Q & A ✽ Selling on Etsy

I made some easy little fall crafts with some of my favorite little people today <3. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision after Joey started crying that he couldn't go with Mama and Daddy and Andrew on a fun "extra birthday outing", but sometimes those are the best, aren't they :)? Now I'm here to answer some questions and add a couple little things I didn't mention in some blog posts this week, so here we go!

What are some more ways to keep your shop active?
We discussed keeping your shop active this month, and I gave you some ideas on how to do that. Want another idea on how to update your shop without having to actually add a new product? Rearrange your listings! Go to the "edit your shop" page and scroll down to your listings. There is a button to rearrange, and you can pull all your best looking listings to the front/top of the page! This is a small way to make adjustments that will make your shop appear active, but it also helps you create a better view of your shop when someone lands on your store front :).

But don't forget...
Adding new product really is your best growth strategy. It doesn't have to be a completely new idea,  a variation of what you already sell works great, too. And it doesn't have to be every day... just consistent enough to keep things fresh!

Does refreshing a listing before it manually relists work the same as creating a  new listing?
This works nicely, giving Etsy search engines that "oooo, recent listing!" bump, if the item is a good preformer. But if it's a under preforming listing, don't waste the time and money, small as it may be. Instead, work in the listing. How is it under preforming? No views? Work on your keywords. Plenty of views but no sales? Work on your pictures and descriptions!

What is the difference between shop stats views and visits?
When someone visits your shop, it means they stepped in the door, so to speak. You attracted their attention! The number of views is how many items were looked at within a visit session (about 30 minutes of searching per Etsy's time frames) after your visitors stepped into your store. When your views are higher than your visits, that is a good thing - you caught their eye with other product and kept them browsing through more than what they stepped in to see close up! Remember how the more time they spend in your shop, the more they get to know you and are interested in any items they see :)?

I sell crocheted hats. What is the best way to package them? And how do you take nice pictures of the hat "shaped" without a child's head form?
Sending crocheted hats in the mail is really quite easy. They aren't breakable, and they are flat, so you can just send them in a bubble mailer. If you are worried about water damage, you can seal it is a ziplock bag; if you want presentation to be nicer, you can wrap the bag in tissue paper. But it's really all up to you. A bubble mailer will be enough if you want it to be :).
As to taking pictures without a head form, I've seen people use wine glasses and a round ball of contrasting neutral yarn. Or you could find a real baby who would give you pictures for a free hat ;)...

Can you use coupons during a shop sale? 
Coupons can be used while a shop is on sale, but two coupons can not be used together. So when I send a coupon code to my customers, I always make sure to tell them to check my shop announcements for any flash codes before they use it, just in case it would be better to use. This won't be as much of a problem now, though, thanks to Etsy's new sale feature! You can put your whole shop, just one section, or a single item on sale now :)!

Another site I use to learn all the ins-and-outs of selling on Etsy that I forgot to mention in my earlier post:
Etsy's Seller Handbook. I can't believe I forgot to mention this one, because it's all I used at first. Oops! But you'll definitely want to keep your eye on it... because all of the new changes will be explained and ways to use it for your advantage given on the Seller Handbook, so you always know just what to focus on :)!

One more necessity you need to sell on Etsy:
A bank account. This is another "duh, how could I have forgotten" piece of information, but it's worth noting, because due to this fact, those under eighteen are not allowed to open a shop without parental consent :). (And I believe you have to be thirteen to sell at all on Etsy, but don't put to much stock in that, because I can't remember where I heard it.)

Which of these questions interested you most? Have you done any fall crafts yet? Any wisdom you want to give the rest of us about selling on Etsy :)?!