Making Progress
I am so proud of my little Etsy shop. It is steadily growing. I have 11 listings now and four different kinds of products. I have headbands, security blankets, flannel blankets and pacifier clips. The pacifier clips are expanding in variety. There’s a variety of headbands to choose from and three different colors for the security blankets. There is only one flannel blanket, but once it sells I will make more. I don’t want to spend too much money before I have made some. Fabric isn’t cheep, that’s for sure. I also don’t live close to the fabric store, so the gas mileage is another cost I have to consider.
I did order some fabric online, although shipping costs were outrageous, and now I am waiting for it to arrive. I plan to make a baby crossover dress with bloomers that I will add to my shop. It's going to be darling!
I've read that for most Etsy sellers it takes a long time for that first item to be purchased, but once it happens then business finally picks up. I've also read that the more listings and the more variety you have in your shop, the more likely you are to sell. So I started out with just crochet headbands and now I am expanding. I have thought about making little hair bows and baby wraps. The wraps I can’t make, however, until my shop starts producing a sufficient income. Because it would require a lot of fabric and as I mentioned before, fabric isn’t cheep. Most of the yarn and fabric I have been using, I already owned or it was gifted me. So the most I have spent is on the metal clips for the pacifier clips and the listing fees that Etsy charges each month.
I have also seen what kind of picture quality it takes to sell items. Mine are subpar, but not too shabby I think. It seems people are attracted to the items that are pictured with nothing but a white backdrop. The lighting has to be good too and some people use clever props, like greenery. I have literally nothing that will work as a white surface in my house. Not even copy paper. The lighting in my house is never good enough for photos either so I always have to wait for a sunny day. I have some wood planks outside that have so far served the purpose of a backdrop. I like how they turn out most of the time, but I think I'm going to have to invest in some copy paper soon. I'll be needing it anyway when it comes time to print the shipping labels.
So this is kind of where I am at with my shop right now. I am waiting and trying to grow my inventory. I'm also trying to increase my social media presence to attract more attention to my shop. A lot of my visitors seem to come from Facebook, which is not what I was expecting.
I did order some fabric online, although shipping costs were outrageous, and now I am waiting for it to arrive. I plan to make a baby crossover dress with bloomers that I will add to my shop. It's going to be darling!
I've read that for most Etsy sellers it takes a long time for that first item to be purchased, but once it happens then business finally picks up. I've also read that the more listings and the more variety you have in your shop, the more likely you are to sell. So I started out with just crochet headbands and now I am expanding. I have thought about making little hair bows and baby wraps. The wraps I can’t make, however, until my shop starts producing a sufficient income. Because it would require a lot of fabric and as I mentioned before, fabric isn’t cheep. Most of the yarn and fabric I have been using, I already owned or it was gifted me. So the most I have spent is on the metal clips for the pacifier clips and the listing fees that Etsy charges each month.
I have also seen what kind of picture quality it takes to sell items. Mine are subpar, but not too shabby I think. It seems people are attracted to the items that are pictured with nothing but a white backdrop. The lighting has to be good too and some people use clever props, like greenery. I have literally nothing that will work as a white surface in my house. Not even copy paper. The lighting in my house is never good enough for photos either so I always have to wait for a sunny day. I have some wood planks outside that have so far served the purpose of a backdrop. I like how they turn out most of the time, but I think I'm going to have to invest in some copy paper soon. I'll be needing it anyway when it comes time to print the shipping labels.
So this is kind of where I am at with my shop right now. I am waiting and trying to grow my inventory. I'm also trying to increase my social media presence to attract more attention to my shop. A lot of my visitors seem to come from Facebook, which is not what I was expecting.