.

If you've visited my Etsy shop, you may recognize Jerry Jester. I used him as my avatar for a long time. I've also featured Marcel, my silly mime, in my Etsy shop banner and as my Entrecard avatar. I like both of those silly drawings, but my husband recently told me he thought Marcel was "creepy." Hmph.

I haven't done an extensive amount of analysis on my ACEO print sales, but I'm pretty sure it's the Surly Cats who garnered the most attention. People just seem to be drawn (no pun intended) to these silly felines, all of whom are displaying some serious cattitude.


10 comments:

Designing Hilary said...

Well ... wow! I wish you the best with your website. May you have all the success you can handle!

ReneeBuchananArt said...

I am sad to see you leave Etsy but I wish you all the best on your own website! I think the growing success of Etsy is a double-edged sword: now it is almost impossible not to get buried in the masses.

Your work is spectacular and I'm sure you'll do fine wherever you sell!


Renee :)

:-) MaryLou said...

I'm not leaving Etsy!

I'm just not going to list my artwork on there any more. My shop currently has 400+ listings, and I've decided to keep the stationery items (cards, tags, etc.) and all my beadweaving on there.

Etsy's such a great place and has been a great selling venue for me that I don't foresee leaving even after I get my website set up.

Kerrie Slade said...

MaryLou - do you know I've been so used to seeing Marcel on Etsy and Entrecard, but I hadn't grasped that you had actually drawn him! What a talented lady you are and how dumb am I lol?

Loving the new EC avatar though!

Best of luck with everything :)

Deborah Lambson said...

I love your characters Mary Lou..so full of color and personality. Much success with your site!

ESCUDERO said...

These are adorable! I wish you the best with your site

Hot Rocks said...

Your cats are very,very cute! I hear what you are saying about the relisting, I don't get much business from Etsy, and I only use my Etsy store to keep me visible online really.

Anonymous said...

Funny...I was thinking about heading in the same direction with my art on etsy too. The main sellers it seems, are functional items for women rather than art, at least for me. So I'm doing the same with my art. Sad...but, just not the right market apparently. Good luck with your website!

Molly said...

glad to know at least you're not leaving Etsy...are you going to sell your ACEO somewhere else?

Anonymous said...

I love your drawings, they are so much fun! Good luck with them on your website.

~Marina
jolijoli.etsy.com