Why Done is Better than Perfect: How to Get Started Selling on Etsy

This article by Alexandra Ferguson comes from The Etsy Blog. Alexandra presents Etsy as a try-it-and-see marketplace for sellers: a way to test products, experiment with presentation, and perfect your selling game.  

And she should know: she built her tiny Etsy store (started with $1.60 in capital) into a business projected to bring in $1 million in revenue in the next year!

Why Done is Better than Perfect

Do any of these internal monologues resonate with you?

• “What if no one buys anything? I will feel so rejected.”
  
• “What if someone wants to buy 400 of one of my items? I can’t launch my shop until I’m ready to take on volume. There’s still so much to figure out.”
• “I’ve been working on a business plan for several months now. When everything is perfect, then I’ll launch my shop.”

Whatever the reason may be, do you feel stuck in the thinking and planning stage?

It’s okay. It’s really normal. I like to call this feeling “paralysis by analysis” and, fortunately, you’re in the friendliest place on the web to work through it and start selling.

I launched my shop on January 16, 2009, during my then-day-job lunch break. Over the holidays, I’d made dozens of felt appliqué pillows as gifts and had a few left over when someone suggested I sell them on Etsy. I photographed what remained with my point-and-shoot camera in my living room. In 30 minutes, while I ate my sandwich at my desk, I spent $1.60 in startup capital (eight product listings at 20 cents each), and my shop was live.

Read more at The Etsy Blog >>