Business, Crafting, Etsy

The Secret to Selling on Etsy

Kelly

Every now and then I peek into the Etsy forums to gather information. It’s a good place to crowdsource… tons of people killing time on the internet who LOVE to share their opinion with you.

Invariably I see a thread asking about what the secret is to sell on Etsy, how people get so many sales, how much to relist in a day, etc. And I think I am fully qualified to answer these questions. I have an active Etsy shop, generally selling multiple items per day. I also used to work at Etsy, so I have an inside view of how the whole system works.

It turns out the secret to selling on Etsy is the same as selling anywhere: hard work and good products.

Ok, maybe that’s not the most helpful answer. So allow me to elaborate with a list of tips.

  • Take better photos.
    I don’t care how long you spent on your photos. They’re not good enough. Mine sure as heck aren’t. You need to do more than just snap an accurate picture of the product. You need to sell it. I’ve seen a lot of Etsy sellers complain that they shouldn’t have to be photographers. BS. You’re a salesman, and your photos are the biggest part of your sales pitch. If you aren’t willing to put serious and continuous effort into them then you’re not serious about selling online.
    For some quick tips, check out my article, Common Photo Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
  • Make something people want.
    Do market research. And no, posting a forum thread titled “do you think people want to buy ____” doesn’t count. Browse the sold items. What’s selling? Read blogs related to what you’re making. What are they featuring? Does your stuff fit in with that? Or are you still making stirrup pants? Stop. Stirrup pants hurt us all.
    Look at not just styles but also what people are selling. Where is there a void in the market? Fill it.
  • Make something other people aren’t.
    I hate to break it to you, but if you’re making snap bibs out of Amy Butler fabric you’re already at a disadvantage. Why? Because there are already 100 other people selling them. It’s like putting a Starbucks up on every corner and then wondering why you’re only getting 1/4 of the foot traffic.

    Do an Etsy search for your product. If you make bibs, search “bibs.” How many of the search results are the same as what you make? What makes yours different? It’s going to have to be something. Better photos, better prices, better selection, better construction, different style, whatever. But it’s got to be something or you’ll just be lost with the other 20,000 search results.

  • Build a cohesive line.
    Lets say you make pouches. Rectangular zippy pouches out of pretty fabrics. Great. So now you’re “that girl who makes pouches.” It’s pretty nondescript, and when I search for “pouch” on Etsy I’m going to get a ton of other people’s stuff, which I might like better.

    Pick a common theme and run with it. Make pouches in different shapes. Now you’re “that girl who makes round pouches,” and that already sets you apart from other people. Or maybe all of your fabric features skulls on it. Or flowers. Or math equations. Or your pouches all come with built in flashlights. Whatever. Transform yourself to “that person who makes generic” to “that person who makes specific.” You’ll stick in customers’ minds better, be easier to find, and sell more.

  • Give up.
    The flip side of building a line and putting all this effort into your products is you have to be able to let it go. If it’s not working out, you may just need to move on to something else. Not all of your ideas are going to be million dollar sell outs. That’s OK.

    A few years ago I had a line of jewelry that I liked, my friend liked, it went well together without being boring… and it didn’t sell. Anywhere. And for whatever reason I just kept trying to sell it other places instead of moving on or changing it. Needless to say it didn’t work, and I’ve still got a ton of stock for it lying around on a shelf. If you really want to sell, at some point you have to evaluate what you’re doing and change if it’s not working.

  • Take better photos.
    No really, it’s important. And yours still aren’t good enough.

Those are the big secrets. As far as relisting and other nonsense… I relist whenever things sell out, which is once a day or so. By selling something unique I find that even days later I’m still on the front page of search results

There’s also a lot of chatter about twittering/blogging, and whether those are good at driving sales. Yes and no. If you have something interesting to say, eventually people will read it, and if you’ve got your products showcased next to what you’re saying then it’s free advertising. But starting a blog and just posting when you list a new item isn’t interesting to anyone except you.

But it all comes back to your products. You can blog, twitter, and photograph all you want but it isn’t going to do a damned thing if you’re not selling an interesting product at the right price. So get off the Etsy forums and take a hard look at your products. Then fix them and try again.

