Etsy!!!

[rosiegirl15]

so about a month ago i started an etsy store and have been trying my hand at selling my things.... well so far i haven't sold anything off my store, i've done two craft shows one i did good the other not a thing was sold! if you would please just look at my store i would i be very happy!!

 

my link will be in my signature below!!

 

 

~*~*~*~* Abbie~*~*~*~*~

[wiz3283]

Too bad I don't have paypal. I love that bunny and know one very cute little boy who would love it too.

[MarshaRice]

I also tried selling on etsy, my shop was open for six months and I did not have a sale. I think the problem is the product you're trying to sell. There are thousands of people selling crochet and if you do not have something very unique, ask yourself, why would they buy from you. Did you search to see how many shops are on etsy selling the same things as you?

My daughter, who has a very successful etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/pickledcherrypaper tells me you need to be a player. Join all the groups you think are appropriate, link your shop to your facebook, twitter and pintrest sites. Be as active as you possibly can on the internet. Me, I decided it was more work then I was willing to invest.

Perhaps you could link with someone who is willing to do the selling while you do the creating. When I first approached my daughter about etsy, she put my stuff on her shop, and I had a couple sales, but when I broke away on my own, nothing.

I do wish you luck with your etsy shop, but be prepared for alot of work.

[RoseRed]

I've heard a lot of people say they have a hard time selling finished items. You're not alone.

[rosiegirl15]

thank-you all for your advice! i have been trying to be more active... a lady from my church ordered 4 hats from me just because i accidentally left one of my hats at church! my grandma has offered to take some of crochet fingerless mittens to her work place to sell to the ladies there! some of the little girls at thursday school (i am homeschooled) would like some mittens... i've had about 171 views in my shop so far!! hopefully soon i'll be selling my things! and to answer your question MarshaRice i did look at the other things similar to the things that i'm selling. now since i have my own tastes things will different. again thanks for all your help and advice and thanks for checking out my shop!! very much appreciated!!

 

 

~*~*~*abbie~*~*~*~

[CrochetDayToDay]

If you don't mind some advice - I think better photographs would improve your sales. Marsha is right about the stiff competition on etsy, and if someone goes to your shop and sees that the featured image for your listing is out of focus, they're going to move on without buying because they may assume that the quality of your pieces matches the photography (even though from what I can see that's clearly not true). That's the internet for you - you just have to remember that the pictures are all you have to convince someone to buy. They can't feel how soft it is, pick it up and examine the careful stitching, or try it on. You need pictures that show that to them.

 

Hope this helps.

[Real Deal]

Personally, I think the prices you have for your hats and the sleeping bunny are too low. A lot of people think that means either the materials are inferior, or your work is. I'd raise those prices a bit.

[rosiegirl15]

okay... well i was using the only camera in our house at the moment... it's very sad i would like to put new pics up for the blurry ones... do you really think that the prices are too low? it seemed like a good price... if you have anymore advice it's much appreciated!!

 

thank you!!

[CrochetDayToDay]

Even old, sad, clunky cameras can be coaxed into taking better pictures. If it's digital, you can take as many as you like and if you end up deleting 99% of them, so what?

 

My number one photography tip is to take pictures in bright, indirect sunlight with NO flash. I remember my first (elderly, uncooperative) digital camera...if I took pictures inside they were blurry or grainy without the flash, flat and awful with it. When I took my things outside to photograph the picture quality shot up amazingly.

[rosiegirl15]

that's what i did with some of the pics... it's a good idea to take a lot and then delete most of them... maybe i'll try that soon! thanks a lot!

[goodtaste]

The one thing I hated about Etsy (when I was there) was that if you had not sold anything, most people wouldn't buy from you because they were waiting for feedback on you to venture out on your store, and it is tough for new stores! It is very discouraging to wait and wait, and not get any sales.

Let me give you some advice. Join tribes on Etsy, be active in their forum, reach out to other shop-owners in friendship, join Facebook groups such as On Fire for Handmade which is full of Etsiers to the brim and have pushed their members several times to the first page. They do Treasuries and everybody mobilizes to promote to the hilt and everybody benefits. Join Etsy groups on Ravelry and be active there. Be active on Google + on Twitter and on Pinterest. Seek out the Etsiers on those places as well. Find your ideal customers on social media and let them know that you exist and that it is worthwhile to buy from you. Give them some love and assurance, the sales will then come your way. I tell you that because when I left Etsy, that is what I did for my store-blog, and it worked.

Wish you well!

 

Clotilde

[ArtMama]

Goodluck with the Etsy thing! I've seen some stores on there that sell nothing, and their stuff looks good...and then I've seen stores that have had major sales. I imagine it being like anything else..."you get what you put into it."

[Sara Baca]

When I opened my first shop two years ago the only things I sold were through a couple of family members, but this was good since I got some good feedback. I am now working on opening another shop and one thing I see that all successful shops have in common is that they blog or socialize online in some way. You really have to put yourself out there, be your own 'pr' and promote yourself! It seems kind of shameless but hey, you have to get your name out there some way!

For example, I run a blog mostly for inspirational purposes, I feature stuff there that I like and gained a following. Then, when I create something I can post it there for all my followers to see, attracting potential business. With my first shop, I didn't do this and saw no sales from online strangers, so I figured it was important!

Getting that initial good feedback is also tricky, but I guess getting someone you know personally to buy through your online shop and give you positive feedback wouldn't be too much to ask. It worked for me!

Photography is really important. It's the only way to show your product to the customer. They cannot touch it and examine it in person, so it can be difficult to convince someone to buy something with only a picture.

If getting that indirect sunlight is difficult (it is for me, texas is never overcast) you can make a "Light Box". There are many tutorials on youtube to make one. It is very inexpensive.

For mine I already had most of the materials. A cardboard box with three sides cut out, like windows, your product goes inside the box. I taped tracing paper over the windows and faced three desk lamps into the box (you will need Daylight bulbs) The tracing paper filters the light so there are no harsh shadows on your product. The results can be really stunning.

[melia.ann]

Me and my sister are planning on opening up a shop on etsy selling some handmade items. (knit, crochet, and some stitch markers right now)

I have sold some items through local orders, but this has helped alot to show how much work has to be done to keep up the shop.