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Etsy Insights: Tal & Bert share tips for shop success
Hi! I’m Val from Tal & Bert. Our work is inspired by the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, finding the beauty in imperfections. We take the cracks and breakages in the concrete and turn them into designs inspired by minerals we mine.
We have been on Etsy for about three years now. We’ve grown from a husband and wife team working from our kitchen to a company with two brick and mortar stores and a warehouse studio with employees. When we started selling online, Etsy was the very first place we sold and was a huge stepping stone to the company we have grown into today. I have learned a lot these past few years, and I hope to share some tips to help you succeed as an Etsy shop too.
- Be as descriptive as possible in your listings. I know it feels like writing an essay, but remember your buyers only have your words and listing photos to decide if they want to buy or not. Many buyers like to see and feel the items in person. Since they are unable to do that over the internet, your description should be detailed enough for them to draw a picture in their mind. When writing our descriptions for Tal & Bert, we describe both the item and the process that goes into making it. For example, we share that each of our items has its own unique marks and imperfections, which helps to manage buyer expectations, while also highlighting the story and inspiration behind our shop.
- Are you paying attention to trends? Do you know what the “in” colors of the year are? Paying attention to trends in fashion and decor is vital to the success of your shop. You need to know what buyers are looking for, and luckily large companies spend millions gathering this data and put it on the Internet for free! Spend a day or two and really researching what consumers are looking for in your category and how you can apply it to your business. TikTok is great for discovering quick viral trendy things you can incorporate into your business. We recently discovered how others are using Pantone’s color of the year and plan on incorporating that into our products soon.
- Add personality and background into your designs. As a black owned business, we try to incorporate our heritage and culture into some of our designs like Melanin Mermaid and our Juneteenth candles. This allows us to share a small part of what makes us who we are with buyers of all backgrounds.
Lastly, it’s important for us to continue to share our heritage and serve our community through our retail locations, which is why we offer creative workshops and items made by local makers in the city of Pittsburgh, a city that actually has one of the lowest number of black owned businesses. Seeing growth and opportunity for us and other local businesses has been very rewarding and we hope to be an inspiration for other BIPOC businesses as well.
We are proud of our heritage and what it took for us to get here. How has your heritage or background played a part in your design process?
REDHOMEStudio
·3 years agothank you much love
PrairiePrimitives
·3 years agoMy shop doesn't sell trendy goods, so I don't pay much attention to trends, either real trends or the ones that Etsy makes up,
My heritage and background influence my work because I make things which would look good in a home decorated with primitive antiques, especially furniture with its original paint! I upcycle worn out antique quilts into new home decor including stuffed hearts, pillows; bits of quilt sometimes find their way into my primitive dolls, especially as Santa coats.
TravedeernART
·3 years agoThank you very much!
zeltasapparel
·3 years agoThank u so much. The good advice for newbies like me. Wish your store more and more success.
DecorFormShop
·3 years agoPrecious information. As a novice seller, I have so much to learn; I'm glad there are people here willing to share their knowledge. Thank You
NomadeEyewear
·3 years agoBeautiful article! Congratulations on your achivements and not loosing touch with who you are. Here in Nómade we started as a couple too in 2014 and manged to form a team through the years. We take pride on being from a small town called Tandil in Argentina. All our pieces (glasses and sunglasses) are labeled "Hecho en Tandil" (made in Tandil) and as simple as it souonds it still calls the attention of our customers, since people in our conutry are used to see that this objects are mostly made abroad. We also try to incorporate the beauty of the hills that surround our city in our photography. This year, for the 200th anniversary of our a city we are planning to launch a conmemorative design.
AmyHushDesign
·3 years agoThanks to you. Great advices.
But there’s nothing new for me.
I’m doing all the things you say already, but my stat is so low and I haven’t made any sales yet.
I’m tired of hearing about SEO. My shop is great at SEO. But even one person doesn’t reach my with searching.
I think successful businesses have their own luck and secrets. And also enough money to invest on themself.
ManicJennVintage
·3 years agoSEO is definitely tricky! I just started my shop a couple months ago, & so far it seems to be picking up steam! I just checked your shop out, you have some cool stuff! I have a couple of tips that I think could work for you if you'd like for me to disclose them feel free to shoot me a message! (I'm not selling you anything, or how tos, I'm very novice, I just love your crochet, I crochet too! I'd love to see you succeed in your sales I know how much work that takes!)
InspiringCouture
·3 years agoThank you for the tips and such an inspirational story. Besides the words, the background, and researching trends, did you do anything else to help you get sales?
ManicJennVintage
·3 years agoThanks for this! I am currently doing all of these things, & have been full time listing in my store since the beginning of last month. This makes me feel like I am on the right track, & will continue to incorporate things like culture awareness, color pallettes, trends into my listings. I definitely already have a unique background, & I'm having fun with learning new ways to take better images with each listing. It can get kind of overwhelming as I have so many items that need to go up, but I am able to kind of fine tune things as I go. I've also been playing with keywords, & titles! Its a different experience to use Etsy on the computer vs on your phone, so I try to be mindful of how customers & potential customers are able to view my shop.
