why my designs are not selling?

[Former_Member]

Hello everyone! I really need your help please. Have no clue why my stuff is not selling on Etsy. It's selling outside Etsy but not here. What's wrong? Do you have any suggestions? What would you change, add? Please share your views. Many thanks

[WithLoveFromLucille]

LOVE your bowties!
My criticism would be to fill out the 'Policies' section. This is where a buyer would go to get information on payment, returns/exchanges, cancellations etc.

Good luck to you!

[Former_Member]

Ah! Good point! Many thanks.

[CarolBradley]

I suggest including the colors in every item's title and also in the tags. People are likely to include colors in their search terms.

[CarolBradley]

The first few words of an item's listing seems to be included in Etsy's relevancy criteria. This one could start off with "A navy cotton bowtie with with dots and diamonds will steal the show."

http://www.etsy.com/listing/120673978/navy-blue-cotton-bow-tie

[WintergreenDesign]

There is an area under your banner where you should write what you sell in your shop (mine says Paper Quilled Ornaments and Wedding Decor). Your titles could use some adjustments "Bow Tie" should be in the first 3 words of you tags so "Blue Bow Tie" would be good. Also in your tags I didn't see the words Bow Tie (at least in the couple I looked at). Your ties are really nice : )

[Former_Member]

Carol, Christa - you're stars! Great suggestions! I have to become a bit more attentive to the details that's for sure :)

[SweetCarolineConfect]

Eek. LOVE LOVE LOVE your bows. My ONLY thing would be the (gasp!) prices. I am the last person to speak about pricing....I really suck at it. But vintage or not, I don't think I would spend $41 on a bow.
I wish you the best!

[PiecesofMeCardsnMore]

Take the spaces out of your shop section titled Accessories. Google crawls your shop and it can't read the word 'accessories' with all those spaces in it.

[Former_Member]

How much would you pay for a bow tie Andrea? Many thanks

[Former_Member]

Yep, you probably right Judy, the shop section titles didn't have spaces before and I managed to make a couple of sales, then I decided to go fancy and added the spaces and the number of visitors to my shop reduced. Many thanks

[PiecesofMeCardsnMore]

Dina, I think your bow ties are beautiful! I picture a well dressed, distinguished man wearing one of your bow ties. He has money and wouldn't think twice about spending that much for one. (this does not describe my husband - ha ha)

[BitsOffTheBeach]

After seeing so many hair bows on Etsy, a quick glance and I might think that's what is in your shop. You might add Men's Bowtie in your title and tags too. Just a thought.

[Former_Member]

neither mine :)
Do you think they are too pricey?

[Former_Member]

Yep, good point Jo! Many thanks and thanks to like my shop too :)

[LoveAccented]

Dina, do you have your items under vintage or handmade? If you have them listed as vintage, this may be part of the problem. Your items are upcycled which is equally as desirable and should be listed as handmade. You may be drawing the wrong audience. Only unchanged items over 20 years old are considered vintage. Those who shop for vintage may not be looking for upcycled items.

Also, look at the SEO team, you can get your items much higher in search.
Check out this team:
http://www.etsy.com/teams/10713/cindylouwho-team


I'd redo this one like this:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/120673978/navy-blue-cotton-bow-tie?

Try the title:
Navy Blue Bow Tie, Mens Bow Tie, Upcycled Cotton

With the tags:
Navy
Blue
Bow Tie
Men
Upcycled
Cotton
Blue Bow Tie
Navy Blue Bow Tie
Upcycled Cotton
Navy Blue Bow Tie
Upcycled Bow Tie
Cotton Bow Tie
Handmade

Give a about an hour and try to search for it and see if it helps.

Of course, there are lots of people out there better at SEO at me, and I am sure they can find even better keywords and phrases.

[Former_Member]

Wow! Lisa! Big thanks for your help! I will definitely get on with it but I should admit SEO is not my strong point.... Very very useful. Many thanks

[Former_Member]

I would LOVE to see your bowties on a hipster dood. Slap that tie on a handsome guy with a nicely trimmed beard, send a few of those shots and a nice to description to your favorite fashion and design blogs! Bow ties are very cool right now. You just need to get out there.

I am going to like a few of them on my Facebook right now!

Also - the title and tags do need to be adjusted, but I think you are already working on that!

Best wishes,
Ella

[Former_Member]

Photo a few on models? I've just started using models (exchanging product for photos)....I would expect that people could easily imagine what a bowtie looks like worn (since fit is not an issue) but people keep telling me that photos on a model help sales.....

[Former_Member]

hi dina,
your bow ties are lovely but i think you do not have enough in your shop to choose from. after all there´s only 11 items in your shop so it´s not that much. that also makes it more difficult to be found

[Former_Member]

I agree with Barbara, having more items will sure help you to have more views and so, bigger probability to reach customers.

About the price : did you ever try to do some " sales coupon" ? Did it succeeds ? if not, i suggest that price is not your problem.

I see that you have a huge amount of "Likes" on your facebook page. Do you "use" this list as potential buyers ? Send some news about your products ?

Good luck !

[Former_Member]

Hi Dina,

I don't think there is a problem with your pricing. I think the kind of person who would buy a 'made to order' bow tie, would have no issue with the price.

I agree with others who have said to get more items in your shop. There are thousands and thousands of bow ties on Etsy, and that's ignoring your competition from the whole rest of the internet., and you have like 35 bow ties...

Also you could do with working on your tags, you need to fill them with key words and phrases to rank higher in listings. You can use the same words several times as part of phrases and that will make you rank higher in that specific search, i.e. (colour) bow tie, custom bow tie, cotton bow tie, etc. Mix it around as much as you can between your items.

Your shop has a really nice feel to it, the photography is really bright, and I think that the bow ties being photographed on top of their presentation boxes adds an air of quality.

[LuluOleander]

These would make a great classy gift for guys and should have flown out before Christmas. There's a huge burlesque scene in the UK and I think vintage dressing guys would love these.
I agree with all of the above, do make and list more items. My shop only took off when I seriously had 100 items in store.

You are not getting enough views, some of your items have only 4 views. Are you tweeting and using pinterest? I just tweeted one of your ties and straight away got 8 more views.

[Pininkie]

Your photos are great but it would be nice to see someone wearing one.

Lewes! I'm down the road in Burgess Hill x

[BaloolahB]

I love your packaging, just gorgeous! Would like to see them worn in a trendy current fashion!