Etsy Selling: How to Raise Your Profile Profitably

May 7th, 2008 in jewelry making

Susan Beal, contributor

This gorgeous hybrid rose pin from Stamps shop on Etsy is just one of thousands of great jewelry finds. Posting great images of your work is a simple way to stand out in this crowd.

The Etsy site is more than 400,00 sellers strong and growing! You can volunteer to have the Etsy virtual labs critique your shop and give you some pointers on how to direct more traffic to your page.

Check out the similar backgrounds used in these two photos to offset some of the fab earrings selections from Stamps shop on Etsy.

This gorgeous hybrid rose pin from Stamp's shop on Etsy is just one of thousands of great jewelry finds. Posting great images of your work is a simple way to stand out in this crowd.

Photo: Courtesy of Stamp's Shop on Etsy

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If you sell your jewelry (or you're thinking about it), set up a shop at Etsy.com. The format is easy to use, and it exposes you to a massive, worldwise audience. It's a low-key, accessible, and affordable way to get your work in front of thousands of potential customers. The site is amazingly popular, though, and with nearly 400,000 listings at any given time—and one of the largest categories is jewelry—it's important to know how to get the spotlight your shop.

Etsyite, Vanessa Bertozzi, offers some very handy advice for newbies who want to get noticed:

Take good photographs. Shoot in natural light (flash is BAD), and get a variety of angles.

Choose your shop name wisely. If you're already a member of Etsy as a buyer under Pookums445, you may want to register another account for your BusyBeader business.

Don't list all your items on the same day. If you spread out the dates on which you post your new items, your shop will appear more often in the chronologically ordered search results, and you'll have a better chance of that lucky shopper browsing you!

Take part in Virtual Labs. Virtual Labs offer a number of live Webcam critiques of shops. Sellers can volunteer to have their shops critiqued by the Etsy Labs. Usually, between 65 to 100 people show up in the Virtual Labs to sit in and learn from the seller in the "hot seat."

According to Etsy staffer Danielle Maveal, cohesiveness and grouping similar items will also work to your benefit. Grouping items will help you become recognizable. She offers this advice:

Use similar photo backgrounds. Photograph your pieces on the same photo backgrounds to give items in your shop cohesiveness, such as Stamp's Shop and Replica's Shop have done.

Group similar items. Consider having a shop of that features the same kinds of products, as Bird vs.Bird's Shop and Maizie Jane's Shop have done here.

Note which pieces get the most attention. Take the item in your shop that gets the most "hearts" or "views," and run with it. Make it in a dozen different color combinations!"!"

The Storque
For more advice, Etsy's online magazine, The Storque, offers some great tutorials such as The Art of Pricing and their Shop Makeover Series. You can also search for everything written about jewelry on the Storque for inspiration, including hot trends and Etsy Finds articles.

posted in: jewelry making, etsy, selling tips, virtual labs, the storque

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Comments (8)

trusk4u writes: Terrific post! I have put most of the suggestions into play already. One thing I must say is you also need to be patient. Make your shop as visible as you can. I plan to try a virtual lab soon. Nice to know that I made some good decisions! Teresa
trusk4u.etsy.com Posted: 12:05 pm on May 28th

EyePopArt writes: Hi Susan, great post! I'm gearing up to teach a series of "How to Sell on Etsy" workshops for the Oregon Arts Commission and would love to use these tips.

Hey, I am confused about the link to replica's shop. It looks like it is just a buyer's profile, not a shop at all. I was just wondering if maybe you meant to post a different link there instead? (confused!)

Thanks,
Christine Posted: 12:20 pm on May 23rd

EvelynS writes: Great tip! especially for a newbie Etsian like me!Thanks! Posted: 7:48 am on May 18th

LindaLindaLinda writes: very helpful information, i'm working on a new line of jewelry that i plan to open up an entire new shop for, right now i mix funky and fun with sexy and elegant and only separate with sections, but having 2 separate shops should really let both aspects shine! Posted: 2:36 pm on May 14th

ArtyJudy writes: Great and useful tips.
I'll be taking a long hard look at my Etsy shop after reading this.

Judy Posted: 3:43 pm on May 13th

zencreations04 writes: Great tips! Posted: 3:07 pm on May 13th

qdpatooties writes: Now I'm thinking I want to go and do a shop "makeover" using all the great tips you mentioned. Thanks! Posted: 7:04 pm on May 12th

Liebling writes: Great tips! It's nice to see I have some of these down, and will work on others like cohesiveness. Thanks for the good examples. I'm actually in the process of starting up a second shop for a cohesive line of jewelry that I'm currently working on. Good to know I'm on the right track!

Jess

http://www.lieblingartcrafts.etsy.com
http://www.lieblingartcrafts.wordpress.com Posted: 3:35 pm on May 9th

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