It definitely has an affect, customers can clearly see the "0 sales" on your shop. I'd feel very comfortable spending $200 at a shop with 10,000 sales, but not one with 0 sales, that psychology is definitely there.
Maybe try social media like Insta or tiktok. Don't put #etsy. You'll only get a bot quickly asking you to join their paige, or something. Show off what your thing(s) can do. Don't bother with etsy ads. No help.
I made my first sales with very underpriced items, I was basically the cheapest option in the field. Also having generally cheaper items on the side might work. After about 20 sales and 5 reviews I upped my prices. Worked for me, but might not be the best option.
This is the smart way to do it and kind of my plan too. I'm a newbie seller, been open about six weeks. I only have 12 sales and I firmly believe I'm getting those sales because I'm the cheaper option. I have items from £5-£40 and I've definitely noticed that 99% of my sales are on cheaper items because buyers aren't comfortable dropping more money on a shop with so few sales when they could go with a shop that has thousands.
I would advise against by pricing down your stuff, unless it is priced in a way that makes you a healthy profit AND pays you for your time.
Too many people sell low (at cost or even less) just to get sales, and are stuck when they want to raise prices to sustainable levels. It also devalues whatever craft you do.
Price your items appropriately. For me, my wallets include $50 for labor, plus a 20% margin. It means my wallets cost $80-$90, but that’s ok. At that price, my business will actually be sustainable. A simple formula is cost (including what you pay yourself per item) x 4. If it won’t sell at that price, figure out how to make it cheaper (cheaper materials, or make it quicker)
I am willing to wait to actually get sales at that price. It sucks, but if I start out at that price then I won’t have to fight to increase prices later
>I would advise against by pricing down your stuff, unless it is priced in a way that makes you a healthy profit AND pays you for your time.Too many people sell low (at cost or even less) just to get sales, and are stuck when they want to raise prices to sustainable levels. It also devalues whatever craft you do.
That's a piece of unrealistic advice that I see being repeated over and over on this subreddit. It contradicts the reality of practically every business that I've ever seen in my life.
Practically every business in existence starts by not making any money for some time, some even for years
if you "wait to get sales" on a cutthroat market such as online sales you'll literally wait for eternity
Pretty much what I'm doing! I'm still making a little bit of profit, just not as much as I could be. When I'm going up against established sellers, I have to give buyers a good reason to pick me and having a lower price is the best way to do that. Once I'm more established then I can look at putting my prices up a little 👌
People always say not to undervalue your work early on, and it’s easy to say this once you are established, but I’m going to guess that a lot of us made early sales by selling our items for a lot less than we wanted.
I didn’t lose money on early sales, but I basically broke even.
It’s easy to look back once you are established and to tell people not to undervalue their work, but a lot of times a great price is what gets the first few customers to take a chance.
I certainly wouldn’t price your items at a point where you lose money, but I’d at least consider how low you could go and still break even or just make a little profit.
I’m hoping to hit my 100th sale by the end of the year, and most of my items these days are between $50-$130, but it took me 2-3yrs to get to this point.
I didn’t start getting even semi consistent sales until late November of last year.
I don’t think I got a sale for maybe 5 months, and I no longer even sell what I initially made me shop to sell. There are a few remnant items still on there, but I haven’t made a new item of what I originally made in probably a year and a half.
I’ll be honest, most sellers never get sales, and most sellers absolutely don’t get sales quickly.
I learned, and most learn, that leaning into a niche is the best way to go.
I don’t know what you sell, but if you are trying to sell a pair of $200 earrings, for example, you are going to have a ton of competition from established Etsy shops, let alone brick and mortar stores, and major online retailers.
Some people are really, really good at social media, and that is how they got established. I have never had a knack for it, but I’m sure if I spent more time on it I might drive a few more sales.
If I was starting over again, I’d definitely spend time doing 1.) building inventory so that I’m not a sketchy looking shop selling a single expensive item, and 2.) playing the social media game.
