Shop Critique

[#1]

If you would like some advice don't be afraid to ask!

[DryDockCreations]

Hm.....no sales in February. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

[Former_Member]

I haven't visited your shop in over a month! What's wrong with me?

Karen, February can typically be a slower month. It's proved otherwise for me, but others I feel are having a slower month than usual. Also, for many, it's winter still, but hopefully the sales will pick up toward spring. ;)

This one is one of your most creative pieces. I am positive it will sell sooner or later:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/121769581/recycyled-chrome-plated-kitchen-sugar

The vessels you are finding are just getting cooler and cooler!

As for your shop, you're pretty much established. Your pictures are all very professionally worked, and your descriptions are accurate and precise.
You could maybe change up your banner eventually? I don't know, really. Your tags are brilliant, though!

I can only imagine that with time, your customer reach will grow with increased experience and reliability. You clearly have an amazing vision that no one can replicate. Your talent is raw and unnoticed, I feel. The birdhouses are just too unique of an idea. Keep advertising and spreading the word because there is definitely a market for people who want to spruce up their gardens. While it may be warm in places year round, it isn't here, so near the spring/summer time when people are investing in growing their gardens and such, this is when I expect you will see growth.
Best of luck to you in March, Karen!

[DryDockCreations]

Thanks so much for the words of encouragement Vito. I was never sure about my banner either. Will look into changing it to a more appropriate one for my shop. I am hoping, that come Spring, people will be looking for a new home for their feathered friends.

[PriorMemories]

I am pleased to be invited to this team.

I love my etsy shop. I work very hard and am a loyal to my team for sure. I post and comment on treasures as well as new listings daily. I wonder if I am spreading myself to thin and need to focus more. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I work full time as a grief counselor here in Maine and have a full life. Etsy actually keeps me sane..

I would appreciate any critique of my shop. I know my pictures need improvement and we are working. I know I need help in that department.
I am concerned about the fact that that when i check my stats they are good but the search is way down on the list...

Ok enough I could go on and on.
thanks in advance
Looking forward to your comments
Julie

[DryDockCreations]

Hi Vito. Just wondering how you were able to read my tags.

[Former_Member]

Karen, when you scroll down to the bottom of any listing, click on "Show item detail" and more information, including your tags, will appear.

[Former_Member]

Hi Julie,

Yes, your pictures are one of your top priorities at this point. You have broken the 100th sale mark, and you certainly have over 100 items listed (362 to be exact!). Your shop has seen its first sale and it has seen growth and progress, but now it is time to take it to the next level. The best thing I could advise is to reach out to buyers with promotions/ads. Typically vintage sellers do well with blogs. I see that you are on Twitter and Facebook, so those are two big ones you can capitalize on. Vintage sales are really a whole separate ballpark from handmade (really, Captain Chris should be giving the advice, haha). When it comes down to it, the things you have in your bunch are way different than the next shop. It just depends on what people are looking for and at which times they are looking for them.
The two biggest things you can do are tweak your pictures and your tags. Your tags seem to be pretty solid, but it's always a good thing to go over them and tweak them constantly as needed. (holidays, trends, etc.)

Finally, I notice that you ship internationally, but only by request. People in other countries might not get to your shop because the listings aren't set up for international orders. Etsy thinks that you are only offering domestic orders, so including options for international pricing instead of having customers approach you by request would be a lot more effective. It definitely broadens your audience, and more people would be willing to view your vintage things (because of the search feature on Etsy).

But overall, wonderful shop thus far, Julie. You are doing one heck of a job. Keep up the good work!

[PriorMemories]

Chris
Thanks so much. I really appreciate your help. I made it to the homepage on etsy today. I am amazed and thrilled.

As I said I need Etsy to keep me sane...

[Regathered]

Lol, it's getting away from IT & back in my sewing room that keeps me sane.
I was a complete amateur to computers and Etsy's the biggest learning curve I've ever taken on, so a critique of my shop by such a nice and easy team would be appreciated.
P.s.
@Julie, how did you know about being on the homepage, do they tell, or did you just notice, if I may ask

[DoorCountyVintage]

Hi Susanna,

First your shop banner is very cool,your shop announcement is on point and the fact you shop worldwide is great. You seam to have your tags down. You have a strong inventory.Your titles are ok aswell. Honestly I dont see much wrong with your shop.

You are in a place to just concentrate on marketing.

[Regathered]

Hi Chris, thank you so much, I feel so chuffed, i mean very pleased because I've invested so much time and energy and really working hard with all I'd been learning, mostly in the CindyLouWho team and loads of late night reading threads in forums etc. So your critique is great in so far as I wonder just what bits might be seen as wrong. I'm not worried if changes could still be made as I'm happy to keep feeding those google bots.lol
Um? Marketing? any suggestions welcome:)
P.s. I know I'm still very much a newbie but I would be happy to pass on useful knowledge that I've learnt so far, if that's okay with you all

[DoorCountyVintage]

Sharing knowledge is what this team is all about so feel free. As far as marketing the things I have found that work best are creating treasuries and going to the newly listed items on etsy's front page and fav up to 10 pages a day. You will see a return on your time in no time.

