Being a Trusted Etsy Seller ✽ Remembering the Little Details

When starting up an Etsy shop, it can be easy to think all you need is a shop name, and some listings. The shop name is required to put up a listing... and, well, the listing is what gets you money, right?! I'll admit even I did this at first. I had my name, Under the Tapestry, picked out a couple years before I started my shop, and I had some of my products (my tatted bookmarks) made up in abundance before my Dad and I sat down at the table and he helped me take the plunge. We listed one item (my Tatted Cross Bookmark), and then I started slowly working on adding up more items. I set up my policies fairly early on, using Etsy's generic policies as my main springboard, but there were details I overlooked. Details that would have been simple to take care of, but I didn't realize that it was something that would hurt my shop if I left undone... or I simply didn't know where to look to even find that it was something I could include! I've learned and worked on these things as I've went, and though I know I still have a ways to go and there is always something to learn (just yesterday, in fact, I learned something about one of Etsy sellers' favorite "Like Game", that I'll share with you later this month!)

Think about this. There are hundreds of thousands of sellers on Etsy. Etsy search engines have to pull through all of those sellers, all their shops, and all their listings, to find listings to show searching buyers. Etsy wants to show the people who rank high. I'll share other tips on how to do that later this month, too, but for now we'll talk about how the little, initial details help you be a trusted seller :).

When you don't have all the little details set up, you won't rank as high in Etsy search, because...

1. Etsy knows that sellers aren't going to be as interested in a shop that they can't get to know. Etsy is the place for handmade items. Everybody knows that it is an actual person creating their order behind the scenes, and they like to know who that person is. They also like to know that there IS a person creating their items behind the scenes, and if you've taken the time to fill out the little details, it helps them know that you didn't just take a picture off the internet and slap it with a made-up description and a price. They want to be able to trust that you care about them, about your art, and about being trustworthy!

2. Etsy does hold themselves accountable to make up losses if a customer files a complaint that they never received what they offered payment for. They want to be as sure as the customer that your store is one that can be trusted, because if it isn't, they are the ones who will have to go about fixing it. And Etsy wants to keep the site as creditable as possible, not only for them, but for sellers like us. What would happen if Etsy was deemed unsafe for buyers, and nobody came to shop from those of us who run honest shops, either?

Some of those little details you can focus on while making your shop professional, thorough, and genuine from the start are...

-Photos; not for your listing, but to show off your brand. Include your profile picture on your personal account, so people can see you, the seller; make a nice shop icon/profile picture to give a branded personality to each individual listing (the icon shows at the top of a listing page), and a shop cover photo. While showing Etsy you took the time to include this, you also build a connection with buyers as it adds visual appeal to your shop's home page :).
-Your shop tag line. Right under your shop name, this is where you describe what you sell. It helps if these can be keywords, to score you more searches!
-Your shop announcement section. And try to keep this spot fresh, always with the latest announcements, coupon codes, sales, and deals that you have going on!
-Use your sections! It helps categorize, it helps keep things clean, and if you use keywords for section titles -once again, you'll get more views!
-Set up your shop's "About Me" page. Go ahead and fill in your personal profile, too!
-Add links to your social medias in the place given for it, right under your "About Me".
-Make sure you have shop policies that work for YOU. Etsy's general ones are a good starting point... but change what you need to to fit with YOUR view on returns, refunds, shipping dates, international or not, etc!
-Do you get a lot of the same question, or forsee getting a lot of the same questions? Try to answer them in your listing descriptions, but also answer them in your "Frequently Asked Questions" section!

These are just a few of the ways that you can work with Etsy to get your shop "up there" in the ranks. There are many more nitty gritty details that help, too... but those come later. This is just the initial set up, so that all the other things you do in the future are given the boost of coming from a well thought out and well put together shop background :)!

What do you think is the most important aspect on this list? Did I forget something that you could add in the comments?