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 :)

I think you need to charge more riddo.

Could you have premade then pay for personalised ones? And you should charge p&p

@doadeer , thank you for responding and for your helpful suggestions.

I do have some pre made and am thinking of adding more. I might put up my prices for the more complicated personalised cards. Etsy recommended offering free postage but I haven't really thought through the impact of that.

Or another idea, could you sell the kit so people can make them I'm self?

Themself *

I offer free postage on my prints and cards because they’re so cheap to send - if it fits in a standard letter, it’s less than £1 first class, if it’s a large letter I think it’s £1.29 for under 100g. You could maybe increase your prices and offer free second class postage, with an option to upgrade to first class, but for things like cards the price difference is so minimal I just send first class.

My kits are costly to send so I added on to the price and offered free postage. It definitely seems to help.

Since I added free postage I have definitely seen an increase - weirdly people seem to feel better spending £29.99 with free p&p, than £25.99 with £4 p&p 🤷‍♀️

I’ve put some money into packaging too - I tried out various large letter boxes on eBay until I found the best quality ones. I bought tissue paper (cheap) and had some stickers and postcards printed.

I’m getting quite a lot of repeat custom, so I think the packaging helps.

I used Digital Printing for my printing - the lowest price per item is £15, although you can add variations in the design, so I just order as many as I can get for £15 basically.

My packaging looks so much better and helps with reviews and repeat custom.

Oh, and I made a loss for quite a long time as I wasn’t doing anything with my shop while my twins were little and was paying for ads. I only had £150 of sales last year and no doubt spent more on ads.

Riddo I would have a think about how you can make a range at different price points. I find this helpful as there’s something for different budgets.

I’ve spent so much time this year on social media, taking new photos etc and it’s definitely paying off slowly but surely. I’ve made about 7x what I made last year this year but it’s a bit of a slog. I have so much stuff planned but my aim is to eventually be making about £1k a month to supplement my wage.

I think I’ve finally found a box frames supplier so when the boys are back at school (in over a week!) I’ll be taking all new photos in my sample frames and will be able to offer framed pieces which I think will help a lot as some of my cuts are very expensive.

@SinkGirl Thank you, that's given me a lot to think about 🙂

Ahh I'm still quiet this month. Got two new designs this week coming and my family is launching a shop on our business site so I'll sell my items there too... Would love to be doing 10-15 orders a week 🙏

Fingers crossed for you! The first couple of days this month I had a little flurry of orders and now very quiet again. I wish I could figure out why - it doesn’t seem to relate to anything I’m doing. Have decided to increase my Etsy ads budget for this month a bit and see if it makes a difference just as an experiment. When my boys go back to school I can take photos in my lovely new box frames which I can offer for sale too which will hopefully help with higher value items.

I know I’m being daft, but how do you actually get confident enough to post Your Own Work on Etsy? I’m procrastinating so much and I think it’s because I’m so scared of it being rubbish/ not liked. And yes, I know that’s daft!
Had parents that were very encouraging but dad would say stuff like, ‘see lucian Freud? You should be able to draw like that’ wondering if that’s got something to do with being terrified!
This may be the wrong thread, but curious to know how you are able to get your work out there!

@WhyMrsRobinson

I know I’m being daft, but how do you actually get confident enough to post Your Own Work on Etsy? I’m procrastinating so much and I think it’s because I’m so scared of it being rubbish/ not liked. And yes, I know that’s daft! Had parents that were very encouraging but dad would say stuff like, ‘see lucian Freud? You should be able to draw like that’ wondering if that’s got something to do with being terrified! This may be the wrong thread, but curious to know how you are able to get your work out there!

Just do it! You’ll get more confidence in time, and you’ll probably improve a lot over time - the stuff I make now is a lot better than the stuff I made when I first started, but that’s okay. There’s such a massive variety of stuff available, of all different standards - you can do it! Take the best photos you can and give it a try - doesn’t cost much to give it a go!

Oh you are lovely and encouraging, I really appreciate it! Well yes, I jolly well will have a go. I have a shop atm but it’s languished . Will brave it
And get the duster out tomorrow. I like your stuff by the way, very soothing somehow.
Thank you so much. Isn’t it funny but a few words like your post have given me a bit of oomph! Thank you 💐

Glad to hear it - it is hard putting yourself out there, but it feels so good when a random stranger pays money for things you’ve made / designed! It’s worth the bit of nerves :) Please share your shop when you’re ready so we can all come and favourite things!

