Behind the Scenes ✽ Filling Out Your Listing Information

I have a few minutes here before I need to run out the door for a special needs respite I'm volunteering at. I thought today we'd do a simple but important post on filling out your product's listing information, with lots of screenshots... haha :).

The first step? Photos. Make sure you have photos of your item before you start! You can save a listing as a draft, as long as it has a picture on it... but if you fill in all the other boxes, expecting to come with pictures tomorrow... it won't save as a draft. Good pictures are best, but no pictures is not allowed! You have up to ten spots to post pictures. Do you HAVE to fill all of them? No. Is it best to show as much as you can to people who can't pick it up? YES!

Title! These are the keywords that fit in your title area. Use multiple keyword phrases, ones you have research either on your own in Etsy's search bar, or using a tool like EtsyRank, to make sure that it will be a keyword that works for you, instead of leaving you to do all the promoting.

Fill in all these little drop boxes. Let people know who made it (you, or a shop partner), what it is (digital, finished product, vintage, etc), and when it was made (vintage? handcrafted this year? will be made after the order is placed?)

Then fill in the category it would be a part of. After you pick the category, another drop box will open, with narrower categories to put it in. Others may then follow, depending on the category you are in. Make sure to use as many of them as you can!

Fill in all the attributes you can; color, the holiday it could be used for, the occasion it would be bought for. This helps for people who are shopping for gifts and want to narrow down the results that come up. Sometimes this won't be possible (like if there isn't a holiday it is good for, or you offer custom colors), but fill in what you can!

Also let Etsy know if they should renew the listing for you when it expires, or if you want to do it yourself.

Is your item a physical product or a digital download? Choose, and then write your description! Draw the buyer into the item's use, let them get a taste of your shop, answer all their questions, make sure they have all the details they need about your shop (do you only ship on Friday?), and don't forget to use your keywords in the beginning of the description! You'll want to keep measurements and names of products you used to make it, near you :).

Also check that box if you allow customer to ask for customizations :).

Put it into one of your shop sections. (You do have some with good keywords, right :)?)

TAGS! These should match your title (well, really, your title should match your tags, actually, but same thing...). If some of the keywords are too long, you can split them in half. As long as the whole phrase is there, it's okay if it's not in the same box. You can't use the same tag twice, and you CAN add all 13 at once, by writing it "keyword, keyword". That makes it easy to just copy and paste your title into this box, and post all of them at once :)!

What is the price? How many do you have? Do you want to give this item a bunch of random numbers? (Hahaha ;)....) Do you offer variations? If so, add them. You can also adjust the price for variations, so you can offer different quantities in an order, or different sizes!

Enter how much shipping should cost, or let Etsy calculate for you (recommended to save you time and money!) Put your zip code in so it can calculate from you to the buyer :).

Let everybody know how long it takes to get it shipped, and whether you'll offer international shipping or not. You can also add the price of shipping materials here, if you like.

Add the weight and size of your packaged product... and you're done! Congratulations!

Do you like filling out your product listings? Do you take all your measurements beforehand and write them down, or do you fill it in as you go?