4 Great Etsy Selling Tips

The Golden Question of Etsy sellers is this: How can I make more sales?  

There isn’t one quick solution. A successful Etsy shop is a result of hard work, dedication, and constantly trying to improve. If you feel like your shop isn’t getting attention, first ask yourself these four questions:

How many products do I have listed? Can I fill up my shop more?

When you first start your shop, it can be tricky to fill it up. But the more full your shop is, the more you increase your chance of being seen or added to Treasuries. Keeping your product lineup fresh and new will keep existing customers coming back. You can also renew existing products so the listing comes up earlier in a search. If you find yourself not making many sales, stop dwelling on it and go make something new and awesome.

How do my products look? Are the photos attractive and easy to see?

Any successful Etsy seller will tell you that good photographs are probably about 75% of making a sale. Which makes sense: you wouldn’t want to purchase something online that looked sketchy. Your photograph will tell your customer most of what they want to know. Make sure your photo accurately depicts the product in good lighting. The best lighting is usually outdoors, natural light. Or you can invest in a photo light box kit. The composition should be clean and bring the main focus to your product. Check out the Etsy front page and other treasuries for photo inspiration. And above all–don’t post blurry pictures!

What is my product range? Am I too scattered?

Your best bet with being successful is to narrow your range to products that share a common theme. It is easier to target specific audiences that way. This is actually not limiting at all, you are just focusing your shop more. If you sell baby items, you could sell onesies and other baby clothes, blankets, pacifier clips, softies, hair bows, etc.

Look at your past sales and stats to see which items are doing the best, then focus on those items. Find which items are more unique and special. The key to success is to stand out in some way. Even if you sell something that is fairly commonly made, there has to be SOMETHING different about yours. Even if it’s just the way it’s photographed. You are a creative person, so you should be able to come up with something that could help you stand out.

Am I utilizing my tags to their full potential?

Your tags are what will help your product be discovered in a search. Use every single tag! Other than the obvious descriptions, use words that describe your product like colors and textures. If a certain listing doesn’t seem to be getting many views, go change up the tags and the photo order. You can’t always be sure what will hit the sweet spot. Think outside the box…what would YOU search for?

After you’ve analyzed these questions with regards to you and your shop, you can always visit the Etsy forums for some co-seller critique. Etsy sellers can visit your shop and tell you in an instant some suggestions which will be helpful.

By Heidi Ferguson, HoneyBearLane