Am I on track? Need some feedback please!

[Former_Member]

Hello Everyone, I opened my shop at the end of September and since then I have gained one sale, 1,700 + views almost 500 favorites and I would like to know if this is normal activity for a new shop. I have redone my photos a few times and I keep looking at my prices to see if maybe this is why I have no had more sales. If you could take the time to view my shop and provide me some advice you can either convo me or re-post here whatever is easier but I really want to know if I am on track so to speak.
Your time and advice is really appreciated.

Thanks, Melanie - The Glass Spring
www.etsy.com/shop/TheGlassSpring
www.facebook.com/TheGlassSpring

[studionubbo]

Hello!

I love your new logo :)!

I am in a similar boat where I'm getting a lot of views but haven't had any sales yet. I've had great reviews of my shop and have told just to be patient. So I'm just promoting as much as I can and keeping on going!

You're jewelry is lovely! Have you tried working on your tags?

The only thing I would suggest is editing or changing your photos so they are lighter and brighter. Your jewellery has gorgeous detail but your photos aren't doing it justice. You might want to consider white or lighter backgrounds :). I have another shop which sells jewellery and as soon as I changed my photos to white backgrounds I sold 3 pieces in 3 days :).

Good luck!

[Former_Member]

The first thing I'd be looking at is your titles, for example, this listing:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/91727926/dainty-little-lavender-czech-and-leaded

personally I wouldn't search etsy for earrings with "dainty little lavender". I'd be looking for "wire wrapped earrings" .. or something to that effect anyway :)

[Former_Member]

Lovely they are! I think it would be helpful to have dimensions...

[WellDressedCupcakes]

I like to see white backgrounds especially for jewelry. I think your items are beautiful and prices are good. Wishing you luck and success.

[Former_Member]

Oh no!!! This photography stuff is going to be the death of me! I cannot tell you how many times I have re-shot my photos. I thought the last shoot went well! :( Ok, taking it in... I guess it's back to the photobooth! Well at least I hear it now instead of after everything in my store is re-shot. Any suggestions on how to set up lighting when you have zero bright daylight available? I will take a look at my descriptions too, thks for the suggestions everyone! :)

[Former_Member]

Your jewellery is really lovely and I have banner envy - what a great logo! It really reflects your style.

I would agree with the other comments about brightening up your photos - have you tried making a lightbox? I've not tried it myself, but there are lots of threads here with advice on how to do it yourself. The seller's handbook has some really good tips on photography too.

I also think it's equally important to look at your titles, tags and descriptions too. I was advised that the first three words in your title are most important, so for your necklace below (gorgeous btw) I would suggest: "Silver wire-wrapped pendant: Dainty wire wrapped green circle pendant on a beautiful silver chain" And then add all of the key descriptive words into your tags as well. I find it really helpful to do a search for similar items to my own before I list a new item to see how others will find my jewellery.

More detailed descriptions would help buyers make a decision too - are those beads glass, crystal, or a semi-precious stone? Do you use sterling silver, or is it silver plated? How long is the chain? Are your items gift wrapped?

http://www.etsy.com/listing/91725201/dainty-wire-wrapped-green-circle-pendant

Hope that helps a little - good luck!

[Former_Member]

Thanks so much Shelly and Everyone. I have to admit this is a little hard to take in but it's needed. I kept asking myself... what in the world am I doing wrong that things are not moving??? Well... this is it. I will definitely go back and look at all my tags and descriptions. And I have been thinking about building a light box, it's just finding a box big enough to fit some vases that I use as props, I really like the way the soften and create subtle tones in the photos. And white paper. I am hearing you on this...lots and lots and lots of white! Thanks again everyone, I'll re-post a new thread once I'm done cause this one will likely be lost in the 600+ posts somewhere lol!

[JeannieGrayKnits]

Not that I have the sales to back up my advice, LOL, but I'd work on the titles before the photos. When giving things titles, don't name them something "cute", but name them what you would call it if you were shopping for the item. When you are Googling for earrings, would you type in "Dainty little..." or "purple earrings" for example? Also, I keep reading that the first 3 words in your title are the most important so those should be the main description. I also understand you shouldn't use "&" in your title. By doing so, the customer will have to type in "purple & silver" for example while if you simply put a comma between the words, your item will show up no matter if the customer types only "silver" or "purple". Does that make any sense? Haven't had enough coffee yet. :)

Btw, great shop! The sales will come eventually!

