I was surprised to see how many of you really resonated with my “Etsy Journey” post. I had lots of comments from people either with very young shops or who have been strongly considering opening an etsy shop. In my opinion, if you’ve really been wanting to try Etsy out, go for it. At 20 cents a listing it’s very inexpensive to try if you sell something etsy and paypal each take a small percentage but if not all you’re out is the initial 20. Here are a few tips I have for those of you who might be just getting things started or re-started.
- Put all your information up. Fill out the shop policies section, the profile section, and every other section there is to fill out on Etsy. This will help you think through many possible scenarios you may encounter as a shop owner and it will answer important questions for your potential costumers. Also don’t forget to add a banner, featured items, profile pic etc.
- If you haven’t already, buy something on etsy and leave feedback. This serves afew purposes. It teaches you how things work and puts you into the mindset of a customer so you can better anticipate what questions your potential customers may have and gives you the opportunity to get feedback. Hopefully your experience will be good and you’ll leave good feedback. If the shop owner doesn’t leave you feedback send him or her a message explaining that you are trying to build up your feedback and asking if they would mind leaving your feedback for the purchase you just made. That way when customers get to your shop they will see a positive percentage (sometimes having no feedback makes people nervous).
- If you haven’t written up a listing write one up. Then look at it from the view point of a customer. Are there multiple pictures that show different angles, sides and details? Is the sizing, color, etc. clear (write it in words in the listing AND if possible show it in a picture)? Do you explain what the turnaround time is? Use all your tags.
- Fill up your shop. The short of it is that most successful shops have many pages of listings. Each page has 24 items. I’m tempted to suggest trying to shoot for a full page of items to start. But unless you just have stuff sitting around you probably don’t want to make up a bunch of things that you’re not sure will sell yet. So I think 10 would be a solid start. On the other hand I have purchased something from a shop that only had 4 items. Part of filling a shop is to let potential costumers know that you’re serious. Unless you have a ton of good feedback a shop with just a few items might make customers doubt how serious to take the shop. While all the shops I’ve seen that are really successful on etsy have pages of items I fully believe that it’s possible for a shop to just sell only a few and do well. One shop I saw that sold seasonally just had a few items she’d relist over and over and remake them and that worked well. Another option would be to make multiple listings of the same item (assuming you either have multiples made or are prepared to make multiples).
- Etsy will let you write up a bunch of listings and save them as drafts so you can post them later when you’re ready. I like to stagger listings so that they are at least an hour apart. While it’s tempting to put all your listings in at once if you stagger them you have more of a chance to hit different groups of shoppers that are on the site at different times.
Also please understand that all of these”tips” are based on my personal experiences so please take them with a grain of salt. These are just things that I’ve noticed have worked for me but one of the great things about etsy is how different each shop and approach can be.
To see more of these etsy related post check out my etsy life tag (I will be adding more regularly so check back in, next week I’ll share a little bit about shipping).
Heidi says
Fantastic post. Thank you!
Rambling Rha says
hi there, I just recently set up shop on Etsy. Nothing sold yet… anywho… just wanted to point out that you skipped a word in this sentence…
Also do forget to add a banner, featured items, profile pic etc.
I am guessing you mean… DO NOT forget…
hehe
Shiloh says
Super helpful! thank you so much!
4you-withlove says
Great tips…thanks! I’ve been thinking about doing the etsy thing…now I have more info!
Celtic Thistle says
Really helpful, thanks
dutchbritishlove says
I’ve been thinking seriously about opening an Etsy shop after playing with the idea for a while. Thanks for sharing these tips, they definitely will come in handy.
Jami says
Great tips! Will keep them in mind as I continue to think about beginning an ETSY shop! Thanks so much for sharing at the Tuesday To Do Party!
Smiles!
Jami
http://www.blackberryvine.blogspot.com
Betsy Pool says
Thanks for all the tips! Very helpful. I’ll be pinning this so I can look back at it later when I want to open up an Etsy shop. You make it sound like hard work, but easy to start making money!
Thanks for sharing this on the Take it on Tuesday blog hop!
marissa says
I”m glad it’s helpful. Yes running a shop (as a way to bring in income) is hard work for sure. I probably wouldn’t ever say it’s ‘easy’ to make money but it is easy to set it up. Making money is a whole other ball game mostly comprised of lots of hard work.
Kristen Turner says
Thanks for the tips. This is really helpful!!
Tracy says
Thanks for the helpful tips!
Delle says
I really appreciate this post!!!
http://findingsecrettreasures.blogspot.com says
Thanks for the tips, I have a shop, but haven’t really jumped into like I should, thanks for the push to fill it up! I’m now a follower here
Tales of a Trophy WIfe says
great tips! I totally neglect my store, and have just been blogging lately.
Jess says
This is awesome. I’ve been thinking about it for a while {to start a shop} and have be sooo nervous but after reading this and floating around your site I think I may try it. These are awesome tips I greatly appreciate you sharing them!! I’m your newest follower :)
x0x0 Jess
{www.CraftyNonsenseNoted.com}
4you-withlove says
Put a link to this post on my newest blog post
http://4you-withlove.blogspot.com/2012/02/blogging-tips-2.html
Marilyn
Pieced Pastimes says
Great post! Thanks for sharing. I have become a follower and look forward to reading your future posts.
AmieAnn says
What a great post.. wish someone had advice for me when I opened my shop.. It was very overwhelming!
Thanks for sharing!
sara @ applestone drive says
Great post! Thanks so much – I just opened my shop this week! Very overwhelming. :)
http://www.applestonedrive.blogspot.com
Green Willow Pond says
Thanks for these helpful posts. I am following you via the new Linky Follower. Have a great week!
Six Sisters says
Great ideas on your post!!Thanks so much for joining us on “Strut Your Stuff Saturday.” We loved having you and hope to see you back next Saturday with more great ideas! -The Sisters
Clint Shaff says
Thanks for the guide. In any kind of business, it pays to listen to the advice of the experienced. That’s not saying that you should restrict yourself to just that, but it’s important that you have a grasp of the basics so you can set up shop properly.
–Clint Shaff
Lonnie Lisa says
I’m sure you’ve inspired some people to start a business with this. :D Combining Etsy with your craft is one fun thing you can do in business. Since there are a lot of Etsy shops now, aspiring businesspeople should try creating a unique identity. Redesign everything that represents your business. Good luck everyone! :D
– Lonnie Lisa