Search results (tags) for: "finance"

Etsy Statistics: October's Fall and Rise

2008-11-06T11:13:00Z

We're definitely keeping our eye on the economic conditions here at Etsy, but despite the turmoil, we still had another record setting month in October.

Here are October’s key numbers, each of which represent the highest total ever:

$8.4 million of goods were sold — a 5.9% increase over September.
That represents 577,398 items sold, a 6% increase from September's stats.
976, 234 new items were listed, up from 911,191 items last month, a 7.1% increase.
102,778, new members joined the Etsy community, including 19,689 new sellers. That’s our first month ever with over 100,000 new members — a 6.5% increase vs. September.
358,000,000 page views were recorded on the site, a slight increase from September.

Thanks to everyone in the Etsy community for all of their hard work in October!

Curious about how other months compare? Check out our past Weather Reports for more statistics.

Holiday How-To: Top Ten Financial Tips for the Holiday Rush

2008-10-01T11:00:00Z

The Holidays are a busy time of the year for most people — parties, shopping, traveling, baking, and various errands. If you are a seller on Etsy, you have one more responsibility to add to that list . . . managing the holiday rush that is associated with your business.

I hope the holiday season for your business will be stress-free, enjoyable, and successful. Here are some tips to help you manage your shop's finances successfully during the holiday rush.

10. Remember Tax Time is Near—The Holidays approaching also means that it is almost the end of the year (including the tax year). Now is a good time to know what your taxable income or loss for your business will be for the year. Maybe you can plan on buying some last minute equipment or incur necessary business expenses that will benefit what you owe to the tax man. If you plan on using an accountant to help you with your taxes, now would be a good time to start talking to them. Accountants get very busy after the first of the year.

9. Intelligent Short Term Debt—Too much debt can kill your business faster than you can pull out your credit card. Sometimes taking a little debt on can be a risk that has rewards. If you think you have a product that is absolutely going to be the bright spot in every shopper's eye, but you don't have enough cash to buy the materials—short term debt might be for you. If you are already in debt, I suggest you not go in any deeper, but promote what you have for sale even harder.   Talk with someone you trust if you are unsure if you should take on the additional debt.

8. Make Your Advertising Dollar Work Hard—This is the time of year to advertise intelligently.   Customers are ready with vast supplies of dollar bills to hand out to thousands of sellers. You need to give your shop an opportunity to stand out from the crowd. Look for promoting where you get the biggest bang for your advertising buck. Don't be afraid to ask for a "deal" when it comes to advertising on someone's website—the worst they can do is tell you is "no".

7. Inventory Management—Increased sales can put increased demand on your inventory. It might be beneficial to make sure that you have a ready supply of products to take the place of the items you sell. Also, make sure you have adequate supplies of raw materials on hand. Inventory problems can hamper your holiday success.

6. Avoid Cash Flow Nightmares—No one likes being short on cash, and it seems that during the holidays, this can be an easy predicament to be in. If you are going to have a lot of cash inflows and outflows in the coming months, you might benefit from looking when that money will come in and when it will go out. The biggest problem that comes from having a cash flow nightmare is the unwanted debt that it puts you in. Avoid confusing your business cash with your personal holiday spending money.

5. Everyone Loves a Sale—Tis the season for sales, promotions, and discounts. Many retailers offer customers incentives to buy from their store at this time of year—this method might benefit your shop as well. You don't have to sell yourself short though—make a profit and give your customers something to be happy with. A good transaction is when both the seller and the buyer feel like they came out well.

4. Cure Your Bookkeeping Headache—If you think your record keeping is out of control now, wait until the holiday rush is upon you. Don't hate yourself come tax time—devise a system of record keeping that works for you. You should be keeping track of your sales, expenses, and inventory at a bare minimum. If you don't feel comfortable with your method, you probably won't use it. Use paper and pencil, a spreadsheet, or keep it in your head if you are a mathematical genius.   Whatever you do—don't avoid it!

3. Budget Wisely—Don't go into the holiday season without a financial plan. Set some financial goals for your shop to achieve. Set some limits on your spending. Proceeding without a plan is like telling Santa you don't care what you get for Christmas—go ahead and make your list and check it twice!

2. Plan for Time Management—Time is a precious commodity and you probably don't want to just focus on your business during the holidays. Plan ahead and realize you can't do it all. Take some time to bake holiday cookies. Go for a walk in a winter wonderland. Snuggle up next to the fire and sing a carol. Your business is important, but there are plenty of things that are a lot more important.

1. Keep Your Sanity—No one can run a perfect business and anticipate everything that comes your way. Learn from your mistakes. If you make 1,000 sales in one day—great! If you make 1 sale in 3 months—great! The Holidays are an enjoyable time of year—don't let your success or lack of success determine the joy you experience during this time of the year.

I wish you a happy holiday season and may your business be blessed!

For more how-tos about selling, see the Seller Handbook.

The Numbers Game: Ratios and Your Shop's Popularity

2008-07-11T14:46:00Z

JJMFinance is back to give sellers helpful hints on crunching the numbers behind your shop. If you have trouble remembering the last time you cracked a math book (or how to calculate ratios and the like), this advice should prove quite useful. Enjoy!

