CraftyMamaMia's Tips for selling on Etsy

Welcome to the 2nd edition of "CraftyMamaMia's Tips for selling on Etsy"

Tip#1 Consistency
Last week I touched lightly on consistency in photos. This week I want to talk about consistency in your whole shop. I never thought it was that important...boy was I wrong. Before CraftyMamaMia was Bath & Body and Incense, it was more of a variety store. I promoted on Etsy and away from Etsy, day and night, but I never sold anything...for months. So I decided that even though I have a bunch of crafts that I love to make, it just wasn't working. So I spent some time trading with other Etsy sellers to empty out my store some and I focused on Bath & Body and Incense. Once my shop was more consistent I finally started receiving real sales, and have had 40 sales in less than 2 months.
So if you are a Multi-Craft Artisan such as myself, either pick related items to sell in your shop and save the other crafts for craft shows or you can branch out and open another Etsy Shop. I have been working on opening a new shop myself.

Here is a great article from the Storque (Etsy's Online News) Finding your Etsy Niche

Tip# 2 Gaining Feedback
Most buyers will pass up a great item if the shop has little to no feedback. So new sellers need to find new ways to gain great feedback.

*One way is to go shopping on Etsy, you don't have to spend much, just buy a few items, make sure to pay right away and don't give the seller any reason to leave negative feedback.

*Another way is trading. There is usually a chatroom on Etsy dedicated to chat and trading (if there is not one currently, make one and name it "The Trading Room" or "Trade and Chat" doesn't matter as long as there is the word "trade" in the title) Sellers gather in the chat room and look through each other's shops. If you find an item you would be willing to trade for you can contact that seller either in the chat or through a convo. Be nice and ask specify which item you like and ask if they would like to look through your shop and maybe trade.
Don't be offended if someone says no. Everyone has their reasons why, and everyone has different tastes, so just say Thank you, send their shop a heart and move on.

You can find threads in the forums with people willing to trade, there is even a traders list.

*If you ever visit the Promotions Forum on Etsy there are games that sellers play. For every game you play or trade you make, you will gain 2 new feedback (one from the buyer of your item and one from the shop you bought from) plus you can make friends on Etsy (which is a good thing when you need someone who understands to lift your spirits)

To list a few:
Secret Shopper (SS)
Tag
BNR (Buy and Replace)
Trade Game (every Thursday evening at 9pm EST Hosted by EtsyFriends Street Team)

**When joining a game please read all the rules in the first post, if you are still unsure reply to the thread to have someone help you.**

My first 48 sales came from trading and games, but it helped me gain a ton of really great positive feedback, plus I was able to shop on Etsy and get some really great items without spending too much money.