Shop Critique

[#1]

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

[DoorCountyVintage]

Charm,

Your Shop: Your photos,banner and Inventory are on point!
Critique:

Shop Announcement: One thing that is not talked about enough is how important this particular section is to Google. You should tell people who you are,what you do and most importantly overflow this area with keywords! custom pins,custom necklaces,pop culture etc be clever about it though and mix it in with your description of who you are and what you do!

Policies: Most of my payments come from direct checkout lately. You have a good track record so you'd get your payment right away. I would consider accepting that.

"We will ship within 5 days of payment via USPS. We will ship within 5 days of payment via USPS. Please understand that we have lives and work full-time, so orders might be processed on the weekends. We will do our best to ship in a timely manner., so orders might be processed on the weekends. We will do our best to ship in a timely manner."

At maximum I would ship within 3 days of payment to qwell any possible uprising of dissatisfaction. If I read that I would just leave and buy elsewhere.

". Please understand that we have lives and work full-time" Anyone who reads that you lost as a customer at that moment. You have to remember you are a business. And since you cant use enthusiasm and a big smile online you do need to be careful of phrasing things harshly.

Refunds I give them no questions asked and move on because you will end up being forced to in the end if they give you negative feedback or contact Etsy who will shut your shop down. Better to lose 5 dollars then your shop.

Titles: You want to phrase these with the widest search term to the most specific while adding the most info you can. You are not far off. Here is an example:

Ace of Hearts hair Pins- pair of bobby pin accessories-playing card theme

Hair Pins, Bobby Pins, Ace of Hearts theme, Handmade, Accessories

Shipping: You need to open yourself up to the world! You are cutting potential sales in a third of what they could be! Time to take the plunge Charm :)

Tags: This is where your money is you MUST use all 13! every one you leave out is another sale you potentially cost yourself!

Ace of hearts ,Ace hair pins, playing card pins, heart hair pins ,card suits, bobby pins, gifts for her ,Ace playing card,hair pins,handmade hair pins,accessories, hair grip ,red hair pin

I hope this helps!

[dressurdolly2]

Hi, Cindi!

My last birthday, a girlfriend gave me a necklace like you make. I absolutely love it. It's so light and soft and creates such a pretty silhouette!

I'm going to use this listing for some suggestions:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/124613726/summer-necklace-ladder-yarn-necklace?

I notice that you don't use all 5 picture slots. It's important that you do! How about a stock picture of one of your necklaces on someone that you can include as the last pic so that people can visualize what it will look like on. Another could be an extreme closeup of just a portion of the necklace and the bead, to really capture the beauty of the yarn.

I would also highly recommend putting your necklaces against a white or very light background, and using daylight bulbs to photograph them.

Perceived value is very important too. I was surprised at the $12.00 price tag. Are you paying yourself an hourly wage to make it, photograph it, list it, and package it as well as your supply costs? People are very influenced by pricing, and if it's too inexpensive, they assume it's "cheaply" made.

Your titles and tags could use a little work as well. For the listing I posted above, I would leave out "teen" (us mature women will see that and skip right on by thinking it's not for us). Also, leave out "summer". Heck, that pretty necklace can be worn year 'round!

Try 2-3 titles like: Crochet Necklace With Bead Handmade Amethyst Tones Trellis Yarn.....and see how the views go on that. Google wants your most important keywords at the beginning of the title. It takes 2-3 days to see changes made in titles and tags...so wait a few days to see if you see a difference in those 2-3 listings.

A good way to find good keywords to use in titles and tags is to go to search on the front page, and type in how you would search for your item. You will see the top search terms pop up. USE THOSE WORDS AND PHRASES! That's how your customer is searching. Try "crochet necklace" first and see what's coming up. This is actually more important than what is coming up in your own shop's stats as keywords, because it will show you words you may be missing, whereas your shop stats only show the ones that actually got to your shop by hit or miss.

In your tags: I would take out, "for her", "colorful", and "summer", and try phrases like: womans necklace, fashion accessory, handmade necklace.

Also...and I say this to everyone...Etsy constantly changes their algorithm, so changing titles and tags is never ending. I do a little bit of tweaking a couple of hours a week.

Your banner needs some sprucing up. While I don't think it's super duper important, I do think it should really show off your product and convey what your are all about in an eye catching way. Yours is a little bit stretched out, and the colors just don't do your items justice.

Your policy and About pages are very nicely done! I enjoyed reading them. Tells us what you want us to know, and what we can expect from your shop. Well done!!

[dressurdolly2]

Liz...I typed in "car seat cover" and there you are...right on page one!

https://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?q=car%20seat%20cover&view_type=gallery&ship_to=ZZ&ref=auto3&exp...

