Hello all. I am curious… I was wondering if anyone had any ‘rules’ about how many times they relist the same item?
A large number of relists could cancel out any profit on an item, so do you continue to relist & take the hit, or pull the item?
Thanks.
You can avoid that quandary by getting a Plus account. It makes total sense for me and my shop as I have lots and lots of listings and relist as and when they need it to stop them expiring if not sold.
If you null the items then they are not going to sell so that makes no sense for me.
With a Plus account you pay up front for all your listings and relists.
You need a certain amount of listings to make it worthwhile, not sure how many that is, not needed to do the sum.
I generally just relist until something sells… and I know for me that often takes years. It just seems a waste otherwise, if it’s not for sale then there’s not much else I can do with it, except maybe touch it up a bit if I think of some improvements (completely painting over things generally still shows a few raised bits from the original image, so I don’t really like to do that).
One of the reasons I have my main shop here is the plus account - I keep relisting items until they sell and it doesn’t cost me any more. It does require about 340 listings/ relistings per year to be cost effective.
On the darkside where i have to pay per listing I am stricter and items get an initial 4 month listing, if they are getting a good view/ like hit rate they will get a relist and then items will be relisted for the christmas period but they only get 1 christmas over there. This is done because as you say if I relist them too often it chews up the profit margin on that item.
@JOYSofGLASS and @SashaGarrett - thanks for your replies. I am in awe of your talent and output!!!
I am nowhere near considering a plus account. If 340 listings is the crossover, that would mean listing one item a day (7-day week) with a 12 day holiday! I struggle to list 2 items a month! 
Certainly, considering the viewings/hit rate sounds like a good idea.
@konyskiw - I’m glad I’m not the only one with items that can take a long time to sell (it can happen that way on the auction site). I am pretty certain there will be quite a few 1-year anniversaries this coming August, when I joined Folksy. 
Plus account doesn’t sound like the right move for you at moment. This is how I work it on the other side which might work for you here.
List item with a title/ description/ tags, 2 months later review it - is it getting views/likes? If the answer is no then I revise the title/ tags/ description. If after a further 2 months when it is coming up for renewal its still not getting the views/ likes I don’t relist it (nb I don’t delete the listing because I’ll probably revise it with fresh photos and title/tags/description in the run up to christmas I just leave it in the expired pile until October). If it is getting some love then I will relist it as I appreciate that my items aren’t at impulse buy price points for most people and can require a bit of saving up first so the person doing the loving may well be back when the piggy bank is full.
340 a year = 113 (.3333 recurring 
) actual listings if they are all relisted every 4months. Not as many as you might think.
I have lots of listings which are way older than a year. Not a problem with stained or fused glass. Totally non perishable especially when stored in airtight boxes as mine is.
I know how old everything is as my computer files have yymm when I made them as once they have been relisted here there is no record of the original listing date.
As this is my only shop then I relist regardless as if it’s not on sale in my shop then it won’t get the chance to be sold
(I exclude the events : markets and fairs I do occasionally from that statement).
Similar to you, I don’t make that quickly, but after 10 years on the other site I’d finally built up enough stock that I have enough to list/renew (mostly renew) one item a day. I don’t think I’d ever get to 100 items if I gave up on them after a few goes!
I know online selling takes some patience, so I find it helps to compare it to a stall cost. I’d guess generally a craft fair stall can be between £10-50 for one day. If the Folksy listing cost is 18p, and you have around 20 items, then you get around 1 year of listing/renewing when it expires for the price of a cheap £10 craft fair.
Last month I sold a painting that I’d had for 12 years, and the recipient absolutely loved it. I probably didn’t make anything on it after all those renewals, but I’m happier it’s gone to a loving home rather than being discarded. The sensible thing would probably be to review your old listings like @SashaGarrett says (although I’d take much longer than 2 months… more like 2 years 
). Change around the title/tags a little, maybe put some new photos, and increase the price a little to cover those extra renewals (and then promote your refreshed listing on social media). If you start to notice a pattern, say it generally takes 2 years for your items to sell, then you can use that when you’re pricing items and just list them £1 more to cover the average.
I have relisted some of my items and would continue to as they expire if it is worthwhile, however I do have some cards and tags that are due to expire in May and I won’t be relisting these as it’s simply not worth it, I don’t have a plus account as generally only manage to list once per week so not worth paying for it. I made some small items to fill my shop a little a couple of months back but won’t be making anymore as it’s not worth it, if I sold my tags I wouldn’t make more than a few pence…ok if you have a plus account though.
Ooh interesting Sasha, some good pointers there thank you
@SashaGarrett, I like your suggestion of refreshing photos/descriptions etc. It definitely makes sense.
Good point, @JOYSofGLASS, about the 340 listings. I guess 113 is the worst case scenario (nothing sells!) & 340 is best case scenario (everything sells!)
It is comforting to know that even with a successful shop, some items can take awhile to sell.
@konyskiw - an interesting perspective, comparing the relist costs to having a stall.
It must be a nice feeling knowing your painting has gone to someone who really loves it, even if it took a long time to sell.