Please Don't Go!

Sweet Remembrance Bracelet by Hookitup

So, I was in the Etsy forums and a jewelry seller asked the question "When is it time to go?" That is, she wanted to know at what point it is time to close up shop when your shop is getting no sales. For me, I am taking the advice of fotofiction:

	fotofiction says:
	I guess you have to ask yourself if it has stopped being fun or if your sales are making you feel truly defeated when it comes to your craft. If you are still having fun and enjoy the process, do the sales really matter?

And for all newbies to Etsy, this is great advice:

smile4katie says:

A few pieces of advice if you're going to stay :o) Get some cohesiveness between your images/banner/avatar in other words "brand" yourself so that you are memorable. You have the potential to have fantastic imagery on your site! Get some deep brown and reds in your paper that you shoot on. Take that victorian look and really run with it! I really see reds :o) Shorten your shop announcement if you can. Go and play some Secret Shopper games just to get your name out there and to get some feedback. This will also give you a chance to relist something. If you do that in the am (it seems) you'll get a bunch more hits from the front page rotation. As soon as you have revamped your pictures go into critiques and spend the day in a thread there. I got my first few sales in there! Ok that's it :o) Let me know if I can help you out with anything! Katie

How to answer the question of when to close up shop is going to be different for everyone. If you are in it as a hobby and it is no longer enjoyable, then why do it? If in it as a business, you have to remember that most new businesses don't make a profit for several years! And running an Etsy shop as a business is very hard work. Fun? Yes. But hard work nonetheless. I have found it for the most part to be a 24/7 job. And I think most small business owners find that true.

Anyhow, my message to HookItUp is Please Don't Go! You have beautiful jewelry, and you obviously have worked very hard on your craft and your shop. Don't give up just yet. You're just getting started!