Etsy, the online marketplace for artisans and vintage-goods sellers, is experiencing a boom that's being felt in Tucson.
"Last year I was close to $2,000 in sales; this year close to $5,500, so it was a much better year," said local Etsy merchant Alma Jimenez, who sells personalized tote bags for kids from her store, My Desert Cutie.
Etsy attracts 42 million unique visitors a month and gives shoppers the opportunity to browse a marketplace of more than 800,000 creative businesses of handmade and vintage goods.
It also provides tools for consumers to search out local shops to feed their desire to purchase unique gifts from local businesses while enjoying the convenience of shopping online.
Statistics posted online by Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson show sales between Black Friday and Cyber Monday increased more than 80 percent year-over-year, which makes it the second year in a row Etsy's annual growth rate has increased.
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Sales per shop grew an average of 26 percent overall, compared to 2011, which is double the growth of last year.
But that growth depends on how much time is spent working on the site and updating inventory, said shop owner Trace Lowe.
Lowe's Southwestern pottery and jewelry shop, T. Lowe Designs, hasn't experienced the same jump in sales, but he said he hasn't been able to spend as much time on it this year.
Just like brick and mortar stores, holiday sales account for a good percentage of an Etsy merchant's revenue.
Custom jewelry maker Barbara Jensen owner of All Things Barbara said about 20 percent of her sales are made during the holiday months.
Nadine Brown, who makes organic skincare products, through Mrs. Brown's Bath Bakery said 50 to 75 percent of her sales are made during the holiday season.
T. Lowe Designs sells handmade pottery, magnets and jewelry from the Desert Southwest.
Owner Trace Lowe, opened shop January 2010 as a hobby and second income, and has made 181 sales.
More than 25 percent of Lowe's sales occur during the holiday months. He said he can go all summer without selling anything, and once the holidays hit, people start buying. Lowe hasn't noticed much overall growth in sales this year. But he said he hasn't been doing as much work on his site.
On getting started: Look at different shops and see what people are selling. Be patient. If you're planning on selling beaded jewelry, realize that thousands of people are selling beaded jewelry. You have to come up with a niche and a catchy name. He also said to "gradually put things up and always put up new inventory because people are looking at new listings."
My Little Otter offers handmade scented play clay, paper straws, and custom crayons.
Owner Rachel Mospeller opened shop in January 2011 as a second income, with hopes of making it a first income.
Since opening, her shop has made 1,513 sales.
Mospeller said "It's pretty steady throughout the year with a slight increase during the holidays. November and December bring in about 15 to 20 percent of the shop's annual revenue."
She added that she is seeing a higher amount of orders, but in a smaller amount of time, since they are comparing 15 days to 31. "We've already processed as many orders as we did in the month of September, which was a good month for us."
This year My Little Otter has seen a 50 percent increase in revenue compared to last year.
On getting started: Take the time to learn the market before opening up a shop. "I'd also suggest working on inventory. It is much harder for a shop to get found when it only has 10 items in it."
Mrs. Brown's Bath Bakery offers handmade organic skin care treats such as bath cookies, lotion chocolate bars, jello soaps and edible hairspray.
Owner Nadine Brown opened her store in October 2011 as a hobby and second income.
She has made a total of 68 sales since the shop opened.
Brown said she "loves to see people's faces light up with joy at the thought of using cake batter to wash their hair, or to see their skin woes solved by rubbing chocolates on themselves."
Brown says 50 to 75 percent of her sales are made during the holiday season. She said this season her sales have doubled when compared to last year.
On getting started: Go to the forums on Etsy.com and ask around. Join teams, "a place where commonality meets functionality" that are in your area or have similar interests related to your shop.
Etsy Fees
Everybody's Etsy bill will be different, depending on how many items a shop has listed and how many sales are made.
While it is fairly inexpensive to start and maintain an Etsy shop, merchants should be aware of the website's fees when pricing items. Merchants are billed each month for listing, transaction and advertising fees.
Here is a breakdown:
Listing fees
Each published listing is 20 cents. If the item hasn't sold after four months, the listing expires.
Renewing a listing is 20 cents.
If a seller has multiple quantity and a transaction occurs but the listing is not sold out, the listing is automatically renewed at a cost of 20 cents. If more than one of the same item is sold in a single transaction, a multiple-quantity fee of 20 cents per quantity greater than one is applied.
Transaction fees
A transaction fee of 3.5 percent of the item price is charged per transaction.
Advertising fees
Ads are optional and the prices vary by opportunity. Fees are outlined for sellers before committing.
Payment processing
Some shops use direct checkout to process payment. The fee for this is 3 percent plus 25 cents for each order completed.
This fee is assessed on the total amount of the sale, with tax and shipping.
More tips
Alma Jimenez, owner of My Desert Cutie, which offers personalized tote bags for kids, said: "Look around and see what others are offering and how the competition is for the items you are selling. Renew your items constantly to keep your items on the top of the list. Customers lose interest after the first few pages then move to something else."
Jewelry designer, Barbara Jensen, owner of All Things Barbara, said to "make sure you have a product you can be proud of; that your prices are comparable to those of similar sites and that you give top priority to clear communication and quick customer service."
Etsy experience: Local merchants on the website share their experiences and advice
Contact reporter Angela Pittenger at 573-4137 or apitteng@azstarnet.com.