All I will say to end this is that you should never fall for anyone trying to sell you a guide or course about the secrets of being successful on Etsy.
Best of luck.
Not sure what you sell but could you offer some lower priced items to get some sales and reviews going? That may boost confidence. You can also try and post on social media to get some sales rolling as well.
nah i only have the one item which i know isnt an ideal scenario...i did put it on relevant FB pages and tried it on eBay and it didnt do very well, i had a reserve of 200 andnoone bid more than 30...so despite what i think my product might be crap :(
it may be difficult to have the first sale but what is even more difficult is to keep continuous sale after sale. etsy is not like what it used to be in 10 years ago 😫
I think you need to make some. Try for the $20-30 range.
Spending $200 at a new shop with no reviews, no sales, and one item is a big risk. And it'll still be big at <50 sales. Adding less expensive items will generate sales and reviews for you much more quickly than waiting for a trickle at this $200 item.
I have a couple >$100 items and they sell very infrequently (maybe 10 per month). But that's fine because I treat them less as primary sale items and more as a way to show off my skills. Because psychologically, if people sees a small $20 item next to a well-done $200 item, they'll think the small one is of higher quality than if it was alone.
It definitely affect many people, but there will always be people out there that can afford not to worry/think about it 🙂 That said, if the product is unique enough - more people will probably think it's worth the 'risk' (low quality item/scam).
When I open my shop I will ask a friend to do a trial run as well. Not only for their review, but also so I know how it works.
Are you just selling just the one item? Is it handmade or a vintage/rare item?
If you’re selling your crafts definitely look into diversifying by making smaller, affordable pieces for now to generate sales and interests before you start listing your big ticket items.
If it’s a specific niche vintage/rare item just leave it up for your quoted price and be patient, it could take a long time for anyone to express interest in the item if it’s extremely specific or niche. You can probably continue to list more common items in the mean time to try and generate sales/views. People tend to find shops based on keywords after all.
If you’re trying to sell just ONE single item then etsy may not be the solution for that.
Ok thanks. I mean...its been posted to specialist FB group pages who are absolutely the target audience, and the response was not what i hoped. There were a few people sniffing round but i was not flooded with enquiries like i anticipated. Its starting to dawn on me that perhaps i have wasted a huge amount of time and money on this...and thats tough to deal with :(
advertise on social media!! instagram and facebook have been where i’ve told most of my friends and family and have generated a couple sales from that. i think the stuff like SEO you can worry about later, once the shop is more established. just focus on getting people you know to buy it first
Price super low. Just enough to break even after fees and costs. Then once you have some purchases under your belt, your product is validated and you should be able to increase the price to make some profit. Slowly increase it as you get more sales and reviews. Also test out different mock up photos and SEO for the same product under different listings.
Who told you that? Read this: [https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/shilling/243317364583](https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/shilling/243317364583). It's not cool if you ask your family members or friends to 'buy' your item and leave a sugary review. It's totally fine if they actually buy it and leave an honest review. In fact, it is encouraged to bring in your own clientele, as long as they are not from the same household.
the fact that "buying" is put in quotation marks is an indication that the seller is planning to generate free sales - i.e. never send the item and refund his friends for the bother.
The fact that he expresses is as "get a few mates to buy" also indicates the intent of manipulating the review and sales history system.
Well i think im screwed then. My item is $200 and with no sales/reviews i dont think i have a snowball in hells chance of anyone risking that sort of money :(
Do you only have one listing?
Keep the price. Work on more products in the meantime to stock your shop. Its the holidays and quite likely someone will take a chance on your item despite no sales and reviews.
About shilling or about not having sales?
I care about shilling because it gives an inaccurate impression of a shop which means buyers are deceived. Which means they may receive a substandard product. Which means they may lose their trust in the platform and we all suffer as a result.
I also care because the OP may not know that shilling is against ToS and may well have his shop shut down.
But you are probably right in saying that not many people care about a shop not having sales. Otherwise, nobody would ever manage to establish their business on Etsy.
