Is my art not "Etsy" enough?

[Former_Member]

I'm a new seller and have had little to no success thus far. Aside from having zero sales, I haven't even gotten that many views or favorites at all. Since joining, I've edited my tags, changed my photos and even purchased search ads twice. I've also advertised on sites like Twitter and Facebook. Still... there has been no luck.

Although Etsy has a VAST range of products and crafts, I can't help but feel that the more featured/successful artists all have a very similar "style" or are riding along modern trends. I fear that my work may not be a good fit here....

Am I over thinking this?

Any feedback is very appreciated and thank you in advance.

[Former_Member]

I really like your shop and think it can do well on Etsy. I found that the more items I have in my shop, the more views I get, and ultimately the sales go up. Once I got more than 10 items in my shop, I saw a big difference. Perhaps that will help.

[Former_Member]

Your work is really cute and well priced. I notice you do have quite a few views and favorites. Add more listings if you can--that seems to help.

Also, your shipping seems a little high. Is that accurate? Can you lower it a bit, even if you have to raise the price of the item. Just a thought.

Also, you might want to add Nursery Decor to your tags.

[Former_Member]

Pricing my items was the biggest challenge for me...and still is. I browsed around and charged based on what I was finding in similar shops. I don't want to over charge and scare people off but at the same time I don't want to underprice and rip myself off. I've been lowering them a little recently in hopes to possibly make a sale. I'll look into the shipping amount. I've never shipped a print before so I'm not really sure how to charge accurately. :/
Thank you for the feedback!

[Former_Member]

I love the style. You also may want to promote yourself with teams that have fans of that style of art like kawaii groups. Definitely check into one of my favorite teams, http://www.etsy.com/teams/6637/etsy-ugly-cute

[Former_Member]

you got really nice illustration. It's too early too give up! I believe 1st sale is not far away. You need to make more fresh listing, at least to fill up the first page? 5 items is not enough for you to generate good visitors numbers to your shop and turn them to sales.

Cheers! All the best!

[Former_Member]

Do a sample package, weigh it or take it to the p.o. and ask them how much to ship to the farthest zip code from where you are.

Pricing is very hard. Hang in there!

[Former_Member]

Thank you everyone for the words of encouragement. It is really uplifting! I was starting to feel very insecure about my work as of late.

[Former_Member]

I just looked again and saw that the item I looked at, which costs $25 with $10 shipping is pretty large. The others you have shipping at $5, which seems reasonable. Still, it's a good idea to get an accurate shipping estimate.

Your work is really cute. Have you thought about making cards?

One more small thing--I really like your banner, but your avatar doesn't quite seem to fit with the fanciful feel of your shop.

[Former_Member]

Jen- To be honest, I never even considered using the avatar as a marketing icon! What a good idea! I will definitely change it to something that fits a bit more.
I will also look into getting a more accurate price for my shipping costs. Thank you so much! This means a lot to me. :)

[NeatoKeen]

I think your art is Awesome! Your main photo on each listing needs to be a detail of the art - right now it appears far away. I think it's best to "reel them in" with a detail shot and then you can show the entire object (with frame) in another photo.

I agree with Jen that your avatar doesn't seem to fit. Personally, I would use that charming Rustic Robin...he is VERY appealing!

I wish you the best always - that first sale is not far away and many more will follow!

[KatGurumi]

I really like your photos, but maybe have closeups of your prints as the first image, and the ones you have now as the second image. If someone sees the photos now in a small thumbnail, it will be hard to tell what it is, and a lot of people only go based on the picture, not even the title.

Love your stuff, though.

[Former_Member]

Your art is cute, I would add more items to your shop, customers like a variety to choose from, the more you have the more they can buy. Also it just takes a little while to get going on Esty. Hang in there. I hearted your shop!
Blessings!
Celia

[WhistlingFishPottery]

As someone else said, number of items in your shop seems to be critical. About 40 items is where I started to see sales that weren't from me running out and mugging potential customers. ;)
The way I understand it, the more items the more chances the search engines will kick your stuff out early in the list of hits.