Published by Kelly

Kelly is a web developer and crafter based in Philadelphia, PA

260 thoughts on “The Secret to Selling on Etsy”

  1. Saw this on the Etsy forum: yay for funny and realistic advice! (Following it – now that’s the hard part.)

  2. “But starting a blog and just posting when you list a new item isn’t interesting to anyone except you.”

    I would even bore MYSELF doing that!

    Great post… thanks for sharing 🙂

  3. This is really great! I’ve been trying to get to the point of being “the girl who makes colorful, trendy, Chrsitian jewelry”! Hopefully, I’m on my way!
    Thanks for sharing!

    1. Jewelry is a really tough market, both on Etsy and elsewhere, so anything you can do to find a niche is a good move.

      1. Just my 2 cents worth on this one:

        I think up jewelry ideas in my SLEEP, lol! BUT, the first thing I do when I sit down to put something together is do a THOROUGH search on Etsy, Ebay, Google, to see if anyone ELSE is doing it. That Was I stay unique.

        1. “way”, that WAY i stay unique.

          Also, I really listen to my customers. If one of them happens to say they haven’t been able to find something, or if they are putting together a particular kind of outfit, I try to think of stuff they might need for it.

  7. So often I see people stressing over how to “promote” their work (blogging, twittering, relisting, leaving business cards everywhere) when they haven’t yet developed an interesting product or learned how to use their cameras properly. So… great post! 🙂

    1. @Lupin
      Totally. Sometimes I see posts like “I twittered 25 times this week, why don’t I have any sales?” and then I check out their shop/items. And I think to myself “that’s why.”

  12. 1) Love your banner but I wish the dinoaurs were easier to see.

    2) Very good advice. As someone else mentioned, the hardest part is implementation. Especially the aspect of giving up something you love to make because it just isn’t the great seller you hoped it would be. Possibly it just hasn’t found its market, but while you’re waiting for those works to find their audience you have to go on to other experiments.

    😉

  13. Awesomely true…but wait, what about descriptive tagging? Please, please tell your readers to tag their stuff in ways that make it findable. Until someone builds “search by excellently photographed item” or “sort by wonderfulness” I am still stuck searching using tags.

    p.s. You’re awesome, miss you a lot

  14. In reply to your comment on doing market research … maybe I’ve missed it, but I can’t find a way to search ALL of the sold items on Etsy (like can be done on “that other site”). It’s EASY to search ALL of the sold items there — sure hope Etsy will add that feature soon!

    And yes, more accurate tags would help too!

  15. You mean… my pictures still aren’t good enough? WAAAAH! 🙂

    This is a great posting – I really want to send it out to just about EVERYONE who asks “why do you sell stuff and I don’t” because, I am constantly thinking about my products, attempting to photograph better, trying to stand out, etc. I haven’t got it perfect and I certainly don’t sell a ton BUT it gets better and better each month.

  16. Thanks for the great tips. I haven’t started blogging yet although it is on my list of things to do.I use twitter but I try not to saturate it with listings I have made. I do think photos are the biggest way to promote my work. At first my pictures were really bad. I have noticed as my pics improve so do my sales! Still a long way to go 🙂 Thanks for a good read.

  17. I like the comment about “Make something other people aren’t.” Come on people, lets be original. The world would be very boring if everything was the same… guess I havent been to a mall/shopping strip lately. Thanks for the advice…tryong to follow it.

  18. Great post. You should mention too that Etsy is a wonderful learning opportunity. We get to experiment, to try and fail and maybe succeed with relatively low sunk costs.

    Maybe Etsy needs to set up a “seller swap” — I’ll swap you a knitted robot that is real cute but not selling for some of your not-sold jewelery….

  20. Very good advice! I totally agree on the pics…I’m constantly trying to take better ones and really admire those who do. I’m better than I was, but still have a long way to go.

    I’m wondering about staging the photos. Do you think is enough to just try and take clear and interesting ones of just your product, or is it better to try and stage some sort of photo with props and such?