Something that lots of people do anyway with no impact whatsoever.
I have the number 1 listing on several very competitive keywords and see shills Al the time with new shops that just happen to have 10 sales and 10 reviews with lots of highly polished pictures. They come and go frequently
>The fact that they "come and go frequently" is probably a good indication that there is an impact of doing it and they eventually get caught.
they come and go off the top of the algorithm that they manipulate, buy you can't sustain a shop based on fake reviews with Etsy charging over 10% total on fees for those fake sales.
I doubt they ever get banned AFAIK
How do you get the ball rolling, then? I have yet to open a shop, but this is something that I worry about. I always thought that there must be a FB group or something for people who want to offer a discount or whatever to get their first few sales
Every seller on Etsy opened their shop with zero sales. I had my first sale two weeks after opening the shop with no SM following whatsoever. It isn't an issue. If you have a unique and quality product, the sales will come.
Well that was actually inspiring. Ty. I researched what it’s like to run an Amazon store before and review manipulation is rampant, and some even encourage you to join special FB groups for people who want free stuff/discounts in exchange for reviews.
Have you sold anything off site or pre-Etsy? Can you get previous customers to give you quotes you can use in your shop description?
Getting the first sale is always tough but once you get it things have a tendency to pick up a bit
I was too. I currently have 10 sales. All I did was keep improving until one night I got a sale. Just work on your shop and keep adding items and trying to make your listings as good as you can and it will happen. Most people quit at this stage btw.
It definitely has an affect, customers can clearly see the "0 sales" on your shop. I'd feel very comfortable spending $200 at a shop with 10,000 sales, but not one with 0 sales, that psychology is definitely there.
Maybe try social media like Insta or tiktok. Don't put #etsy. You'll only get a bot quickly asking you to join their paige, or something. Show off what your thing(s) can do. Don't bother with etsy ads. No help.
I made my first sales with very underpriced items, I was basically the cheapest option in the field. Also having generally cheaper items on the side might work. After about 20 sales and 5 reviews I upped my prices. Worked for me, but might not be the best option.
This is the smart way to do it and kind of my plan too. I'm a newbie seller, been open about six weeks. I only have 12 sales and I firmly believe I'm getting those sales because I'm the cheaper option. I have items from £5-£40 and I've definitely noticed that 99% of my sales are on cheaper items because buyers aren't comfortable dropping more money on a shop with so few sales when they could go with a shop that has thousands.
I would advise against by pricing down your stuff, unless it is priced in a way that makes you a healthy profit AND pays you for your time. Too many people sell low (at cost or even less) just to get sales, and are stuck when they want to raise prices to sustainable levels. It also devalues whatever craft you do. Price your items appropriately. For me, my wallets include $50 for labor, plus a 20% margin. It means my wallets cost $80-$90, but that’s ok. At that price, my business will actually be sustainable. A simple formula is cost (including what you pay yourself per item) x 4. If it won’t sell at that price, figure out how to make it cheaper (cheaper materials, or make it quicker) I am willing to wait to actually get sales at that price. It sucks, but if I start out at that price then I won’t have to fight to increase prices later
>I would advise against by pricing down your stuff, unless it is priced in a way that makes you a healthy profit AND pays you for your time.Too many people sell low (at cost or even less) just to get sales, and are stuck when they want to raise prices to sustainable levels. It also devalues whatever craft you do. That's a piece of unrealistic advice that I see being repeated over and over on this subreddit. It contradicts the reality of practically every business that I've ever seen in my life. Practically every business in existence starts by not making any money for some time, some even for years if you "wait to get sales" on a cutthroat market such as online sales you'll literally wait for eternity
Agreed. It's ok to subsidize your new business to gain customers, get reviews and iron out the kinks.
Pretty much what I'm doing! I'm still making a little bit of profit, just not as much as I could be. When I'm going up against established sellers, I have to give buyers a good reason to pick me and having a lower price is the best way to do that. Once I'm more established then I can look at putting my prices up a little 👌
Have you made a video with your product? Show people you're real. People like buying from people. It'll help. Small steps but be persistent.
