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

[Former_Member]

My shop is only 8 days old. I have not sold anything yet, so I am hopeful that people will see the quality and love that I put into making my items.

At this pint I get excited with the new <3 and favorites and likes I get on FB. Hope this will lead to a first sale soon. I want to show off the Faux Fur blankets and make a full bedroom SET. I need to get sales first before I do that.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/487709878/minky-blanket-adult-minky-blanket-kids?ref=shop_home_feat_2

[GemsnStonesJewels]

My first sale happened the same day I opened my shop. I was really happy but the girl who bought me a bracelet was someone I knew. I was really waiting for the first stranger to buy me something. It happened only 3 days after the opening of my shop and it was from somebody in France! I couldn't believe that someone paid the shipping almost as expensive as the bracelet he bought. I'm from Québec (Canada), so everytime I have a sale from the US or elsewhere it's the best feeling in the world. Best luck to everyone!

[Former_Member]

My first sale took about 10 months to get, which was great, as far as I was concerned. I think posting a lot more on social media helped a great deal, as did putting more items up for sale.

My first sale entailed 3 custom orders, which scared the bejeebers out of me because I'd never done anything like it before, and it was my first sale(s). The orders were for a custom logo (I'd never done that), and two custom cat pictures (again, never done).

It all came together in the end, and I think convoing with the buyer made it happen. There was a lot of back and forth messages because I wanted to make sure I got it right for her.

I'm still rather new in the sales dept., and sometimes I find it hard to keep going, but I can be very persistent, and I don't give up, so I think that is what will make me successful in the end. Oh, and the fact that I have nice photo artwork that I'm sure people will just LOVE. :o)

[Former_Member]

My first sale came 6 months after I opened the store. I was out on a picnic with some friends when my phone made a pinging noise, and it was someone who wanted to buy one of my quilts! And wanted me to make pillows to match!!
I was so excited I went behind this wall to do a little happy dance (and to hide a tear or two. I had been waiting so long for that sale) only to find out when I came back and sat down that the wall had little holes all through it, and everybody could see me. So thrilled about the sale I didn't even mind :)
Since then I have had a couple more sales, and really hoping that they continue coming. Something I would do differently is more marketing. I have three part-time jobs as well as Etsy so finding time to create items and do marketing as well can be a bit hard. Figuring out the right tags to do is also quite important I think.
So yes, that's my two cents worth ;)

[SugarSnapBabyShop]

My best friend was the first to buy from my store to get the wheel going! :)

[cardhugs]

You know the feeling. When I got my first sale, I yelled and jumped up and down for joy.
It's a challenge to sell cards, so I looked to see what was most popular. You've got to research not only on Etsy, but see what people are buying in stores too.
It's also good to offer something besides one thing. Vary your products, so your shop becomes interesting. If a person goes in a Card Shop, they usually see lots of items besides cards. That's the hardest thing is keeping the inventory up, and finding time for it all.
If an item doesn't seem to sell, I usually try not to make more of that type of thing and ask myself what would people like instead.

[lafourmiele]

My first sale happened 1 week after the opening of my eshop! It was from a friend of mine !
it was a liberty of london clutch she loved and wanted above all !
After i started to sell my favorite creation : my XL bib to tie around the neck !! The beginning of a great adventure !
Sometime there are ups and downs but I love what I do and won't give up !

[AshrafGems]

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[BlablaBlythe]

https://www.etsy.com/listing/486725952/blythe-white-t-shirt-with-stars-blythe?ref=shop_home_active_1
https://www.etsy.com/listing/500218089/blythe-black-blue-shoes-sparkle-momoko?ref=shop_home_active_3
https://www.etsy.com/listing/486724504/knitted-hat-for-blythe-with-pompon-by?ref=shop_home_active_2

[Former_Member]

My first sale was today!!! Girl from Latvia bought one of my personilazed beeswax candleholders for her friend's birdhday! It was candleholder with Capricon symbol on it! I am very happy today!!!!!!

[PearlsForGirlz]

A friend I knew from the past saw my Facebook share of my shop and was the first person I sold an item to. I actually sold a different item than what I sell today. I discontinued selling various items and focused solely on jewelry.

[530Lemurian]

Handmade Gemstone Healing Jewelry
https://www.etsy.com/listing/499297997/malachite-sterling-silver-pendant?ref=shop_home_active_4
https://www.etsy.com/listing/481481414/sleeping-beauty-turquoise-sterling?ref=shop_home_active_73
https://www.etsy.com/listing/486118938/smoky-quartz-faceted-sterling-silver?ref=shop_home_active_90
https://www.etsy.com/listing/494949165/bloodstone-heliotrope-sterling-silver?ref=shop_home_active_27
https://www.etsy.com/listing/481476222/orange-kyanite-sterling-silver-pendant?ref=shop_home_active_5...

