How long does it take!

[Former_Member]

How long did it take for you to make your first sale?

i've been open for 2 weeks now. I don't have many items listed, 11 i think. I have some people liking my items, but they are just not buying them. I've had about 250 views. i'm frustrated and discouraged (and my crafting fund is going broke too). I check Etsy obsessionally to see if I've had a sale. I think i might need medication for that :)

So tell me about your first sale. When did it happen?

[Former_Member]

I consider my second customer as first sale. (My first was to a nice lady who knows me from a discussion board off site.) It just sort of happened after a few weeks.

It takes a lot of patience. I've been playing with SEO keywords promoting, and adding as many items as I can. More items, more chances of being found in the search.

[Former_Member]

I created my account in October, 2011 but I didn't start listing items in my shop until late June of this year. I was starting to worry because my items weren't selling as fast as I wanted them to sell. Several seasoned sellers told me that it takes a bit of time to make your first sale and not to fret because this is the slow season, anyway. I made my first sale August 13. I made my second sale this morning. It happens, it just takes a bit of time. Use that time to work on your SEO, your photos, and adding more items to your shop.

[shaylalynnjewelry]

11 items might seem okay at first but it's just not enough for your shop to look nice and full. You will be more like to have a sale once you have at least at full page or two of items.

[1AEON]

a while..i actually think with anticipation and desperation you can derail your sales coming at you. meaning: trying to force it and wanting it to happen, will delay it.
When I take my mind off of it, always great things and surprises happen:)

[BeadworkAndCoe]

I've just passed the 6 month mark ...
Had more than 6000 views and 500 hearts, but no sale!

[WilliamsGiftshop]

It is way to early to be impatient.
Just continue working on your stock, your shop, your listing, your keywords, etc., and promote, promote, promote.

Remember it takes years to build up a successful business. Not days.

Also remember that Etsy is 'just' a selling platform. They don't bring us our customers. That is our own job.

[LeNidDeFleurs]

Took many months for my first sale....it was the loveliest surprise. But yes 11 items is very low....and I spending too much time looking at stats.

[Former_Member]

They do say Patience is a virtue. It is so true. 2 weeks is really not that much time. I too got really excited and thought that that excitement would translate into sales. I realized it takes so much work and reinventing ones ideas. Keep your head up. You will get there. Jewelry is a really tough market here but that shouldn't stop you. Be creative and use this time to research and play around with what you have.

Because I am still figuring it out as well... here are a couple of things that I am working on and notice in your shop as well.

* keep listing when you can. more items means more chances for people to find you.
* Work on your photography. I love the natural organic background. But this also distracts a bit from your lovely items. Try doing a little photo editing to lighten up your pictures to make your items stand out better. The clearer your item is the more a potential customer will trust what they are looking at. Like this one.. I don't see the glassware popping out. I see the wood behind it.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/107739594/set-of-4-etched-deer-glasses-candle

* also work on your tags and titles. The first few words are important. I would try something like etched deer glass candle holders - set of 4. And your tags are better to use a couple of strong words in one tag. Like etch glass. You repeat one tag (i don't think it matters if it is capitalized or not). You state that it is a perfect gift.. How about make a tag that denotes that, like "christmas gift" or "fathers day"
* I find that when I am looking for jewelry, I like to see how they hang. Try using a branch or something to hang them up while you photograph them.

Good luck! I think you are on the right track, it just takes some work and patience.

[Former_Member]

It took 6 weeks for my first sale. I started with only 9 items and have been slowly building for the last 9 months. It took a lot of time promoting my shop in various forums, teams, social media and outside Etsy to get noticed. But if you spend the time promoting, working on your photos and adding more items it will pay off.

[Former_Member]

I made my first sale to SOMEONE I DIDN'T KNOW in my second week. I think that's an important distinction for me. My friends buy a LOT of my stuff. I don't think any of them buy soap in a regular store anymore lol

[Former_Member]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I know deep down that 2 weeks and 11 items are a rough start and I shouldn't be discouraged. But you know....you want to make that first sale. I am trying to add at least an item a day. Vacation is coming up soon, so that will be a nice way to regroup my thoughts and get away from my day time job.

[Former_Member]

My first sale didn't come until my fifth month. I had basically given up, and didn't even see a convo about an item I had listed until two weeks after she sent it! I wrote back, she was very nice, ordered two things in a different color. I was so happy! At that point I actually started working here...finding teams, learning about tags, taking more and better pictures, etc. Don't give up, it slowly builds, and sometimes quickly!

