How can I get more sales?

[Former_Member]

Hello everyone,

My Etsy shop is almost 1 year old but sadly I am finding sales very slow. I am starting to feel disheartened as I have put so much time and effort into my shop. I find it difficult tagging words which I know is very important but sometimes I just feel so stuck with words. I have gone back into some of my listings to change tags.

Some days I might only get 1 or 2 views from people who look at my shop and then I can go for days without anyone looking at my shop. I know times are hard and perhaps people are watching their expenses. I just don't know what to think! I have been thinking about trying out 'Promoted Listings' has any one tried this out and had any luck with this?

[Former_Member]

I have only had a shop since November, and have yet to make a sale. But I did look at your shop and these are some things I would do.

I would take pictures on a white background and work on focusing them. Some of your images are blurry. Someone suggested PicMonkey to edit my pictures and its amazing and easy to use.
I would also show your items being worn. Get rid of the drawing around the Vintage Red Butterfly Bangle. You want people to look at the item.
In your titles, make sure you put what the item actually is within the first 2-3 words; this is what Google will use when people are searching for items. Maybe like: Vintage Bangle or Vintage Brooch etc.
And of course, you need more items. I am slowly building mine up, and from what I hear you need at least 40 items. More items means more exposure and more traffic.
Good luck, I feel your pain, I am a little frustrated too. I just retook all of my pictures and redid my banner. I think its a work in progress for a lot of us.

[Former_Member]

good advice above.

I'd also say, a lighter, plain background would do more to shop of your beautiful jewelry.

MORE ITEMS! Think of your store like a brick and mortar shop.....if you walked into a shop in your hometown that had very few items, you wouldn't stay long. The more listings you have, the more opportunity for buyers to find you.

Make sure you have great keywords so that customers searching for vintage jewelry can find you.

Social media- if you haven't already, set up social media pages. Start with one- like facebook and share with your friends, etc. Post regularly to build a following.

Etsy teams are a great way to meet people and introduce them to your business!

Good luck!

[Former_Member]

consider using a white background for your photos, your items are lovely but the color is hindered by the dark background. Also, you'll get more views if you list/renew frequently and also if you add more items to your shop. You want to have at least 50 items.

[NiciLaskin]

Definitely, I have to agree with the shop above and say add more items. Use diverse titles and tags with each listing. Getting found in Etsy is like throwing darts blind folded. You never know what will hit the bulls eye. Etsy also tends to follow trends, so when you hit a home run, that item will sell over and over again. Try other backgrounds, not just white and really branch out into as many categories as possible. Off site promotion is also going to be key. Promote through Wanelo, Pintrest, Facebook...

[ObjectApparel]

You just need way more items. Its easier for people to find your shop the more items you have!!

[ShackontheRock]

I do not know if this is true, but I heard if you have 80-100 items listed, you tend to get noticed more....?

[marigoldmary]

Agree with above: white photo backgrounds, many more listings and SEO help. You need more descriptive words in your titles, the same words in your descriptions and 2-3 word tags (all need to match). Think like a buyer! If you were searching in the etsy search bar, what would you type in to find your items?

[ThePrivateCollection]

Look at your shop from a buyer's perspective...if YOU walked into a store that had only 13 items, would you make a purchase? How long do you think it would take to browse 13 items?

All the advice you've been given is sound - keep working at it and good luck!

[ShantarasSoaps]

You only have one item at the top of your page in the "featured" section. (Where you go in and give your items yellow stars. This makes your page look empty from the get-go. After you star the four items you'd like to features...the ones you want people to look at when they first land on your page, then star a couple more so in the event your featured items sell, you will have another item ready to take its place and you won't have empty spots at the top of your page.

More items...since listing 90+ items in my shop, I sell consistently.

Join some teams that promote. I've gotten more traffic and sales by joining FB teams that promote within Etsy. Teams like daily sales, and more. Get your items out there and get likes on them, faves on them, likes for your shop, etc. You have to promote to get those. This often means making a document where you copy all of your listing links to, then when you go to the teams to promote, you simply bring up the document and copy and paste your items.

Join avid treasurers team and sign up each sunday evening for that weeks treasury game. This week is #163. You will make treasuries, (using google chrome and Brittany's Best treasury maker), and other people will make treasuries with your items, which will get you shop views, faves, etc.

Teams, teams, and more teams are the secret to traffic and views success.

[Former_Member]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to write and give me all this wonderful and helpful advice. I am going to take all your comments on board and use them to make my shop a success. I hope you all have a Wonderful day!

