Any Etsy sellers want to chat / share tips?

[SinkGirl]

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve restarted my Etsy shop (well it has been up and running for five years, but I was pregnant when I started it then I had twins who are both disabled so I haven’t touched it in four years - I’ve just been selling digital downloads, so it’s just been ticking over with very very few sales (about 40 last year).

I’ve added lots of new items including a kit and have been trying to get back into the swing of social media as my pages had died a death. It’s hard going but feel like I’m getting somewhere (have turned over as much in the last month as I did all of last year).

I have a mammoth to-do list including taking all new photos, and restarting my shop selling finished items to run alongside my templates and kits.

I’ve been out of it for so long that I feel like I’m starting from scratch.

Would be lovely to talk to others about how they are doing, share tips on getting the best results, making listings as effective as possible, share info on things like where to order packaging and stuff like that.

Anyway, I’m here if anyone wants to chat :)

Well done, @SinkGirl !! I've been eying up your map prints this morning, they look really great. (I'll get one when I'm a bit more flush 😂)

@treehearts

Well done, *@SinkGirl* !! I've been eying up your map prints this morning, they look really great. (I'll get one when I'm a bit more flush 😂)

Thanks! They’re my first riso prints and really hard to know how things will come out but I have some more adventurous ones planned now I know a bit more!

@SinkGirl

I don’t think it would work well for me either but it’s a good idea!

I’ve started an instagram photography course on Domestika - only a short way in but it’s really helpful so far. It’s just the thought of it really - I’m limited in how I can frame paper cuts for photos due to the annoyance of reflections, framing up loads of things is a pain in the bum at the best of time.

But hey, the pieces I’ve just designed should take at least 90 hours so I will probably have lots of points where taking a few photos seems wise 😬

@SinkGirl - someone may have already told you this as I haven't read the whole thread - but remove the glass/Perspex from the frame before you photograph it = no reflections

Hoping to reawaken this thread as I have an Etsy shop but have only ever had one sale. It’s handmade kids clothes so quite a lot of competition but still thought I’d be doing a bit better by now.

I’ve only been going for a few months but feel like I must be missing something.

Anybody fancy having a look and giving me some pointers?

IslandkidsCI is the name of my shop.

Oh I’ve missed all these extra pages of posters! Ignore my bit on the previous post about reawakening this thread.

@SinkGirl - someone may have already told you this as I haven't read the whole thread - but remove the glass/Perspex from the frame before you photograph it = no reflections

I can do that for prints and for certain styles of paper cut that can be mounted, but I desperately want to be able to photograph cuts in floating frames as that’s how they look best, but it’s two pieces of glass so no chance. I’ve tried all the tricks but nothing works, and the fact that my house looks insanely dark on camera isn’t helping matters. It’s driving me a bit crazy. I did take some photos outside which were better but still not good enough.

When the weather gets better I’m going to crack out my DSLR and have another go :)

Quieter day today but still a few sales. I’ve now made more than 4x more than I did last year - again, not saying much as last year was as I only sold about 45 items last year, but I’m still really happy with how it’s going. I’m impatient as always but the work I’m putting in seems to be paying off! Planning to run some competitions soon and will see if that helps.

@Happyhedgehog20 for me, putting energy into social media seems to be paying off. Certain Facebook groups like the Not On Amazon group have been great for me - a couple of things I’ve shared there have had a big response, lots of shares and quite a few sales. Instagram doesn’t seem to lead to much traffic to my Etsy shop, but Facebook does. Have run a few small Facebook ads and may increase that.

I’ve set just a $1 a day advertising budget for each of my two shops on Etsy and am getting good return on ad spend there so will keep doing that.

Slightly improving my photos and trying to get my tags and titles right has helped to increase views.

I also invested in some good printing - stickers, postcards and other packaging stuff to make my items look as nice as possible when sent out (I have some nice tissue paper to wrap my kits in, I put a hand written postcard in each order, sticker to seal the envelope / box etc). I’ve had quite a high percentage of customers come back to order again, and I think the nice packaging etc helps.

Sometimes if things are quiet I’ll run a little promotion (e.g. a percentage off templates for bank holiday weekend etc) and that seems to give a little boost.

I would have a look for some of the Facebook groups for those who like Scandi clothing, WAHM clothing, cloth nappies etc - they’re the ones likely to spend on handmade baby clothes :)

Just keep going :)

@SinkGirl Thank you for your reply.
I currently have a small daily spend on Etsy, no response yet on that, also £1 a day I think.
I’ll have a look at the not on Amazon page, that sounds good. I use handmade kids on Facebook but there is so much traffic that posts get lost almost immediately.

