We need your help to build a better shop

[Former_Member]

Hello to all of you,

We are two friends, working in Paris and building great handmade products here in Paris. We had opened a shop on Etsy in August to book our name, we had put few products at this time, but that was with shitty description, bad title, no good tags, and few pictures.

And then, four months ago, i had a pretty bad bike accident, I was broke in many pieces, and I was stuck on a bed for nearly two months, unable to move, unable to work. And actually, that was one of the best things that happened to our business. At this time, we had made no Etsy sale.

I had nothing else to do than reading all your advices in this team, blog posts, and everything that could help to grow a great Etsy business. So at this end of December, we re-launched our shop, with nice description and titles, correct tags and good looking pictures !

And magic happened, we started to sell our creations, we did not sell that much, but now after two months, we made nearly a 1k€ turnover, that’s not so much, but we already fell in love with Etsy <3

And now, we want to do even better, something great, and we need your help, so we would love to get some advices from you, even a small word could help us to do better :)

Here is the link of our shop :
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheFrenchVikings?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Many thanks to all of you,
Love from Paris !

Billy and Nadir

[TremoughGlass]

Salut Billy et Nadir

First let me say that I just love your items, their style and your photos are beautifully taken and have a wonderful feel to them.

But I see major room for improvement on your listing titles and your tags.

When you do a search for a planter or a catchall tray are you finding your listings coming up in the first few pages?

The thing with tags is that Etsy wants us to think like a customer and use tags that people would use to search for your items. Whole phrases if possible.

For example

https://www.etsy.com/listing/216428009/planter-concrete-multi-purpose-square?ref=shop_home_feat_1

for this listing I would title it:- Modern Geometric Style Concrete Planter - Multi Purpose Square Container - Contemporary Home Decor Plant Pot - Modern Housewares

And I would match my tags as far as possible to the title:-

modern planter
concrete planter
modern geometric
geometric style
multi purpose
square container
contemporary decor
home decor plant pot
modern housewares
concrete plant pot

etc etc etc!

Hopefully then when somebody searches for a modern planter you will feature somewhere on the first few pages.

The only other thing I can think of at the moment is identifying your core market and marketing your items to them.

Grasping the titles and tags issue is difficult enough if english is your first language so it must be even more so if its your second.

Anyway - hope that helps - good luck!
Ann

[Former_Member]

Two things I noticed that may help improve your shop:

Some of your photos are a bit dark on the first page with heavy shadows, and It is also better to use two word tags rather then one word tags.

You have a really great shop keep at it, also love the photo of your planter where you can see a bit of Paris in the background. You could use this as your first photo and see if you get more views from it.

Good luck!

[Former_Member]

Bonjour Ann,

Thanks a lot for your reply :)

Tags and titles are so hard to master at the beginning, and thanks for the time you took to help us.

When I add concrete in my search, for example concrete valet tray, most of the time, we have a quite good ranking. But when I take off concrete, that’s not so good :/ The good point would be to be able to get results when people are not looking for concrete, but just planter for example.

Thanks for your explanations, i made have a better understanding now. I’m gonna improve the titles and match them with the tag !

Thanks a lot ! Have a great day !
Billy

[Former_Member]

Hello Menemsha,

Thanks a lot for your answer and your help. Thanks to you and Ann, I now have a better view of how tags work, i m gonna match title with the tags and use two words for the tags.

I see what you mean for the pictures, to be fully honest with you, at the beginning one of our friend (a photographer) helped us, and made the pictures for us, they are great. But we want to be able to do most of the work by ourselves so we started to shoot our products alone. But we need to improve our skills :/
We'll keep trying !

Thanks a lot for your help and your time :)

Billy

[GreatLakesAllure]

Good morning!

Sorry to hear about your accident, I hope you have healed nicely!

I agree with the above, but I wanted to add that you should add in your tags, "Gifts for Men", "Father's Day Gifts", etc.... It's a little harder to find things on Etsy for men and I think your products would be nice gifts for men. I like them too, but they aren't feminine, so they would work great for men. I would try and market some of your items towards men if possible and see if that helps at all.

Like you have said most people won't search for Concrete "candle holder", they will just search for "Candle Holder". So, while using Concrete in your title or tag is ok, it's not what will get you high up in Relevancy, unless someone is in fact searching for "Concrete Candle Holder".

I also agree that some of your photos are a bit dark with shadows. Try using a back light or build a simple light box using foam core boards. I think there are web tutorials on how to do that or you could even buy a small inexpensive one from a photography store. Good Luck and I think you will do very well here in time!

[Former_Member]

Morning Janelle,

Thanks a lot for your help and your nice message ! I m nearly fixed and should be soon back on tracks :)

I ll try to add some tags mentioning "Men" or "Father". That's a very good idea :)

Thanks to all of you, i now know how to improve our titles and match them with tags.

Concerning the pictures, we are already working on a new way to shoot, with some new lights. Normally we should not have too much problem to make that kind of lighting :)
Pictures are so importants, we really need to crush it !

