Sales on Etsy

[chapeaunoir]

I used to think Etsy was more like a fancy Pinterest until I decided to just keep listing consistently and work on tags and the like - boom, the sales started coming. But I had to keep going and be consistent.

[RetroMonde]

I think that's the way of the future for online sales now- list, list, list or sales plummet. There's no comfort zone of "skating" on your listings ike we used to have. A couple of years ago you could take a couple weeks off and the sales kept coming but those days are gone. Etsy isn't as bad as eBay that way but I notice the difference when I slack off.

[Deleted]

frankin, your stuff is gorgeous. When you DO make a sale it will be a big one.

I'm the same right now--didn't list anything over there today. I would go nuts if I had to list something every single day without one day off ever.

chap, I'll ask you if/when I have more questions. So far it seems very intuitive and the people are really nice. I may not keep going after March though. My stuff will be ending and I don't have an endless supply. Would be great to get rid of what I have.

[chapeaunoir]

You never know what you'll find - it's so cheap to list there (which is why I get confused when people say they 'can't afford it'), and you can just list sewing kits, jewellery, etc. as you find them. Anyway, you'll know more when the time comes - I'm just saying to keep an open mind.

Retro - I think you're really right. And it takes longer for listings to get into eBay's system, too. It used to be right away - now it's a couple of days. I can't slack off for more than 2 or 3, or it's 2 or 3 days to get going again.

[Deleted]

I cut my listings way down on Etsy (20ish now from 150)

and sold two this week for decent $$. After culling (from 280 or so) to 60 I was lucky to sell 1/month. Prior, I was at 2/week-with an occasional bonus of a few per week/

Seemed like a lot of work for little return. Admittedly, I did sell some items for top dollar but seemed  they were far and few between

Sold one item today for the same as my eBay price as well as a skirt that hasn't moved on both sites for the past few months. It's marginally exhausting though tp keep track of everything. 

[Deleted]

150 listings is a lot. I'm trying to just keep it over 40 on etsy. I do the 50 free listings on ebay. Etsy fees do add up too. My items are not pricey and with 5 etsy sales I think I'm about $30 ahead of the game. But that's because all my items were either free or very cheap to buy in the first place.

I'm not paying to list more on etsy just to fill up the shop. Only will list it if I really think it could sell.

[chapeaunoir]

It comes out to about a nickle a month to list on Etsy, and I've never known what will and will not sell - I have the most surprising sales - it may be up for a year and cost me $.80 to keep running all that time, then sell for $40. I think key is to keep listing on a regular basis, whether you have a lot in your shop or not.

Mine woke up again with regular sales - up and down.

[Deleted]

Dec 2, 2016 0:10:07 GMT chapeaunoir said:

It comes out to about a nickle a month to list on Etsy, and I've never known what will and will not sell - I have the most surprising sales - it may be up for a year and cost me $.80 to keep running all that time, then sell for $40. I think key is to keep listing on a regular basis, whether you have a lot in your shop or not.

Mine woke up again with regular sales - up and down.

True, the listings do last for three months.  I'm happy with etsy and I love the clear simplicity of how it works.  I'm just not going to stress out over getting tons of listings just for the sake of having listings and I'm going to concentrate on things that I really think will sell.  The costume jewelry isn't doing well there (too many other etsy sellers who have great stuff and specialize in it)--but I'm doing well with embroidery kits and vintage for the home.  Your etsy shop is really gorgeous, Chap--very professional.

[chapeaunoir]

Thank you!

I understand what you're saying - looking for a balance, but just remember that there's some wriggle room because the fees aren't like eBay. Also I get that you don't need a lot of stuff sitting around the house that's not going to sell or you don't believe in. That's what I tell myself "Do I *really* have room for this?" Because unless I really believe in it, I don't.

ETA: Oh! Someone in Croatia just purchased three items - my Etsy store totally flatlined for almost half of November, and I depend upon it for 1/3 of my income - maybe the Etsy gods turned my shop on again for a while.

ETA ETA: Don't worry about the slow sales of your jewellery - it'll sell. Just keep listing your kits and home items and when you go to renew the jewellery, do "copy" and change a few things (tweak the title and tags) a little. I've had buttons and buckles running for months, and they're slowly selling. Etsy is a bit of a long game because it's so specialised. The point is to enjoy it. Now that you're getting sales, you probably only have to list something every couple of days.

[Deleted]

I should expand into international. I used to on ebay but the postage got so expensive and if I had to take a return from overseas, well...no good. Etsy doesn't make you take returns. I've got Canada on there but I really should update to more countries.

[chapeaunoir]

You can pick and choose. I ship everywhere now, but right now am getting people asking me to reduce shipping - they think I'm shipping super-duper speshul handling and I only use the cheap first class - they don't GET that US shipping is very high - a 10 oz package is 21.50 overseas which is unbelievable - it's probably some of the most expensive in the world now (at least it's higher than what I pay to have stuff shipped to me from several continents). I commiserate with them, but it's a real problem.