I feel like I need some honest truths from whoever is willing to give them, are my products just a bit boring/rubbish? And that’s why I’m not getting sales or are things just a bit slow, and I need to keep plugging at it? I’d appreciate honesty from whoever can give it.

TIA

www.etsy.com/shop/IslandKidsCI?ref=search_shop_redirect

Oh my goodness your stuff is gorgeous! I really wish I could get stuff like the dungarees / rompers big enough for my boys (they are 4-5 but still in nappies).

I think you’re going to do great, it’s just early days!

I would try to take photos in situ somewhere rather than cut out on a white background, at least for some of the photos - have a look on Etsy at some kids clothes brands you love and see how they dress their photos. An open hanging rail, nice hangers etc.

Definitely post in some scandi groups that allow WAHM mum posts - they’ll love your stuff.

Consider sending clothes to people who can take good photos of their little ones in your clothes - there are some mums in those groups who dress their kids up and take amazing photos so if you browse them you should find some. Or post asking if anyone is interested. Or ask any friends with little ones so you can set up a photo shoot. I think seeing them on or even just on hangers makes them feel a bit more real, whereas the white backgrounds make them look a bit like stock images? That’s just my thoughts anyway.

I see lots of baby stuff sellers on Instagram who seem to trade items amongst themselves so they can take nice photos with various products in them

Also look at the way the listings are written for those selling a lot in this category. Your descriptions are very short so you could add a lot more information.

You say they come beautifully wrapped so include a photo of something wrapped / packaged. Point out they make great baby shower / new baby / first birthday gifts, add these things into your tags.

Some of your titles are also quite short and also specify a sex where I don’t think they need to - you’ve got a girls romper I would definitely have put on my boys, and a boys jumper I would put on a girl. So I wouldn’t put that in titles (I would put boys girls and unisex in titles and tags for almost everything although dresses probably worth putting girls in the title for search purposes).

You’re going to do great, hang in there.

Just double check your variations too - the first listing I checked which is the sweatshirt has variations for “primary colour” and “secondary colour” whey should be “print” (or pattern) and “size”

Definitely give a lot more info in the description:

• whats the fabric like
• what’s the fit like
• care instructions
• styling tips (aka wear with...)
• how it’s packaged
• how long it will take to be dispatched (are they in stock or made to order, when will they be sent)

Like I say, look at what others include in their listing descriptions

@Happyhedgehog20
Hello,
I also have a Etsy shop selling handmade children's clothes, I have opened last August and currently on around 90 orders I think which is not lots, but the orders are steadily coming in and I hope it will only get better.
From what I can see in your shop I would leave the shirts, dungaree sets, jumpers (until autumn), and concentrate on rompers, shorts and shortie rompers (seasonal at the moment), leggings and simple dresses, anything you can make quickly and is simple and comfy to wear. I would up your game with fabrics, go higher with weight (I use at least 220 cotton lycra) and/or get one/two organic prints if you can..invest in exclusive design or colourway and have it printed if you can then you can claim it as exclusively yours..and you need to promote promote promote literally few posts every day on insta, stories, posts, giveaways, promote your popular post with Instagram, I found all this helps, there is so much competition in this field, you need to offer something different then others, it could be product or fabric or packaging anything which makes you and your brand different.

@SinkGirl & @onedream Thank you both so much for taking the time to look through and give feedback. Very much appreciated and I will definitely use it!

@SinkGirl I cannot see how to change the variations from colour to fabric / size?

@Happyhedgehog20 your clothes are really nice. I agree with the above comments about the photos with the white background- they don't say homemade to me.
The other thing I'd think of doing is having a mock up of how each fabric would look on each item, it's not my area, but I'm sure there's software that could do that.

Loving everyone's Etsy shops! Here's mine: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Felicitise

I sell mostly linoprints, with a few paintings and drawings. I've had the shop for a few years, but only started putting effort in at the beginning of this year and have seen about 50 sales so far since January. I have quite a good conversion rate, but need to increase views, so working on that at the moment.

My conversion rate for my art shop has gone nuts this week (14%) but it seems most people are following links in from social media for that specific product and buying it. I’ve added all the products from my art shop to my Facebook shop and gradually doing the same for my templates (although you aren’t allowed to list downloadable items so can only put the printed ones in there).