[Regathered]

Hi, it's ever so late here, so just a quick thanks again. I do treasuries every so often , usually team and my own theme & story ones, still practising , will do one for this team soon, see what wool gatherers I can find.
I've not heard of that tip to fav front page items before, guess I'll try it 'n see what in no time means. Hm, more work before work

[LeCharmeJewelry]

I would appreciate any critique of my shop. I'm getting visits but no sales :(
Thanks in advance

[DoorCountyVintage]

H Patty,

First welcome to the team!

I love your photos,banner,your tags and titles seem great! Also shipping worldwide is a great idea!

Now for the Crtique..

Inventory: All good things on etsy start at 100 items. The more you have listed the more google and other search engines crawl your shop.

Shop Announcement: You really want to stuff your shop announcements with keywords because google crawls that area when giving you a placement in search. You want to add as much about you, your background but most importantly keywords about what you sell. You need a large paragraph or two to really get your shop out there.

Sections: Like shop Announcements try to use as many keywords as you can..What kind of necklaces? What Color earrings...try to be creative while also being descriptive.

Overall not bad!

[LeCharmeJewelry]

Thank you so much Chris, I appreciate your help! ;)

[Former_Member]

Hi! So I'm newish to Etsy & started with a mismosh of items until I found my nitch. I'm working on building my inventory now but would love some feedback now so I can start getting some sales!

[DoorCountyVintage]

Hi Kimby,

Welcome to the team!

I love your items so far

Shop Critique

Inventory: 100 is where the money is. You may get 1 or two sales prior to filling up your shop but until you get to 100 items it will be slow...after 100 look out :)

Photos..You really want to avoid backgrounds that distract from your items. Unfortunately the distraction element exists in nearly all your photos. Keep it simple a light colored, I prefer white myself background that helps your item be the central focus.

Shipping: You are severely limiting your potential only shipping to the United States. Etsy is a worldwide retailer, you cut your potential market to 1/3 of it's possible reach when you only ship inside the United States.


Shop Announcement: You really want to stuff your shop announcements with keywords because google crawls that area when giving you a placement in search. You want to add as much about you, your background but most importantly keywords about what you sell. You need a large paragraph or two to really get your shop out there.

Sections: Like shop Announcements try to use as many keywords as you can..What kind of necklaces? What Color earrings...try to be creative while also being descriptive.

Titles: You want the most searched for terms first. Also you want to add as much info as you can,

Lucky in Love - Heart - Cinnamon Spice Scented ornament

Scented Ornaments, Cinnamon, Heart Shaped, 2 x 3", Lucky in Love

Tags: Google loves compound tags. Think of your tags as a buyer looking for your item would..

Holidays Christmas Ornament Cinnamon Heart Ornament Green scented handmade Irish country lucky St Patrick Love Gold gift

Room Refresher, Scented Ornament, Heart Shaped, red and gold, green irish hat,holiday gifts,st patricks day,car refreshers,deodorizers,cinnamon scented..etc use all 13

I hope that helps!

[WillowRoseStyle]

Hi Chris, I see your doing ship critques. I would love have take a look at mine. I feel like I need to give more info or details on the clothing items. What do you think?

[DoorCountyVintage]

Hi Rose,

Welcome to the team!

I like your bows, your banner,the fact you are only 5 shy of 100 (get to it :) The fact you ship worldwide is great!

Critique..

Photos: You really should have a bright white background alot of your photos could be improved just by using windows photo gallery's auto adjust button and turning up the exposure on your camera.

Shop Announcement: You really want to stuff your shop announcements with keywords because google crawls that area when giving you a placement in search. You want to add as much about you, your background but most importantly keywords about what you sell. You need a large paragraph or two to really get your shop out there.

Sections: Like shop Announcements try to use as many keywords as you can..What kind of necklaces? What Color earrings...try to be creative while also being descriptive.

Titles: You need to add more info in your titles

mini key chain bow

Key Chain Bow, Purple Bow, Accessories, (what size is it)

Tags: You need to use as many compound tags as you can to get google to crawl your shop as much as possible.

Accessories Keychain Fabric key chain bow purple cheer bows

Purple bow,key chain bow, purple keychain bow,accessories,purple accessories, zipper accessories, purple, handmade bow, back pack accessory,gifts for her,girls gift ideas,christmas gift ideas..etc

Descriptions: You want to add as much info and as many keywords as you can to peak a buyers interest.

key chain bow. can be used as zipper pull or hang on your back pack

Here is one of my beautiful key chain bows. Purple (what kind of fabric) with a red interior. Would be a great gift for your little school girl to add on to her backpack or an interesting option for a zipper!

Size: (measure your item this is crucial to turn lookers into buyers)

I hope this helps!

[WillowRoseStyle]

thanks this does help--are there some examples of shops i could look at re: the shop announcements? I'm a little confused about how to word everything. also when i search esty for cheer bows, one shop is all over the place and i'm lucky to get 1 bow on page 3. where does that pull from?

[DoorCountyVintage]

Improve your titles and tags and you will move up in search. Look at my Shop Announcement for a general structure.

[Former_Member]

Chris,

THANK YOU!!! Im working on updating the photos now, and will update as you said. The tags were helpful too and for the upcoming items, they will be presented much better!!!!
Kimby

[Former_Member]

Hello :)

Need help to review my shop.. I would appreciate any advice and critiques :)

Thank you very much :)

[PaperBunnyPressCo]

I would love some review on my shop, I have been open for about 2 weeks and still no sale yet.

Any feedback would be great. :)