New-ish Etsy Seller- Non-Existant Sales :( HELP!!

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone... I am fairly new to Etsy, I had started back in December. I have read every book imaginable on Etsy, in addition to trying a lot of social media paths, yet I have next to no views (I am lucky if I get a few views a day), and I only have three sales total in almost 4 months. What am I doing wrong?

I work on hand painted glassware, and I have been transitioning into Wedding glassware, and specialty 3D glassware with Polymer Clays. I am trying to tread down my own path and be as original as possible because the competition is so fierce! I have price compared and my work is pretty much comparable to what is out there. I have re-written a lot of my descriptions and have a style with how I write them now.

Can anyone help me see what can be causing me to not have the views and sales that others have plenty of?

Thank you!

[HarkenBackVintage]

First off, your pictures and products are truly lovely! Your tags also seem pretty good, and it's apparent you've been doing your research! I also like that you have a variety of price points, so I could buy a less expensive to a more expensive wine glass if I were looking.

Have you been participating in promotion teams to get more views and favorites to bump you up in search results? Additionally, I'm not sure if this is up your alley in terms of what you want to do for your brand, but catering to special events and holidays (bridal shower gifts, bridesmaids gifts, baby shower, name personalization, 21st birthday, etc.) may help you bring in a new audience!

I've only been on Etsy since the first of this year, so my advice isn't as golden as the more experienced individuals on here, but I have heard that it can take many months before your sales start to be consistent. Good luck!!!!

[RascalsRarities]

Hi,
You do an excellent job on decorating glassware! They were all so pretty! I am newer on etsy too, but I will do my best giving some suggestions. First of all, I am not a wine drinker, so I wouldn't be in the market for wine glasses. Maybe you can decorate other types of glassware to expand your product range? Make sure you use all five picture spots, and all 13 tags. I would change your titles as well. Instead of putting sale in the front, I would put exactly what the item is. "Hand Painted Wine glass, Sale 10 percent off!" or whatever it is. Google does searches for the first few words in your title, or so I am told. So if the first few words say what the item is, it may come up in a google search better. People are going to type hand painted wine glass before they type sale. Other than that I think your pictures really stand out and you have a talent! Keep up the good work!

[theVexedMuddler]

Google reads the entire title, not just the first few words. However, *humans* can only read the first few words in the thumbnail view, and that's why you have to lead with the critical information :)

[NeedSomeCats]

Hi, Chrystal!
I deal with glass ware too, so I'm one of your competitors :) Less experienced one.
First your glasses are gorgeous! I do love them. And I know how difficult it can be to make great photos. You shouldn't stop experimenting with lighting, backgrounds, angles, water drops... and so on (and me too). And I agree that putting the word SALE in titles is a good idea. And discriptions may be shorter but more individual and original. Your tags are great but they don't match titles and first abstracts of description. It will certainly increase your views.
If you wish we can cooperate and try to critique our glassware and listings from a painter's points of view. i think it shoul be helpful:) As for me your opinion about my items is very appreciated.
Good luck and great sales!

[Former_Member]

Thank you for the comments everyone (and the complements... I have put a lot of work into trying to get my shop going and make it work before I lose too much). I had a preemie son last year, and was not able to return to my full time job because of his medical issues. I started this in hopes that I could do something I love and bring in enough of an income to help pay the bills. It has been a really rough road :(

Nicole, I have considered doing the different occasions glasses. I think with the shop being so new, I have been concentrating on the niche products with weddings that I have lost sight of some of the basics to touch on.. I can definitely work on this now that I have an inventory to add some more variety to the store! I have participated with some of the promotions teams, I did not realize that the views alone helped push you up in the search rankings. I will need to participate more often!

Tara and Peggy.. I was thinking my titles and tags could be the issues.. I actually just started that sale this week and it will be lasting through next week and be over- I was hoping that the sale in the front of the title would help attract people's attention. I can change it though. I also have a few mugs and such that I had painted, but I have noticed even with my website when reviewing the analytics- a BULK of what is viewed is the wine glasses and wedding items- the shot glasses, mugs, and some of the kitchen stuff I have available has NO VIEWS, so this is why I stuck with the wine glasses and flutes here for the most part and re-focused my attention.

and Irena, I favored your shop too :) I really like the plates you do with the 3D paints :) I have debated whether to dabble in Henna type patterns on glasses- with the right colors, these could be gorgeous. I wouldn't necessarily classify you as a competitor- just because your products are completely different from mine yet! I do like how some of your photography had been done- you should see my first pictures (I cringe when I look back on them now!) it is amazing to see the results when you play around with the angles and such- and as you know, taking pictures of glass is a pain in the rear! I have read that the product tags should be completely different than the titles of the products because it adds more for search engines to link onto- is that not the case? I have been purposely avoiding using the same keywords in both.