I second this- you've just got to bite the bullet and put it out there or you'll procrastinate and find excuses forever! I had major imposter syndrome to start with but feel a bit better about it all now, a few months later.

Find something that makes you feel like a pro and it'll boost your confidence no end. I draw, print, cut and fold my own cards with my artwork on them and I bought some white cotton gloves to handle the cards fresh off the printer as I kept catching them with my nails and leaving marks in the ink. Putting those gloves on suddenly made me feel like a professional and changed my outlook! Be brave and go for it!

Lauperr thank you, that’s so nice of you. And reassuring that you felt the same. It’s certainly easy to make excuses, well done for getting through that. Must remind self I’ve been through much worse than showing a few pics and survived!
I love the idea of the gloves making you feel super professional. I have to cringingly admit that I started to sort stuff out a bit today and spent far too long looking at other shops instead! Baby steps!

I hope you don't mind me joining. I have an Etsy shop and, like you @WhyMrsRobinson I kept putting it off.

I finally bit the bullet five years ago. Last year was my best year ever - I even managed to become one of the shops that has to have off site ads as I hit the $10,000 sales mark (which should be a good thing but not being able to switch off the off site ads now is a pain...) It took time to start selling, my first sale was to a friend a month after I joined. But you won't sell a thing unless you're on it. So jump! You'll make a lot of mistakes, I did. I've had triumphs and a few tears but I still get a little thrill when I see I have an order!

Don't worry about the lack of sales in May @SinkGirl. I checked my Etsy stats and for me, May is always the worst month. I have no idea why but it's the same every year for me. I know, by Christmas, my head will be spinning like Linda Blair's in the Exorcist so I'm taking the time to re-do photos etc.

@WhyMrsRobinson it's way too easy to make excuses! I should have cracked on ages ago but I'm so glad I finally did it. And don't put it off waiting until you've got everything perfect- you can always work on titles, tags, descriptions etc as you go along. I'm still learning and adjusting my listings and will keep changing things until I'm completely happy. Keep us updated, I'd love to see when you get it up!

Oh my gosh, thank you both! And super well done Londonjax that is incredible. Of course I’m now super curious to see what you both do!
Realised I’ve been fannying about getting overwhelmed thinking of websites and social media..and they all have to be super amazing..and not actually producing products!
Also, I vaguely know a lady that has a very successful craft company and she said sales have plummeted as lockdown is easing. Hope that’s helpful.

I'm on a few Facebook groups for Etsy sellers and a lot of shop owners are reporting its slow at the moment. It's a slow time of year anyway I believe but with the shops reopening I suppose a lot of people will be hitting the physical shops- or none at all while they enjoy the weather!

Yes I feel the same about needing everything to be perfect and drive myself mad with it sometimes! But as we progress we'll learn new things, improve things with the benefit of experience etc so can't expect everything to be perfect straight away. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself!

May was my best month but only the first half - then it was super quiet. A few busy days at the start of this month and dead again. Definitely won’t be exceeding £10k this year or even close, unless things miraculously explode.

However, I did get my new custom mounts and box frames and snapped a few placeholder photos today - they make the pieces look so much better. Need to sort better lighting though and redo the rest of my photos.

I've had a good weekend. About £200 in sales plus my mum has launched a shop and I've had 4 orders of my items which is nice. I need to do a full stock take I've lost track of what I've sent to my mum! Good to see sales picking up a bit

That’s really great! Well done! I’ve had the opposite - complete silence. A couple of tiny orders for downloads but mostly nothing. I’ve been too ill to do anything and my social media is silent which I’m sure isn’t helping.

I’m trying to get hold of some less expensive small square box frames so I can offer a cheaper custom option which I think may help - also really need to design more riso prints as they’ve been the best selling thing so far but have so many ideas it’s hard to know what to pick first (and have to get quite a lot printed at a time so bit of a gamble!)

I saw your other post I'm so sorry for you. My back has started up again aswell, it was burning when I was wrapping orders.... I suppose I don't really want to the shop to grow too much as I can't physically do it 🙄

It’s so tricky isn’t it. Really want to expand and sell more but have to limit it. Disappointed not to have sold more paper cuts as have had such a positive response to my maps and they look so lovely framed, but they’re not cheap so it’s always going to be tricky. Thinking I may need a different outlet. Considering art finder but the commissions are so high (40%).

Gosh well done both of you.
I think your stuff is super sinkgirl and I’m sure it will pick up soon.
Photography is a challenge too! Actually everything is 😂