I have started this shop and loaded
The short answer is yes!
Folksy is a venue only, it does not really do much in the way of advertising/promotion for you. So while it makes setting up a shop easy and you may get the occasional customer just from being here you really need to go out find your own buyers and direct them to your shop.
You need to promote your shop and products as widely as possible. Craftjuice is worth a try as well.
In my first year nearly all my sales on folksy were to friends supporting my new venture. My second year is almost up and Iāve had more sales, the value of those sales has been higher and had more sales not generated by my own promotion as compared to the first year. So yes it takes a while to get noticed and lots of promoting.
Sasha
I am pleased but sad to have read this thread. It was quite thrilling to open a shop on Folksy, but an open shop is no good without people stopping by. I really havenāt got the foggiest how to attract visitors so regretfully I shall close down as soon as my items expire
You might not have found the Folksy Blog yet - so do have a look at this Blog post for some ideas before you give up!
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Madam Ninety Knitsā¦please donāt give up, your knitwear is lovelyā¦join in the chat on these threads and people will start to find you. The way I see itā¦it costs just a few pence to list an item and you āmightā get a saleā¦if you donāt show your work, then your chances of a sale are almost nilā¦
I could easily leave my paintings in a drawer and get no sales but by putting them on Folksy I have had over 200 salesā¦it takes time but if you can find a few minutes a day to join in on the threads, then people will get to know you and will look in your folksy shop.
I only do facebook and if I can get sales I am sure you all can tooā¦I donāt DO twitter etc as they are technically over my headā¦but I do have business cards that I give to family and friends and ask them to pass them on to ātheirā friends.
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Your work is lovely @MadamNinety. I would really hate to see you give up.
I think a few tweaks to your product shots could help because I would really love to feature your beautiful work on Folksy. We do have lots of tips on the blog but there are also some amazing sellers on these forums who might be able to help you with specific tips. @Rozcraftz and @Textiletreasure have worked incredibly hard on their photographs recently - and @SashaGarrett always has good photography advice too. Can you help ladies?
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Thank you for your words of encouragement. This Folksy adventure has been a lot of fun ( not much of that around at my age 
) I will have a serious think about all the kind suggestions.
Wishing everyone lots of success.
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Madam Ninetyā¦yes, please keep goingā¦people like you are a real inspiration. There was a lady on the art show at the weekendā¦she is 85 and has just had paintings accepted at the Royal Academy and gives painting classes. There is also a lady of 93 in the US who does a painting a day and her family put them online for her to sellā¦I am not young myselfā¦and the Folksy family is lovely and there is always someone here to help.
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Hi @MadamNinety
I strongly recommend you have a look at Rozcraftzās product shots - she makes felt scarves so you can learn a lot from her and her product shots look amazing now.
The first thing I notice when I look at your shop front (rather than the product listing) is that bits of the scarfs/ shawls are missing as the photo has been cropped to square by the Folksy website for your shop front. (I got caught out by the square crop when I started and many of my listings were missing the top/ bottom if you looked at them on my shop front) You can crop photos to square using software like picasa (they call it CD cover).
Second thing - this might just be my brain as I have a cold at the moment - your mannequin looks slightly ādrunkā (ie not standing up straight). Do you have a glamourous friend/ daughter/ granddaughter/ great grand daughter you could persuade to model for you? They might be easier to get to stand up straight than the mannequin! They could also show the transgenerational appeal of your items if you get both the old and the young to model for you. Alternatively you can straighten out photos so that your verticals are indeed vertical in picasa (the only reason I get things straight is that I have a grid on the view screen of my camera and a tripod so can line things up).
Finally donāt give up too soon - I imagine that most people arenāt looking for woolly scarves/ shawls at the moment now that the british summer has finally arrived (hopefully I havenāt spoken too soon and fingers crossed it will stay a while). I would imagine that things would pick up for you in the autumn.
Hope thatās helpful
Sasha
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AllThingsGoodAndAllThingsWood , Please accept my apologies for jumping in on your thread and changing the direction of the answers. Your question was one that I had thought about for a while. Wishing your lovely shop success
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Hi @MadamNinety - sorry for the delay in replying. My wifi has been out of action for a day and Iāve only just come back online! I canāt really add much more to what has already been said, reading the blog in particular is really helpful and also just having a play around with the photos. The more you do, and the more you try new ways of displaying your lovely products, then the closer youāll get towards the ideal photo. Best of luck! 
I am a new craft seller on Folksy and try to read as much of the advice and info on Folksy. No sales yet, but I know I need to upload an artist statement and info about me. I realise I need to self-promote. I am exploring other sales outlets to get my work out there too.
for some reason I couldnāt finish it ā¦so it read āAll wronglyā ā¦sold nothing yet ??
However, doing well in my Etsy shop. Thank you for all your replies. Hope that I will sell something from here soon 
Thank you! ā¦shall keep hoping then !
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The quick answer is yes, it takes time. Iāve been on Folksy for nearly 4 years now and in the first couple of years I had just a few sales (3 or 4), but after I upgraded to Folksy Plus, added more items in my shop, changed the photos and diversified my products, the sales were more regular. Over summer is normally quite slow and some of my products sell very well on the other site, but I enjoy being part of Folksy community. Iāve learnt a lot about product photos and promotion (although the latter proves to be very difficult as my facebook page is dead!). Folksy forum is great for advice.
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