Starting off on Etsy?

[HostaPolis]

I have a friend who wants to open a "hand made" jewelry shop online to sell her stuff. I don't know much on Etsy but she asked if starting on there first would help vs just launching her own shop from the get go. Does anyone have experience with Etsy and then the transition to a self-run e-shop?

 

[dhovorka]

Ohhhhhh ... I hate to say this but just checked their latest reviews, 611 reviews gave them 1- 1.5 stars our of 5. I strongly recommend not to do so. However just to clarify. It is not a online shop, it is a P2P platform which means, buyer and seller deal directly. The platform does nothing else. Not like Amazon who let's you offer your private sell and organizes pick-up and delivery throught their network. I do not know an alternative, so can not contribute postive here, sorry

 

[DanielBlue]

Etsy works very well. Any platform like etsy, ebay or amazon is the best way to start small because they have traffic. Some people say their commissions are way too high, well, if you have to do your own advertising or seo you will find that this will cost you more money or too much time. Start selling on a platform and build your own shop beside.