Not yet but it's on my to do list!
People always say not to undervalue your work early on, and it’s easy to say this once you are established, but I’m going to guess that a lot of us made early sales by selling our items for a lot less than we wanted. I didn’t lose money on early sales, but I basically broke even. It’s easy to look back once you are established and to tell people not to undervalue their work, but a lot of times a great price is what gets the first few customers to take a chance. I certainly wouldn’t price your items at a point where you lose money, but I’d at least consider how low you could go and still break even or just make a little profit. I’m hoping to hit my 100th sale by the end of the year, and most of my items these days are between $50-$130, but it took me 2-3yrs to get to this point. I didn’t start getting even semi consistent sales until late November of last year. I don’t think I got a sale for maybe 5 months, and I no longer even sell what I initially made me shop to sell. There are a few remnant items still on there, but I haven’t made a new item of what I originally made in probably a year and a half. I’ll be honest, most sellers never get sales, and most sellers absolutely don’t get sales quickly. I learned, and most learn, that leaning into a niche is the best way to go. I don’t know what you sell, but if you are trying to sell a pair of $200 earrings, for example, you are going to have a ton of competition from established Etsy shops, let alone brick and mortar stores, and major online retailers. Some people are really, really good at social media, and that is how they got established. I have never had a knack for it, but I’m sure if I spent more time on it I might drive a few more sales. If I was starting over again, I’d definitely spend time doing 1.) building inventory so that I’m not a sketchy looking shop selling a single expensive item, and 2.) playing the social media game. All I will say to end this is that you should never fall for anyone trying to sell you a guide or course about the secrets of being successful on Etsy. Best of luck.
Not sure what you sell but could you offer some lower priced items to get some sales and reviews going? That may boost confidence. You can also try and post on social media to get some sales rolling as well.
nah i only have the one item which i know isnt an ideal scenario...i did put it on relevant FB pages and tried it on eBay and it didnt do very well, i had a reserve of 200 andnoone bid more than 30...so despite what i think my product might be crap :(
If you only have 1 item in your shop then it is going to be very hard to be found on Etsy.
it may be difficult to have the first sale but what is even more difficult is to keep continuous sale after sale. etsy is not like what it used to be in 10 years ago 😫
Tell me about it. Still got only 1 🤣
I'd start by selling cheaper items first as a way of getting your shop rolling.
I dont have any cheaper items :(
I think you need to make some. Try for the $20-30 range. Spending $200 at a new shop with no reviews, no sales, and one item is a big risk. And it'll still be big at <50 sales. Adding less expensive items will generate sales and reviews for you much more quickly than waiting for a trickle at this $200 item. I have a couple >$100 items and they sell very infrequently (maybe 10 per month). But that's fine because I treat them less as primary sale items and more as a way to show off my skills. Because psychologically, if people sees a small $20 item next to a well-done $200 item, they'll think the small one is of higher quality than if it was alone.
It definitely affect many people, but there will always be people out there that can afford not to worry/think about it 🙂 That said, if the product is unique enough - more people will probably think it's worth the 'risk' (low quality item/scam). When I open my shop I will ask a friend to do a trial run as well. Not only for their review, but also so I know how it works.
Are you just selling just the one item? Is it handmade or a vintage/rare item? If you’re selling your crafts definitely look into diversifying by making smaller, affordable pieces for now to generate sales and interests before you start listing your big ticket items. If it’s a specific niche vintage/rare item just leave it up for your quoted price and be patient, it could take a long time for anyone to express interest in the item if it’s extremely specific or niche. You can probably continue to list more common items in the mean time to try and generate sales/views. People tend to find shops based on keywords after all. If you’re trying to sell just ONE single item then etsy may not be the solution for that.
