Why I closed my Etsy store

Seems a ridiculous statement to make for a small business owner doesn’t it?

Surely you want your products and business in as many places as possible so it reaches more people. This is true BUT Etsy takes work, a lot of work and I just do not have the time to make it cost effective.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Etsy has it’s own SEO (search engine optimization) system which helps customers find your shop and products. Etsy’s SEO has different preferences to Google's, which means you need to navigate a new system and learn what works best for your business all over again.

Etsy also has a lot of charges…

It’s £0.14 per listing, which doesn't sound like much but if you’ve got a fair few listings it starts to add up. They also take 5% of each transaction and 4% commission on any sale plus a further £0.20 as an admin fee…

So let’s take a product that's £10… it’s already cost you £0.14 to put it on there… plus another £0.05 once you’ve sold it, plus £0.04 commission, then another £0.20 admin fee. Already you’re down £0.44 of your £10. The materials have probably cost at least £5 to make the product, as a small business owner you’ve definitely not considered your time in the cost which means you’ve probably paid yourself about £2 a product. So after all that you’ve made £2.50 and you’ve still got to factor in postage and packaging, especially if you’re offering it for free!

Don’t get me wrong owning a website is expensive too BUT because it is my website I am more inclined to work on it and make sure it’s the best it can be. As it really is a reflection of me, whereas Etsy doesn't give me as much creative freedom.

As a small business owner you’ve got to make the decisions that are right for you. And for me Etsy is one more job that I just cannot fit into my already busy week and because I'm not utilising it properly it’s costing me money.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not bashing Etsy at all, so many amazing businesses make loads of money off it, but for me it just wasn’t a good fit and that’s okay too.

This decision wasn’t easy but it’s the right decision. Being a business owner isn’t all roses and sometimes you’ve got to cut your losses and do what’s right for you in the moment.

You never know I might pick up Etsy again in the future when I’ve got more time, but for now I’m going to focus on what I know!

I’d love to hear what you think about Etsy or similar websites for setting up your small business, leave me a comment!