This is why you're not making Etsy sales.

About this video

Hayes lists seven common Etsy mistakes she says stop sellers making consistent daily sales. One, unprofessional photos: she identifies four problems — dim/fake-looking lighting instead of natural side light, grainy/pixelated images from enlarging small raster files, unbalanced colour temperature (too cool or too warm, fixable with a grey card for custom white balance), and distracting backgrounds instead of clean or complementary staging. Two, not using enough photos: listings had 10 photo slots at the time, and sellers should show many angles, variations, sizes/colours and text graphics with extra detail. Three, thin listing descriptions: include everything a buyer needs — product details, materials, variations/customisation, sizing and care instructions — while naturally weaving in SEO keyword phrases. Four, offering products just because you like them without trend/product research to validate demand, including style elements like patterns, materials, fonts and colours. Five, having no marketing plan: she teaches influencer, social media and email marketing, and says a new shop will get ‘crickets’ if it relies only on Etsy shoppers finding it. Six, not matching keywords across title, the 13 tags (which have a character limit) and description, which she says helps the Etsy algorithm rank the listing. Seven, poor customer service: stay kind and professional, offer options/compromises, because reviews affect what she describes as the customer and market experience score used in ranking; she recounts a negative review she turned into a five-star one through good service.

Key takeaways

• Fix listing photos first: natural lighting, non-grainy resolution, balanced colour temperature, and a clean, non-distracting background
• Use as many of the listing’s photo slots as possible to show angles, variations and detail graphics
• Write full descriptions covering materials, variations, sizing and care, with SEO phrases woven in naturally
• Validate products with trend research and run a marketing plan — influencer, social media and email — rather than relying on Etsy traffic alone
• Match keyword phrases across title, tags and description, and handle unhappy customers professionally to protect reviews and ranking

Episode details: published August 30, 2022 · 16:20 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Kate Hayes’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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