[mothrasue]

You just need to add more items and take a closer up picture of your art for the first photo---and on a white background would be ideal so that the art is the focus. Don't give up!

[Former_Member]

I'm on the fence about having a "zoomed in" picture for the first image of my listed item. Browsing around, it appears both ways can be done well.
To tell you the truth, I USED to have the zoomed in picture as the first image, but I thought maybe putting them in frames would add some "realness" to my items.

[Former_Member]

Your stuff is ADORABLE! Now all you have to do is spread the word. Make up business cards and postcards...vistaprint.com has great prices. Pintrest and FB are great promotional tools...try there.
I favorited a few items and will put them on my Pinterest finds page too!

http://pinterest.com/36monsters/you-need-this-stuff-etsy-must-haves/

[Former_Member]

Hi Chelsey,
I really like your pieces!! It looks like your shop was opened less than 3 months ago, you are definitely over thinking the "etsyness" of your pieces.
I joined a couple years ago with VERY unique jewelry, about 5 pieces, gorgeous professional pics, and I got no sales and almost no views. Why? Because etsy is what you make it, you have to bring people to you! Its almost impossible for people to randomly happen upon you!
This time around with my shop, I have a lot of listings so people have more chances to find me, I work with the SEO and I am constantly watchign the online labs and reading the Etsy Success group on way to improve my shop. This is along with having a shop facebook, twitter, wanelo, pinterest, working conventions, getting my stuff in shops. etc.
I think you have a great product, you just have to work hard to get it out there!
Jillian xx

[Former_Member]

As you add more items you will get more views and eventually sales. I do advice you to please use a watermark on your pictures. Some people out here like to steal art, and a watermark can help prevent that. Keep it up!

[Former_Member]

You've got a nice distinctive identity with your work which can only be good. All the 'tech' advice above is really useful and is what makes this team one of the most worthwhile to follow, you can always pick up a new tip.

[Former_Member]

I looked at your shop and you do beautiful art BUT you have just a few items!!
So it's very normal that you won't get too many views..!!

You just need to add more items and you will do GREAT!

[LouiseMead]

First of all, your art is beautiful! I'm sure plenty of people will want it when they get to see it!

A few things I would do if I was you:

1. Have more shop items - the wider your net, the more fish you'll catch!

2. Fill out your description a bit. Explain things like - what kind of paper are you using (for example I use 315g 100% cotton paper), what inks you use, (again I use Canon archival inks which are reportedly 30 years lightfast).

3. Make your title more SEO friendly - for example, with this item http://www.etsy.com/listing/104117936/colorful-deer-and-fireflies-print-9-x-15 I suspect few people will want to search for 'Colorful Deer and Fireflies' I'd be inclined to use a phrase such as 'Illustration Print' or 'Children's Illustration Print' or 'Children's Art Print'. It'd be worth experimenting with a few different phrases like that and seeing which works for you.

4. Consider using main photos with a white background. You could use http://fotofuze.com/ to clip the background out of your existing main photos for free. The reason for this is that they're more likely to be included in treasuries if they have a neutral background and also far more likely to be in a front page treasury too.

5. Join some teams. I've found that team membership has been a great way to promote my shop - it's a two-way thing. You all work together to promote each other.

6. Keep trying - different things, new things, etc until it starts to work for you.

[Former_Member]

Tye- Thank you so much for pinning my prints! That means a lot to me! :)

Jillian- Thanks for the input! Yes, after putting this thread up, I can say that I am definitely over thinking this.

Louise- Thank you so much for putting so much thought into your response! I will definitely take another look at the titles of my prints. I'm still getting the hang of the "etsy speak" and keywords that will help me get more views. :)

[Former_Member]

Chelsey,
Come play with my friends and I on Mondays! We all spend a bit of time adding stuff to our pinterest boards and inviting people to come join in too. It's a fun conversation, we all have a good time seeing new things, and everyone gets some free promo!
In fact, anyone reading this thread is invited!
http://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/10956275/

[Former_Member]

I think etsy has such an enormous range of different types of things and styles that anything goes.

I've seen some very strange and wonderful things on Etsy!