A new Etsy shop owner, Shelly Riddle who owns NeoAndMeeko felt like she was struggling with sales when she had been “open 3 months and only made 13 sales”, so she turned to fellow Etsy sellers on Reddit for advice and critique. Here’s the best pieces of advice from all of the replies:

1. 13 sales in 3 months is NOT bad! It takes time to grow.

2. Etsy’s search engine starts to “find” your shop and inventory when you get closer to 100 items. I have duplicate some of the listings in my shop, varied the photo line up, and used different titles and tags. One listing can be multi seasonal, the other can be more specific for holidays or season.

3. Etsy algorithm wants your listing to use up the photo slots, 2 photos (as I saw on one listing) is too few. The photos need variety as some are the same photo but taken in different places. Try to get some bokeh in your photos. There are guides online for product photos with a smartphone.

4. I see you've used your tags in etsy, have you tried using erank to make sure the tags are good and your listing meets their criteria? If you search for something similar, erank can show you what tags they used.

5. Consider adjusting your Return Policy. If you are outside of the USA some countries require returns and if you don’t accept returns you are breaking the law.

6. A photo with a tape measure or ruler will help show the size.

7. Using a small light box or tent with plain backgrounds can help when staging your earring shots. The key is to keep the background simple.

8. Expand your color palate.

9. Don’t be afraid to design big and bold styles, especially with geometrics.

10. More photographs! I personally like to see photographs from all sides, including the back. In most of your photographs your earrings are mounted on cards, which gives a less handmade impression, in my opinion. Maybe include some pictures of the production process too.

11. People who buy from Etsy understand that and know that items can be priced higher. So don’t lower your prices to look more appealing, mark your prices to what YOU want!

This advice was so good that only 1 month later NeoAndMeeko came back to Reddit to thank everyone who provided this advice because she already had great improvements in sales and even became a Star Seller! Today is September 26th, 2021 and I took a peek at NeoAndMeeko's store and saw this just this week she has multiple 5-star reviews!  This is proof that simply asking for advice from people who have been in the game longer is exceptionally helpful.  You would be amazed at how much online sellers want to help fellow sellers grow.  

If you want to read the original post, here you go: https://www.reddit.com/r/EtsySellers/comments/pb5f...