Follow My Shop For New Sales & Updates!
https://www.etsy.com/people/maximus221

[ToyKalapawMi]

I believe my first sale (in a previous store - this is my 3rd due to evolving choice of store name) was a 3D upcycled glossy magazine page butterfly stickers pack... the customer loved it... had been one of my early best sellers before the swarm of paper butterflies :D

[NativeKut]

fellow artisans. :D

[Former_Member]

So on my digital etsy, I actually got my first sale by using a great social media service.
These couple's both handle social media management and increase traffic to etsy. They specialize in working with etsy sellers and social media. To this day on my digital etsy sales, I still get over 100+ views per day. They are also very affordable and affective https://www.fiverr.com/s2/f678214380
https://www.fiverr.com/s2/5698ba302d

[Former_Member]

I got my first for my jewelry biz three weeks after opening, i probably had only 8 items in there, it was fun. I had no clue about packaging so the money I made is what i used to but the packaging in all I probably made only £1 profit lol.

But it was a good feeling when I refreshed my browser, I was adding a new listing and I saw 1 on the top I click it and it was a sale so I checked my e-mail and indeed it was lol, I was so happy, I was trembling.

If I had to change anything it would be the packing, I would tone it down a bit. Although I've only had 6 sales in 2016 am still going, my items have changed, my shop had and so have I.

Cheers to sales in the new for us all.

Good luck (Blessings)

[NativeKut]

from an outdoorsy person

[Former_Member]

Thank you for inviting me to this group!

I am pretty new. I opened about 2 months ago! I had been making jewelry a while just for fun - as a creative outlet, giving it as gifts and such. I shared some photos on Facebook. Friends kept encouraging me to sell what I made. A friend that is an Etsy artist tried to get me to open a shop for a few months. I decided to go for it. Maybe I could sell a few things here and there and break even on my supplies...

I took a few photos and put up a few listings and then shared my Etsy shop on my Facebook page. My first sale was within minutes of doing that! I'm shocked by the slow amd steady stream of orders. Some on Etsy and many custom requests via Facebook (I just started a little business group for special promotions)

I wish I had started off researching a bit more. That I knew what ALL I was getting into. I'm learning as I go. I wish I had thought out the time commitment to make it work. I am struggling to keep up with getting photos and listing things as quickly as I'd like. But I suppose that will come with time.

My advice for new shop owners is be patient and research everything you can first!

[TinyShinyJewelry]

Hi my name is Kiriaki and i live in Greece. I have been on Etsy from July 2016 but after some days i had to keep it on vacation for personal reasons. Finally on October i activated it again and after some days i had my first sale. I was very happy because it was a girl from another country and it was so encouraging. At the same time i have started silversmithing lessons and day by day i am trying to improve my skills. I believe that i got that sale because the item was very unique, it was a square ring as you can see here

https://www.etsy.com/listing/278454082/square-minimal-ringgeometric-adjustable?ref=shop_home_feat_1

The price is nice too

Every day i am trying to understand how etsy works and i believe teams are very helpful.

Nice to meet you
Wish you luck and a happy new year of course

[Former_Member]

My first sale actually came through self-promoting on facebook. A cousin of mine that I haven't talked to in ages contacted me after seeing some of the things I was making and asked for a personalized set of booties for her one year old son.

[Former_Member]

https://www.etsy.com/listing/486358108/925-silver-bracelet-handmade-bracelet?ref=shop_home_active_3

[FLXNactivewear]

My first sale was by putting a 20% off on my items and started joining teams and posting my items. It happened that day i join the teams and posted my items and favorite others.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/491193189/sale-20-off-pink-sports-bra-toucan-yoga?ref=shop_home_feat_3

[Sweetlakecity]

It was quiet a while ago … I was not very conscious where the customer came from, but for sure she felt the good vibration I had set up on this store. From suddenly seeing your first sale you are sure about to continue the success at this moment there are 705 sales…I am happy to let that amount grow so the joy goes around and around..

here my last one:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/269621949/anne-geddes-butterfly?ref=shop_home_active_1

[Former_Member]

My first sale happened about 3 weeks after opening my shop. I think, at the time, I had about 15 listings or so. A friend who lives abroad had said they would purchase one of my tarot deck bags and leave me a good review to get me started (they are familiar with my work) but life happened and before my friend could do so, I got my first sale. After getting the initial sale and subsequent review, I started getting roughly one sale a week, then two. Christmas was actually my slowest time other than August, which I kind of expected given that my items are generally not something people give as gifts, but gift to themselves. But as soon as Christmas Eve hit, my shop picked right back up.

I'm still kind of shocked at how my shop has taken off. I know I make quality items and choose gorgeous fabrics to make them out of, but it still floors me! I even have more than a few individuals who like to collect my work, which is so flattering. I have a full-time career, so I do this in the evenings and on weekends. If I had to give any advice to newcomers it would be to spend a lot of time researching your titles and tags. I found it helpful to play some of the favourites games when I was trying to get word out about my shop, but once it was off the ground I stopped doing that because it was very time consuming and had little payoff. I then joined teams that were specific to my interests and to the same wheelhouse that my products live in and have had a much more payoff now that I've narrowed it down than if I'd continued to just randomly do favourites games. Also, never forget that views are just as, if not more, important as favourites.

[AshrafGems]

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