[Former_Member]

Definitely agree with Jeannie - start with the titles. From what I've read I've come to believe that a title that will get you picked up in a search will not look like a "good" title. People rave about redundancy in titles and how it helps them get picked up. I personally hate the way it looks in my shop to list one of my quilts as a "Baby girl or baby boy yellow and green quilt" for example. BUT when I realize how many people do keyword searches for Baby Quilt, Baby Boy Quilt, Yellow and Green Quilt, etc - I gave in.

Photos can almost *always* be improved. But you're right, it's a LOT of work. Stylistically yours are very cute. But since you can tweak your titles immediately, I'd start there. Definitely look into a lightbox though. I actually just use three pieces of white Styrofoam near a window on a partially sunny day (I live in Pittsburgh, it's rarely REALLY sunny) and the difference was marked.

You may also try adjusting white balance in a program like Picassa on your existing photos. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

[Former_Member]

Everyone always talks about white backgrounds....obviously Etsy loves white because most of the treasuries they pick for the front page have white backgrounds. But don't professionals use black velvet backgrounds for jewelry? I'm just saying. I don't do jewelry, so who am I?

My only advice is more inventory. As hard as that may be....I have noticed that the most successful stores have many pages. Don't look at my shop...I just arrived at page 2 this week!!

Also JANUARY HAS BEEN SLOW! I have seen it across the board in many different people's posts. The slowest month of the year in retail....January.

[Former_Member]

i'm super new @ this but i think your pictures are very pretty but i also agree with keeping the titles more "mundane" even though it is so tempting to let those creative juices flow when it comes to titles...maybe add those pretty words to the description. :)

have a fabulous day! and lots of success,

[poisonpear]

Love your shop, you have lovely things!

I agree with other about tweaking your titles. It's a very important way to get found.
I actually like your photos, and an easy way to brighten them up a bit would be to use a free editing software and play with brightness/contrast or levels. No need to retake the photos in my opinion.
With jewellery being such a competitive category, I highly recommend adding new items often, to get your inventory levels higher (at least 50 items) More to choose from, and more chances of being seen.

[Former_Member]

Outside of some of them being a tad dark, your photos are just fine. I would just do a little tweaking of the photos with an editing software. If you don't have one, irfanview.com has one that is free and easy to use. I've been using it for probably a decade now.

I am soooo not on board with the whole white background thing that everyone is grasping onto in what seems like a paniced frenzy. How do you brand yourself using a light box? It makes one shop just look like another around here. Taking photos with natural light and a background that doesn't interfere with your jewelry is much better. Etsy has some good advice and some not so good advice at times. Take it all in and then seperate the good from the hype.

It always goes slow at first, and sometimes for a long time. There are soooo many sellers here it's easy to get lost in the shuffle. I have had many more views and my sales picked up a little because of my Facebook page. (I added my Etsy shop link there, but please note that I did not link it through Etsy the way they would like you to because they want to utilize your friends' information which I believe is none of their business. The one thing I have always enjoyed about Etsy is the fact they don't send buyers a load of emails like ebay does. I would like to keep it that way and this sharing of friends info seems to be heading down the wrong path.)

The other thing that needs to happen is you need to market youself in real life. Let coworkers and friends know about your shop, give away a pair of earrings here and there, table at local art sales, get friends with Pinterest accounts to share your items there, etc. Etsy does not drive traffic to itself, believe me. I have had more people ask me, "What's Etsy?" So just like any kind of merch, it has to be marketed as heavily as you can without being too intrusive.

These are the lessons I've learned over the last several months and they are beginning to bear fruit both here and in real life sales away from here. I hope some of this helps you as you do have a lovely shop and merchandise. :hug:

[Former_Member]

Yea Monica ...."I am soooo not on board with the whole white background thing"!! I am totally in agreement with you here. Individuality and creativity gets lost in the white background trend!

[Former_Member]

Great advice Hippywife - I'll take some of that too!

You can see from my shop that I'm not toally pro white backgrounds either ;) I think it makes it difficult for your brand and personality to come through, but then I'm pretty new here too...