my online shop :: tina crespo

hello again! i am back for a new feature that will be running this week! as you may well know i am, above all shops i have, an etsy seller. when i thought about selling my photography work it was very clear to me that i would do it on etsy, even if i knew almost nothing about how it worked. how it really worked, something else than just listing and waiting for sales. while i opened my first shop i was developing my skills with lomography and soon started wondering about a second shop. of all i had learned about etsy was that shops needed to be well-defined concerning its personality. a customer needed to figure out what was going on on that shop, as soon as the visit started… and then i opened a second etsy shop with a lomographic, vintage and also a bit of film mood. and then i also opened (just for a trial) another shop with posters, matching photography and written teasers… on big cartel. and i know that there is also supermarket.

ok, but when choosing… which one should we choose? is there one much better than all the others? should we choose several? what are the advantages and disadvantages of choosing each one of these? well, if you are an online seller, you should have wondered about this already… well, in order to answer some of these doubts i invited a few friends. here is the schedule:

tina crespo from {tina crespo photography} – april 12th

a. jarrett from {gabrielle kai photography} – april 13th

anna jonhson from {a. alicia handmade accessories} – april 14th

nichole robertson from {little brown pen} – april 15th

so as you read today’s guest is tina crespo. tina is a photographer from philadelphia and she has two shops, one on etsy and another one on supermarket. let’s see her answers.

hello, how are you? so can you tell me a bit about yourself? hi twiggs, i’m good thanks! my name is tina crespo, i’m a photographer living outside of philadelphia. i live with my boyfriend and our insanely outrageous cat, trillz. i read a lot, take long drives, and could never pass up a good cup of coffee.

i know that you have an online shop, right? how many do you have and where? i have two fine art shops. one on {etsy} & one on {supermarket}.

what made you choose having those shops? i needed a creative outlet, something other than the usual day to day shooting we do at the studio. photographing landscapes and nature came natural to me and it was something i did that kept my mind clear and filled me with joy. i really wanted to find a way to share that with a larger audience, then i stumbled onto etsy.

what is your main shop? my main shop is on {etsy}.

can you tell us about 3 advantages in having a shop on (your main one)? 1. the amount of traffic (from all over the world) you receive. i’m reaching more people daily than icould possibly do if i sold locally. it’s really great when prints are being shipped out of the country. 2. it’s great for someone who doesn’t have a ton of start up money. i get to choose how much money i’d like to put into advertising and relisting items every month. there’s no pressure. 3. you meet so many wonderful people who stumble into your shop, and become great friends!

and disadvantages? can you also name 3? 1. sometimes it would be nice to meet my customers in person (like you would in a store front). 2. people can assume you are a fast turn around company and can be impatient when they haven’t received a print 2 days after ordering. you need a lot of patience to deal with that! 3. there is a lot of competition online, on any venue. you must draw inspiration from others, but never compare your success to someone else’s.

can you look at your shops and name the most successful one? why? my most successful shop is on etsy. i believe it’s because that’s where i spend most of my time. i really love supermarket and i admit, i don’t spend nearly as much time updating it or using supermarket as a advertising tool. it’s kind of shameful, really and i should start being more accountable!!

and this was our first interview! what do you think? did tina’s answers made you think? are you also an etsy seller? what do you think about the advantages and disadvantages she named? well, while you think of these, you may want to visit tina’s shops… {etsy} and {supermarket}. and tomorrow we shall have another talented photographer… well-known all around, lady a. jarrett from {gabrielle kai photography}.

images: tina crespo via etsy & supermarket (click on each image for further details)