Increase in Sales During Holidays?

[Former_Member]

Lately, I've had an increase in sales, and I'm curious if it is just because of the holidays, or if I'm just getting better at this whole thing? I just hope that my sales don't drop in January! :-)

[Former_Member]

Congrats on the sales! I hope you continue your success! I had a sale today, which makes my 5th sale. Every sale right now is so exciting!

[Former_Member]

I agree, Amanda! Every time I get that email that says "Etsy transaction" I have to call my husband & tell him. LOL. Congrats on your sale today!

[Former_Member]

that's awesome and congrats!

[Former_Member]

I had 5 sales before the holidays but nothing for the past couple of weeks :(

[Former_Member]

I started on etsy around the beginning of October, and found the holiday to really help my sales... I just hope it doesn't drop off to much after!

[amypetersstudio]

I had great sales back in June for graduation gifts and pretty quiet over the summer. Lately I've really been focusing on listing more jewelry and I've had sales every day for the last 4 weeks. YEAH.

[Former_Member]

Girls, I've been at a stand still for quite some time. I am really struggling with getting new jewelry made right now...ugh! I find myself enjoying making treasuries more than anything lately, because I get to use my creative minds-eye in a different way. I think I need to get a FB page set-up, so I feel a competitive edge...is it time-constraining to do and is a lot of techy-knowledge necessary, because I'm not techy?!?

[amypetersstudio]

ok...said 4 weeks...I meant 4 days. oops.

[Former_Member]

I am new to etsy and I am finding it a bit frustrating...however I have made my first 2 sales.. YAY! But I have so many questions....Like what is the purpose of treasury and how do you start one?

Thanks Diane

[Former_Member]

I'm very frustrated! No sales since Nov. I thought at lease I would get a few from the Christmas season. I'm walking under a very bad cloud I guess. Don't know what to do. :( I have been lucky in getting into more treasuries.

@ Diane: from what I get, treasuries are to promote others peoples work, in doing so those sellers tend to check out your shop. Plus other people who enjoy your treasury will check out who you are and your shop. Posting items from your shop daily, helps YOU to get into treasuries. If you have good tags on your items that really helps.

You can scroll down on the left side of the Etsy front page and see the link for treasuries. You should see a button on the right side to create your own. I hope this helps!

Michelle

[Former_Member]

Thanks Michelle...after i thought about it I thought that might be what it was for. This is the one I did.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d02c8d12cf56d91ec8b965f/the-brotherhood?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium...

But you say I should do them regularly? Do you ever include your own items or is that a no no?

Diane

[Former_Member]

Etsy asks that when you make a treasury not to include you own items or multiple items from one seller.

Your treasury looks great.

[Former_Member]

I've never done a treasury. I haven't had the time to figure that out yet. I checked out yours. I haven't seen one with a fireman theme before. I like it.

[Former_Member]

Thanks ladies, I have been working alot with fire dept and just love what they do. I have gotten some great shots and they seem to be my best sellers for prints.


Diane

[MomNMiaDesigns]

The increase in sales is usual around the holidays - the sheer volume of people shopping online means you have a better chance of sales.

I typically see an upswing in my sales before the holidays, and it held true this year too - I can barely keep up!

Here are some of my tips for increasing traffic to your shop & increasing sales:
1. Pictures. Your pictures have to be good. You'll hear this over and over on Etsy. Remember your picture is the window to your shop. Your buyers can't see the product in person and they can't touch it, so your photos should be clear and crisp. Use natural light whenever possible, and don't use busy backgrounds.
2. List something new or renew - EVERY DAY. Adding new items or renewing what you already have is what is going to get you seen and help you establish your presence on Etsy. A lot of buyers aren't going to sift through hundreds of pages of search results - they're going to look at the first few. That said, don't get carried away and renew 20 items at once. I list or renew at least 10 items per day, spread out throughout the day.
3. Have awesome customer service.
4. Be on a team (you've all got that one down already)! Teams are great for support and cross-promotion!
5. Make treasuries and read the forum. Have a great avatar that will catch people's attention! I can't tell you how many times I've clicked into a shop because they had a cool avatar...

[Former_Member]

MomNMiaQuilts - You bring up something that I haven't figured out what's best. My avatar used to be one of my items. I thought it might be more personal to have my picture instead. What do you all think works best for you?

[Former_Member]

Thats a great question @NomNMiaQuilts...I have yet to figure out what avatar picture to use...but I guess I need to find one.

AmandaAngels~Thanks I did that treasury because I do alot of photos with our local fire depts and have used some of my shots to use as prints to sell. I have sold many via facebook and word of mouth.

Diane

[MomNMiaDesigns]

Re avatars - I've done both (product image or photo). I think a good product photo or a logo tends to draw my attention more often than a picture of the shop owner. One suggestion if you use a product is to make sure you have that product available in your shop for purchase!

[Former_Member]

MomNMiaQuilts - Thanks for the tips. I do renew some items everyday, but I will try spacing them out like you said. I've had my shop open for two years now, but I've only been working it for the last four months. Maybe the fact that my shop shows opened Dec. 08 with only seven sales scares some buyers.

I'm going to keep plugging away at it! If you get a chance check out my shop and see if you have anymore suggestions. This is whats great about being part of a team, the help! BTW you have a beautiful shop.

[AHandfulOfEarth]

I have 2 shops, one strictly for my photography that I opened 2 years ago, http://www.etsy.com/shop/lensmatter, which I haven't made any sales on and one that my husband and I started last month with some items he makes, and it's pretty steady, we've had 20 sales in the past month!

I'm really wanting to start promoting my photography shop more, I think that's some of my problem is that I haven't been very proactive with it.

[Former_Member]

I have only had 4 sales since I joined in May. Every new sale is exciting!