Getting Noticed

[ArtrifikStudio]

Has anyone figured out a way to have people find your shop out of all the hundreds of shops that are a lot like yours? I have been on since August of this year. Have not made a profit as of yet. Have 381 active items for sale and Etsy charges me .20 a piece. I put on sales all the time. I have been told that if I get up to 500 items in my shop that it is more likely I'll be noticed and get more traffic. I don't want to spend a fortune on advertisement especially when I don't have any items that are over $4.00. Just once I would like to find something that would help boost my sales. Then maybe, just maybe I'll be able to afford getting ads to help me grow my little business. Peace to you all, hope you an your families stay safe through the holiday season and after.

[heavyistheheart]

AI is a bit of a disaster on etsy. If you are not making profit that is never a good thing - you have 25 sales and nothing is .20 a piece so not sure what you are referring to.

[ArtrifikStudio]

sorry I just corrected that .20 It is what Etsy charges for each item posted

[heavyistheheart]

that makes more sense. I wish you luck

[digitaldoodlebug]

Generally the more you list the more potential buyers see your items and the more niches you can target. But right now AI art and POD are flooding the market like a tsunami. And sadly it creates a race to the bottom $. I see designs for under $1. Which while not practical from a selling point are likely to draw buyers. You would need something to stand out from the crowd. Why buy a design when they can use AI? Why yours over any other AI seller? These are meant to be honest questions to look at the competition and what you are offering buyers. Any item sold needs to fill a need (or have marketing to convince them there is a need). If you have 100 buyers and 100,000 sellers then you will have a very hard time getting noticed. 

People who make art from scratch not using AI have had their incomes abruptly nosedive. So I can imagine it would be even harder for AI to compete with AI. 

[FancyTogs]

This is not a shop critique thread so we can't mention anything specific about all the things that are wrong in your shop, but here is some general advice applicable for all shops . . .

1. Read Etsy's Policies, and use the Seller Handbook and Help Centre. The links are on most Etsy pages.
2. Finish setting up your shop, it is important. Shop information is needed for buyer trust and information, for search ranking, for legal reasons, to protect the seller, and for Etsy Seller Protection (Etsy's claim bots will automatically accept buyer claims and refund from the seller's shop account if policies are missing).
3. Learn how SEO works.

Some light reading to get you started:

https://www.etsy.com/seller-handbook/article/the-ultimate-guide-to-starting-an-etsy/838957668224

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/sections/4406539602455-Start-Selling-on-Etsy?segment=selling

https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/search-advertisement-ranking-disclosures/899478564529

https://www.etsy.com/seller-handbook/article/366469415790

https://www.ecreativeim.com/blog/index.php/2011/11/09/understanding-the-longtail-of-keywords/

https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/selling-to-eu-and-uk-buyers/239965962014 - the laws actually apply to digital as well, with a small difference in that the buyer has to actively accept that they give up the right to withdraw / cancel if they decide to download within 14 days of sale. So the seller information requirements of the laws still apply.

https://www.etsy.com/seller-handbook/article/59160674124

Lawrence (Clare's other half)

[BagmakerSupply]

@ArtrifikStudio: You are in a very very crowded niche, and the reality of Etsy is that you need to drive your own traffic and sales initially until the algorithm learns that people will purchase the items you offer.