Mardevi
·3 years agoGreat tips, thanks for sharing
Anefanes
·3 years agoThank you for sharing. It makes a lot of sense to new sellers like me!!
NinaPatternMaking
·3 years agoThank you !!
ReflectedArtistry
·3 years ago@talandbertI am very grateful for your informative post. As a newcomer to Etsy, I will take your advice to heart. If you have any additional tips for someone selling art, I would like to hear them.
Crochetlovemelbourne
·3 years agoThanks for the great tips!
AnnaleasFinest
·3 years agoI noticed your shop early on when you started, and loved the flower pots!
I'm glad you started here and grew into a company.
1. Descriptions. Yes, very important as well as photos.
As a seller from the EU, where sellers have to accept cancellations and returns, we have to do our best to prevent a return from happening, and good descriptions and informative photos are our #1 tools to achieve this goal!
I would like to add, that descriptions are not always clicked by buyers, so having some text on one of the first photos can also help customers them to get a good idea.
It's especially helpful in the Christmas season, where I also decided to curb the boom, once I began to feel overwhelmed and my production times increased.
Aa a seller here called it: Know your limits and this is extremely important!
My tip is: Write as early as September into the shop announcement, banner and photos to start buying Christmas gifts NOW. This way, I started having sales earlier than ever!
2. Trends and colors. It's a good idea! Some branches, like clothes, are heavily influenced by it, some are not, as mine. People usually buy their favorite color.
3. Heritage: Being from Europe, I'm not sure what "heritage" means exactly to an American. If it means ancestry, like being Native American, European American, African American, Asian American, I would hope they showcase their heritage in some items!
As to my own "heritage", I'm from Bavaria, Germany, a region that stubbornly insists on their very own culture, although it is very often very far away from the "cliche" that many people allover the world have.
But Bavaria is also known for it's wild romantic nature, and my jewelry is definitely inspired by it!
I dry flowers and enclose them in my botanical jewelry. ☺
Best wishes to all and happy sales!
talandbert
OP3 years agoI just took a look and you have a lovely variety of items! Love how pretty much all designs have a little nature incorporated into them! Beautiful work
AnnaleasFinest
·3 years ago@talandbert
thank you! ☺
FeltOnTheFly
·3 years agoI've now re-read your post more carefully.... and this comment specifically: "Etsy was the very first place we sold and was a huge stepping stone to the company we have grown into today. " Earlier today I commented too briefly about your business plan when intending only to learn more about how your company grew. Congratulations on your success. I'm glad that Etsy served as a stepping stone for you.
talandbert
OP3 years agoYes Etsy is now just a small part of our business now as we have our own site and also hundreds of wholesale partners but it helped introduce us to e-commerce and lead to a lot of publicity opportunities which has allowed our company to grow into what it is. That’s one of the great things about Etsy is that it drives traffic for you & also gets the attention of editors at major publications. We had a few national features due to being found on Etsy and that sparked our growth.
YorganciHomeLiving
·3 years agoThank you for your valuable information I wish you continued success.
9ElizabethStreet
·3 years agoWhile I appreciate the time & thoughtfulness of the original post, these 3 items may not be the key for every shop. I have tried following color trends for years, and used to get the inside lead from my retail job. It never translated to a sales bump on Etsy. People want the colors they want. As for #1, I fully agree and have always tried to do so. Unfortunately, Etsy has "disappeared" the description on the mobile site, so they apparently don't agree that it's of much importance.
AnnaleasFinest
·3 years ago@9ElizabethStreet
You also have to click it open on a computer!
talandbert
OP3 years agoYes of course! These were the 3 questions asked to us by the Etsy team in regards to our designs & shop. There’s of course much more that goes into a successful shop!
and yes I noticed that about the descriptions. I’m not a huge fan about that change as it makes it harder for buyers to know what the expectations should be for the product
Colzichael
·3 years agoI appreciate your sharing, thanks!
ChillwolfArt
·3 years agoBeautiful Shop! Thank You for sharing your tips with us; and Congratulations on your success.
"How has your heritage or background played a part in your design process?"
I can't say that my heritage is a part of my design process, but my background is. I've always been pretty artistic. Used to do Graphite Pencil Portraits (Realism). Also some Porcelain Art Dolls and a couple Dragon Fabric Sculptures. There was a lot of intricate detail in each piece. Each Portrait took about 4 mths.; Art Doll 8 mths.; Dragon 5 mths. Speedy I am not (pretty obvious). But I believe I carried that with me when creating my Shop Items. Detail and expression is something I need to do; it's a must on my items. And for me, it's especially in the face; if I don't like that, nothing else about it matters.
SaendKo
·3 years agoСпасибо за советы
Hollowtreillustrator
·3 years agoThank you for sharing these insights. Very helpful indeed!!
talandbert
OP3 years agoThank you! If you’d like to know anything else I’d be happy to answer any questions!
KarmayogaMats
·3 years agoThank You For Your Valuable Suggestions.