Also Irena, I would love to communicate and bounce idea's off each other- feel free to convo me anytime!

Thank you all.. I will work on the suggestions through the week and see where we get!

[theVexedMuddler]

Chrystal, adding a greater diversity of (meaningful and relevant) phrases can help you get found for the less common searches, but matching tags to titles increases your relevancy for the tags you have, which are primarily fairly common search phrases. On Etsy, what this boils down to is that you get better results if your most important tags are repeated exactly in your titles. The way you increase your reach for those other searches is by altering your tags from listing to listing. That will increase your shop's visibility overall to a wider range of search terms.

As an example, you might set up your core 8-10 tags that will be on all wine glass listings, then have set A of divergent tags that go on some wine glass listings, set B that go on other wine glass listings. Maybe set C for another group, etc. Within each set, use one or two core tags and one or two divergent set tags (from whichever group that listing is in) in the title of each listing.

This technique makes your overall shop tags diverse and wide-ranging, but your individual item tags focused and highly relevant.

[Former_Member]

Thank you for the tips Peggy!! I will definitely give this a try! I am up for anything to try and get more visibility without needing to pay for an ad!

I will let you all know how things work out :)

[Former_Member]

Great shop! Love the glass and I got a real chuckle out of the Jagoff glass. Unless you are from Pittsburgh ,most people wouldn't understand! I was raised in Pittsburgh from age ten and I hear that phrases most of my life! My mom still lives in North Hills and my sister lives in New Brighton!

I Think you are on the right track, but I noticed a few things. One, your titles are too short and not descriptive enough. If you get a chance take a look at this article I wrote on my blog
http://beedtales.blogspot.com/2014/05/getting-found-on-etsy.html
It goes into a little more explanation!
Two, your tags are also too short. One word tags are much less effective than phrases. One word color tags are way too general!
You can use the keyword Planner on Google Adwords to help find tags that are good!
https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner
The last piece of advice that newbies should know has to do with team. JOIN TEAMS and PARTICIPATE! I didn't know this when I first started here on Etsy and it took a long time to find out because no one tells you!
I am on 25 teams and I try to play one "game" from each team on a daily basis and I have gotten a BIG jump in stats! I went from 50 to 100 faves a day to over 600 on some days! it is amazing and much easier that you think! I spend an hour or so in the morning to play the games and by the end of the day I am amazed! This really helps to get you seen on Etsy.
I hope this helps! Feel free to convo me if you have any questions!
I am getting ready to do a complete redo of all of my photographs with new photography lights I am getting, so I know about reading everything you can get your hands on! Take care!

[Former_Member]

Chrystal, your glasses are beautiful and I think you have really great pictures. You have gotten some really good advice here about titles, tags and so forth. Concerning your sale I actually listened to a Podcast from Brilliant Business Moms and they said that sales to attract business actually make your items seem less valuable than they really are, or something to that effect. It's all about perceived value.

One thing I thought of while looking at your store was how cool would your glasses be as bridesmaid or bridal party gifts. Maybe make a special bridal party listing so it's not just by the glass. Maybe you could customize colors too to match the person's wedding colors? I have no idea about painting glass but those are just some things I thought of.

[Former_Member]

Hey everyone.

I'm new to Etsy and only just decided to put my jewelry online. I'm struggling to get views let alone sales. I've only had 1. Ontop of that I'm not on any social media- but will be joining Instagram and Facebook. Obviously feeling like maybe this isn't working for me but not ready to give up yet.

Ive taken on board the photo situation and I've changed the photos and display. But still not attracting sales. Any advice would go a long way. Help!

Sarra.

[Former_Member]

Sarra, I looked at your shop, first off your pictures are perfect! I don't say that very often but yours are wonderful! You need to change your titles and keywords to maximize your views. For instance for a Swarovski pendant necklace you could have this as your title ' Swarovski Necklace - Large Swarovski pendant - Green pendant necklace' etc use multiple words in your title... Think like a buyer and what they would search for. Always use at least two word tags such as Swarovski necklace, Swarovski pendant, crystal necklace, silver necklace, Mother's Day gift etc again think like a buyer and type in the search box what you would search for if looking for your items.
Also, look for similar items on Etsy that are the same quality as yours and price competitively, I do this at least once a week to make sure my items are the same or less cost than similar items... While it stinks to reduce your prices, it has to be done to stay in business (as long as you are still making a profit) I would also consider adding a few low cost items around the $10-15 mark to gain customers... People love a deal!