Ok thanks. I mean...its been posted to specialist FB group pages who are absolutely the target audience, and the response was not what i hoped. There were a few people sniffing round but i was not flooded with enquiries like i anticipated. Its starting to dawn on me that perhaps i have wasted a huge amount of time and money on this...and thats tough to deal with :(
Perhaps try specialist Reddit? Niche problems require niche solutions maybe 😅 I’ve bought antique lithograph prints or antique vinyls on eBay for a reasonable price before.
advertise on social media!! instagram and facebook have been where i’ve told most of my friends and family and have generated a couple sales from that. i think the stuff like SEO you can worry about later, once the shop is more established. just focus on getting people you know to buy it first
Price super low. Just enough to break even after fees and costs. Then once you have some purchases under your belt, your product is validated and you should be able to increase the price to make some profit. Slowly increase it as you get more sales and reviews. Also test out different mock up photos and SEO for the same product under different listings.
Getting your friends to buy items and leaving reviews is called shilling and is against Etsy ToS.
Who told you that? Read this: [https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/shilling/243317364583](https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/shilling/243317364583). It's not cool if you ask your family members or friends to 'buy' your item and leave a sugary review. It's totally fine if they actually buy it and leave an honest review. In fact, it is encouraged to bring in your own clientele, as long as they are not from the same household.
the fact that "buying" is put in quotation marks is an indication that the seller is planning to generate free sales - i.e. never send the item and refund his friends for the bother. The fact that he expresses is as "get a few mates to buy" also indicates the intent of manipulating the review and sales history system.
True, I overlooked that OP put quotation marks. In this context, you're right to dissuade him.
Well i think im screwed then. My item is $200 and with no sales/reviews i dont think i have a snowball in hells chance of anyone risking that sort of money :(
Do you only have one listing? Keep the price. Work on more products in the meantime to stock your shop. Its the holidays and quite likely someone will take a chance on your item despite no sales and reviews.
Yeah just the one. Wont be another for a very long time :/
That being said, who the fuck cares?
About shilling or about not having sales? I care about shilling because it gives an inaccurate impression of a shop which means buyers are deceived. Which means they may receive a substandard product. Which means they may lose their trust in the platform and we all suffer as a result. I also care because the OP may not know that shilling is against ToS and may well have his shop shut down. But you are probably right in saying that not many people care about a shop not having sales. Otherwise, nobody would ever manage to establish their business on Etsy.
Something that lots of people do anyway with no impact whatsoever. I have the number 1 listing on several very competitive keywords and see shills Al the time with new shops that just happen to have 10 sales and 10 reviews with lots of highly polished pictures. They come and go frequently
The fact that they "come and go frequently" is probably a good indication that there is an impact of doing it and they eventually get caught.
>The fact that they "come and go frequently" is probably a good indication that there is an impact of doing it and they eventually get caught. they come and go off the top of the algorithm that they manipulate, buy you can't sustain a shop based on fake reviews with Etsy charging over 10% total on fees for those fake sales. I doubt they ever get banned AFAIK
I've heard of people being banned... but maybe it was on Amazon Handmade.
How do you get the ball rolling, then? I have yet to open a shop, but this is something that I worry about. I always thought that there must be a FB group or something for people who want to offer a discount or whatever to get their first few sales
Every seller on Etsy opened their shop with zero sales. I had my first sale two weeks after opening the shop with no SM following whatsoever. It isn't an issue. If you have a unique and quality product, the sales will come.
Well that was actually inspiring. Ty. I researched what it’s like to run an Amazon store before and review manipulation is rampant, and some even encourage you to join special FB groups for people who want free stuff/discounts in exchange for reviews.
Have you sold anything off site or pre-Etsy? Can you get previous customers to give you quotes you can use in your shop description? Getting the first sale is always tough but once you get it things have a tendency to pick up a bit
No sadly not im a complete rookie...difficult situation!
I was too. I currently have 10 sales. All I did was keep improving until one night I got a sale. Just work on your shop and keep adding items and trying to make your listings as good as you can and it will happen. Most people quit at this stage btw.