What have you learned? Share your best tips with new sellers.
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This is a marathon and not a sprint.
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Yay! We can ‘like’ posts!
And totally agree, Little Ram - we’re in it for the long haul, hopefully 
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your buyers are not necessarily from your own social demographic - you do not have to be able to afford your wares. (thanks to lupin for that one, many years ago!)
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You can’t just open a shop, list a few items and expect sales to happen - it takes lots of work, patience and perseverance to make those sales.
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Don’t expect your customers to find you, come to you. You need to get out there, find them and introduce yourself and your work.
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You need to be almost as good at photography as you are at making your product!
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Couldn’t agree more ciesse. I’ve seen so many sellers open shops, do nothing but wait for customers to arrive and then ask what the problem is, why aren’t I selling anything?!
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yes the pics are very important 
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Well, the thing is, I think a lot of craftspeople view having a shop on Folksy as being much like having a stall at a craft market. They don’t know how things work and expect customers to stroll by. Personally, I had no idea that there was so little passing trade, when I first joined. And so they ask. And then they know!
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Agree with all above!
My tip would be to get into the habit of promoting your work in as many places as you can every day.
Plus if you don’t have enough time to do this then to let me do it for you 
Makes a lot of sense! 
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Start with a very good foundation and have the patience of a saint!
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a lovely artist friend of mine once told me…“Love what you do, and others will love it too!”
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Your online shop will be like a needle in a haystack ( impossible to find) if it’s not found by the right customers, so do make sure you plan and are active in promoting your shop and products.
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Do your research. Most of us know that Disney are very protective about others using their characters on things they sell but many others are equally protective. Some papercrafting CD-roms don’t allow online selling of cards etc made from their images (but will allow face to face selling at craft fairs for example) some limit you to the amount of items you can sell on (although to be fair it’s usually 100’s rather than a dozen) If you go to the company website most will have a section on copyright details (sometimes called Angel policy) if not send them an email to ask, it’s better for your reputation (and your bank account as fines can be £1000’s) to be certain.
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@DeesDesigns Great advice!
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Heather, you mentioned this a few years ago and it’s always stuck in my mind. In fact, I quoted it to a new designer that I met a couple of days ago.
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Always stay ahead of others with your designs. If they are worth pinching then someone will do just that so you need to be a leader not a follower. Also, be prepared to keep dreaming up new designs so that you will be the first with that particular idea (before someone pinches it). That sounds very bitter of me but it isn’t meant to at all. It’s happened to me a few times and I’ve learnt not to moan about it but simply move on to the next piece which will hopefully be better than the last.
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Always, always be nice and constructive on forums!
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