Etsy: 1,000 Sales Later

More than 4.5 years ago, I branched out from journalism and started selling old, rusty stuff on Etsy. As you might recall, the reasons were multi-fold: the stuff was (and still is) cool, it wasn't being used anymore, and I was still young enough to have the energy to go through it.

Aside from one post mentioning that I was partnering with my (former) post office worker on an antique booth in Bangor, I haven't posted any more about the shop since November 2015. That was intentional. I didn't wanted any of you to think you needed to buy from me. I didn't want to be "that guy" constantly bugging his family and friends. It also helped that I never really needed to. Just six days after posting my first batch of items, I had my first sale. I didn't even have any boxes yet.

A few days before Thanksgiving, I shipped this oysters tin to a guy in North Carolina. It's not the first thing I expected to sell, but empty tin cans have been good to me over the years, especially coffee cans. If you have some in your garage, I'll buy them.

Since that sale, I've sold things to people in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, as well as Washington, D.C.; Hampton, New Brunswick, Canada; and Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The only states I haven't shipped to are Hawaii and Idaho.

I mention this all, because last night I sold this ceramic jug: my 1,000th Etsy sale. It's not my 1,000th sale overall, because I've sold some things through Facebook and Craigslist, too, but it was the 1,000th sale in my shop. To commemorate the milestone, I thought I'd share some of my experiences:

• Beer crates were really hot, then really not. It's something I've seen with other items, too. Earlier this year, old stone crocks were immensely popular.
  
• People in California and New York really like the shop. Those are probably the two states I've shipped to the most.
• I've sold a few items to people locally, too, in St. Joseph, Eau Claire, Lawton, Paw Paw, Kalamazoo and Mattawan.
  
• Some interesting items I've sold that you wouldn't expect to be saleable online include: an old doorbell button, a really old toilet paper holder (like, you had to roll the toilet paper on it old), multiple hog scrapers (don't YouTube that one), metal bullhorn caps, a cast iron cow watering bowl, a cow dehorner, old dog tags (the ones for dogs), the door (just the door) off a coal stove, an empty Campbell's Soup can, a pile of useless keys, a spool of check planter wire and the striker assembly from a typewriter (that was fun to extract).
  
• I sold a blowtorch, sickle and hacksaw to the same person in California, and immediately wondered what she was going to do with them.
• I've sold 17 gutted electrical fuse boxes and panels to a guy at Disney World. He said he uses them for props. I've also sold items to magazines, photographers and interior designers.
  
• Fire hoses are heavier than you think they'd be.
  
• People like old door and cabinet hardware, even if it's rusty or painted.
  
• Glass and porcelain insulators of all shapes, sizes and uses are always popular.
• Cleaning is the worst part of the job. Keeping enough oddly shaped and oddly large boxes is the second hardest part.
• I sold an old election pin to the candidate's granddaughter. She was likely the only person who'd ever be interested in the pin, and she found it.
  
• There is a market for 1980s and early 1990s toys, likely from people my age who are nostalgic and buying the toys for their kids.
• Old hand tools are more difficult to sell on Etsy than I was expecting.
  
• The shop has received a shout out in Country Living magazine.
  

There have been some ups and downs in sales. Last year was particularly slow, so I thought it'd be closer to Christmastime before I hit 1,000 sales this year, but those stimulus checks created a bump for about a month and a half. Overall it's been a fun experience, and I've met some interesting people along the way, so hopefully we can keep it going for a little longer.