Newbie with 0 sales

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone! I opened my shop at the end of March and have had 0 sales. I am coming up to my first Etsy bill and am getting frustrated. I have retaken my pictures so that they look better. I've promoted on Twitter, but people only look and havent bought. I'd love advice and suggestions. Im new to this so, please, be gentle!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/UniqueCotton?ref=si_shop

[GaugeJunkieJewelry]

I'm with you. No sales yet here either. Keep the faith. It will happen for us both.

[gristmilldesigns]

UniqueCotton-don't give up! You are not alone. There are SO many shops on etsy. Keep promoting yourself, make treasuries, renew items, etc. It's very easy to get discouraged. It's also hard to be patient, but it will happen when you least expect it. The more items you have in your shop, the greater the chance someone will find you. Hang in there!!!

[Former_Member]

Ok, this will tell you how new I am... what are tresuries?

[Former_Member]

Treasuries are groups of photos of people's items. They are prepared by etsy sellers and have some theme to them. You see someone's treasury whenever you open the etsy site. Go to the home page, scroll down to the links on the left side of the page and you will find Treasuries. Click that and take a look. You can make one yourself if you like.

[Former_Member]

hi! i'm no expert, no sales for me either, but if you want my thoughts, here goes!
i love your banner, very simple and very effective.
the bunny pics are great, but some of the other pics seem to lack colour, maybe try retaking them with different backgrounds, or different lighting.
your prices vary a lot. perhaps think about some items that would be priced somewhere in the middle?
i love your booboo bunnies, very original. but if i wanted to buy them, i can't, because i'm in the UK. do you sell outside the US? if so, tell your customers :)
great shop though, keep positive, i'm sure we'll all get those first sales sometime soon!!!!!!

ss

[Former_Member]

And for UniqueCotton, this takes patience. Some people's items click with buyers right away, but that's not the case for many or most of us as far as I can tell. I have been posting items or 3 months and have had only 1 sale. Just keep plugging at it, stay positive, and keep posting items.

For your photos, I think you need some photo editing and definitely a different background for the sparkle scarf. I can't really see it on the white background. Photo editing makes a huge difference. Gimp.com is a free photo editing program that's rated pretty highly from what I can tell. I'm using a free version of adobe photoshop. You could try that too.

I also suggest you check out the SaSsy Critiques team discussions. That team is Sellers Assisting Sellers and there's a wealth of information there from experienced etsy sellers. I've found tons of good info there, and they will critique your shop if you join and make a request.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your store.

Sherry

[Former_Member]

p.s. does anyone want to look at my shop and give me feedback? feel free, but be kind! (and yes, i know i need more items in it!!!)
ss

[Former_Member]

UniqueCotton and SewShaw you both have really cute stuff. I agree unique cotton the your picture still need work. Mine do too. I have been using picnik which is free and has been helpfup but I still have a lot of work to do. Would love feedback on my site.

[Former_Member]

Hi, I am also new and so far 0 sales. I've had some of my items on 4 treasury lists but no sales yet.
I would love a feedback if possible. You can be cruel, as I am open to any suggestions. I really want this to work.
Thanks!

[Former_Member]

How do you do a treasury list?

[HighTideGalleryArt]

I see you had difficulty when you started in 2011.  I'm in that boat now. Can I ask you some questions?

[Former_Member]

That's very easy.
First you go to Etsy main page, and scroll down and there is a box on the left where it says Treasuries.
Click on there. You will find many TL made by other people, but at the right there is a box where it says: make your own TL. Click on there.
Once you are in, you just choose items and put the URL code into the boxes, and the image just comes out.
You can move images around by clicking and holding, or you can edit or erase images.
It is mega easy, just try to make one.
I hope all this makes sense.

[Former_Member]

Hi... I'm pretty new and also have 0 sales.. I was wondering if anyone can tell me what a featured item is and how do I get one... You know the ones you see at the top of peoples shops under their banner... Thanks!

[Former_Member]

I've found that each time I post something new or renew an item I get a lot more views in general. I try to post or renew something at least 3-4 times a week.

I also made bussiness cards that friends and family have helped to spread around, and I send a few with each sale I ship out.

Making treasuries is fun and gives you a chance to compliment some of your fellow Etsians, while getting your store name out there at the same time. Look up Shmetsy tools for making treasuries, they make it a lot simpler.

Hope this helps - I new too, but have had some sales. It does seem to go very, very slow at first, so be patient!

[Former_Member]

To Sew Shaw and Unique Cotton:
Sew Shaw, I think you need to add more items to your shop. What you have is cute, and I like your ideas, but more is more.
Unique Cotton, I think your bunnies are great, but you have 15 different bunnies, 3 bags and one hat. Maybe I don't like bunnies, but love cats. (not true, just an example) or Dogs or chickens. I think you need more varied items in your store. The hat is darling, does it come in larger sizes? If so, mention that in the listing or make new listings for each size.
Good luck!

[Former_Member]

i've only opened up shop in january so i'm still fairly new as well, but in the past couple of weeks, i've had 3 new legitimate sales so it's starting to pick up!

what i noticed:
-using up all your tags REALLY helps because buyers will most likely see your items while searching, and items will show up depending on whether or not the buyer's search keywords match your tags.
-renew or list new items as often as possible. so space out your listings. let's say 1 or 2 new listings a day. that way your items will come up first or at least on the front page when a buyer does a search.
-the title of each item needs to be very clear. i mean, the title needs to describe exactly what the item is. for example, HAIR CLIP-Sultry Rosalie Pink. i precede the "cute" name of my item with what the item actually is.
-pictures do need to be of good quality. i'm currently working on redoing all my product pictures as well because the background is too cluttered and i want the item to be the main focus.
-set up a twitter account for your business, a facebook page for your business and even a blog! update onto those social networks every time you list a new item.

that's about all the advice i can give so far! hope this helps somewhat :)

http://www.1stitch2stitch.com

[Former_Member]

I'm with you still waiting for my first sale and I been here a bit longer, I'm thinking maybe the holidays are over, its not really a shopping season, school is getting out or that is what I keep telling myself