If you are an art-and-crafts/DIY/creative genius? Why not make money out of your hobby and turn it into a business.

With the world wide web, anythings possible. To attest to that statement, Check out Etsy.com.

What is Etsy?

Etsy is a website that provides people with a ‘venue’ to hawk their handmade wares. It’s sort of like a trade show fair for handmade products.

Etsy was launched in 2005 by iospace, a company comprised of Robert Kalin, Chris Maguire and Haim Schoppik, later joined by Jared Tarbell. Maria Thomas, from NPR, now sits as CEO. Other employees include Matthew Stinchcomb, who worked for French Kicks, and Bre Pettis, a video blooger know for his work with MAKE. (source: Wikipedia.com)

Since its launch, about 100,000 marketers around the world have opened up "shops". The site also offers tutorials, online classes and live workshops, as well as tools to help marketers promote their shop.

Running your business

Pricing depends entirely upon you. There are other shops selling similar products who can sell for much lower prices. They do that because they can. They can afford to. Or maybe it’s their business plan. There is no general formula that will work for everyone. It’s up to you if you want to lower you prices to compete with other marketers.

Bulk. In actual stores, buying in bulk costs less. Same is true in this site. If other shops are selling a lot, they probably buy in bulk – meaning the materials they use to make their products cost way more. Thus, the low prices of their goods.

Streamlining. If you sell one a item per week, this means you ship once a week. If your sell a dozen items per day, then you probably pack in batches and ship everything at one time. Use this analogy for creating your products. If you have enough customers to make your products in bathes, you will

Losing money

• The costs (for any business)
• Materials (incl. shipping when ordering)
• Etsy fees (listing plus commission)
• Paypal fees
• Packaging materials
• Gas for driving to the post office
• Taxes

Plus other extra costs such electricity, batteries for taking pictures, businesses cards, website, samples, etc.

A lot of marketers realize that they are actually losing money, what with all these costs. Yo probably don’t even pay yourself "a salary". To be able to succeed in this endeavor as a business you must have structured pricing. Sales do not always mean revenue. Think of ways on how you can improve your sales. Make adjustments to your costs so you can lower your prices and get profits.

Image source: Etsy