The Secret To 5000 Sales On Etsy In Less Than A Year

Craft Maker Pro » The Secret To 5000 Sales On Etsy In Less Than A Year

Face it, the reason you opened your Etsy shop in the first place was to sell right? Of course it was!So, you might be asking… how do I make more sales on Etsy? What does it take to make 5000 sales on Etsy in less than a year?

5000salesUnfortunately there is no “Secret Etsy Sauce” that the top sellers are keeping to themselves! But, there are ways that will give you a good start in achieving your Etsy goals.

Let’s get it started by taking a look on what the most successful stores have in common.

Successful Etsy Stores

  1. They have great product pictures
  2. They connect with other people who share the same passion, and with positive ideas they share their successes and learn something new about selling and marketing.
  3. They know the key to pricing their handmade products.
  4. Post customers’ testimonials on online store; it gives credibility.
  5. Continually educate themselves with tips and ideas. The sellers I talked to were part of an Etsy Team that arereally working for success with each other.

Top Etsy Stores With 5,000 Sales or More

These stores were not started yesterday– most of the stores were listed within the last couple of years and many of the sales were what I consider current within the last 3 to 6 months.

They all share many of the same traits as the other successful stores but with a few additional key differences.

  1. Very high quality images. Many have multiple pictures from different angles to show their products off.
  2. Great communication and engagement especially on their own social media account.
  3. Excellent use of keywords in their product descriptions.
  4. Not using “one of a kind”; instead, “limited” is being used. This helps increase desire.
  5. Offering variations of the same thing, size, color, different metals. These successful sellers were asking what their buyers really wanted.
  6. Encouraging potential buyers to email for their specifics.
  7. Well explained production and shipping process and has a clear refund policy.

As you can see, there is really no magic formula but the most important elements common to these top sellers are as follows:

Product Descriptions

I have come across to this Etsy seller and I’ve noticed she doesn’t post regularly in the forums, skimmed from time to time, don’t pay for ads, and doesn’t belong to any Etsy teams.

However, she revised her listing descriptions (updated titles, utilized tags) and her views have gone from about 50 a day on average to about 120 a day (this is within the past three months). Sales are the best they’ve ever been for her store (over $581 this month).

So what’s the right way to create product descriptions? It’s simple. You need to know what the right keywords to use and outline the things your customers are interested to know.

Excellent Pictures

I didn’t say great, high quality, or professional-looking but EXCELLENT pictures. Your product photos should tell what you were selling.Often the problem is not the camera, but being familiar enough with your camera’s settings to exploit the settings to your advantage. If you no longer have the owner’s manual, most are available online these days and you can also check our free craft photography tutorials for help.

Here’s a tip by Lisa Steiner from ElainaLouiseStudios

“I do all of my photographing in bright natural light inside a light tent. I’m limited to early mornings because that’s when the light comes in my eastern facing window, but it works well. I suggest using natural light from a window, but not direct light on your pieces. You can also adjust your camera to let more light it which will brighten your photos.”

Social Media

Pinterest – It takes a while to get followers (more than a year for some) but now it’s actually a pretty valuable promotion tool. You can create boards categorized on your own preference like works in progress, small tutorials etc. The key is to captivate them with your product photos.

Facebook – According to another Etsy seller, last month she set up a facebook fan page, it’s been a great way to spread the word. Each item has a direct link to your etsy shop which makes it very easy for people to look at your work. The beauty of it is that if you write a daily update you appear on people’s home page, and then their friends see it and click, and it seems to grow from there!

If you want more sales you do need to really dig in and do the research to find out what works; do your homework before you jump in, get as much information as you can get, participate and get to know others in your chosen niche.

Don’t forget to set goals for sales, first 100 the first month, then 500 then 1000 to 5000 (or more) in less than a year.

Consistency is one of the main keys here so set your goals and chip away day by day. You will be amazed at the amount of progress you have made by the end of a year.

Gary Capps
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