Business Chat

[#1]

If you have any questions or pointers to give relating to the business of running your Etsy shops, please post those here.

[EurekaGuides]

@crochetgal, that's an interesting point. I have a friend who sells high end furniture and she told me that the most expensive stuff is flying out of the door but middle market stuff is struggling and some boutiques are closing their doors for good. This gives me hope for my art!

I think the reason people are paying for ads is out of desperation quite frankly. So many sellers are struggling, it's so difficult at the moment.

[Former_Member]

I've tried also FB adds. They did bring me likes and views but not one sale. So, I must conclude it was waist of money.
But I did do giveaways. And that did bring me views and sales.

Now, I was wondering how you can get around 200 sales in a period of 5-6 months?! Today I stumbled upon one shop which sells toys. (They look awesome) But I noticed the number of sales.
HOW? :(

[Former_Member]

I remember reading something about not to post on Craftori Pinterest site with a price, but I just did by accident. Can someone confirm this? Do I need to remove that pin with the price on? Thanks!

[EurekaGuides]

@Lang, sorry I missed this post. All items were removed with prices but Pinterest now no longer put the prices on the images so this is no longer an issue.

[CathySavelsArt]

Any business related questions you may have can be addressed here.

[EurekaGuides · Accepted solution]

This thread is now being pinned to stop it being buried by the promotional threads. I would like this team to interact much more with meaningful conversation and not just post and run your promotions. Thank you.

[Former_Member]

I am seeking advice for a craft fair. How do you select the venue? What are reasonable prices? Did you start at a small fair? How do you make your booth welcoming? How much inventory do you take? Where do you buy reasonably priced bags? How do you accept credit cards (is the cube thing for smart phones a good idea)? I'd really appreciate any help! Thanks!

[EurekaGuides]

@Amy, I can't really advise you as to the price of a stand since I live in France so prices would be so very different for you in the US. Saying that, I think they vary hugely anyway and normally this goes by the kind of footfall expected. The more footfall, the more it is likely to cost.

This footfall should give you an idea of how much stock to make. If you have much competition, then the percentage of sales to you will be lower, so do check out what other similar stalls there will be. This will also depend on where they put you, if you're at the start, then you may make more sales than if you are tucked in a corner somewhere. These are all questions to ask.

Large parasols with your shop name on if you're outside are good to attract attention, put some bunting on it too. You can also use those indoors in fact. If you're allowed, use a billboard opposite your stall with an arrow to direct people to you.

The rest I cannot advise you on since I'm in a different country.

[MomsantiquesNthings]

It seems I've been in a selling slump these last few months (since April) and I just can't figure out what the issue is. Prices too high, too low? I have raised prices, lowered prices even offered 40% off and no buyers. I can't use formulas like handmade since purchases I make range in price and some things take longer to prepare to sell (ie, cleaning, etc) so hard to determine time for each item and since I don't make the item.

I have improved on photos and SEO, search is my highest stat, so I know my items show up in relevency. I constantly promote my shop & items on social media and participate in team activities, promoting others, as well. I'm on 12 teams so because of that I get views, which doesn't equal sales as it's just other sellers promoting each other, but even that has decreased from 700 views per day to around 2-300 per day.

Last May was my best selling month of the year, I continued selling through June & July and slowed down in August. So I don't believe the time of year or weather really has anything to do with it.

I separated my handmade from vintage in April and even in that shop, I sell a lot of wedding decorations, has been slow too and this is the time of year for wedding buying. I don't believe the separation is the cause as both shops "look" much nicer and clearly show what I sell, not confusing to shoppers anymore.

I really could use some help here trying to figure what is wrong. I don't want to give my things away and at this rate I'm going to end up out of business if sales don't start up again. This is how I have made my living these past few years but now I can't pay my monthly bills and I am at my wits end trying to figure out what to do next. Please any suggestions or critique will be greatly appreciated.

[Former_Member]

Can someone tell me about Media Mail....according to the post office you cannot send magazines media mail. If you do, and they open it, your buyer will not receive their item.
Is it just, you take a chance? I have Googled it and that is what it says.
The ECONOMY stinks right now and sales have gone down to nothing so I thought I might as well try but am afraid to.
Any help would be appreciated...Janeen

[DaydreamingDayz]

MomsantiquesNthings, have you checked your titles and tags lately? I would also check the category your items fall into too.

These change from time to time and then the ones you have a no longer relevant so you don't come as far up in the searches as you may have before.

[MomsantiquesNthings]

Thanks Dayz, I have been working a great deal on titles and tags. I know that relevency is ever changing, seems like that's all I do now is work on SEO. I know the title & tags need to match for search, but really, search is my highest stat and searching for my items usually show up within the first couple of pages, in many instances the first page.

[DixSterling]

Great thread. Thanks for starting this one.

[EurekaGuides]

@Janine, I think it's slow for everyone just lately, so don't fret too much. It's also possible that your feedback is affecting your business but I did not check the timing of it against sales from then.

It is important to promote but you need to do promotion that works. Getting lots of views is all well and good but not if you're not targeting your market. If what you're doing is not working, then perhaps it's time to try something different. You just have to keep trying things when selling online.

Having said this, there are natural dips in all businesses so don't worry too much, things will pick up again.

[EurekaGuides]

@jlquilts, sorry I can't help you since I'm not in your country.

[MomsantiquesNthings]

Thanks Eureka, trying to keep optimistic, I did sell something today, thank goodness, so crossing fingers. I guess I still don't understand or know what my target market is or where to find them.