    Thanks for an interesting article!
    Smiles, Karen

  21. Thank you for pointing out the obvious, and a lot of market research might stop some sellers from pricing 20 dollar items at 50 dollars, and then complaining they have no business……….
    The buyer is not stupid……….

  22. oh i just adored your post!!
    Agree with most of your thoughts.
    Specially when you said: “I don’t care how long you spent on your photos. They’re not good enough.” so true!!!!!!!! (about my photos, of course)

  26. I have included a photographer who does nothing but shoot product. People need to stop trying to be photographers when they are not. As with anything, it takes a professional!

    almida.com

    P.S. Thanks for the great advice!

    1. @villageofone I have to respectfully disagree. I think that when you’re still building your line and trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t, professional photography can be an expensive way to go. And it can get in the way of your judgement when you have to decide whether to scrap something. If you can afford it, great, but a lot of Etsy sellers are working on limited budgets.

      Don’t get me wrong, pro photography is great, but it’s not right for everyone. And I’ve seen a lot of fantastic photos taken by sellers, it just takes a lot of practice and determination.

  28. Thank you for sharing! That’s some good stuff to know.

    Take care,
    BeadLady

  29. I agree if you have the time. I happen to know one that is extremely reasonable with artists, expecially ones that are beginning. Need to look for those folks and trade work if possible!

  30. Finally, someone who says that the secret to selling is to have a good product. (And pictures!!) Seems that on the etsy forums folks say everything BUT that! I feel it screaming up inside me sometimes, but i withhold it for fear of offending. But really, it needs to be said.
    Thanks Kelbot for doing so!

  31. Having a limited budget shouldn’t stop you from taking great photos. I just talked to 10 Etsy sellers about their jewelry photography and most of them take their pixs outside using no fancy equipment. One of them made her own lightbox out of a cardboard box 🙂

    Like some people commented above it does take practice, at first it’s frustrating as hell but if you keep at it you’ll get some great results.

    My pet peeve when I’m shopping is photos too far away from the item, particularly jewelry…

    You can read the post with the 10 Etsy sellers here:
    http://stylecampaign.com/blog/?p=56

    Hope it helps!

  33. I think another key should be to not be afraid to diversify. I sell my products at three different online venues, etsy is my main target but keeping up shops elsewhere is important to. I just can’t keep all my eggs in one basket if you know what I mean 😛

  35. Great information. I really try so hard to improve on my pictures. I completely agree, pictures are so important.

    The most important thing about pictures is to make sure you know how to use your camera. For instance, I just figured out how to use my manual white balance feature. This feature is fantastic for having a nice color and light combination.

    Anyway, thank you again.

  36. The trouble with #2 is, if you are an artist, as opposed to just a maker of stuff, you probably already have a strong internal pressure to make what you want to make. Making some other stuff just because it is easy to sell defeats the purpose entirely.
    If you are an artist, the task that you are born with is to find the people who want to buy what you want to make. Suggesting that people change what they make in order to sell more is like saying, “Why don’t you just get a job?”

    1. Well, at some point you do have to look at it like a job. You’re running a business.
      I don’t think you have to compromise your artistic integrity to make a sellable object. But you really have to look at yourself and what you’re doing. If you’re not willing to budge one bit, you may need to accept that your art is more of a hobby than a profession. And that’s OK. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a 9-5 and doing what you’re passionate about in the off hours. In fact, many artists do that – they have a production line to pay the bills, and then their “thesis” work. All of the successful artists I have known over the years did that at some point, and the lucky ones worked up to the point where they could ditch their production line.

      But the bottom line is that no one is going to pay you to do only the things you like. There’s a give and take to the equation.

      1. I haven’t found that I need to budge from ny aesthetic in order to make a living. My art is not a hobby. The secret, for me at least, is not changing what I make, but finding the people who want to buy what I make. Sure, it’s harder. For me, it’s worth it.
        I am not judging other people’s choices: do what feels right to you. But to say, “No one is going to pay you to do only the things you like,” well, that’s just false. People DO pay me, to make only the things I like to make.

