Ah! Please stop with the disappointment!

[TerraRhapsody]

Oh my! Sales have been so slow for me this year since last Christmas, so every time I get a sale, I have one of those little dances in my head (don't we all?)
But recently, so many people have contacted me about fair to huge custom orders, and every one of them has either stopped mailing me or been honest about not being able to afford the items. Things are appearing, I've jumped up to be as helpful as I can and they've still dwindled away. However, I'm determined not to cheapen myself to get this custom, but I could really do with the cash!
I've been trying so hard to sort my shop out (SEO, photos etc.), sort my house out, sort everything out while my fiancé is away on business for a couple of months, and now I'm being removed from Etsy teams because I'm not active enough. I just don't have the time for anything it seems.

I feel so alone- is anyone else in here with similar disappointment? How do you fit in all of these things around your jobs?!
I just wish something would go right for once rather than a string of disappointments..

[Former_Member]

288 sales is not too bad, so you're doing something right. Don't sale yourself out! I have been disappointed with etsy from the start, BUT I attend local Craft Fairs and do well on those.

Keep the good work and all the best!

[Former_Member]

I had a lot of disapointment when I first opened; I would look at other shops & see how well they were doing and look at me & be misserable. I finally found my nitch with patterns, and have been doing quite well now. So, yeah, I totally get the giving up thing. As for custom orders; are you talking about large wholesale orders? (I presume so b/c you talked about yur prices not being low enough) If people haven't been interested in buying wholesale because of your proces, then I would suggest you tell other people who contact you about wholesale/resale orders that you give a straight discount of xx% off when they order xx amount of pieces (ie: 20% off when they order 15 pieces, 30% when they order 40 pieces, 50% off iff they order 100 pieces). This way, if they see something they like but aren't willing to order enough to qualify (remember to set the min number high so you aren't selling a private customer who just wants to gift your stuff out to people) then you aren;t waisting as much time. You might also want to try doing a few craft shows; with Christmas comming up you should beable to make some more money that way.

I love your creations; you might want to try reaching out to the steampunk community with some of your best pieces and asking for their thoughts.

[LeNidDeFleurs]

I feel pretty down at times, as my views have been low and yeah I get custom order requests and then the thread goes dead. As a student I could really do with earning a bit of money to cover my expenses. Someone asked if I could make them 30 hairpieces. I jumped for joy, but then the conversation just went dead :-(

[Former_Member]

Try a new perspective, such as setting goals for # of sales or a dollar amount monthly or even quarterly. If you meet the goals or are close to it, perhaps the picture isn't as bad as you think.

Better yet, write a business plan. This will also force you to set up short and long term goals. When looking at the bigger picture, you have a better, more realistic picture of how well you are doing. If you are selling part time, perhaps the 288 sales isn't as bad as you think.

I would also suggest the following:

-make your titles more relevant for Etsy and Google search engine
optimization by using the first 3 words identify what you are selling; repeat those words in the 1st lines of your descriptions and again in your tags
-shorten your product descriptions, such as leaving out policy info. There is so much info in your descriptions that it's easy to just turn people away
-use multiple words in your tags

After you tweak your shop, have it critiqued. Join the 'Sassy Critique' team and ask for a review of your shop. You can also use their check list: http://etsymentors.blogspot.com/p/critique-your-own-shop.html

You have lovely items, especially for gifts anytime of the year. I think you just need tweak it more presentation and seo to get found.

Good luck!

[TerraRhapsody]

Thanks Kristina! I do look upon my 288 and I rather proud, but it seems sales are so few and far between at the moment. I'm sure holiday season will mean it picks up again! I have my fingers crossed.
Thank you :)

[Former_Member]

This is a good team to learn more about seo when writing titles, descriptions and tags: http://www.etsy.com/teams/10713/cindylouwho-team

A lot of good questions and answers come up and Cindy Lou, the team leader is really knowledgeable.

P.S. I have yet to meet my monthly goals but each month I get closer. And that eases my disappointments; in fact, it keeps me hopeful and motivated. And yes, I did a business plan this summer when things were sooooo slow.

