Selling and random advice for dummies

News & Announcements

~Update at last yay
~I had 2 people bail on me about advertising in my blog, so I have 1 spot open. Get it before the 10th :D
~I recently joined Swap-bot so if you have an account there.. well kudos to you. PM me or something, username: Mesha.
~I'm looking for a radical change around here, I know I've been whining on and off about this but I promise it WILL happen !
~Once again, thank you all for having entered the last giveaways :)

Now, the last couple of days have been pretty bad for me so I want this post to cheer me up yeah ? Lets talk about your business. You may think I know nothing about this, bleh I'm only a buyer and whatnot. I've been luckily raised in a family that runs many businesses :) all kinds of businesses at it, so I'm constantly hearing about this and it's something I'm very interested in.
First of all lets talk about one of Etsy's latest trends, re-listing. I'm very aware this is not new, but I've seen it's a very common topic in the chat rooms. Someone asks every time you know ? I have always voiced my opinion, but of course people would rather listen to other sellers. I've seen people with less than 30 sales say re-listing is the way to go. Excuse me, but say stuff like that when you have some sales under your sleeve you know ? I refuse to believe spending $20 in re-listing every month is a good idea when you hardly get 2 sales a week. The formula for re-listing is very simple; do it a couple of times. It's not working ? Sales aren't happening ? That's all very well, then you have to figure out what's stopping people from buying ! Your items are all at the top of the searches, but people are not buying. What is stopping them ?

We will not talk about costs, when I see an item I value it's cost and most of the time it's very fair. Yet maybe what stops us buyers are the shipping fees ? I know I have many people agree with me when I say shipping fees are an extreme turn off when we're international, and I've even seen some outrageous prices for domestic US shipping. Are you being fair ? Is it a win/win for you and your buyers ? I do notice some sellers charge a packaging/handling fee, which is very respectable. Neither good or bad, I'd advice to let your customers know why they seem to be paying a little extra or, in case of solely charging for raw shipping, I'd also advice to let your customers know any exceeds will be refunded. Believe me, I know how much it sucks to pay $8 for shipping, get a package with a very cheap wrapping and have the USPS form say it cost $3.20 to ship. It has happened. The form bellow is a little exaggerated lol. Just set the shipping to "everywhere" to a good promedy. Works for me, should work for you.Tagging is extremely important. I am not calling out on anyone, but just for this article I made a search for the term "kawaii" (click here for more info) and it showed me nothing but disappointment(picture bellow). Alright, I'm pretty sure you want to get your product out there, but WHY miss tagging ? Please understand when I say that the jewelry that popped up in the first place is NOT kawaii. That cute cupcake is though, and the picture is also amazing, an item I would definitely click on and consider buying (if I weren't poor...). I'm not bragging, but I'm great with random words and good tags, hit me up if you need help :'DSpeaking about said cupcake, I did end up clicking on it and loved the picture. This is something that might stop us buyers from considering a purchase: BAD PICTURES. My friend Eric, also an Etsy seller, has a great tutorial for great item pictures you should check out if you think you could polish your skills. Pictures are probably the most important factor of a listing. Your pictures are the best way to lure in a customer, and if they're bad pictures they wont lure in a fly even if they're at the top of the searches. Good product pictures are the key and trigger to most succesful sales - who wouldn't buy the beautiful rings down there ? They are in my wish list and are from lovely Samantha Bird, visit her shop, MissesBird @ Etsy.com
Do you have any idea of how important an item description is ? I'm really honest when I say this, no matter how wonderful your pictures are, how amazing the price and shipping & handling fees are, I will not buy something with a 3 line description. On Etsy, and the whole world wide web really, your best tool are your words. Sure, a picture does make about 90% of the work when it comes to online shopping, but your description matters more than you think. Tell us about the materials, textures, colors, scents, flavors, dimensions, etc. Do it in a friendly caring manner mentioning details you'd like to know. Good spelling, redaction and punctuation say a lot about a seller, for instance if you're writing in ALL CAPS I'll get the sensation of being yelled at, which is not good. I know many lazy buyers that would rather not contact you regarding a little itty bitty question about your product and that will make you lose a sale. Maybe the answer to said question would have been answer if given a proper item description. See, I'm not telling you to give us 3 paragraphs of description (because that's boring and very hard on the eyes) but to only be specific. Give information you would like to have if you were a buyer. Stand in our shoes !

Now that you're comfortable in my high stiletto pumps (lol) lets talk about freebies. A free little something is ALWAYS enjoyable and creates an instant impression in your buyers' minds "Free gifts = returning customer". Sadly, this is always misunderstood and therefore, it's misleading. When I see someone offering a "free gift with every purchase" it's always a great turn off. In my mind that screams "stuff I don't want with every purchase" you know ? I am not saying freebies are not good, but believe me when I say this: it creates a much better impression to send a totally unexpected gift that's sure to please your buyer than just telling everyone they'll get something. Also, if sending something please give something you would like to receive ! Maybe a little but extremely yummy candy ? A sample of one of your products or someone else's ! (LathersbyLinds has a sample pack perfect for sellers, but she's currently on vacation due to her first show ever ! yay Linds) Discount coupons/codes are always an amazing idea, as well. Just make sure you're sending something your buyer will enjoy receiving, either based on what they got at your shop (this may give you an overlook of what your customer likes) or just something generally enjoyable. We will be thankful and most likely come back.Now that we've gone over all that cool stuff, lets talk about the most important part of your shop: your customers. I've seen this in chat a lot and have talked it over with a few very successful sellers. Etsy is your venue. You're a respectful professional seller who is trying to get the word out about your products. Or at least that's what you should be doing ! When going to Etsy chat rooms and starting crap only because you felt like it you're just telling everyone how unimportant your business is for you. Chat rooms are a great place for just relaxing and talking, but you should always keep in mind even sellers are potential customers and starting any sort of argument is showing you're a very unprofessional person who doesn't take their business seriously. Come to chat, have fun but most importantly remember your shop comes first and foremost and you have to show everyone how much you care about it.

When someone contacts you with a question regarding your items, you gotta make sure they know you're available and willing to answer each and every of their inquiries. There is nothing worse than gathering the guts (and will haha) to contact a shop owner and have then convo you back after 3 days ! By this time I'll have moved on and purchased something from someone who responded as soon as I asked. I don't care what you do, but your shop is important for you and you have to let people know this. If someone is interested in your products treat them as if they were sitting in your living room talking with you. You need to let customers know you're entirely dedicated and open to queries.There IS one thing that's probably just a pet peeve of mine, but I believe it does give an overall bad look to one's shop: asking for hearts. If you browse through my hearts you'll find all sorts of things, but overall they're stuff i really really liked and plan to purchase someday, if I haven't already. Asking me to heart one of your items or your shop is not nice at all. It makes you look desperate. As a general advice, just don't do it. If you're having a little game/giveaway that works based off hearts that's cool, but don't gauge my eyes out with the "If you can't cart me, then heart me" phrase. That's just wrong dude.

One thing that is very true and will never change is the fact that if you want to be successful, you WILL be successful. How do you think all the awesome shops out there managed to pull through being hidden and just starting out like many ? If you want to do it, you will do it - I have had many many "newbies" ask what's the formula for a first sale. It's a very simple 3 word formula: don't give up.

I don't think there is anything else to say here, I've listed all the points I believe are important and I'll now proceed to rest. It was a very long and sad morning so now I want to chill with my buddies in chat and maybe go on a tiny shopping spree. I need retail therapy - who doesn't ?

Mesha♥