Increasing Sales

[Former_Member]

What are you doing to increase sales both on and off Etsy?

[Former_Member]

This is an area I struggle with. With my other shop I attended some "craft" fairs although they ended up being more of a swap met, not quite my thing. Not what I was expecting.
Currently I'm not doing a lot. Ordering business cards in feb. I have a decal on the back of my car which I do think helps a little.
I need ideas with my new shop (other shop 3greenstrings which will be seasonal starting in april).

[Former_Member]

That sounds great Jenn! I have a bit of a challenge with increasing sales because of my current comfort zone. This year I am going to break out of my shell and get things rolling.

With this shop, it will mainly be online promotions. With my other shop (bath & body: facebodyfeet), I attend craft fairs in NYC and just stopped by a store today and set up a meeting to come back on Wednesday to speak to the general manager.

[Former_Member]

Jen, I think its really important to have business cards on you at all times. You never know who you will meet when your out and about and when doing craft fairs give them out to anyone interested in your products. I also add a few into a shopping bag when I sell something

To increase sales I'm going to do pop up shops once a month with a couple of other people and try to get more sales that way.

But in regards to sales on Etsy, I haven't had any yet and I'm not sure what to do. I guess I will keep listing new things and advertising and see how it goes.

[Former_Member]

Rosie,
what is a pop up shop? Not familar with the term..

[Former_Member]

I took some samples of my gift cards into a small boutique here in Eugene and made an arrangement with the owner to sell at a %50/50 split. Not fabulous for profit but it is great advertising. When I talk to people about my shop I give them a card I made out of one of my gift cards with my url and a %5 to %10 off their first order coupon code. I just started on Etsy this past Sept. so I am learning as I go.

[Former_Member]

Hi Christina, a pop up shop is a shop that you might set up for a day, week or month etc in a gallery, industrial space or a spare building. I do my pop up shops on a Sunday in someone else's shop who doesn't open on a Sunday. For me its a great way for people to see my clothes and try them on because its hard for people to buy clothes off the internet with a brand they don't know. I do a pop up shop with another clothing designer and a jewelry designer, its been quite successful for us. I recommend giving it a go

[Former_Member]

Rosie, What an awesome concept! How long have you been doing this for? Is there a fee the shop owner charges? Have you done this in a spare building before?..I am wondering how that would work..if going to a commercial realtor who has a building for lease and rent out space for a limited time in a location that may otherwise be to expensive to have a lease with..How did you get started with doing this?

[Former_Member]

Pop up market sounds good for my bath & body products. I want to learn more about this too.

[Former_Member]

The retail owner of the shop I use is a great lady that has a lovely community spirit and just wants to help us out - she doesn't charge us for the use of her shop.
We are also looking at using a gallery space for a couple of weeks to set up as a shop. I've heard of some people doing a short term lease on an empty shop for a few weeks or months, which also benefits the building owner while they are between leases.
Here is a link of what some companies have done (some look like the cost a fair bit of money. But there are cheaper ways of doing it) http://www.businessinsider.com/17-most-creative-pop-up-stores
I recommend doing a pop up shop in collaboration with other people because you all bring in your own customer base and have more advertising opportunities together. Also for me I would find it hard to fill a shop.
I would love to hear if either of you do pop up shops and how it goes for you... good luck!

[Former_Member]

I think a pop up shop is a brilliant idea.
I'm going to be brave this year & start contacting some shops to see if they would be interested in selling my designs. When it gets warmer over here in London, I'm also going to try & get a stall at one of our famous markets like Notting Hill.
I'm only just getting the hang of Etsy, but I really do find that the more time you spend on your shop & on Etsy, the more you get out of if & the more interest you generate.
I'm using free P&P promotions at the moment - (use the code ETSYPP at checkout to get free post & packaging if you're interested!).
I've also started giving away free yoga factsheets with my orders as another way of generating more interest.
I'd love to hear what everyone else does to generate sales.
Good luck everyone x

[nearerthemoon]

Hi Maree

My daytime job is near Spitalfields Market and I think your products would work really well here!I love your products they'd make a great present for my MIL! x

[ThisandThatCapeCod]

Idea...have noticed at many beauty salons, cards, jewelry,
small accessories, paintings etc for sale by
commission. Also many of our eating establishments promote
local artists, displaying and selling their work.
Live on Cape Cod and tourism is a huge help in sales.
Good Luck!