[Former_Member]

I'd love a critique of my shop! Thank you!

Always,
Melissa
Knitted Lily Creations

[Former_Member]

Hi Chris! I just introduced earrings yesterday, so I am really unsure about them, although I already sold a pair. I just had my first listings expire, so I guess that means I have been in business 4 months. Thanks! Sara

[MoomettesCrochet]

Thank you Pattie for your time and critique!

I have some work cut out for me. I've changed my pricing (too bad some of the prices are already listed on Pinterest.

Pricing is very difficult for a newbie, however I understand your point. It's hard to adjust my prices, especially since I haven't had a first sale yet.

I changed some of the tags and keywords - hopefully will see some stat improvements.

I'll look into adding white into my photos - I basically have a point and shoot camera, not a fancy DSLR.

Also, will try to add more images - I do have a jewelry torso manniquin on order.

Regarding my banner - I made it myself.

Do you have any suggestions if I hire out? I'd like to focus on the crochet aspect but don't know how to suggest an incorporation with the jewelry or accessories aspect.

[dressurdolly2]

Cindi...I have a little point and shoot too. An hp Photosmart. Get the manual out and read about "macro". settings. It makes a big difference.

[Former_Member]

Thank you Chris, I will take it all into consideration.

[Former_Member]

Hey guys.. could somebody look at my shop and tell me what I am doing wrong.. I have been with Etsy for about alittle over a year but had only a few sales.. I have seen shops with less items than me and less Admirers and they have sold more stuff than I did... What could it be? Is it my prices maybe? I am always in the dillema of not knowing what to charge.. I would really appreciate some constructive criticism..

Thanks so much.. <3

[Former_Member]

Thank you so much Chris!!

[dressurdolly2 · Accepted solution]

For everyone:

Tags should be what the item IS....not what it could be or what it could be used for. You actually can get flagged for tags like "gift" "mother's day" and the like. Use your tags (in phrase and single word combos) to put as many keywords that someone would use to search for that item.

[DoorCountyVintage]

Hi Melissa,

Your Shop:Your Photos,Shop Announcement and Policies are great!
I also think your tags are great!

Critique:

Inventory; I was told and have experienced you can get sales before you have 100 items but you can make a living over 100

Titles: Be as plain Jane as you can about these. Use what is the broadest term available. Also add as much info as possible!

Kitty Cat Animal Hat Crocheted for Newborns, Babies, and Toddlers

Handmade Beanie, Kitty Cat Theme, Crocheted, Sizes Newborn to Toddler

Shipping: You are doing yourself a great disservice and cutting yourself out of allot of possible sales.

Overall not bad! I hope this helps!

[Former_Member]

Chris,

Thank you! I will definitely work on my titles and I'm working on adding more to my shop!

As for shipping, I know that not shipping out of country is cutting a lot of possible sales but honestly, I'm unsure how to ship over seas and a little intimidated by it!

Always,
Melissa

[MoomettesCrochet]

After your thoughtful critique, I have a new Shop Banner and Avatar.

What do you think of both?

[DoorCountyVintage]

Those are amazing! Very nice!

[dressurdolly2]

I like them, Cindi!

[dressurdolly2]

Hi, Melissa! I'm going to look up a really helpful thread on international shipping and post it here tomorrow. It's really quite easy...so keep an eye out for it here in this thread tomorrow.

[MoomettesCrochet]

Thanks for the suggestions!

[SOPHilosophy]

Hi! I would love a critique of my shop!

[dressurdolly2]

Melissa! Here is the thread I was talking about:

https://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/10577585/page/1

GoTo is so helpful and knowledgeable....her thread is what gave me the courage to ship internationally - and boy am I glad I did! 30% of my business is international - even with the new, higher rates!

[Former_Member]

Pattie,

Thank you so much! I've been collecting so much information lately about international shipping that I couldn't find before! I feel so dumb for thinking it was scary! hehehe! I can't wait to get shifted through all this information and start tackling the whole world!

Always,
Melissa

[dressurdolly2]

Yay! If you have any questions, feel free to convo me.

[Pizzelwaddels]

I would appreciate any help with my shop. I've been open nearly 2 years and would really like to know what I'm doing wrong or just not doing to make this a real business. It has been going, but not as well as I want it to. I would like this to be a living, not just a hobby that pays for itself. Help, anyone?

[DoorCountyVintage]

Sorry for the delay guys this team has alot going on but I promise I will get to these soon!

[AngelinasAvenue]

i welcome any critiques from anyone on my shop. new items or fabrics, if im using tags/titles right.

my pet section only opened in october. thanks for anyones advice!