I have one more sale to go before I get to celebrate 200 sales on Etsy! I set up my shop in 2008 but it wasn't until late 2010 before I began adding items and making sales. With the fierce competition of other etsy sellers, people have asked me how I have been able to create and grow a moderately successful shop. Here are five of the ten tips for selling on etsy I learned the hard way.
Ten Tips for Selling on Etsy- Part One
1. It's all about the Photography- High quality photographs are your best friend when it comes to selling on etsy. If possible, offer several photographs of the same item including a killer close up shot. To show the scale of an item, photograph it next to another common item such as a dime so the customer can get a sense of size.
2. Name for Success- When naming your listings, think like a customer. "It Takes A Village" to describe the item above may be a cute way to describe the item but it's not going to bring you many views and hence, sales. If the customer is looking for a bookmark made from burlap,they will likely search "Burlap Bookmark." You have enough characters in your listings to go a bit further. You could describe the items as "Burlap Bookmark Sewn Buttons." The same goes with tagging. You get 13 tags to describe your item-use them all.
3. Promotion. Promotion. Promotion- So you've got high quality tags, stellar names and tags, not to mention killer merchandise. Get out there and let everyone know about it. Blog about your shop, get it in print. Most of my sales come from items that are published in print magazines. Editors are very generous about promoting your blog and/or etsy shop if you are lucky enough to get an item published.
4. Provide Great Customer Service- Etsy now offers customer service stats that gives you information on everything from meeting processing times to providing your customers with shipment information. Be realistic about your turn around times. Respond promptly to "convos" which is Etsy speak for customer questions and special requests. Let your customers know when something has been shipped and give them the tracking number. If you have an unhappy buyer, bend over backwards to make sure the outcome doesn't leave you with negative feedback, which can hurt future sells.
5. Price for Success- The biggest mistake I see sellers make is over or under pricing. Not sure what your hand dyed and stamped ribbons should be priced? Do some research. Find similar items on Etsy and see what they are successfully being sold for. Note if your items are more or less detailed which could impact how competitive you should be. You don't want to price yourself out of the market but you also don't want to under value your merchandise.
Ready to get started? Check back soon and I will give you five more tips. The holiday selling season is already underway so you may want to be thinking about whether or not an Etsy shop is the right fit for your handmade items.
Live Life Creatively,
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