Sales

[candlekraze]

Hi everyone my name is Tony and I own a shop called candlekraze here on etsy. I am looking for imput on why I am having a hard time getting sales. I think my product is priced right, the photos are good and my descriptions are good. But I just can't get the sale. I do great at any craft show I do. I just cancled my search ads because they were not helping either. What I can't figure out is i've checked other shops that sell the same items, have the same prices and they have sales in the thousands. What am I doing wrong?. I will also be listing about another 50 items in the next week so maybe that will help. I need some advice as to what I might be doing wrong and how to fix it.

thanx Tony

[Former_Member]

Hi Tony and Everyone. My name is Alison and my shop name is I Spilled the Beads. Don't feel alone.....I am experiencing the same problem as you. I started my shop in October of 2011 but didn't start listing my items until June of this year. I JUST made my first sale last week. I haven't done any craft shows but have sold several items outside of Etsy. I tried the search ads and oddly enough, I had fewer views during the week the ads were active. I too feel that my items are reasonably priced and the amount of views I get are o.k., some days much better than others. I'm curious to see the input others may have...I would really love to sell more!!! Good luck to you.


Alison

[ScoSiCa]

Hey Tony,

I peeked at your shop and I think your items look good - I didn't see anything that struck me as overpriced (and I'm a total cheapo). There were a couple of photos that looked like they could use a little brightening up - really make the colors pop - like the banana and lemon container candles.

I also see you only have 3 of your 4 featured items filled. Just for balance I'd add another item in there, maybe a contrasting color like the cherry one.

I looked specifically at three of your listings and your items seem to have fairly similar tags - which can totally happen when you're listing very similar items. If possible though, I'd suggest finding different combinations for tags - easier said than done sometimes trust me I know - I do lots of beaded jewelry. Anyway, I'd suggest more tags and more phrase tags so you have a nice mix of phrases and single word tags.

For example on this "15oz Large Wine Glass Candle" listing:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/101726834/15oz-large-wine-glass-candle

you want to make sure you're including tags that match information in your title, so be sure your title is making use of the best keyword options possible while still making sense.

Your tags are: candles container candles containers jar birthday gift wedding wax wick scent paraffin flame. The first two are the categories you must've chosen when listing the item - so it looks like you've effectively doubled up on two tags - I don't know if the categories act like tags as well or not - correct or not I tend to treat them like tags and try not to double up.

Now you want to think like a buyer. If I'm looking for candles I personally wouldn't usually search for wick or flame - maybe flame if I'm looking for a candle in a container with a flame on it. Based on the picture and the description, if I were putting keywords in trying to find this specific item for purchase, these are the ones I'd use:

wine glass candle
multi scent candles
fruit scented candle
cherry candle
pina colada candle
blueberry candle
layered candle
layered scent candle
large glass candle
along with your jar, wax, scent, paraffin single keywords I'd think about cherry, pina colada, blueberry

So let's say you decided to go with some of those tags -- now your title isn't doing as much work as it could (yes it can be an ugly vicious cycle!). To make it more robust you might try: Large Wine Glass Layered Fruit Scented Candle - 15oz.

I'm doing an experiment with titles where I have at least three different mini-titles (I've been looking in the SEO team and saw a few members with this style so figured I'd try it) if you were to go that route I'd do something like:

Wine Glass Candle, Fruit Scented Candle, Large Layered Scent Candle

Now you've got three separate specific connections to your tags. Will this work more than the 1st option? No idea! Its still experimental for me. I do know though you want to repeat your keywords in your tags, title and description but in a way that is readable.

I've found myself doing a lot of editing of tags and titles and determined for me it was easier to come up with my tags (I recommend figuring out all 13 - more chances a person will pick one you used) then work up a title around those so I'm sure I'm matching up at least a few.

Please remember this is partly opinion, and partly based on what I've been learning from the forums so your mileage may vary. I hope I haven't overstepped my bounds either, I tend to get on a roll sometimes. :)

[AnneLondezGlass]

Hi Tony,

Sia gave you lots of useful info already.
Personally I'd rework the pics a little, go for a simpler look. For example, on the pic above, the red and green background detracts from the candle, makes it too busy. The eye should be drawn to your product first. I like your pics with some of the components but I'd use less of them, a more neutral background and make sure the pics are perfectly focused, some look a bit fuzzy to me.

Then it's all about promotion, you need lots of views each day to make sales and that only happens if you promote like crazy. Don't know what you're doing in that respect but you can't do too much !

Hope that helps !

[candlekraze]

I Thankyou for your input. I cancelled my search ads because they were really not doing anything for the shop. I'm gonna have to rethink things and figure out how to get the sales going steady