Full-Time Etsy Sellers Share Secrets to Success

by: Ina

I'm always impressed with the quality of selling tips Etsy publishes, and as you said, Julia, many of them apply to wherever you are selling.

by: Digmen1

We all know that etsy is doing very well.

But what does a full time seller mean?
Is is someone who makes a good full time wage as much or more than they would working a normal 8 hour day?

Or is it s stay at home mum selling a few items every week?

How many full time sellers does etsy have?
How many does Bonanza have
How many does ebid.net have?

by: cayenna

To me a FT seller means they are available to reply to emails and transactions almost instantly. This increases my sales and also repeat buyers. FT also to me means you go the extra mile but with balance in all aspects; such as taking the time to actually correspond to the customer and have meaningful but short conversation which is genuine and which reaches the heart as the seed of motivation is the heart. Hopefully they will be motivated to purchase and buy again from start to finish. In order to do this and also provide nice packaging I need to be very organized and have things done ahead of time so that there's no delays in shipping their pkg, and so I can be as productive as I can. I always ship either the same day or next day. I also include samples of a specific item I am selling such as soaps for example and which always increases sales, makes them feel extra special, and it is memorable. Who doesn't like getting a gift? I also write out a receipt for every order instead of printing it out to save on ink. It shows the customer I was willing to take the extra time to do that and it is professional to provide it. At tax time I have all of my sales records saved in the receipt books which is also nice. Ink is much more expensive than a receipt book. Even though all the extra time is put into my business, it all does make a difference. I make a private note in the massage area of my sales re what I may have spoke to the customer about or what they shared so I can go back 3 or 6 months later and email them to see how they are doing, send them an offer, show them something new, send them a little gift card...that usually always brings them back for another sale and they tell friends. I make sure I complete my feedback right away and always build customers up no matter what; looking for the good. I have seen a hundred fold increase over the past 2 years just by improving on these things.
To me a FT seller will strive to build up all areas of their business based around their customers. So it is not just being available. A person should not be in business if you are only working for the money and do not want to care about your business and customers, and go the extra mile. No matter how much you are or are not available if you go the extra mile with everything you do; building a good foundation you can succeed in anything.

by: LCA

I just recently started selling on Etsy, after more than a decade with eBay.

I am so impressed with the site - so much about it just makes me smile and it's inspiring - all the creativity, energy, and colours.

I'm still getting used to the place but it's enjoyable.

by: truehandmade

This post as well as 100's of others posted by Etsy in their own blog fail to include on purpose that most if not all ''full time sellers'' reach this status and benefit every selling day by being hand-picked by Etsy for free promos throughout the site, prominent front page coverage and frequent editorial features written by and controlled by Etsy. All other sellers do not benefit from this constant free promotion and their traffic and sales show that Etsy controls what and who sells well on the site and who does not.  Sellers willing to produce and list products that fit the site's tight editorial control benefit and this grooming/promo trick has been used by Etsy for self-promo from day one.  
The truth is most sellers do not sell on Etsy but those handpicked by Etsy employees do.  
These high-volume sellers never ever talk about the benefits they receive worth tens of thousands of free advertising dollars from Etsy.  Most sellers never benefit and their lack of sales proves just how this Etsy-system works.  Great propaganda tool but most sellers will tell you that Etsy exclusion means little traffic and little to no sales at all.

by: PriTrendz

Very impressed and satisfied with my experience on Etsy. I have shared my experience to help other sellers and beginners.
Please share
www.PriTrendz.com/blog

by: Nolle

ok, now don't get mad at me...but...

I think the #1 reason ''some'' people have trouble selling on Etsy is the sheer competitiveness of the site.  Pick almost any category of hand-made items, and you will see a range of quality from embarrassingly poor to unbelievably  artistic.  

buyers on Etsy are looking for the best product - price is often not an issue.  This is very very different from ebay or ebid or bonanza.  Quality, craftsmanship, imagination, beauty - these are what are valued most on Etsy.

when I first posted items on Etsy, I did it exactly like Ebay, and after 3 months, sold nada.  then I started looking at competitive items - i mean really looking at them hard.  I modified my listings, explaining how I made the product, my source material, and workmanship.  I improved my pics - went more artistic. suddenly, they started selling.

btw, I've never been featured or mentioned or ever read or written on any Etsy blogs.

