To Sell or Not to Sell on Etsy

This morning I received an email from a reader which included this question. "Over the years I have collected older household linens, primarily table linens... .I wonder if an Esty shop might be the way to go and if it is what to do and how to do it."

I sent the following answer and am including it here in case it would be of interest to others... especially the part about the "Shop Info" :

Well this is not just a quick and easy answer... The first step is to go to Esty and research what you have and see how it is selling and what for.. I just typed in table linens and picked a seller http://www.etsy.com/shop/TablesGoneWild?ref=seller_info If you go to the main page of any shop it has a column on the left hand side and one part is "shop info". There it will tell you when the shop was started, how many items it has for sale and how many sales... This shop was established in Sept 2008 and had only 23 sales but I thought her prices pretty high.

Another site came up with linens and other things http://www.etsy.com/shop/ZinniaSnipSnap?ref=seller_info
and it has been in business much less time...since Sept 2009.... and had 498 sales and I thought her prices were reasonable. But they may not seem reasonable to you... How dear are these linens to you?

But tables linens is a broad subject so you can define it more if they are printed linens, embroidered linens, fine linens, etc... I looked at a few sites because I have LOTS of embroidered doilies etc in the barn and am thinking of bringing them in... It seemed when I looked at those sites they were moving at about $8-10. Probably worth my time to sell them...

If you decide to do this, Esty is pretty good about helping you get through the steps of setting up of a shop... Just don't expect to do it in an afternoon as there are lots of steps... I had a glitch with the shipping which I finally figured out... I find the photographing and listing steps VERY tedious but I have been selling right along. I know I could do better if I set up a database to let customers know when I add new buttons and by getting more new things painted and presenting them better. That is what I'm working on this coming weeks.

I set it up when I was rushed for time and now I need to go through and make some changes and reevaluate... I'm still pretty new myself so not the best resource but I think doing the research is the most important first step...
I ALWAYS check how long a shop has been in business and how many sales... When you find one having a high rate of sales within the area of what you are selling ....look at their items, photographs, prices, and the shipping prices and use them as a guide...