Conflicted

Broke as I am this week, I'm still trying to decide if I want to go with a standalone shop so I can sell things in addition to what I have on Etsy, or do I want to just stick with Etsy. Pros and cons to both. Etsy's fees are getting kind of pricy, won't go with this "Scott's Markletplace" thing I'm seeing once in a while because their CSV import is only in beta and you have to ASK for permission to use it. I can get a standalone site for less per month than I'm shelling out to Etsy. Problem comes in, Etsy is all my traffic and sales right now.

What I think I need to do is set everything in Etsy to manual renewal, save that money aside to start a standalone shop and the flea market, and go from there. I can take credit cards through a standalone shop with Square, and ZenCart is quite similar to OSCommerce in design, plus has the advantage of accepting credit cards in a way that keeps the numbers split so the site doesn't break rules for accepting cards. Don't get me wrong, I love Etsy to pieces, but I need to keep more of what I make for me, and I know I can get website hosting for less than $25 a month, easy.

I'm not fond of living in Arkansas, but here and over by Eureka Springs and Huntsville, as well as up in Branson area are a ton of flea markets I could slowly expand to. Branson area alone has over 80, there's a dozen or so in ES/HV area, one good one just south of me in Harrison. Business cards there can lead people back to my standalone shop, and I can carry more things like I make only commercially made (which Etsy doesn't allow). I'm just so conflicted. Of course, if things went well enough, I could drive down with a ton of stuff once a month and restock all the shops, after having moved my happy behind back to Michigan where I long to be. (Plus Mom is eventually going to need me around to help her, and she's NOT going to move here. Plans have to be made NOW for a decade down the road.)

On the bright side, while I can't get outside to the garden, at least it's raining good these few days, so my seedlings I did get out are getting well-watered. Now if it would just stop long enough for me to get out and break ground for the rest of the squash so I can get them in.

Work at the Just Over Broke continues. I'm waiting on something to open up for bids that is second shift, so I don't lose my tiny little 40c an hour shift premium, and which pays enough to make it worthwhile for me to bid on it.