diydivas.myfastforum.org

Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 5 Location: Vernon, BC

I recently sold my B & M retail store after 20 years as an independent retailer. Far be it from me to stay in game that includes Wal-Mart.

Several friends suggested I try Etsy. I looked it over, I saw sales were being made pretty regularly, fees were great, and it seemed like something I could in my new role as full time stay at home Mom of 5 school aged son's, if I may add.

I could tell you how my fist shop kimwilsondesigns turned into three shops at Etsy, but it a long horrible story resulting from a small merchandising obsess I have.

I think my work is good! I sell tonnes of jewellery to other retailers, my work sells fast and for the most part I have had trouble keeping up with my wholesale orders.

I am out of the wholesale part of this business completely now, I just don't want to have to fill giant order in tight time frames anymore.

So...I thought I could sell from my Etsy shops wholesale direct to the public. Based on retail sales, at much higher prices, I thought I had the Etsy thing all figured out.

But, no such luck! Please help me! I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I ask other Etsy shop owners and they are all smiles and well wishes.

I am a big girl, I need real advice. Even if you think my shops suck, someone has to be honest and tell me. I need advice from my banners down.

If you have a few minutes and can be brutally frank, I would love to hear from you.

The shops in question are:

Kim Wilson Designs (kimwilsondesigns)
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5027750

The Village Muse (thevillagemuse)
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5070350

The Pattern Palace (patternpalace)
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5065979

I am not getting many visitors, I list new things all the time and worst of all, nothing is selling!

I would really like to hear your thoughts, I need some REAL advice!

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:13 am

OK, here's my real world advice:

1) you have GREAT stuff. but...

1) post EVERY DAY and durring prime posting times. Most people start shopping via recently listed or time machine 2 so you want your items to show up often and durring the times when the most users are on Etsy (looking at how many people are viewing the treasuries is a good way to guage this!)

2) Take wider angle pictures for kimwilsondesigns & thevillagemuse. Leave some white space at the edges of your product. It really catches the eye. For a good example of this check out bag lady mama in the "spotlight sellers" forum. She has pics with great composition!

3) used colored (solid colored) backgrounds or bright white for your pictures. This makes the product more visible and eye catching (pastels are best because they don't distract from the picture)

4) use brighter lights for your pics so the colors really *pop* and nothing looks dull.

5)for patternpalace scan the images so they are flat and bright.

6) make sure you have a first picture that makes it painfuly obvious what the product is

7) And I can't stress this las point enough...let me use kimwilsondesigns as a "spotlight seller" so you can get the exposure!

I know a lot of this is about the pics but It really makes a huge difference. When people shop via Time Machine 2 and the Treasuries on Etsy they don't get descriptions so the pictures have to sell it. I have some good and some REALLY bad pics in my store and I sell more of the items with the good pics

Example of good pic from my shop:

A Bad One:

and a painfully horrible one (never be as dumb as me and put white on white!):

Let me know if this helps<3

Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 5 Location: Vernon, BC

Thank you very much.

I have been really struggling with the photo thing.

The one really clear bright photo that I have in The Village Muse Shop was picked for a treasury.

I see your point, clear photos get noticed.

Joined: 23 Feb 2007 Posts: 12 Location: Baltimore MD

First up, congrats on your leap to Etsy, it can become very addictive, very fast!

I too have struggled w/ my Etsy sales. I have my own website where sales also come from, but I am just very discouraged at the lack of sales coming from Etsy, so about 2 weeks ago, I posted in the forum w/ your same concerns.

Basically I was told, it takes time - be patient. As already mentioned, list often, maybe every other day if you can swing that. Participate in forums. Participate in the Friday Night Happy Hour specials as well as the Saturday Night Special. Info on both of these can be found in the promotions forum on their respective nights. Have clear return, shipping and other policies posted on each listing, not just the profile because not everyone reads the profile. (something I'm working on adding this weekend). Add a little bit of your personality into your listings.

My photos were fine and pricing seemed reasonable so there really wasn't much more input. I did participate last week in the Happy Hour and the SNS, but did not get a sale. I just participated tonight in the Happy Hour again and still did not make a sale. I have lots of hearted items, and lots of hearts for my shop, but just that 1 lone sale last September.

I hope any of this can help you out and Good luck to you! Feel free to pass any suggestions my way that you see fit. If you do find the secret, please pass it on!

Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 1 Location: massachusetts

I don't know much about selling clothing on etsy, but your other shops are brand spanking new! So yes, it will take some time to get 'em going!

It can be a little slow to start because buyers tend to be a little more wary of sellers who don't have any sales or feedback. So do what you have to do get things moving at first.

There is a lot of helpful advice to be found in the etsy forums if you spend some time poking around in there. Also check out the etsy wiki at http://www.etsywiki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page , there are tons of selling tips. Promote like crazy, anywhere and everywhere. It's so much easier once you get the ball rolling; more people will buy when they see higher sales and feedback rating, and once you get initial customers there's the potential for repeat customers. I definitely sit up and pay more attention to those sellers who I see have a huge sales record, because it leads one to assume that their stuff must be pretty awesome!

As far as pageviews, are you using all of your tags? (some users have complained recently that the system isn't letting them use all their tags... you should be able to input up to 14.) Maybe do some keyword research and see if your tags are really the most effective ones? Also many users make their first pic a close-up or really eye-catching 'icon', since that first pic is the one users will be seeing in the sea of other items. A really eye-catching icon is what always grabs me.