How Long Did It Take to Get Your First Sale?

[Former_Member]

Just wondering... My shop's been open about two weeks. As I've quickly attempted to tame the Etsy learning curve, I've seen my stats go up, but I believe much of this is due to daily sales team activities.

I'm wondering, so I have a sense of what to expect, how long did it take others to get their first sale? Once you hit that point, did everything start to take off?

[mandyholasek]

I got my first sale within my 1st week, and saw a small trickle of sales after that. I really think it depends on your items and how high in demand they might be. Only one of my items is really getting sold (a custom couples keychain), so now I know that, I might do best catering towards couples looking for anniversary gifts.


Your shop and items are lovely, but it's hard to stand out with a jewelry shop on etsy since there are SO MANY! So I'd say just build up your inventory a bit and eventually the sales will come.

[Former_Member]

It took six weeks to make my first sale from my first Etsy shop six years ago. During those six weeks I read everything I could find on Etsy about creating a successful shop and made changes as I waited for that first sale.

I opened my fourth shop a few weeks ago and made my first sale within one week. Experience and knowledge really help in making the first sale and knowing what to do to keep those sales coming.

SEO for both Etsy and Google is very important but so is promotion and marketing to get the sales started and keep them going during slower times. And we all go through slow times with sales now and then

Running an Etsy shop really is running a small business. Success does not just happen. We have to work on making it a success.

[Former_Member]

I made my first sale I think on the second or third day, but I had spent several weeks before researching what needed to be done to run a successful Etsy shop.

I think the first couple of months I had 10 sales a month and it creeped up from there to daily sales and now I am averaging two a day typically. But that rise was tied to improvements I did in my photos, number of listings and definitely SEO.

Spend some time looking at photography in shops that catch your eye in searches. I think yours might be cropped too closely (but that's just my opinion). Read up on SEO. There are lots of free resources available here on Etsy so take advantage of them. Good luck!

[Former_Member]

Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences and advice. It's so helpful!

Best Wishes,
Kate

[Former_Member]

A month and a half for me! I think it really depends on what you're selling as well. If you sell jewelry, like me, then it may take longer to get that first sale because the market for jewelry is so saturated on here.

[Former_Member]

When I opened my first shop a few years ago, I got a sale in the first two weeks. But I honestly don't know how. My photos and SEO were horrible!! LOL

In this shop, it took me 6 weeks to get my first sale. I haven't put as much time into this shop as I did in my old one, because now I have a 6 month old who takes up most of my attention :)

The sales will come, but like Mary said, your Etsy shop is a small business and it is so rare to see an overnight success. Just keep working at it. There is so much valuable information here on Etsy that can help. Best wishes!!

[Former_Member]

3 Weeks! But I spent about 4 hours marketing every day(:

[PreciousReikiGems]

It took about a month, but I feel like it was a bit of a cheat - my friend bought pieces for herself and her daughter. The first "real" sale was about 2 weeks later.

[Former_Member]

It took me a few months to get my first sale. It was a custom order and that was followed by a sale to a friend. Took quite some time to start getting regular sales to be people that I didn't know.

[Former_Member]

Hi,

My first sale was a complete surprise for me.It happened after 6 weeks I opened my shop.

I am just 2 months old on Etsy.

I am getting 2-3 views daily only once it was increased to 2o.Where as others are getting 100-200 views on daily basis?


What should i do to increase my views?

Please help me.

Thank You.

[StuckOnSilver]

Jewelry is a saturated market on Etsy--promote, promote, promote! Good luck!

[Former_Member]

3 Days for first sale, completely shocked. Now waiting for #2.

Thanks,
Richard

[JudysLittleShop]

My first sale was after more than a year. I knew nothing about on-line sales, SEO, Tags, etc. I listed a few things and just forgot about them. Someone once pointed out that people won't stay long in a store that has 10 items.

I've gotten better with SEO and tags, but I still don't blog, tweet, pay for ads, etc.

[Sallyamoss]

About three weeks. I've been here since Feb. 2014 and have had 64 sales. Some weeks I've have 5 sales other weeks none. My visitor stats are some days 30 others 130. I'm not confident about my photos or my SEOs and there is such a lot to learn. But, the teams and forums are great. There are some really nice people here who are so willing to give advice and guidance to help you along the very frustrating and long road.

I wish you well and great sales. Sally

[Former_Member]

My first sale came unexpected 6 weeks after opening, shortly followed by my 2nd a week later.... now i'm just waiting for my 3rd! my stats have been really low lately. I am promoting, blogging and linking to FB..... learning all the seo and updating my photos.
Is there anything else I can do?

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TinksVintageTreasure

[Former_Member]

i had my first sale (i had horrible pics and SEO back then) after about 3 weeks when i was like a thousand miles away from home on vacation. i was soooo excited and couldn´t do anything for 3 or 4 days......

[JewelMeShop]

It took me 1 month. I'll never forget that day!

[TheFamilyJewelsWI]

My first sale took 2 weeks. That was 2011. I have vastly improved my shop since then. My SEO was awful as were my photos. I am not hugely successful but am proud of what I have accomplished. I too sell jewelry and it is hard to get found/noticed.

I suggest no cluttered photos and add more items. My shop really took off after I had 100 items. It seems like the magic number.

[SerenityInChains]

We got our first sale within 2 weeks of being open, and then it took another 4 weeks for the next sale to roll in. Now, its a much MUCH more steady stream of sales, but that comes with experience and improvements that the Etsy team has made to the site!

[Former_Member]

It depends! It could take weeks or months but just hang in there. Keep adding inventory!