How to get your first sale on Etsy!

If you have been following with the Steps to Starting an Etsy shop (Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 4 and Step 5)  You now have successfully figured out what to sell, where to sell it, and have created and photographed your items.

So now let’s get to actually listing your products so they can start selling!

After you have logged into your Etsy shop you will want to click on the “Shop Manager” tab in the top right corner. Then on the left side will be a “Listings” tab. This will bring you where you will create the listings for each of you products.

Start filling out this information. Etsy does a very good job at making adding a listing a very simple process and even provides many explanations along the way. They also provide a "Seller Handbook" with articles and descriptions on pretty much everything you could ever wonder!

When filling in the title keep these two things in mind

1. Keep it simple but descriptive

A good rule of thumb is to use two or three word phrases to describe your items. For my Anchor Travertine Coasters listing, I use the title:

“Anchor Coasters, Nautical Coaster Set, Summer Beach Coasters, Travertine Drink Coasters, Boat Decor, Absorbent Tile Coasters, Ocean Décor”

If you are having trouble thinking of good keywords to use for your title a tip I like to use type in your product in the search bar and then see what results pop up.

This helps you see what the people often search for when looking for your products.

Another suggestion is to look at your competitors. Click on the top selling listing for drink coasters and scroll down to the bottom of the listing. BOOM! All of the listing tags that help get this listing found.

2. Keep it human

Remember who you are selling to, humans, not robot humans. Or at least not for a couple of years 0_0

A tip to make a good listing title is to describe the item as you would to someone that could not see the item. You would describe the size, color, texture, (smell?).

TAGS

Tags are additional keywords that help your listings found. Your title can only be 140 characters so tags can help you include additional words/phrases that people might use to find your listing. You get to include 13 additional tags on top of the ones Etsy includes from your Category information.

DON’T

-use tags such as “tall” “water bottle” “heavy” “blue”

DO

-use a tag such as “tall blue water bottle” or “stainless steel bottle”

People do not usually know exactly what they want to buy so include phrases that people may actually enter.

Additional Tips:

• Have similar items, simply copy your first listing rather than entering all of the information each time (time is money!)