How did you make your first sale?

[#1]

Hi there Daily Etsy Sellers!

Browsing through the members list of our team and looking at all your lovely shops, I started noticing we are a very diverse group of shop owners. Some of us have been on Etsy for years, others are just starting off and have yet to make their first sale.

Let's start a discussion on making that first sale. We all know it's that one magical moment, just that one sale, we're all eagerly waiting for when just starting out on Etsy.

So let's share!

It doesn't matter whether you only had a couple of sales or hundreds: please share your 'first sale' experience so new shop owners can be inspired.

Here are some questions that could help share your story with us.

- What things did you try to make that first sale? Share your hustle!
- What effort do you think ultimately triggered it?
- How much time passed between opening your shop and making that sale?
- What lessons did you learn from making that first sale?
- If you could do it all over, what would you do differently?
- What is your best piece of advice for new shop owners?
- What do you think is the best path to follow in order to get that first sale?

I can't wait to hear about it!

- Deb

[CollarLoveBoutique]

We started out selling collars at local dog walks with the plan to continue on Etsy. After our first show we placed 4 or so listings on Etsy and then proceeded to forget about them.

8 months later, we decided to really try and take it more seriously, and logged into our Etsy store. Low and behold, 4 days earlier someone had purchased our collar! We got so lucky! Since then we've been so much more engaged and doing everything we can do be more successful. Since that time, we've been off and running. In just over a month we've added 50 additional listings and 20 more sales!

[Swankluv]

I was actually surprised when I made my first sale since it happened about 2 weeks after I opened my shop. I didn't really do much promotion yet. The only thing I really did was pin my product images to my pinterest account.

[NatureBoundDesignCo]

I just made my first sale 2 days ago (so excited). I got the sale after I promoted a piece of jewelry on my personal FB page. That being said, it wasn't the posting alone which nabbed me the sale. I worked hard to produce a well crafted item and then I made sure my photos of that item made it look as good as possible! I took many pictures of the necklace I sold outside, in natural light and with an interesting but not competing background. I have been a photographer for years, so I think it helps, but anyone can frame a flattering shot of an item if the effort is there. Good luck to everyone here, and may you all get sales this month!

[NorthwestVintageUSA]

Congrats on your first sale Sophia. We noticed a lot more sales when we started to take our photos outside in natural light as well. We use to set up a white back drop and all of the lighting, but a lot of the time, the item would not reflect its natural color with the artificial lighting.

[alicechanart]

The first sale came after about 9 months after the shop had opened. It's slow and we are slowly picking up.

[belovedrosemary]

I finally made my real first sale yesterday after I opened my shop 2 months ago.
The first sales are by my friends and I didn't have to wrap the items and mail them.

So I was a bit nervous and uneasy when I had to send my item to a real customer for the first time. I had to pack, unpack then repack the item twice just to make sure it won't get messed up.
I really hope it will get there safely and my customer get it by next week.

To me this first sale is like a miracle because it was a custom order.
Someone trusted me to make something special for them even though I just opened my shop.
It was amazing and definitely a wonderful experience!

I hope what I share here can give encouragement to new sellers.
Don't give up and just keep working on improving your shop and you will see your first sale!

[NorthwestVintageUSA]

Congrats Ellen on your first sale. We were so excited when we got our first sale. We still get excited when we hear the "cha-ching" on our phones. Best of luck to you with many future sales!!!

[PrintableEasy]

Hi everyone,
I opened my Etsy shop 3 days ago, I sell printables and I opened with only 20 items available because I wanted to take advantage of the "cyber week"
After only 8 hours from the opening I heard a warning come from the APP !!!!! I had sold !!!!!!!!
Unbelievable! I was really happy and my heart was pounding !!!
It was a personalized item to send via email within 36/48 hours. I prepared it immediately and sent it to the customer who was happy and thanked me. Now I hope I also have a good review. But I have seen that customers write little for digital articles.
Until now that was my only sale, but I'm hopeful and happy :)

[NorthwestVintageUSA]

Hey Elena, congrats on your first sale. That's amazing that it happened within the first day of opening your shop. We had our shop open for at least a week or two before our first sale. Best of luck to you too with your shop and many future sales!!!

[PrintableEasy]

Hi Tim and Shelly

Many thanks, it's just beginner's luck!!!

[Former_Member]

I opened my shop that selles handmade knitwear 2 years ago and sadly starting from that time I did not have any sales. Shop was closed for about a year and had no items. But starting from 1st of November I decided to try one more time and strt sell on etsy… maybe this time I will succed and will have my first sale on etsy. I'm waiting for this moment so much! :)

[AecreationFR]

I realized my first sale at the beginning of November. I am great happy. I did not believe in it any more. I had a great opinion(notice) in more. Thank you again has my buyers.I wish you the same thing and full of sales for me.
Thanks you

[StudioAliceMulder]

I've had a shop for already some months, but just updated it at that moment with a bunch of new stuff and also a Christmas card that I just made. A friend of mine as the first to buy one, just for support ;) She also left a great review so I'm really thankful for that!
It's been a year now and I guess to have the first sale is really important to get noticed as well.

[CMHandymade]

Got my first sale with the help of BNR. Got subsequent sales with continued help from BNR but also BNS and ladder activities. I think that help gain organic sales and encourage potential buyers. I kept my offering diversified with a variety of listing items.

[workyourart]

Closing this topic. Continue here: https://www.etsy.com/teams/16593/profit-panda/discuss/18927271/