Also, I recently did get bad feedback in May, offered her to return the item, but was given neg feedback and never heard from her again It's been quite a long time before that I had bad feedback, I know when I started in 2007 I really didn't worry about it then.

But the drop in sales started in April and besides, last year was my best year and the same neg feedback was on there then.I think my ratio is incorrect though, since out of 405 feedback left, 391 are positive, 6 neutral and 8 neg (7 from the same person a few years back). I think Etsy should increase that to 99% at least!

Anyway thanks for the advice, I'll see what other ways I can promote, I know I spend a lot of time on treasuries and team games, that really aren't bringing sales.

[MomsantiquesNthings]

@ jlquilts you can get a list from your post office of what is eligible for media mail and what isn't in 2013. I got one from my local postmaster.

This is mainly what is on the list:

**Eligible**
books
graphic novels
cook book
cd sound recordings
dvds
atlas maps
flash cards-instructional
instruction manuals
records, phonograph records
personal note/greeting cards

**Not Eligible**
activity books, coloring books, comic books, telephone books
catalogs all types
cd-pictures, blank cds
high school yearbooks
church directories
DVD's with computer games
blank DVDs
magazines new or old
maps - single
video game cartridges
brochures
calendars
college course catalog
journals blank or with writing

If you like I can scan a copy of mine and email it to you.

[Former_Member]

@Eureka Guides-Thank you for the tips...they will help. Amy

[EurekaGuides]

@Janine, You could still try and offer the kiss and make up facility if you haven't already. You never know.

I know sellers say that they can swallow a certain amount of negatives since we cannot please all of the people all of the time, but personally, as a shopper, I do not purchase if I see more than 2 or 3 negative feedbacks. I've had problems in the past and Etsy do not help in any way so I'm really careful. Because I am like this, as a shopper, I wondered if others are too.

To find your target market, firstly you need to think about what your USP (Unique Selling Point). If you sell a mish-mash of everything, then this is going to be harder. Focussing your product line and specializing in one area will give you more of a brand. Branded shops are more valuable and much easier to market.

Once you know what your 'brand' is, then you can ask questions like, how old is my target market, what house do they live in, what car do they drive, what job do they do etc. This will begin to form a picture of the type of people you need to target.

[DaydreamingDayz]

Janine & Eureka,

I'm rethinking this shop at the moment and trying to get a more cohesive range going. This means I am a little low on the ground at the moment but I am concentrating on what sells and have removed anything that is troublesome to produce.

I am still going to accept some custom design jobs but only from customers with a clear idea of what they want. I found some customers very difficult to work with when they had no idea what they wanted so will avoid those kind of jobs. I am hoping this will increase motivation and give me more time to make tempting listings. :P

[MeiMeiSupplies]

Back to the pricing thing -- sooooo much is involved! In this shop (MMWC), the majority of listings are purse frames, etc. Manufacturers in USA (where I live) don't seem interested in making & selling these things; at least not to small businesses. So I buy from the people who want to sell -- mostly China. I have to buy in fairly large lots, and shipping is sometimes 50% of the cost. It also takes a long time to get here --- average time is 25 days.

So, my cost includes research time, large quantity "front-money", waiting time, product storage time & space, & of course the usual photo/editing/listing time. I would so love to point some of this out in my listings, just so that people would realize the service being provided. People can order from me, & get things unavailable locally in a few days, instead of a month. Yet, I still get questions about my prices & shipping costs. I can see why there aren't a lot of USA vendors of these goods on Etsy.

On another note, I have another etsy shop called WhiteCross Designs, which sells clutches, handbags, wallets, etc. I either do the original design, or, if using someone else's pattern, a lot of re-designing. I search out awesome high-end unique &/or luxury fabrics to use, & pay special attention to good quality stitching, etc. Which is the long way around of saying that I do my very best for customers, and THAT is very labor intensive. If I used etsy's "jewelry model" of pricing that was posted a few years ago, my prices would be so high that I'd never have a sale!!!

As it is, here is what I use: all materials for each bag + labor time (includes cutting, fabric prep, machine & hand stitching, but not design time, since I pretty much am designing whenever I'm conscious). Add to that a % profit set by you, & there's the ball-park number.

I'd truly like to see more sharing from people who make bags & clutches; we seem to be a very secretive group when it comes to sharing info. :)

Jordan

[MomsantiquesNthings]

Well that is discouraging to me then, I feel like i'm doomed, because 7 of those negs were 1 purchase from one lady with a multiple purchase, even though she was given refund, she actually tried to claim full amount when they were discounted for her. The most recent neg, how do I offer K&M when she won't respond? I wasn't given the chance to have it returned, although I told her she could. The other thing is, I sell a variety of merchandise, I have bought & sold antiques for over 30 years. I don't sell one particular style or collectible, so if that's what branding means and finding a target market I am out of luck. Time to go back to the other E and see what I can do there. Out of desperation, I just reduced prices on everything in my shop, maybe time to start thinking about closing this shop up.

[DaydreamingDayz]

Janine, I think it's just a case of keep promoting and bringing lovers of antiques in to your shop. :)

Are you on Pinterest andTumblr?

[MomsantiquesNthings]

I am on pinterest and I actually get a lot of views from it, I just joined tumblr but haven't posted yet, trying to find time to do it all, perhaps I should shift from team activities to tumblr & wanelo, I started that too but haven't really looked into either!

Thanks Dayz, I really do appreciate this!

[DaydreamingDayz]

Janine, I have been on Tumblr with my other shop for about a month and I do see it is starting to help.

It is difficult to squeeze it all in though. :)