        1. Lori I think you sell so well because you already sell a unique product and have a niche for it. I think this comment is particularly relevant to jewelers like myself or others who sell a broad spectrum of items. I know I should probably give up my jewelry online and look to more in person and wholesales, concentrate on my other online items that sell better, but I just cant yet. I decided to give it to Christmas then re-evaluate.

    2. Lori, that’s true, but we all need to make money.
      One way is to have your $100 version that all your research, time, effort goes into (and is paid for) then a smaller $30 version based on the $100, then a $10 item, a distilled version of both. That way you aren’t putting too much mental effort and research time into the small item, and if people buy the $10 item because they can’t afford the $100 item they love, if they ever can afford it, they have the small item to remind them you exist.
      We all have to have our bread-and-butter items – a good example is painters making prints, cards etc. as well as selling their paintings.

      1. Beccy,
        that is really good advice. I get what Lori is saying about artistic integrity, and not changing from her vision, because I am also an artist. However, I am trying not to be a starving artist, so I paint on wine glasses, beer mugs, etc until the time when I can find those elusive people who want to buy my idea of beautiful paintings. I wish all of the artists on here the best of luck in finding buyers who love the same things they love, I really do. I guess I have just not looked hard enough!
        Kellbot,
        as a new ETSY seller, I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to write this information. Thank you!

    3. Lori, I very much agree with you, an artist is an artist you can’t just make what people want it would stifle the creative energy. I totally understand the perspective of what Kellbot is saying, but Picasso didn’t change his style of painting to be as the others.

  37. What great advice. I definitely need help on the photos! And I can completely agree, when I am shopping I look for the most professional work and on Etsy your photography displays your work! Thanks for the great post and honest truth!

  39. And I can also say that I think I found my niche – I dare to go where many other polymer clay artists do not tread. People seem to like that!

  40. I am surrounded by geniuses! Yes Kimberly You have found your niche! Someone somewhere in these forums today said something about a polymer clay garden sculpture and damn if I didn’t forget to go back and remind people that exposure to direct sunlight will over time cause the piece to become brittle.
    Well.
    I suppose since my daughter is a photographer, I should send her the files and have her give a little polish…
    I have a vampire to sew!

  41. I found a link to this post on Curbly and I’m so glad I did. So much fantastic info. I’ll be linking to this.

  42. so, you’re saying stirrup pants are a bad thing?

    just kidding!

    thanks for reminders of good marketing!

  43. So much of this is common sense. Always makes me wonder how people make money out of selling Etsy secrets, you know those Etsy Selling Guides. No secrets as far as I can see.

  44. AWESOME. You’re a great writer who knows what needs to be said and how to say it. Smart, funny, no crap…just good all over. Thank you. Really.

  46. I put my items to my shops. But they goes to back pages very quickly. What can I do for this? how can I carry my items to front pages. What is the secret
    Thank you..

  47. Excellent article. In addition to doing all the work, marketing, taking great pictures, putting out a great unique product etc. A little luck is needed to figure out how to Get your stuff in front of the right audience. I’ve had my own website up since October of last year. I read other blogs in my niche to keep current, I market through a blog, twitter, write articles, facebook, buy banner ads on releveant websites, google ad words ppc, put up a small shop on etsy too and try to participate in forums as much as possible when i have time. And planning on writing tutorials. With all this it seems that I hardly have any time to actually create anything. The sales are slowly coming in but nothing to write home about. Craft fairs seem to be where I sell a lot of my goodies. As luck would have it my 3 kids demand a lot of my time too. Perseverance seems to be my best friend now and if it weren’t for the fact that I love what I make and I love the process of making something for others I would have given up 2 months into the process. Any who, thanks for the article again.
    Annie
    Le Neko Noir: Cute Things For Your Charming Cheeky Side

  48. Thanks for this article! I’ve had my account on Etsy for a while now, but haven’t added an item yet because I didn’t feel prepared. I think the tip about the photos is so true. By day I work in real estate and we try to impress the same thing upon our agents…a photo is worth a million words for sure!

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