Former_Member
Not applicable

How's Sales?

I'm baffled lately! In April and the beginning of May I had a number of sales but there hasn't been any interest for the past 6-7 weeks. Is this typical for others in the Woodworker group or is there something I'm missing or doing wrong? Please check out my store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/WoodworksbyJohn?ref=si_shop if you have a chance and tell me of any problems that might be there.
Thanks- John
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Former_Member
Not applicable

Re: How's Sales?

Hello, John. I, too, go through 'dry spells' with sales, and for the two+ years I've been on Etsy, my sales aren't real high anyway, but I have a couple of suggestions. One is, all your products are boxes, and all are photographed closed. I'd suggest selling some of them 'with a purpose.' Put a divider in one and load it with a few foil tea bags in the cover shot, or wrap a few letters in a ribbon and lay them half in/half out. The idea is to show the buyer a Purpose for the box. A wine bottle, a collection of some kind, etc. A viewer may get an idea sparked, even if not the one you present. You're doing some good work, and I hope your sales pick up soon!
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Former_Member
Not applicable

Re: How's Sales?

It might be something seasonal too. When I sterted my shop last November I had four orders in the three weeks leading up to christmas, then after the holidays, it went down to one order every other week and has been like this quite steadily. Then the last month there has been a shift away from big boxes and towards smaller jewelry things. I guess this is a summer thing. More outdoors show-off stuff than home decorations. If this hunch is right, I should be using my summer evenings making lots of boxes for October, November and yea... December, especially December
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Former_Member
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Re: How's Sales?

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Re: How's Sales?

Sales and views have been WAY down since the tornadoes hit Oklahoma.
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Re: How's Sales?

You might want to tweak your photos a bit. You use exactly the same background for every photo and in my opinion, it seems to wash out your boxes. I am certain that they are much more dramatic looking in person, but you photos to me look rather flat. Perhaps show something in the box in one of the photos as Barb has suggested. I hear everyone saying on these threads that traffic is down, but I must tell you that I have been working very hard on SEO and Relevancy the past few months, and my traffic continues to grow every week, and as a result, so do sales. Check out all of the Etsy Blogs on these subjects. They are very helpful. Get signed up for Google Analytics and use your shop stats and learn what is bringing people to your shop or your individual listings. These tools are great. You might want to rethink your keywords too. If you were going to search for a box like yours, what would you type in to the search engine? I bet it wouldn't be "unique wood box". I don't think it would be "exotic woods", or "functional art" either. Would you search for "grain pattern"? The key words that you use are what brings folk to your listings based on what they search for. Perhaps use some words that might be uses for the boxes. it takes a lot of work, but will definitely pay off for you.
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MountainViewWood
Inspiration Seeker

Re: How's Sales?

Alan, your mentioning not searching for "unique wood box" and "exotic woods" makes me think of something:

We did Art Shows for many years and not once did someone come up to our booth and ask for a "Cherry Box" or "a box with Dovetails" or any other woodwonky thing like that.

Normally, the customer would walk up to the booth and look at our boxes (equivalent to photos on Etsy). Then, at the appropriate moment, either my Wife or I would start telling them about the functionality of the box; "This one has a nice necklace hanger and a sliding box for rings" etc.

Only after that would I talk about woods, etc.

That technique worked very well.

On Etsy, there is one exception: the customer cannot touch and feel our pieces. We have to convey that to them with photos and words; e.g. "Smooth silky finish" or "Soft Velvet lining".

Good luck to all.

H.
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Re: How's Sales?

OK, as soon as I open my mouth....never fails!

Made a shop sale yesterday.

My traffic is a bit on the low side; I whined.

As low as I like to think it is most of it is from Google and Etsy search hits; buyer hits to boot(nothing against any of us sellers).
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Former_Member
Not applicable

Re: How's Sales?

Thanks for all of your fantastic advice, looks as if I have some work to do! When I first started it seems I was advised to show my work without any "clutter" around it so came up with the uniform background for all my shots. I'm working on one box now showing a use for it and will get that on the store, it's to store remote controls. I'll also see about tweaking my keywords. I think I need to add a function to my pieces to increase sales rather than count on the beauty of the wood to sell them.
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Re: How's Sales?

I am a new shop, so it's been slow, but today I made my first sale on etsy! SO EXCITED!
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