Hi all
after being convinced by my sister to start selling my stuff I started a facebook page and have achieved a few sales. Spurred on by this I opened an Etzy shop in January but after only 1 small sale in 4 months I decided to try Folksy as it is UK based. In my Etzy shop (despite the lack of sales) I have had several items facourited (some twice) but have had no sales as yet in my Folksy shop and do not have the benefit of seeing if items have been favourited. My dilemma is do I carry on doing it (which I love) or do I stop. This is not an attention seeking exercise nor a bid to increase shop views (as that rarely achieves sales from the Forum). This is a plea for you to please have a look at my shop and tell me honestly what your views are (ie photos no good, items amateurish or just plain not good enough to sell). Thanks www.folksy.com/shops/hopscotchlane
Will have a nose at your shop when I have more time, but just to let you know you can see what items have been favourited on Folksy by going to Manage Listings on your dashboard - the number of ālikesā will show by each item 
Hi,
Just had a quick look at your shop. I love the Highland Cow Tea Cosy, and all your Egg Cosyās are fab too. The only thing that strikes me is the photo of the Hedgehog Pin Cushion is very blurry, and some of the rest arenāt cropped in the best way to show the whole of the items. Like the egg cosies are disappearing off the side of the shot, and the hedgehog one is the same. I would retake that hedgehog, and try cropping your photos to a square so you know exactly how it will show when itās on your shop front.
Jo
Hello,
Iāve had a peep at your shop and the first thing that struck me is that your banner is out of focus, as are some of your photographs. Also as many of your items are dark, photographing them on a dark table or worktop makes them really hard to see in the pics. Some items only have one photo, thatās not enough.
I looked at your set of chicken egg cosies, they are cute but the description is very brief, it isnāt clear whether the buyer gets the set pictured or a made to order set. And I think at the price you are selling them for I wouldnāt expect them to be very well made, wasnāt it you who sold a set to have it sold on at twice the price? That should tell you something! Perhaps keep the price the same and reduce the number in the set to 3?
Also, I donāt use a teapot but theyāre not all the same size, are they? What size are your tea cosies?
Hope that gives you something to work with 
Iāve looked at the highland tea cosy, and agree with @ffflowers that size is important. You say it will fit āup to and including a large teapotā but I use teapots all the time. I have various sizes - 2 cups up to 8 cups - and the same cosy would not fit all of them. a big cosy would of course go over my smallest pot, but it wouldnāt be snug and I doubt would work as well as if it fitted.
Iām also curious how youāre going to ship it for a pound? small parcel first class will be Ā£3.20 in stamps,
thanks Jo good constructive comments x
thanks Helen I have had other comments about the photos so I think a full photo session is in order today. Yes it was me that made the comment about selling on at twice the price and my sister always tells me if I sell too cheaply people will think it isnāt any good so will re-do the description and take your advice on pricing. Will also address size for Tea Cosies Thanks x
thanks Sara didnāt know that x
Thanks for the comments about size will go back and re-do that now as to the postage I was worried that high postage costs would put buyers off so put the postage at Ā£1 and worked the other Ā£2 into the price of the cosy
Iāll have a look at your shop in a minute, but I would say straight off, donāt put your postage costs onto your item as Folksy take their cut from the selling price, so in effect you are paying fees on the item AND the postage, thereby paying more in fees than you need to. I would keep the postage separate.
Liz
x
ok thanks Liz I find pricing items and adding postage very hard as I donāt want to put the buyers off if itās too high. I have made adjustments since reading the other comments though x
Hi, I just had a quick look at your shop and my problem is with the Funky Chicken Edd Cosy Set. You need to take the word Set out of the description as you are not selling a set, just the one item.
Hope this helps.
Liz
x
well thanks for all the comments and advice it is much appreciated. The general consensus seems to be that my photos are letting me down. I have made some adjustments to these and descriptions and postage costs but I fear I need more work in the photo department. Going to see if I can get some help with this or failing that a course would be in order. One thing I am cheered up by is that noone has said itās because my stuff is rubbish lol. Thanks again all for taking the time to look and respond to my request x
PS as for postage costs putting people off - I just sold Ā£100 of beads last week to someone and the system added the postage up to be Ā£8.50 or something of that nature (which is what it did actually cost) and the customer was not phased by that.
Keep plugging away.
Liz
x
thanks Liz going back to adjust set out and will definately add correct postage costs from now on. Decided after all the comments being about bad photos and not bad items that Iām going to keep going and see how I get on x
Iād agree with all of the above in terms of photos and longer descriptions, including whether the items are made to order or are ready to ship.
Keep an eye on the folksy blog, theyāre covering photography at the moment and over the next few weeks I think.
The only other thing that seemed out of line was the price of your lavender bags at Ā£20 (possibly a tad high) compared to what appears to be a teacosy with matching egg cosies at Ā£18 (definitely too cheap).
Hi Stephanie thanks for the very helpful comments. I will keep an eye open for the photography on the blog. As regards the cosy set and lavender bags; again this boils down to my bad description Iām afraid as the cosy price is for only the cosy not the set with the egg cosies. I have adjusted the price down of the lavender bags. I have also made adjustment to the description of the cosy to clarify it is not the price for the set. Thanks again xx
The way I decide whether a shipping charge is reasonable for something I want to buy is to compare it with the train fare into town, currently Ā£4.80ā¦
very true Helen never thought of it like that. I got charged Ā£2.10 on the bus the other day to go 3 stops to pick my car up from the garage I was gob smacked!
hmm yes, if I drove it would be even more, the cost the petrol plus at least Ā£4 parking plus Ā£3.40 for the tunnel (I know most people donāt have to pay tunnel tolls but even without itās no cheaper than the train).