Does a Strong Shop Equal More Sales?

[Former_Member]

Hello Team!
I recently joined in hopes of receiving advice and in general bettering my shop by perusing some of the past topics. I opened my shop on Etsy this May and so far have only sold one item. I read the seller handbook and used the tips Etsy gives and have been trying to beef up my photography and various aspects of my shop. I also make a point to post at least one new item a day on my shop. A few days ago I decided to try branching out by promoting trough social media like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. I figured that since I have seen my growth I am blinded to what else needs fixing.

I would like to get some advice from the team on how to strengthen my shop and also how to get sales.

[hooknsaw]

Nita, your shop looks like it is put together well. I would remove the upgraded "priority shipping" from your featured items. Move it to the second page.

Jewelry is a saturated market and if it were me, I would add more items. We didn't start seeing sales until we had about 60-ish items in our shop. We do notice more items = more sales,

Good luck!

[Former_Member]

Thank you for the response and for sharing your story it is encouraging. I'll tack your suggestion to heart and move the shipping to the next page.

[Former_Member]

I suggest you join more promoting teams , and play games to get more exposure to your shop and your products . I'm quite new to Etsy , my shop was opened in July , I've got a few sales . Since I joined and play some promotion games , I've a lot more sale in this August . Just search for : Promotion or promoting , you will find suitable teams to join.

[Former_Member]

Thank you Nhung for the input. I am a member of 10 teams but most are jewelry related. I'll search promotional teams too, I don't why that never crossed my mind.

[Former_Member]

I love the shop name, the shop looks good and the items have consistency but the bracelets are lost on the white fabric, I would say stick to the wood table and stone coaster as you have done with the wooden rings. Other than that the photos are spot on. One last thing and this maybe because I'm a virgo ;) but the fox should come first in the banner not the bear we naturally read from left to right (Middle East and Asia excluded of course), so I read SillyFox SleepyBear and then my minds eye sees SleepyBear SillyFox means I never get passed the banner ;) but like I said that might just be me...

Just keep plodding on, it took months for our sales to start picking up.

[Former_Member]

Hi Nita. This is a great link to a thread that addresses many of your concerns:

https://www.etsy.com/teams/5002/etsy-success/discuss/16149239/page/1?ref=team_page

As far as promotional games are concerned, many etsy sellers who have been on for a few years (myself included) will tell you that they usually won't make much of a difference in sales. Your views might go up, but that won't necessarily equal more sales. Still, everyone has their own experiences.

Try improving your titles and photos. Many of your photos are on the dark side and the printed background you used for the bracelets is a bit distracting. I would also consider organizing your page so all your wooden rings (which are lovely by the way) are in 1 row, the bracelets are in another, etc, so there is more cohesion as far in color is concerned.

I also agree that jewelry is a very saturated market here on etsy and we can all go through sometimes pretty prolonged dry spells unless you have an absolutely truly unique item or demographic or cater to a pretty specific niche market. Do add more items as well. With a variety of items and good titles/tags that help a variety of buyers find what they are looking for, you should increase your chances of a sale.

Best of luck!

[Former_Member]

Jewelry is hard to sell, and thirtysomething items will get lost here. Adding more items will be one important thing - try onehundredthirtysomething and look around again. These 133 items should show something special, more personal - either in material (wood? colors?), in style (boho? natural?) or theme (wedding?). Photos are difficult - I'm here since 2008 and still learning. The easiest way is a monochrome background - not necessarily white - and natural light. Paper is a fine background, smooth, and different colors are available. Go outside, not on a sunny day (shadows!) but on a cloudy day, and look for a free program to improve you pics afterwards. It takes time! Good luck!

[RomaMiaTradingCo]

Those promo/game teams are a waste of time and don't lead to many (if any) sales.

Take that time you would spend there and market to your acutal target audience. find out where they are, ie on social media or blogs, and spend your marketing efforts there.

Your SEO and photos need work. Join an SEO team and have them critique your SEO. Your photos have a good start to them. For instance, on this item, the third photo is the best. The lighting is great, and the background is least distracting. The other photos are cropped odd or the background looks "dusty" or the lighting isn't right. Try making your photo the center of attention.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/244359974/solid-purple-heart-wood-ring?ref=shop_home_active_4

[HildaLea]

A lot of folks have given great advice. Personally I'd also add a photo of the rings on someone's finger. As a buyer I like to imagine how it will look on me.

[Former_Member]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I'm working on what was suggested and will have more fixes done to my shop for tomorrow. Also I'm reading the links related to SEO thank you Nikki.

[WilliamsGiftshop]

Sales depend on:
1. Your products (originality, quality)
2. Their presentation (photos, descriptions, good use of keywords)
3. Your marketing/promoting plan and efforts
4. Your customer service.

You'll never be done. It's an ongoing process. There are always improvements that can be made.

Wishing you many sales!