Books Listed on Etsy and eBay Observations

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

My enthusiasm for Etsy is increasing.  I have risked listing some scarce books and books that have not typically been known to do well on Etsy.  Enough have sold that I feel comfortable further increasing the number of listings that I have on Etsy.  I now have more listings on Etsy than on eBay.

I do believe that something is wrong on eBay.  I feel like my eBay listings are mostly stagnant.  I continue to lower the prices of bulk lots, and it's like they are invisible.  I have ended two more bulk lots and moved many of those books to Etsy.  When I do this, the price per book goes up, but buyers are able to purchase the books individually at what is still a reasonable price.

I have written recently of some irritating eBay changes.  Another one is how eBay has changed the manner in which feedback is left.  The new process takes more time than the old process.  I have to submit every feedback individually and wait for it to save instead of filling out all of them before submitting.  Even worse, on the new page the transactions are listed in a somewhat random order.  I prefer for my transactions to be listed chronologically instead of randomly.  Exactly who has eBay set loose in programming and design?

Since the eBay interface has become significantly harder to use in the last few months, I suspect that eBay has also tampered with Best Match search and has probably made items harder to find.  This does not affect me as a buyer since I always change the sort to newest first or ending first.  However, buyers who are not aware of eBay's many problems are likely missing out on great purchases.  This is why I believe my eBay sales have plummeted.

My sales on Etsy have been higher in the last two weeks than my eBay sales.  I have a promotion for free shipping on Etsy orders of $35 or more.  I am getting some good results from that promotion.  It's also helping tremendously that I have increased my Etsy listings and have listed many harder to find books on Etsy.  I will continue to do so.  I expect to list additional books on Etsy in the next few days.

One drawback on Etsy is that I am allowed only 20 categories in my shop.  Since this is too limiting, I am having to place some books in general categories.  I have created three categories for general children's, girls', and boys' books.  Make sure you check those categories since I cannot give an individual category to every series.

I have recently listed some books by Capwell Wyckoff and L. P. Wyman.  I have also listed many Hardy Boys picture covers and Hardy Boys Digest library editions.