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Original poster

Any Etsy sellers want to chat / share tips?

378 replies

SinkGirl · 17/03/2021 21:27

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 :)

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Original poster
SinkGirl · 05/04/2021 22:01

Etsy charges certainly add up once you add in all the processing fees and relisting fees and VAT on fees. Haven’t sold on eBay for ages but maybe I should add some stuff on there - don’t know if people really use it for the type of stuff I sell but won’t hurt to list a few and see.

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Original poster
SinkGirl · 05/04/2021 22:04

Problem is you want shadows really to show the depth - they look best in floating frames but they are a devil to photograph (you really need a proper lighting set up etc). Hard to really take photos that do them justice. I dug out a folder of some of my old layered pieces recently after not looking at them for ages and they look so much better in person.

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viciousteaparty · 05/04/2021 22:06

Hi! Etsy shop owner here for a few years, tips I would recommend :

  1. Use social media to channel traffic through to shop. I have an Wix website with an Etsy plug in
  2. Etsy fees are on the high side which is tough but you do get the traffic!
  3. Use offsite ads on Etsy - worth it.
  4. Update the shop regularly, add a few new products daily if possible. Look at www.durrantanddove.com if you need an example! X
Doxie8 · 05/04/2021 22:13

What sort of ROIs do you all get on Etsy? I sell original linoprints and I've worked mine out as 1.56. So, for a £5 print, for example, I'll make £3.05 after Etsy fees and my own costs. No idea if that's good or not!

JulietMadeChutney · 05/04/2021 22:14

@viciousteaparty

Hi! Etsy shop owner here for a few years, tips I would recommend :
  1. Use social media to channel traffic through to shop. I have an Wix website with an Etsy plug in
  2. Etsy fees are on the high side which is tough but you do get the traffic!
  3. Use offsite ads on Etsy - worth it.
  4. Update the shop regularly, add a few new products daily if possible. Look at www.durrantanddove.com if you need an example! X
Oooo, what is this Etsy plug in I basically had to do my own version with a hatchet from another "meet the team" page? Do I find it on the Wix dashboard? Is it easy? I am bored of website stuff now.
Aloethere · 05/04/2021 22:14

@viciousteaparty

Hi! Etsy shop owner here for a few years, tips I would recommend :
  1. Use social media to channel traffic through to shop. I have an Wix website with an Etsy plug in
  2. Etsy fees are on the high side which is tough but you do get the traffic!
  3. Use offsite ads on Etsy - worth it.
  4. Update the shop regularly, add a few new products daily if possible. Look at www.durrantanddove.com if you need an example! X
Is that your website? If it is I thought you might like to know that the home page isn't displaying properly there is part of your about us showing under the photo and the actual text that I think is supposed to be under the photo is to the left and under the about us text. On the about us page 'in addition to this, you need to know more about it' is written multiple times, 4 times at the bottom of the page, I'm not sure if that is meant to be that way? That is on chrome on my laptop.

I mean the above in a helpful way (I always appreciate it when someone points out typos or whatever on my websites) not is a criticising way.

doadeer · 05/04/2021 22:17

@SinkGirl

Forgot to say that Royal Mail are currently offering free collections until the end of May - usually they have a charge on top of the postage. They’ll collect up to 5 items a day so it’s super handy if you have small numbers to send out. Just buy the postage on their site and then click arrange collection.
Is this through the Royal mail site, not the etsy site where they ask if you want Royal mail labels?
doadeer · 05/04/2021 22:18

@treehearts congratulations! Mine is new ish too, feel free to share it if you want and I'll favourite your store!

JulietMadeChutney · 05/04/2021 22:18

Oh another tip - I got in our local paper recently by contacting them with a written out story of my "journey" from lockdown to Etsy shop. I pitched it as a goodnews-coming-from-covid story - and had more or less written it for them. I was lucky enough to be given the contact of one of the journalists there and they just grabbed it, rewrote the odd tense etc and published it the next week. Was good publicity. So if you have some story to write or interesting announcement to make it maybe worth trying it out. It may not work, or only end up on their website/FB page - but it may drive traffic.

doadeer · 05/04/2021 22:20

@Doxie8

What sort of ROIs do you all get on Etsy? I sell original linoprints and I've worked mine out as 1.56. So, for a £5 print, for example, I'll make £3.05 after Etsy fees and my own costs. No idea if that's good or not!
I've been offering free shipping but it's just not worth it for some of my items. If I go up a weight band I end up making a very slim profit. It's so hard to balance it all. I don't know what's normal
viciousteaparty · 05/04/2021 22:23

@Julietmadechutney Search plug-in on the Wix website - really easy to install. I created a Wix page called 'shop' then added the plug in there. Simples!

treehearts · 05/04/2021 23:16

Thank you, @doadeer
Happy to favourite anyone else!

www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HeartTreeArtShop

JulietMadeChutney · 06/04/2021 07:23

[quote viciousteaparty]@Julietmadechutney Search plug-in on the Wix website - really easy to install. I created a Wix page called 'shop' then added the plug in there. Simples! [/quote]
Thank you - I may look into that. Especially if it is free. At the moment I am not sure the Wix £10 extra a month for upgrading/adding a shop to Wix is worth it so an easier way to add items to my website would be very handy.

JulietMadeChutney · 06/04/2021 08:59

Oh and for anyone thinking of doing a Wix page - I have twice now been offered half price deals from them for their packages (anything over the £6 a month ones) -so don't pay full price. Get your basics set up, wait a while (couple of weeks) and you will probably be offered the half-price for a year deal.

treehearts · 06/04/2021 13:04

Does anyone use Etsy teams? Or anyone part of 'engagement groups' on Instagram?

doadeer · 06/04/2021 18:32

What are your conversion rates like? Feel like mine in super low at 1% 😩

doadeer · 10/04/2021 18:26

How's everyone getting on?

CrochetBug · 10/04/2021 21:56

My shop is open. There's hardly anything in it but i need to stop procrastinating and do something. Blush
I think i need better photos!

here

CrochetBug · 10/04/2021 21:59

I still didn't see anything about opting out of ads so I hope i haven't accidentally signed up to some crazy fees!

doadeer · 11/04/2021 07:18

Congratulations! If you don't know this already, make a Canva account and you can do your shop background - it's free

Original poster
SinkGirl · 12/04/2021 12:26

@doadeer

What are your conversion rates like? Feel like mine in super low at 1% 😩
1-2% is normal for online selling. Over 2% is really good.

My visits have really dropped off and my conversion rate is sitting around 1.6% so I’m really struggling. No idea why. Easter holidays though so don’t have much time to try to make it better - will have to wait a week!

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doadeer · 12/04/2021 15:35

Yes I suppose it just looks low on paper! Some days it's much higher but 1.3% is my average. Sold 5 items this weekend so maybe coming into a good season for me?

Does most of your business come from etsy search or more social media etc?

HazeyJaneII · 12/04/2021 15:39

Looking to make a start on all this having spent the last year home schooling ds, after jacking in my job last year so I could shield ds....Will be looking for helpful tips!

CrochetBug · 12/04/2021 15:43

I can't verify my bank account which I assume means I can't actually make sales Hmm

Original poster
SinkGirl · 12/04/2021 15:45

Mainly Etsy search - my listings actually rank well and I have lots on the front page for the main search term. Plus I’m finding that most visitors view 3-4 items on average so that’s good. My social media died a death while I was away and I’m struggling to get it back up and running well.

I think my market is quite small though. When the kids are back at school I’ll be converting lots of templates into SVGs for machine cutting which has a much bigger market so hopefully that will help.

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