Thanks a lot,
Billy

[Anthropologeek]

Hi Billy!

Yes, to all of the above! Fit as many characters in your tags and titles. Try to make phrases for your tags instead of just words. Make sure you use the word industrial which is very in right now and describes your design very well. Oh, and really sell the French thing, people in the States really dig it. Maybe even stamping your items on the bottom with Made in France.

Good luck and glad to know your on the mend!
Cheers,
Aracely

[Former_Member]

Hello Aracely,

Thanks a lot for your message and your advices :)

I was not using the term "French" too much, I'll update the tags to mention it, that's a very good advice, thanks.

Industrial fits also very good with our product, i'll use it much more.

Thanks to you and everybody who helped us, I now know that it s better to use phrase instead of single word in the tag section.

Thank you so much for your help and your time :)
Have a great day,

Billy

[Anthropologeek]

I also thought of the tag minimalistic and loft style decor. :)

[TheFamilyJewelsWI]

Hi Billy, I don't have anything to add. All the info above is right on! I just want to wish you the best of luck in your healing. I broke my ankle a year ago and Etsy saved me too. I was really laid up for a long time too. Your shop is great!! Keep up the good work. Tags and titles are your #2 priority. Photos #1. Good luck!! You are super handsome too!
Mary

[Former_Member]

Aracely,

That's perfect, great, i ll add them :)
Thanks so much !

Billy

[Former_Member]

Hey Mary,

Thanks a lot for your support, it s really helpful to have people here to help and give you advice to do the best.
I really appreciate it :)

Tomorrow, i ll start working on new tags and titles and i ll do my best to have a super awesome shop !

And thanks a lot for your nice word at the end ;)
Have a great day,
Billy

[TheTangledCat]

You have done an excellent job so far - great items, great pictures, very cohesive, professional look to your shop.

My first thought is an obvious one - add more items and listings to your shop. The more listings you have, the more chances to be found! You could expand your products into "lines" of products. Here's an example of what I mean. You offer a soap dish. But what about the cup, toothbrush holder, and valet dish to match? You can sell each item individually...but then you can put them all together as a set - and presto, another listing! Example 2: You offer a pencil holder....what about the holder for business cards and one dish for paper clips and a letter holder. Again, list each separately...but also as a set. And now you have many more "tags" to use and be found with. Can you also expand your product line into a few new, but similar areas? Maybe a few more bowls and display dishes....vases...a phone charging station/phone stand... And what about some modern geometric wall hangings (maybe made of a combo of materials)? Just trying to give you ideas for further expansion into new (but similar) areas - which will, in turn, increase your exposure.

Some of your items must be very heavy and your shipping rates are likely high as a result. Is there any way to keep your signature "look" and make similar items in a lightweight material (some type of rustic metal work might be a nice addition to your shop, for example)? I actually just scanned through your items and associated shipping costs. You seem to be charging the same amount to ship a large item (fruit bowl, tray) as a small planter, which surprised me. You may want to double check the accuracy of your rates. Don't they vary more based upon weight?

Keep up the great work!

[Former_Member]

Your shop looks great! Wonderful items and amazing pictures! I humble at your success - Best wishes

[Former_Member]

Hi Billy! I am fairly new too, so I can't give you may advices. Just say that I love your ítems. They have a very cute design.

So, go on and Good Luck!!!

[Former_Member]

Hello Kelly !

Wahoo ! What a review !
Thanks a lot for your great review, all your advices and the so nice words about our shop :) thanks so much !

You re so right about adding more items in our shop. We need to prototype, correct and then make the products. But it takes so much time. But soon we should have more items to offer to our fans :)

That s a very good idea to mix items in order to offer packs. We need to think of good packs and then shoot some pictures but you already put us on the good way !

We also need to expand our line. You are so right about it. Vases are a very good idea. We ll work on it soon.
Wall hangings are also a very idea. We need to think about something cool.

And last but not least, we have some troubles with the post office and shipping. Actually the French post office is a little strange (not so much for them, but for us it is devastating). Let me explain. When we ship products, you have a price when you ship 2kg but when you go over, you have to pay for 5kg. Nothing between. And all the products are quite heavy, that s the reason why we may pay the same price for 2 pencils holders as for a big fruit bowl. We need to find a way for customers not to pay more when you go from, let s say 2.5 kg to 5 kg with no more charge. But if we go over 5kg then we have to pay for 10kg. That's shitty but i m sure we gonna find a way but if you have any good advice I ll be more than happy to have them :)

Once again thanks a lot for your time and all your advices!

Love from Paris,
Billy

[Former_Member]

Hello Desirae,

Thanks for your nice words and all your support. It fuels us to go even further and keep going :)

Thanks !

Have a great day !
Billy

[Former_Member]

Hello Marina,

You may be new to Etsy, but you re already part of the community :)
Thank you for taking time to write a so nice review.

Good luck with your new shop. I also wish you all the best !

Cheers !
Billy