[Former_Member]

So much great advice here I'm not sure what to add. Teams do really seem to make a difference for traffic. And SEO.
• Use the Google Keyword tool to find keywords that are relevant to your products and use them in your titles and tags.
• Make sure your titles and tags match.
Hang in there!

@Anita, are FEATURED ITEMS promoted items?

[HildaLea]

You need to take a look at your tags -- some items have some words (e.g. vintage) twice and you use almost exclusively one-word tag phrases. Join the team "Etsy Relevancy SEO and Stats" and read through some of their pinned threads -- it talks a looooot about SEO and really making the most of your tags and titles. I personally have learned a lot and it has been helping!

Good luck!

[JustMonkeyingAround]

First, I love you items. You should not feel discouraged about your product at all....very unique. I think changing the background would make a huge difference. The wood really takes away from your beautiful items. I'd keep the background very plain.
I was also discouraged for a very long time. One day I decided Etsy was how I wanted to sell so I dedicated myself to learning as much as I could to get sales. I do think it's very important to have lots of listings to allow more opportunity to be found. Another thing I think has help me get steady sales is promoting often. I am on 28 teams and try to post and fav as often as possible to help keep my items moved up in searches. Even if you only promote on one team, try to do so several times a week. Good luck and hang in there. I was ready to quit until I was encouraged to not give up, be patient, and continually improve my shop. I still have lots of work to do, but what I have done so far has really paid off.

[JustMonkeyingAround]

That's YOUR items

[UncomplicatedStyle]

Pictures, as everyone says and keywords. Search for other vintage jewelry sellers on the web and see what words they are using to describe their items that you might not have thought of. Also, use every single character in your title. From what I have figured out (and it may not be true, just my thought), Etsy search picks up from your key words and title. We are limited to 13 keywords at 20 characters each and the product title of 140 characters. It can be hard to come up with new ways to describe things - try a synonym search for your core keywords to find other words.
If you aren't already, use Instagram and Tumblr (as well as the usual Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest) with all the pertinent hashtags you can to build up an audience. I say these two specifically because, while I am in my early 40s, my 21 year old daughter lives on Tumblr and Instagram and loves all things vintage.
Good luck!

[Former_Member]

Dear Ria Sharon, Bee, Kathy & Leeanna,

I am so sorry for the very late reply. Thank you so much for taking the time to write & help me with all your very helpful advice.

Kind Regards
Michelle.

[Former_Member]

When I first glance at the shop, it looks like its been abandoned. There is only one feature item and the most recently listed item was on Feb 19th.

The SHOP ANNOUNCEMENT should tell the prospective customer about the shop. Yours says
""A small ARRAN AROMATICS organic soap that has been made in Scotland will be included inside your package as a Thank you gift when you purchase an item 😊""

So I'd leave since I have a very severe allergy to many scents.

Your 'about' page says """In 2006 I started making handmade beaded jewellery as a hobby. Later on this year I would like to list some of my designs in my Etsy shop"" Its now 2015 and there still isn't any handmade beaded jewellery in the shop. So maybe its time to update the About page?


You have a total of 13 items in your shop. If you were to walk into a 'vintage' shop on the high street that had been open for almost a year yet the shelves were still bare, would you consider making a purchase?

You are selling vintage items yet none of the items that I looked at even mentioned the period in the description. Many vintage collectors really want to know this, especially with jewellery.

When you take a photo you might want to showcase the actual item rather than the floor that the photo is taken on. Many of your photos don't show items from all angles.

When describing an item be sure you know what it is before you list it. Saying that it is '12 crystals or possibly rhinestones" really doesn't instill any confidence.

Measurements - its great that you are listing in metric but the USA (probably your largest customer base) probably needs to see in inches as well. Give all dimensions and not just the width of an item.

There isn't any 'magic number' of items that will guarantee sales for any shop. But you should set up a target number of items that you wish to add each week (or month) to build up the shop.

When you write a title, write it so that it contains words that a customer may use if they were searching for what you are selling. Don't worry about where in the title specific words are placed. It doesn't matter one bit.

And then, use the key words and phrases from your title as your tags.

Hang in there and keep on working on the shop. My 'target' number of items is between 800 & 1000 (that's when I have the most sales) but I've been lagging behind for the past 12 months or so.

[KiltedWoman]

Love to Ayr! My inlaws live in Stevenston and Saltcoats. Of course I like the highland dance pin but the shipping is quite high. I usually pay about $6.00 or £4.00 for similar items from Scotland. Can you go cheaper on shipping?

I agree with more items, put a featured item in all 4 spots up top and list something every day if possible. Best wishes!