Dear Sellers,

Everyone loves a good story. We are used to stories being communicated to us through written or spoken words, but numbers can tell us stories as well. In fact, there are numbers in our Etsy shops that can tell us stories about our shop's popularity, inventory, sales, and feedback.

One number alone can tell us a limited story, but when you put two numbers together, a more interesting story occurs. These two-numbered stories are called ratios. A ratio is the relationship between two numbers.

This is the first in a four part series where we will learn about four different ratios that occur in our Etsy shops. The first ratio we will explore is a very useful popularity ratio.

Heart-to-Sale Ratio

The heart-to-sale ratio tells us a story about our shop's popularity. I know the word "popularity" conjures memories of high school, cheerleaders, and rock bands — but it's really not that bad! This ratio will show us how our shop's "popularity" leads to sales.

How to Calculate

Heart-to-Sale Ratio = (Total hearts you have received) divided by (Total sales you have made)

You can find your total hearts that you have received by clicking on "See who hearts this shop" on the right sidebar of your shop's homepage under page tools. You can find your total sales on the right sidebar of your shop's homepage under other items. Find a calculator and type the first number divided by the second number. The number that is calculated is your heart-to-sale ratio.

What Story Does This Number Tell?

This number tells us how many hearts on average you have to receive before you make a sale. If your heart to sales ratio was 3.14, this means that you will probably not make another sale until 3 more people "heart" your shop.

Fill your number into these sentences to get your interpretation:
I need ______ people to heart my shop before I probably make my next sale.
On average, I will get a sale when _______ more people heart my shop.
Historically, for every ______ persons that hearts my shop, I will then get one sale.

How to Use This Information

You can use this ratio to help you manage your business and make decisions. We all would rather have sales more than hearts, but you can indirectly manage your sales by managing your hearts. It is sometimes easier to know what type of marketing will lead to hearts... and thus, future sales. You can also use this ratio to help set goals for your shop.

Is your heart-to-sale ratio consistent? If it is constant, you know that it usually takes a certain amount of "popularity" before you make a sale. Do you know the direction your ratio is moving? If it is getting smaller and smaller, you know that you are converting your popularity into sales at a better rate. If it is getting bigger and bigger, you are converting your shop's popularity into fewer sales.

Naysayers...

If you ever visit the forums, you might hear some people say that hearts really don't mean anything, or there is no relationship between hearts and sales. They might be right, but I think they are wrong — the heart-to-sale ratio really is useful.

I have found that throughout the life of my shop, my heart-to-sale ratio has consistently been around 3 — that is no random fluke!

I also think that the heart-to-sale ratio is a special number that is unique to your shop and your shop only. Some shops might find that their ratio is 7, another person's is 3, while another's is 1. There is no better or worse ratio — try not to make comparisons of your ratio to other shop's ratios. Although, it is probably better to try to make your heart-to-sale ratio lower if possible (meaning you have more "completed" sales that came from hearts).

Other Thoughts

People heart other people's shops for all types of reason — friendship, bookmarking a shop, keeping an eye on competition, weird marketing, etc. If you pay people $1 just to heart your shop, you will probably get lots of hearts, but will not necessarily see an increase in sales. Don't try to manipulate your heart-to-sale ratio, but instead think of it as a vital sign for your shop. You go to the doctor to get a checkup — let the heart-to-sale ratio be your shop's monthly checkup. Until next time — keep crunching numbers!

For more financial philosophy from JJMFinance, check out his previous articles. For more information on numbers in your shop, check out the Art of Pricing series.

About Us: Beth aka bethela

2008-06-03T16:53:00Z

Etsy has had quite a growth spurt in the past year, and we have the awkward pictures to prove it. We'll be posting a series of About Us pieces to help you get to know the Etsy admin (and since many of us work remotely, for the admin to get to know each other!). You've seen the admin badge, and maybe you're a bit curious about the person behind it! For more on Etsy's mission and about the company, please see our About page (the link is in the little blue footer of every Etsy page).

MP4 | Youtube | Blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes

Beth joined Etsy about six months ago. She comes from a business and finance background and she works with us on the Business Operations Team. Beth is a smart cookie and she's totally focused on making the Etsy marketplace a vibrant and successful place for sellers. You can check out her series the Art of Pricing where she shares some biz and finance savvy. She's also impressed us by raising tons of charity money through hardcore bike races. For serious!

Below, teenage Beth counts her earnings from her afterschool job and tallies them in her book-keeping file. Beth, it's mini-you!

Itty-bitty Beth holds her baby sister. (Look at these fantastic seventies colors, vintage people!)

See all posts in this About Us series.

Etsy in the Press: Rob "Straight Outa Norman Rockwell" Kalin on Wallstrip

2007-11-16T07:34:00Z

Witness the Wallstrip interview with Rob, in which he keeps it real while discussing politics, money, greed and a better way. Power to the ladies!

Wallstrip is a popular, fun video blog focusing on finance and business. BusinessWeek calls it “A sassy new investment show for generation YouTube.”

Please read the comments.