woodworking and etsy

[DBA]

Totally off topic of rabbits, just looking for some advice and or opinions.
Recently, when I became a grandpa, I made my new grandson a toy train. It is more for decoration than a toy. That led to a few people telling me I should make more to sell, and take custom orders.
So I did some research online, and, obviously, I wasn't the only one who had made a train the way I did. Actually there are a couple factories mass producing them. I also found a couple ways to improve my own design.
Anyway, I make other items out of wood, mostly decorative, but some functional.
Attached are a few pics of things I have made, including the name train I made for my grandson.
Please offer your opinions, should I open an etsy store?

If you have an etsy store, please give me your thoughts, likes, dislikes, etc of having it.


Attached are the train, and a closer up pic to show a little detail. The train itself is three feet long.
Also is an intarsia teddy bear I made, and a small basket I made.
I will post a couple pictures shortly of a clock I made yesterday and another clock I made a couple years ago.
Your opinions are welcome.

__________ Thu Oct 08, 2015 6:24 am __________

Here are a few pics of the clock I did yesterday. Sorry for picture quality, my phone is no professional camera. <br /><br /> __________ Thu Oct 08, 2015 6:27 am __________ <br /><br /> And finally, here are a few pics of the bigger clock I did a couple years ago.

Sorry, the pics are being added to the top so they are out of order.

 

[Marinea]

Beautiful!

I don't have a store, so no advice on Etsy, but general advice...make sure it's something you love doing. I can see that level of detail becoming a job really quick.

Good luck!

 

[DBA]

Oh yeah, it can become time consuming. The wall hanging clock is about 12 inches by about 29 inches and about 7 inches deep. Cutting alone took between 40 and 50 hours.

Thank you for the compliment!

 

[alforddm]

Those are gorgeous!

I have an etsy store and I like it. It's cheaper than ebay and I get better prices.

Things to think about, when you accept credit cards both paypal and etsy take about 3%. This is from the total price + shipping and is the credit card transaction fee. It would be about the same if you took credit cards in a physical store. Be sure you are including the credit card fees, etsy fees, and your shipping supplies in your price.

After you create your store, go to "your shop" >> "shop settings" >> "options" and click the "custom orders" option. This will allow a buy to request a custom order.

Don't undersell your work.

 

[DBA]

I'm also tossing around the idea of mounting a small nightlight inside the smaller clock. I think it would add a nice function and look to it.

 

[WhWRabbitry]

DBA:
Wow, beautiful work!!

I would encourage you to try it. I have two etsy stores and my daughter has one. Most all my paintings I have sold I have sold through etsy. There really is no big loss in trying it. It just costs 20 cents a listing to list an item. If you want to do it, I'd be glad to send you an email invite as a fellow etsian and when you opened your shop you'd get 40 free listings (and yes I would too for inviting you ).

I really haven't found there to be any particular negatives about etsy. I like it.

If you'd like me to send you an invite to get 40 free listings just let me know.
Then you could open a shop and try it out and see what you think.

Regardless, great job! The items you've made are beautiful.

Joanna