In general I must tell you that I like the "For Dummies" books and have a number of them in my office and library. That being said though, there are good "Dummies" book and there are not so good "Dummies" books. Sometimes they hit the mark; other times....well, they should probably write a "How to write a For Dummies book for Dummies." Fortunately in the case of the book being reviewed here, "Starting an Etsy Business for Dummies," fall into the good category. As a matter of fact, it probably should be classified as a step or three above the just "good" category as it is probably the best of the series I have read so far.
The format is this book will be quiet familiar for those who have read other books in this series. It is extremely easy to navigate and it is set up so that the reader does not have to read it straight through cover to cover to be able to get anything out of it. Each section, while following a logical sequence, can never the less be read as a stand-alone. If you are interested in just one aspect of starting an Etsy Business, then you can go directly to that particular section.
Now I have read other books which attempt to guide you through the process of joining Etsy and opening up your own shop(s) and selling. To be quite honest, I found most of these books to be less than helpful as they were too general, too vague or more often than not, so far over my head that they might as well have been written by an advance alien culture from the planet Globigclx. I was glad I checked them from the library and did not lay down hard cash for them. Not so this work! Let me be more specific....
This book takes you step by step through from the beginning, including the reason you might want to open up your own shop, and covers each step of the way right on through. Reader take note: This is an extremely detailed book. Information simply drips off of each page. I have seldom read a self help book that was so detailed! As a relative beginner with Etsy, I found the book to be absolutely invaluable! Let me stress this once more...There is a MASS of information in this book. It is NOT a book that you can quickly skim through in a couple of hours and come out an expert. But the information is readable, understandable, logical and extremely helpful...A bit of work; a bit of study will pay big dividends in the long run. Remember - "There are no free lunches" folks. On the other hand, you can rest assured that if someone such as myself (semi-clueless) can navigate and understand this book, then so can you.
Who will benefit most from this book? I would say the beginner although the more experienced Etsyan will most certainly pick up some great pointers; things they either simply did not know or have things they already know clarified. I would say that anyone who has an interest in this area of creating and selling what they create will benefit from this book.
As far as Etsy goes, I rank myself as a novice. That being said, I have been running businesses for years and I can tell you that there was not one bad or misleading bit of information in this entire book that I could identify...it was all straight stuff here. I also have been selling on eBay and Amazon for quite a number of years now so I can testify that the information given in this work as to on-line selling is absolutely spot-on. After reading this book I can already tell you that my chances for being successful with Etsy have greatly increased and I do so wish I had had this work in my hand two or three years ago.
Do take note that most of the information found in this book; information dealing specifically with Etsy (which makes up the majority of the book), can indeed be found digging through the mass of information found on the Etsy site itself. But take if from me, it will take you days and days and days of research to dig this information up and digest it. With this book everything is laid out for you. It will save you many hours of frustration and the learning process using this book is oh so very much easier.
Etsy is a great idea, a great place and performs a wonderful service. To be honest, more people should become involved. While it most certainly does not come near eBay as to size, and probably never will, the corporate greed is not present with Etsy yet and it is a pleasure doing business there...it is more what eBay started out to be and is no more...a nice community and place you enjoyed hanging out in.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