I am currently working on a complete line of new products specifically for the Etsy audience.  Etsy sales numbers don't lie - they are extremely impressive.  no other 3rd party site comes close.  but to tap into that market, you have to understand that market.

I would guess that 90% of these huge sales numbers are with less than 25% of the artists.  I think that is the nature of this market.

by: ItsSewSusan

Cayenna stated: "ake a private note in the massage area of my sales re what I may have spoke to the customer about or what they shared so I can go back 3 or 6 months later and email them to see how they are doing, send them an offer, show them something new, send them a little gift card...that usually always brings them back for another sale and they tell friends."

I have wanted to do this for a long time but was told it is against Etsy rules to contact the seller after the close of the sale. Would someone please clarify? If my understanding is correct, I think it is a real mistake on Etsy's part. As Cayenna explained, this contact really increases sales for us, but also Etsy.

Susan

by: Island_Sam

I started selling on Etsy about 6 months ago. Specifically to start weaning my business off of ebay. Listed about 150 items on the store inventory. Paid extra for "Top Page" advertisement & prices were competitive. The result was 3 sales in 1 month (I sell triple that in a DAY on ebay) Quite pathetic. In fact, I let all the listings expire, sales dived to 1 per month. I would be more than willing to transfer my total inventory to Etsy (about 800 items) if I can get 70% of the sales I get on ebay. Maybe someday this will happen, just not today.

by: EKE

truehandmade above is correct. After Etsy initiated Gift Cards and the new Browse feature, chasing after a Pinterest-like appearance, our sales on multiple stores bottomed out. Scary bad. And their staff give the most insulting responses to requests for help. Their new Admin is the Ebay Donohoe clone. So much of what sells there is China merchandise now. Regretsy posted a piece showing their new CEOs sales - it was stuff from China. The Etsy of old has disappeared. Plus, the flood of sellers from Ebay to Etsy, undermining the market value of vintage goods, has eroded the vintage market. Thanks, Ebay. The world is your low-ball, undervalued  oyster. The race to the bottom is on!

by: EKE

I forgot to add something I think is really telling about Etsy. Did you notice that they have done away with ANY form of seeing what has sold on Etsy? This is highly unusual, very suspect. People were actually showing the truth of what truehandmade above said, so Etsy pulled the plug on being able to see what items were currently selling there. I think they are probably the only venue that does not allow sellers OR buyers to see what has sold, what current trends are in their market. Their refusal to pull huge China sellers also shows that they are more concerned about their own corporate bottom line. Products are buried now in their new Browse. And soon they will eliminate Categories. So, the buyer is faced with browsing up to 250 pages. If you're not lucky enough to show up in whatever their Relevancy is (and they don't explain even that), you are forever buried.

by: Forestt

In regards to ''memorable packaging'', the only thing I'd remember is never to buy from that seller again. Custom branded shipping materials cost money, guess who pays for that? Even for a novelty item like a wooden cutting board shaped like states, who in their right mind is going to buy again and again because or packaging? Oh yeah, grandma, instead of sending another sweater.

Have to add, I like to cook and if someone gave me or my wife an irregularly shaped cutting board as a gift, it would end in the closet to be re-gifted at the next office Christmas party.

This type of advice does nothing to help sellers and is pure nonsense. Reminds me of those clickbank e-books that pretended to teach people ''the secrets'' of how to make millions on eBay by using dropshippers.  

by: Sierra

EKE, what the heck are you talking about? I can still see sold items in other people's Etsy shops. If you can't see them, then maybe you're part of a test. Please don't post un-truths; that helps no one.