[TerraRhapsody]

Thanks Nicollete- that's a good point about having the wholesale unit prices in the listings so people can see the prices up front- Simple but effective!
The other custom orders have been related to terrariums, but I think the shipping costs are putting people off- the weight means they're rather pricey to send.
I'd love to get into some craft shows, however- it's something I've not yet been able to do for many reasons- the lack of public liability insurance, £400+ fees. Apart from that, I have a knack of finding out about craft shows when they're already finished or have finished accepting exhibitors. I think I will have to look for a website noting shows and get in there early so long as my full time job doesn't get in the way!
Thanks again!

[TerraRhapsody]

Amy, I'm sorry to hear that! It certainly does sound disappointing- I know how you feel, as three of my disappointments were orders for 20, 50 and 80 wholesale pendants from 3 different people that all went dead. I hope you get a break soon!

[Former_Member]

288 sales sounds a dream. I haven't had a single sale and I'm completely downhearted and feel ready to quit. I spend hours making treasuries, increasing my circle, joining teams etc. In fact it is ironic that I'm spending so much time on etsy that I'm not making my necklaces. Very disheartened and think you sound like your going well even if things are flat for a while.

[TerraRhapsody]

Annsliee, thanks for all your tips! I have been setting myself goals for revenue in the past few months, but the goals have unfortunately not been reached, even when I've lowered them for the next month! Argh!
I'm currently working on the tags and titles- a process that is longer than I thought.
I hadn't thought about shortening item descriptions, so I think that is worth doing, definitely! Thanks! I left it all in because I kept getting a lot of questions about policies and when people could expect their packages- I didn't think people read policies very much!
I'll look into those teams as well- Thank you so much for your help :)

[TerraRhapsody]

Sue, I'm sorry to hear you've not got any sales yet- it took me a few months to get my first sales, so I'm sure you'll be in for a sale soon. I have my fingers crossed for you.
I'm at the stage of spending more time on etsy trying to sort my shop out than making the jewellery too. However, I notice you only have a few items in your shop and my first 'boom' happened when I added about 70 items to my shop over a couple of months. I know people do rattle on about the magic 100 items, but going from about 10 to 30 to 100 items in my shop over a few months, my sales rocketed (loosely speaking!) from about 1 every couple of months to about 3 a month for a short while.
I would concentrate on populating your shop a little before the holiday season, perhaps with items in a price range- low to medium price, for example to cater for people buying gifts of all prices.
I think this photo is great too:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/106997678/red-merino-and-vintage-ribbon-neckpiece?ref=pr_shop
It shows the colour and detail nicely for the cover image, a little moreso than the images of the necklaces being worn, although they're great for the extra photos in the listing to show their size and context.
Don't lose hope- I think your work is wonderful.

I do not mean to seem ungrateful for my number of sales if it has come across this way. It just feels like a lot is going wrong for me at the moment, and making a sale every 2 weeks or so does not speed me towards my goal of making this a permanent job for myself, nor even being able to pay for my poor luck, like fixing my car or fridge. I know those dreams might be the ones of pipes, but we all need to have an ultimate goal- and I'm sure we'll be heading towards that dream at some pace, just needs to be a little faster, right?
The best of luck to you- and let us know when you get that first sale :)

[Former_Member]

I hear your woos! I just recently raised my prices after attending the online Etsy Symposium. They gently scolded Etsians for selling themselves short. I saw a decrease in sales and some people critiquing my shop (from another thread I submitted my shop to be critiqued) commented that my prices seemed high but my stuff was AMAZEBALLS and they wish they could afford my prices. UGH! Arrow to the heart but I am sticking to my guns. I spend hours on end making my items and I want to make more than $2 an hour. So my sells took a dip but I feel so much better about my time being spent on an item.

I think you are doing great and keep up the hard work. I am the Captain of another Etsy Team and I would never deactivate someone for not being active in my team. Sometimes I find it's hard for even me to participate so I let everyone slide! After all teams are meant for you to express yourself, get ideas and encouragement. Not stress you out!!!

:) Rusti