Sold out of the sets of prints now and there were 20 sets sat in people’s baskets when it went out of stock - hoping I’ll get the new order by Tuesday, hopefully people will still want them then! Really kicking myself for not ordering more in the first place!

@sinkgirl where do you promote on social media? I have an Instagram account but not many followers so barely any traffic comes from there.

[quote Happyhedgehog20]@SinkGirl Thank you for your reply.
I currently have a small daily spend on Etsy, no response yet on that, also £1 a day I think.
I’ll have a look at the not on Amazon page, that sounds good. I use handmade kids on Facebook but there is so much traffic that posts get lost almost immediately.

I feel like I need some honest truths from whoever is willing to give them, are my products just a bit boring/rubbish? And that’s why I’m not getting sales or are things just a bit slow, and I need to keep plugging at it? I’d appreciate honesty from whoever can give it.

TIA

www.etsy.com/shop/IslandKidsCI?ref=search_shop_redirect[/quote]
Your stuff is gorgeous! Ds2 would have killed for that shirt with the constellations on!

@Happyhedgehog20

Hoping to reawaken this thread as I have an Etsy shop but have only ever had one sale. It’s handmade kids clothes so quite a lot of competition but still thought I’d be doing a bit better by now.

I’ve only been going for a few months but feel like I must be missing something.

Anybody fancy having a look and giving me some pointers?

IslandkidsCI is the name of my shop.

Oh I looooove your space dungarees, any way you do them bigger, for 2-3 my little boy would love them!

@Happyhedgehog20
I'm trying to buy one or your tshirts and it's only giving PayPal option, I don't have pp and I don't want an account as my last two were hacked twice. Is this a setting somewhere? I usually do apply pay for etsy

@WhatWouldPhyllisCraneDo Thank you!

@doadeer I think PayPal is my only option as I’m in Jersey. You can go directly through my website instead www.islandkids.shop, the T-shirt’s are all on my ‘ready to ship’ page and I’ll be ordering more fabrics this week so I can do the bigger size romper for you. If you order the T-shirt on my website, I’ll have your email and can let you know as soon as the fabric is in. Thank you so much for your support 🥰

Eee I made such a Cock up sent two orders out wrong last week. Both ladies were LOVELY about it and one has just written such a nice review. Lovely to have nice customers

@doadeer

Eee I made such a Cock up sent two orders out wrong last week. Both ladies were LOVELY about it and one has just written such a nice review. Lovely to have nice customers

Oh that’s great! I’ve got some lovely customers now who keep coming back which is just such a lovely feeling. Lovely reviews are always good too!

I’m having such a brilliant month - have made nearly double what I made last year just in the last week. Just about to pass my target for the year so have doubled it.

Waiting on my new order of Line of Duty prints and really hoping people still want them after five days out of stock! I’ve ordered 50 sets so let’s hope they sell.

Have just designed my first map printables like this (trying to be different to the other prints out there!) and am offering prints printed at home too - might convert a couple into riso prints and see how those do.

I've spent the afternoon at Mum's taking better photos. They are still a bit rubbish tbh
We were going to go in the garden but the thunder and hail stones stopped us so I've left the blankets and cardigans there and Mum will try and get some outside pictures for me.

@SinkGirl your prints are very cool. As soon I start making some sales I’ll be along for some.

I’ve been working hard to update my shop these last few days, updated all the descriptions, tried to take some photos with background but not happy with the lighting so will have to rethink that one. @CrochetBug getting the photos right is such a challenge.

Anyway, I was feeling good about my efforts so I logged out went about searching for my items the way a customer would and.... nothing. They don’t come up in the searches at all. Feeling a bit deflated by it now. Think I need to book one of their startup help phone calls and see what I’m missing!

Don’t be disheartened - it can take a while for your listings to show up in searches especially if it’s a crowded category. Have you tried eRank to make sure your listings are optimised? I really need to do this properly (I did it for a few listings but need to do the rest but I’m so busy getting new designs finished).

If you can I would try some Etsy advertising - you can set the budget at $1 per day and you only pay when people click through. It’s worth doing especially at first - I get quite a good return on my Etsy ads. My listings are ranking much higher now that my visits a s sales are increasing and I’m getting reviews more often.

How’s social media going? You could maybe try running a competition on Facebook and Instagram to get more followers (I have a few prints that I ran off before finalising the colours so I’m going to run a competition to win those, plus I have a couple of riso prints where the registration errors are a bit too high so will probably run a competition for those too).

Also don’t forget it’s Fathers Day in a month, so if anyone has any products they can add for that now is a good time (really need to finish mine off!)