[Former_Member]

Another idea for increasing sales is through home parties. I'm going to start that with my bath and body products this year!

[PrimroseLaceRibbon]

I'm new here and so far I'm just adding items to my shop. I'm planning to start advertising out of Etsy once I have at least 50 items. Also, I'll be creating a facebook/twitter page, handing out some cute looking business cards and paying for adverstisement in a well read blog...once I have regular customers I'll be having my own website....oh, and also, I'll pray a lot :)

[Former_Member]

I am trying to increase sales by adding alot more items in my shop.
Not only needlepoint but hair accessories and there will more more of a variety soon.
I outside of etsy I have palced business cards in local restaurents where they allow it. This has already brought me a few sales.

[Former_Member]

That's great Cindy!! How did you approach the restaurants when you were looking to place your business cards?

[Former_Member]

Hi Tilly,
Thanks so much for your idea about Spitalfields, I think I'll get in touch with them. They'll probably be better than Portabello as you're inside & don't have to worry about getting wet!!!
Another tips for increasing sales.... the other day I noticed that one of my Etsy customers was also a yoga teacher & massage therapist, so I contacted her to see if she'd be interested in buying my trousers at a wholesale rate & then selling them onto her clients. Amazingly she jumped at the chance & now I've got my first wholesaler in America - yippeee!
I definitely think it's worth checking out who your customers are & seeing if they'd be interested in getting involved in your venture.
Good luck everyone & Tilly, if I manage to get a stall at Spitalfields, I think I owe you a free pair of Marzipants!
xxx

[Former_Member]

OMG Maree! That is GREATTTT!!! Congratulations!!! I am really working on getting a wholesale account for my bath & body shop. I will be celebrating big time when I get one lol!

[Former_Member]

I'm kindof new at the wholesale aspect of the business. How are you guys pricing your merchandise to still recieve a profit? I just recieved a wholesale order for 6 clutches for a business in CT and I am don't want to undercut myself in the process. Is there an equation you guys use to determine wholesale prices?

[nearerthemoon]

Glad you like the idea! I tried to find the contact for the Market manager to message you with, but I can't find it in my contact list here at the shop. If I do I'll pm you it.

No freebies - got to keep the margins high right?! But thank you for the kind offer, let me know how you get on!

[Former_Member]

I Just ask to speak to the manager and introduce myself. I twll them that I am a small business that is just starting out, like they did along time ago. and I was wondering if I could put my business cards by their register. Some of them have a spot designated for business cards, others just let me place them by the register.

[Former_Member]

Thank you Jacque & thanks for having a look Tilly.
Christina, huge congrats on your wholesale order - that's fantastic news.... In terms of pricing, I was told that retailers like to make 300% on your wholesale price & that you're RRP should match that of the retailers. This means that if you want to make the same margins as the shops, you need to be selling your item for 600% more than what it costs you in time / materials to make!!!! So (I hope this calculation is correct) if an item costs £1 to make, you're wholesale price should be £3 & your RRP price should be £9!!!
Personally I can't see how that can ever be possible (maybe one day - who knows). For my wholesale price, I usually double what it costs me to make & for my RRP I double that figure again.
I'd love to hear what other people think as I always get so confused with this topic!
xx

[dorsetclothing]

It varies from seller to seller, but naturally you want to cover your costs, so wholesale price at the bare minimum should cover materials and labour. Then you increase that for retail price (most people double it, but it's up to you). If you're selling at the bare minimum price on Etsy, then you need to either increase your prices, or decide to not take on wholesale customers.

[Former_Member]

That's great advice thanks..I'm testing the wholesale orders..yeah it's a great opportunity but I don't know if my profit will ultimately cover me having the opportunity to quit my day job..we'll see how it goes..I don't want to make any quick decisions without testing the waters..