ETA: really list more, it only costs 20¢, views build faster when you have frequent listings. I started with about how many you have, now I'm at 164, I had a few views a day, now 60 or so a day, usually 6-10 faves a day.

[Former_Member]

I'm currently on the same side of the fence as you, but just wanted to give my support and good wishes! I opened my shop on Aug.1st, which I now know from Etsy posters is apparently the slowest month ever, haha. I also had 11 items listed until a few days ago but I have been making it a priority over the past two weeks to create as much as I can and list it all!

Your shop is put together quite nicely and I love your shop banner! (I'm a big kitty fan) I have noticed listing new items will help your views dramatically, as on the days I listed 30+ new items I had a large view spike. It also takes a lot of self-marketing. I haven't had any sales yet (outside of one family friend) but I have seen results in views by being active in teams and favoriting items. The more active you are on Etsy, the more activity you receive in return. Today I was featured on my very first Treasury! So even though the big First Sale hasn't come in yet for you - don't forget to celebrate the other little milestones such as having an item in your shop favorited or being added to a circle.

The one suggestion I would make for your listings is to try and photograph your items on a white backdrop. I have seen many people do this with jewelry, it helps to keep the viewer focused on your art instead of the texture or objects behind it. Having the first photo in your listing showcased nicely on a white background also does a lot to improve your chances to being added to a treasury and featured on the front page!

The most important thing I keep telling myself is to stick with it, be active, help your fellow sellers out with promotions and creating treasuries and they will often return the favor. SEO is so very important to getting your product seen by buyers - I would suggest finding a few shops that sell a similar item to yours and have been very successful, and Convo the sellers to inquire how they are making tags. There are also teams devoted to helping you critique shop tags. Etsy is so overwhelming with the resources available to us artists, so don't give up and I'll be sending good thoughts your way!

Good luck from a fellow Newbie! :D

[krochetlady]

It took over to year to get my first sale, I didn't pay much attention to my shop and I did not list many items. I had really really bad photos. Sales started once I listed more items, improved photos and joined various promotion teams.

Good luck to you

[Former_Member]

You need to join more teams and have someone make a critique of your shop because just eyeing your shop, I can tell you need work with pictures, SEO, keywords, tagging, your banner, stock, etc. It takes a while and patience.
Use ALL your keywords for your listings...I saw a couple and you haven't used all of the ones you are able to.
Use GOOGLE ADWORDS to find the more relevant keywords.
Also, work on your titles.

[Former_Member]

Regarding the banner, you should have one that has to do with your shop. The cat is cute and yes your shop has the name 'cat' in it but it's not a cat shop. Just looking at the banner I would think you make toys for cats or something that has to do with cat, collars, etc.

[Former_Member]

It's always best to direct any urges of checking etsy stats towards reading the Sellers Handbook and all the generously shared info in these forums that will help you improve photos, titles, tags, descriptions, marketing ways etc ...

If you just check out any of the countless "no sales" threads, they all suggest that one needs at least 2 pages of items to start looking like a real shop. Yes, it's hard to invest $$ before you have made any back, but you can't do much on Etsy before you have invested many many hours reading all the how-tos and investing some starting capital.

[Former_Member]

Your shop already is starting to look very pretty, so you're on a good track :)

Keep improving and the sales will come ... the first one is the hardest one to wait for ;)

[Former_Member]

It took me almost two months to have this first sale, so be patient. I still wait for my customers)) I had just few sales.

[LeChaim]

Hi,

My story: I opened my Etsy shop in 2010 but didn`t have time to really list anything until this June. I sold my first item within 5 minutes after I started listing my handmade jewelries. When it was sold I was actually about to list the 4th items to my shop and realized one of the 3 items I had just listed disappeared from my shop! I thought I did something wrong and accidentally deleted it until I found the listing under sold items. You can imagine how surprised I was, couldn`t believe my own eyes and couldn`t believe how easy it was to sell on Etsy! So I started listing more items but didn`t make the 2nd sale until a month later :)

I still keep listing more items to my shop whenever its possible. I know it takes a little time especially in the beginning. I think you should keep adding items to your shop, more items will make your shop more like a shop, get more exposure, and buyers will have more items to choose from. Just give it a bit more time:)

Good luck with your sales!

[KCbytheNYC]

It took me four weeks to make my first sale, and I am still waiting and hoping for my second one! It is definitely a lesson in patience. I try to improve something everyday-photos, keywords, a new listing, so we'll see what happens. Best of luck!