Morning George

Well it sure looks like almost no activity here at all and I don't have time to volunteer.  If no one steps up to take over, I say just go ahead and drop it.

Ceci

I'm about to open my Etsy storefront again, after laying off a year.  I have tended it sporadically over the last couple years, but will be utilizing it quite a bit in 2012.  We will be putting our house and studio on the market in the spring, and so I'll be taking a year off from shows.  Etsy will keep some income heading my way. 

I actually set up a vintage shop on Etsy with my daughter a year ago, and it became very successful.  I've researched and learned quite a bit about it, and will approach my pottery site with some new tools and techniques. 

There is also a group on Etsy made up of potters selling there...I think it's called "Etsy Mud Team".  They would be the premier group to seek out for information on this topic.  Some of them are very successful.

I put a couple weeks into stocking my shop to 90 this last summer. My goal is 120. Listings expire every 120 days and can then be renewed. 

So, once there is a base of at least 120 items, you can "refresh" your shop either by listing new work, or by re-listing items that have not yet sold. It reduces the amount of daily work necessary to keep the shop fresh. Best of all--listing/relisting daily drives traffic to your shop from within Etsy.

 My sales since I did this are 5 times what they were last year. 

Use your Circle to help determine when peak hours are for those interested in your shop...and make sure you list regularly (hour & day of week) when you are most likely to catch their attention. 

I should add: don't upload a whole kiln load to your shop in one day. Space it out over several days. Three items per day is enough to keep people coming back. Help them build good habits ;)

I found that renewing did drive up views and sales on our vintage shop.  Also, try to get into treasuries.  Those are what lands you on the front page of etsy and can generate thousands of hits.  Listing a "thank you" and link to the treasury of people who have treasured you helps others decide to treasure you as well.

Another main selling tip:  ship internationally.  Makes a big difference.

Teresa, I got my first international order today!  A yarn bowl going to the UK.  Fitting, I say.  Guess they're used to paying the postage, but it was as much as the bowl.  Thanks for the treasuries info.  I've been in some, but never done one myself.  Need to do that!

I've suggested to George that Etsy-ists here tag some items in their shop with EC6.

It would let us find each other quickly AND provide us with each others' items to put in treasuries and promote (we could label treasuries with the same tag & then help promote each other's treasuries, as well).

I "asked" but I suppose we can just do it? Since we're "the group" that Etsies. 

O.K sound good Victoria. I just added that tag to 2 of my pieces. Thanks

Great. Found you! ;)

My shop has been dormant for about a year. After my final real world sale next week I will try to get my shop up again. Will look into this business of treasuries and join in if I can figure it out. I didn't sell anything on etsy before, so haven't been too excited about jumping back in.  It did help get my pots viewable by interested local people who then made purchases directly with me. 

George, we can all learn about Etsy together.  I've learned a lot just today thanks to Victoria and Teresa.  I certainly appreciate what you folks have shared.  Posting some new items to Etsy tonight, so will be tagging some with EC6.  Great idea!

Just a note on Etsy etiquette...it's not considered appropriate to list your own item in a treasury you create.  However, if you have a group working together you can certainly promote one another's work.  Make treasuries that focus on a theme, a color, a mood, a holiday, etc.  Make it an eclectic collection, not just pots. 

Whew...there's a lot to research and learn about Etsy.  For instance, if you are a shop owner and go to some of the Etsy on-site blogs, they will tell you what "themes" Etsy will be promoting in the coming weeks, making it more likely that your treasury may be picked up.  I believe your treasury has to get a number of votes/clicks to make it to the front page...we could vote for one another's.

Another good thing to do is to purchase a featured item spot (your listing will appear at the top of the page on which ceramics are listed).  You have to reserve the spots, and pay for them.  But they do result in increased hits and sales.

You have to track your site statistics to see when people are viewing your site the most, and arrange your feature spot during that time.  Sundays are usually good for me.

Tags are very important.  Use them all, as many as you can get on there.  You can also type more than one word in a tag space, allowing you to actually increase your tag words over the form limit.  Tag for color, use, material, style, also "gift", "wedding", "traditional", "Christmas", etc.

There is a lot to learn about Etsy to be successful, and if you do it "right" it is like running a part-time job.  But it does work.  Shipping is the hardest thing to figure out.

Sharon, on your international order, be sure to stipulate that the buyer is responsible for any and all customs or tariffs fees.  You don't want to get stuck with that.

I agree with Teresa on figuring shipping costs on Etsy.  How I wish they had a shipping calculator to figure shipping by Postal zone at checkout.  I added the blurb re: customs and tariffs fees to my Policies page.  Thanks for the tip, Teresa.

Hi, great to see some activity here! You have shared some great ideas! I have added the EC6 tag to a few of my pieces. I will work on making a treasury today with EC6 members. You are right that promoting an Etsy shop  is a part time job. It's hard to get the creative stuff done too!

~Liz

I, too, am selling on Etsy, and think that it could be a great opportunity for artists.  Thanks to Etsy, I don't have much concern any more about finding buyers, but I have other problems!  Finding time to photograph, list, pack, ship, and respond to convos in addition to actually making stuff.  I'm convinced that if I could get a little more efficient, I'd make a lot more money.

 . . . I'll start tagging with EC6, too!  That's a great idea:)

To list shipping fees in the U.S., I weigh the item and list the fee to send it to CA (we are in WI).  Add the estimated weight of packing materials and box, by the way.  In your policies you can list that you will refund any charges that exceed $1 or $2 or whatever of the actual shipping fee.  Then just go to the Paypal invoice and issue a refund.

Note on Paypal and shipping...be sure to state in your policies section (and final line on every listing) that you ship only to the address on the paypal invoice.  We had fraudulent charges on a couple of purchases where a paypal account was hacked and they wanted items shipped to Europe and Czechoslovakia.  But we had to ship them because we didn't have that stipulation yet.  It happens all the time.  Be prepared.

I had friends on Etsy. I picked the ones I admired most (quality, good business practices) and read their shop sections, then used them as a model for mine. I've modified them as time has gone by, but that was a good solid start & it worked for me.