How to sell on Etsy

By Georgina  |  11 Jan 2017 15:00:00

SELLING TIPS FOR YOUR ETSY SHOP

by Georgina 11 Jan 2016

TAKE SOME GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS

As an example of home shot images I am using a photograph I took of the amazing homemade Minecraft Stampy Cat plushie that I made for a huge fan this Christmas...just don't look too closely at the stitching! The best thing you can do to generate more interest in your products is to take decent photographs. The main thing to watch out for is the lighting. It's always best, I find, to use natural light wherever possible and makes it much easier for shooting larger objects. Another key thing to think about is your background. Don't, for goodness sake, shoot your products with Auntie Bessy in the background of your pooch photo bombing..the effect may be comical to you, but just gives an air of unprofessionalism and may not win you your customers! So choose a neutral background or if you have a photo editing package like Adobe Photoshop or PIXLR then you can play around with your photograph to achieve better lighting contrast and maybe take out the background of your favourite Aunt?!

FIND OUT WHO ARE YOUR COMPETITORS

Spend a few minutes or put your feet up and spend an hour having a good nosey at what everyone else is selling on ETSY and who seems to be popular. Try and see how they are selling their items. Look at their photos, Look at their feedback. What it is that their customers are praising them for? Also, check out their prices, the worst thing you can do is be unrealistic with your own prices by either setting them so low you are out of profit or too high that no one would consider parting with their hard earned cash no matter how wonderful your products! Another good tip is to regularly refresh your listings as this will encourage more views - and we like views, as they will hopefully be converted to more sales!

PROMOTE YOURSELF

This is probably the hardest and most time-consuming aspect of selling online anywhere including Etsy. You need to be shouting to anyone who will listen about your products. By Shouting I don't mean standing in the street and bellowing at the bus queue, but having an active voice somewhere on the internet. A good place to start is by opening up a Facebook business page. Dedicated to your products..and not what you ate this evening or what awesome holiday your about to go on. By doing this you can engage directly with people who are interested in what you are selling. And if someone does take an interest and tells you so..be nice! Reply for starters..you have a voice - so use it!

Twitter is also a useful tool for telling people about your handmade products, as is Instagram. The same applies with these Apps though, the more active you are on them the more likely you will generate interest in your Etsy shop.

Another thing you can do is send out flyers of your products with your shop web location clearly visible. Tell all your friends and family and ask for their support..you can even give them a few examples if you can spare them as often this will generate more interest than just their word that your items are fabulous.

One thing to bear in mind, however, is that Rome wasn't built in a day. In fact, it took 276 years (according to The Paw Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania!) But don't worry it won't take you anywhere near as long as that to start making your sales. It will realistically take up to 5 years to get the selling cogs turning consistently, but fret not, you can expect to make sales before then. The key is to not give up, and be consistent with your 'voice' that we spoke of earlier. Have confidence in your product and others will too. If it was easy to sell online then everyone would be doing it right?

CAN I SELL ON MY WEBSITE AS WELL AS ETSY?

Of course! That's a great idea and the sooner you start your webshop the better as again it takes a few years to get established and for search engines to notice you. The best way to begin selling on your own website is to use a template system like SELLR With Sellr you can choose a suitable template, pop your logo in, upload your images and 'Bob's your Uncle' you have an online store. You can link it to your PayPal account and start accepting payments immediately. The best thing is that Sellr sites are dynamic and can be viewed on mobiles and Ipads without losing any of the functions or design as I have found that most sales come from mobile users rather than from the humble computer. Oh, and Sellr makes it easy to sell your products on Etsy, Ebay, Facebook and Amazon all from the same place, so that you can track your sales and stock levels. How fab is that!

If you need any more tips from Etsy then its best to look at their own FAQ's where you are sure to find what you are looking for.

Etsy FAQ