As a hobbyist potter, there are really only a few avenues available to sell pieces.

• Etsy (tried it – not a fan)
• Instagram (tried it – not a fan)
• In-person or craft shows sales (working on it…)
• Wholesale to local shops (working on it…)
• Personal website shop !!

As many people had suggested, I did try Etsy for a bit. Some might remember CraftAndSeam (handmade products + face masks during the COVID-19 era, with proceeds donated to various NPOs). That previously successful (but now defunct) Etsy shop was repurposed for my new venture.

A few sales and a year later, I eventually gave up on ceramics via Etsy. I found discovery and advertising lacking for the ceramics field, plus Etsy of course takes a significant cut. Perhaps this is also due to the fact that the majority of Etsy sellers are now just drop-shippers selling Amazon-esque products. Boo!

For those that are interested, see below table for set-up costs applicable to the first year.

Thoughts along the way:

• Squarespace Domains was tricky – had some issues pointing the domain to the correct A record in order to get Hostinger and WP to work. Took about 2 weeks to get it right, especially since changing DNS settings often takes 24-48 hours to take full effect.
• LOVE and HATE WordPress’s site builder interface – so easy, but so limited in my design freedom.
• MailerLite is great. Free tier is more than what I need.
• I would have gone without having a Google Workspace Business Starter Plan, but MailerLite strongly encourages a domain email (such as hello@selenaceramics.com) in order to avoid being flagged as spam right off the bat. The more you know + probably for the best anwyays.
• Overall, this website shop project took me about 2 months to set up, collect subscribers, set up hosting, and get everything working.

The payments are via Stripe and products are shipped via USPS or delivered in person via NYC Local Pickup.

Perhaps I will cover studio and shipping materials costs in another post.

Send questions if you have any – my inbox is always open.

<3 selena