Any Etsy sellers? Very discouraging (pay, business, full time, best)

[smoky_topaz]

Just wondering if anyone on here is an Etsy seller? either part time or full time.

I have had a shop since last spring and to date now has resulted in only 2 sales.

The only exposure I seem to get to my shop is through the "google keyword ads" feature that Etsy has. It's a little bit extra but supposedly you get more traffic to your shop than you would otherwise.

I hope this is not another place where its all about popularity, Facebook friends, all that crap. I figure that is a niche site to attract serious buyers who don't have the Wal-Mart mentality... All I see is way too many looky-loos. I would think now is a time that sales start picking up.

Please don't tell me it's all about the down economy. Unless you live under a rock, you know !!!

[zentropa]

Originally Posted by smoky_topaz

Just wondering if anyone on here is an Etsy seller? either part time or full time.

I have had a shop since last spring and to date now has resulted in only 2 sales.

The only exposure I seem to get to my shop is through the "google keyword ads" feature that Etsy has. It's a little bit extra but supposedly you get more traffic to your shop than you would otherwise.

I hope this is not another place where its all about popularity, Facebook friends, all that crap. I figure that is a niche site to attract serious buyers who don't have the Wal-Mart mentality... All I see is way too many looky-loos. I would think now is a time that sales start picking up.

Please don't tell me it's all about the down economy. Unless you live under a rock, you know !!!

Why aren't you using social media to drive traffic to your shop?

[veuvegirl]

What are you doing to promote your shop? You can't expect people just to buy.

[nesser01]

You definitely need to promote your shop. People aren't going to know you exist unless you make it known that you do. Start a blog, have a twitter and Facebook set up, hand out business cards. An Etsy store is much more than just a local craft fair table. You've definitely got to promote.

[charlygal]

You have to treat Etsy like you would a regular business. You need a marketing plan.

[spotlesseden]

Originally Posted by smoky_topaz

Just wondering if anyone on here is an Etsy seller? either part time or full time.

I have had a shop since last spring and to date now has resulted in only 2 sales.

The only exposure I seem to get to my shop is through the "google keyword ads" feature that Etsy has. It's a little bit extra but supposedly you get more traffic to your shop than you would otherwise.

I hope this is not another place where its all about popularity, Facebook friends, all that crap. I figure that is a niche site to attract serious buyers who don't have the Wal-Mart mentality... All I see is way too many looky-loos. I would think now is a time that sales start picking up.

Please don't tell me it's all about the down economy. Unless you live under a rock, you know !!!

You can pay google for like 1 to 5 cent(you can set your own price, you can pay $1 if you want) per each click where people go to your website via google service.

As for google keywords, you have to use the right keywords. If there is no traffic for your pages, that means either nobody is searching google with those keywords or your website is not even in top 5 pages of the google result.


Edit:

the best way to test is to search your keywords in google. If you can't find your website(s) after few days, that means those keywords are no good.

[ggumbo]

Originally Posted by nesser01

You definitely need to promote your shop. People aren't going to know you exist unless you make it known that you do. Start a blog, have a twitter and Facebook set up, hand out business cards. An Etsy store is much more than just a local craft fair table. You've definitely got to promote.

Originally Posted by charlygal

You have to treat Etsy like you would a regular business. You need a marketing plan.

This.

Not to brag, but I'm an excellent seamstress, and once considered setting up an etsy shop. Once I searched through etsy and realized how many other people are selling similar things, I decided against it because I'd have to do a lot of marketing/promotion.

What do you make/sell?

I know an etsy seller and she has business cards, promotes it on a facebook page, twitter, blogs about it, promotes it on (appropriate) forums, and goes to craft/art shows. Also what she sells is pretty unique, she uses wood from the Missouri Ozarks and from trees in the bayous along the Mississippi river to sculpt pretty and natural looking serving platters/bowls, small furniture, jewelry boxes, and some other things.

Unlike many other crafts sold on etsy, she doesn't have to pay for many materials (the natural wood is free), and her carving tools were pretty much a one time expense, other than sand paper and natural stains.


Edit: another thing she does, is she'll make items similar to things sold on popular websites like Pottery Barn and Anthropologie but advertise and sell the items at a lower cost. For example in the past she has sold wooden napkin rings that look similar to these but sold them for $20 instead of $28.

[smoky_topaz]

I have a facebook page and a Twitter page as well. I tweet about everything I put up for sale. Im about out of ideas...

[carnivalday]

Have you been able to sell anywhere? Have you sold locally at weekend markets or yard sales? What did you do before Etsy? I dont know what you sell, but you have to sell something people want, or need, and it has to be priced right.

[timberline742]

What do you sell? How is it special, different (from competition) and desirable?