Etsy for Fine Art Photography Business

Hi fellow POTN members -

Does anyone else here utilize Etsy to advertise and sell your photography?

I recently started an Etsy site for my artwork and would greatly appreciate your feedback:

www.etsy.com/shop/Berg​Imagery

I'd really appreciate your honest and candid feedback, if you don't mind taking a few minutes out of your day.

Thank you again for supporting a fellow photographer

Best wishes,
Brandon

No responses?!? Is it really that bad? I honestly expected more from this community.

Brandon,
It's hard to say, once you set up an online shop, it's sales that make it. For instance, I don't like the ''the touch'' image, I find it overtly processed and the lens flare is somewhat cheesy, however, people looking for religious iconographic photos are probably very into it.

When setting up a shop it's usually a good idea to know your target market and run with it; there are some decent landscapes and travel shots there and some photos that don't seem to belong (like the long johns, the christ one, the cars, the bird); it looks more like a portfolio that is thrown together out of all the shots you like the best rather than a well thought out, targeted sales pitch.

The about me seems rather spare, you offer little or no information about yourself as a photographer, why you captured these images or any back-story behind them. Although it's not required, this will also help sell you (because after all, in an internet awash with photos, selling yourself as much as the image is important) to prospective clients.

Lastly, I don't know of the viability of etsy as a photography website.... Although I've heard success stories with other businesses I've not heard of any photographic ones (likely because I haven't looked, but none are being trumpeted in any of the ads/articles I've read about etsy) I'd possibly look at marketing your photos on more than one site to ''avoid putting all your eggs in one basket''.

I can't answer your questions since I never sold a photo. But I like your photography and selection of images. I think you should categorize the images - one section for landscapes, another for automotive, one for bw fine art, etc. Then the images would not seem scattered about.

If I were paying $29 or more for a print, I'd like to know the shipping method. An envelope or sturdy box? Priority mail or parcel post, or perhaps UPS?

Your site is clean, uncluttered, and easy to navigate. I agree with the other poster, you need to tell more about yourself.

Have you sold any yet?

Brandon,

Etsy is not the place to sell fine art, and has not been for some time. They have changed and continue to change their business model to emphasize crafts, clothing, accessories, and the like. A much better place to do so would be Fine Art America (and no, I am not associated with them.) I personally sell a ton more there than I ever did on etsy, and just about everybody else says the same thing.

I sold on etsy and made a profit. You may too. But after a period of time, weigh that profit against all the time you spend maintaining, uploading, and the like and you, too, will probably discover it's not worth it.

You already set up your shop before asking, so my guess is you will plug away at it for a while before you are convinced. When you get there, give FAA a try.

BTW, the Newest Work in my sig is to what FAA calls an "artist website" which is free with your account. but as you can see, I also have the same presence on FAA itself.

Best of luck to you.

I don't think true fine art buyers are shopping on ETSY. I could be wrong, it isn't what I sell.

Thank you all so much for the excellent feedback! I'm taking it all very seriously and will try to expand my bio. Creating a business on Etsy isn't an easy task and requires a great deal of marketing/managing your site. Yes, I've already made some good sales and my shop has only been open a week. From what I've read, it's normally a 2-3 week process before your first sales come through. In that sense, I definitely feel ahead of the game but know there is a great deal more work to be done. Thanks again for the encouragement and I'll try to update this thread with my progress in a couple of months. In the meantime, if others have feedback on my site design and images, it would be greatly appreciated.