Showcase Questions

[TwiggyandOpal]

Hi everyone!
I'm new to the team and Etsy. My shop has only been open since September 27th. It has been slow going and a lot of work and research. I am by no means discouraged and will do all I can to make a go at it. Thanks to this team, I have had many questions answered!

I have booked a Showcase slot (going on as I speak!) and seems to me its a good way to get some traffic.

Questions I have:
What is the recommended way of handling the slot? Do people usually leave the one item at the top for the entire 24 hour period or switch? If you switch them, how often do you recommend doing that? Besides getting sales from it, what is the best part of doing these showcase?

So far, I have had over 75 views, no sales. I look at it as a way to get my shop seen, create traffic, interest and hopefully one day a sale! Any feedback on this would be so appreciated!

[DeerGirlDesigns]

I have a spot coming up on the 18th and I have chosen a necklace that gets the highest ratio of favorties to views and I am keeping it up there. It's also a piece that I think represents my signature style and aesthetic well, so I won't change it at all for the entire showcase. That is my plan! But, if you wanted to switch it up, I guess that wouldn't hurt? Which item do you have showcased?

[Former_Member]

I switch items out..there's no particular time frame but if you have multiple listings you would like to show, you can do them in 4hr increments.

[Former_Member]

Oh and the best part....is being seen!

[Former_Member]

Sorry you have decided to put money into the showcase. Its not really been a great way to get exposure IMO. Many people don't even know how to find the showcases.

You can list 35 new items in your shop for the same money you would spend on a showcase and get much more exposure.

However, since you've already taken the plunge, I would suggest that you put your best photographed items in the showcase. You want to try to bring customers to your shop.

Good luck!

[TwiggyandOpal]

Thanks for the info.
I originally put up a baby quilt (Baby Quilt - Gray, Red, Brown and Turquoise - Little Apples) and got views, then thought I would try another one (Modern Twin/Full Quilt - Woven Stripes). The Woven Stripe quilt gets the most views in my shop.

[TwiggyandOpal]

Since this is my first Showcase, I decided to go ahead and switch. I plan on doing it again. I would love to put the money into listing more items as well. I wish I had more to list....Thanks for the advise and ideas!

[TwiggyandOpal]

Since this is my first Showcase, I decided to go ahead and switch. I plan on doing it again. I would love to put the money into listing more items as well. I wish I had more to list....Thanks for the advise and ideas!

[DeerGirlDesigns]

hey let us know how many hits you get from your showcase. I am hearing mixed reviews of the showcase feature, but starting to think that perhaps crochetgal is right and it's not the best way to go.

[Former_Member]

crochetgal from crochetgal says
Many people don't even know how to find the showcases.
-----
I think I found the showcases once by accident, but I'll be damned if I can remember where.

[TwiggyandOpal]

davkadeergirl I will let you know! Right now its at 117 with 6 hours to go. It would be great for a sale from it...but you gotta start somewhere!

[TwiggyandOpal]

Seriously good point crochetgal! At the risk of looking like a total 'idiot'...I had to really think hard where to go to see it!

[StarJewels]

Where are the showcases? I don't see them anywhere under the BUY tab.

[TwiggyandOpal]

Sarah, if you click on the orange Etsy button at the top of the page it goes to the category page. Since my category is quilts, I select that category and at the top of the page are the Spotlight pictures. You can then narrow your search from there. I hope that helps and makes sense!

[PoppyandPippa]

I've had great success from Showcases! It's perfect for me. When someone selects children from the categories (off to the left of the Etsy Home page) the showcase items are on the top of the page!! There are limited number of shops that can be showcased each day.

I think some of you are thinking of the "Search Ads" which are a joke in my opinion. I don't know if anyone else tried them but they did absolutely nothing for our shop. The showcase brings LOTS more traffic our way.

Good luck with your new shop :) Oh, and one more thing - it's a good idea to run a sale the day you have an item showcased. That's what we've been doing and we have many repeat customers (even when we don't have sales) that first saw us on a Showcase.

[ForgottenCotton]

id love to know how showcases work and if you get hits- where can you even find them?

[TwiggyandOpal]

Poppy and Pippa! Love the name! Very cute items you have in your shop! Thanks so much for the feedback. Great idea having a sale on the day of the showcase. I will do that next time. I am pretty pleased with the traffic it brought to my shop. Maybe next time it will generate a sale or two!

[TwiggyandOpal]

Elizabeth, here is a link regarding Showcases. You can also go to 'your shop' at the top of your shop page, and then on the left side it lists showcase. Click on it and it takes you to where you can book and learn about them. Do you mean where can you find out if you get hits from the showcase? You can see it all from your shop stats.

http://www.etsy.com/help/article/262

[Former_Member]

If you want to see the showcases, you can go to the "categories" page
http://www.etsy.com/categories
from the 'Buy' page.
When you select any category you will see 'sponsored items' across the top of the page. These items are the showcase items.

[Former_Member]

I have had such great success from the showcases!! I just have a hard time being able to find an open slot! They sell out so fast because they are limited! I got so much traffic, no sales but to be seen is so great! Within the first 3 hours over 115 items were viewed which was awesome and so exciting! I had so many admirers added as well! I think the idea to have a sale the day of your showcase is a fabulous idea! I need to try that! My second showcase is the 22nd! Can't wait for that day to get here!! I picked the item in my shop that I noticed to be the most popular and put that as my showcase item. I left the same item the entire day.

At first I had a hard time finding the showcased items but if you click on the orange etsy logo on the top then choose a category from the listing, lets choose accessories then the very top row are the showcase items, you can scroll through them along the top or click to view all the showcased items at one time.

[TwiggyandOpal]

davkadeergirl, I ended up getting 174 views. No, I did not get any sales. I figure I will put this in the "getting my shop out there" column! I certainly don't regret it!

[ElectronicGirl]

so far im on the fence with the showcases. i did one and it boosted my favs for that day..but then i did it in a different category about 1month later and no favs. i think you have to be very careful which category you do the showcase in.

after the black friday weekend...i think im stopping with the showcases and switching to the "renew" theory and see if that works better.

[ElectronicGirl]

and just to mention...at this point in the month...i have over 700+ views...and still no sales....so dont worry about the sales so far. ;)

[TwiggyandOpal]

I'm still figuring it all out with showcases, search ads (which I haven't tried) and just waiting it out! Thanks for the info, every little bit helps!

[Netamente]

I've tried ads the last month, increased 30% my traffic but I haven't any sale either. And also not so much views as you have had with showcase, anyway I opened my store recently so that could be the reason.