@mlaceysartystuff Again with your items, work on your tags a little more. You mostly seem to have simple single word tags, and it can be good to get some more phrases in there (like “hare card”, “blank card”, “painted decoration”, “wooden decoration”, “christmas decorations”).
Half of your items don’t say what they are in the title (greetings cards without the word card, hanging decorations without any mention of what they are in the titles or descriptions). I would also put the size of your greetings cards in the description, as there’s nothing to say or show how big they are.
Most of your items also only seem to have one photo, and if people don’t get to see and pick up the item in person, they will normally want to see multiple photos so they have a good idea of what it looks like from different angles, maybe a close up shot to show the detail, and a further away shot with some background to give an idea of scale (although I understand it can be a lot of work taking multiple photos of everything).
Similar suggestions to @ROSYTIMES too. The items near the top of your shop seem well described and have lots of photos, but the ones further down might benefit from more tags and photos.
@Unexpecteditems@ThatCrochetLadyUK@ROSYTIMES@DontTellFred i know its disheartening with sales, i am not going to claim mine are massive either. if you sell cards or jewellery there are a lot of other sellers.
for me the essential thing to do with the plus account is making use of the relist button. you can relist things every day- this means that your work gets refreshed to the front of the category pages, so for people browsing they have some chance of getting seen, rather than relying on tags.
so for example @DontTellFred, if you dont want to be on plus there’s probably no point in listing 15 of the same print by paying for each one- wait until one sells and then list it again, but to be honest plus is pretty much what everyone uses. i do feel you might need more than 3 items in your shop. consider as well the costs of posting in a frame / extra packaging etc, £3.50 for an A3 in frame probably won’t cover it? maybe rolled prints in a tube?
Thanks very much for answering!
I have an Etsy account and it works for me, my pricing is correct and it works for me by keeping things low cost. I even make profit on postage believe it or not, I have calculated everything well.
I was just experimenting with Folksy, it’s free so why not?
I’ll leave my listings for now, but I think it’s a bit niche for prints, better for handcrafted items…
Nick
I have to confess I am in a similar boat. I sold a card one day, and a couple of things to friends (after bombarding my fb), but I am really struggling to promote. I don’t have many followers or a big customer base, and no idea how to build on it. I wish I had the money to advertise. It is so disheartening isn’t it? Your work is truly lovely and I hope things improve for those of us not making sales. x
Hey, don’t worry. ( easy to say right?)
I have been on for a few years and only sold 39 items ( I am on another selling platform and in the same time have 1000’s of sales so that keeps me busy)
It takes a lot and definitely a lot of networking and promoting. This is what I need to do for my F shop as I want to come away from this US-based company for many reasons.
I think the best thing would be to concentrate on social media and get seen on there and don’t give up. x
Hello, I just looked at your shop and the prints are great! I’d add more tags like ‘David Bowie gift’ ‘david Bowie fan’ Bowie fan’ Bowie gift’ ‘bowie print’ ‘bowie poster’ ‘labyrinth’ ‘labyrinth poster’ etc :0)
I hope you don’t! You have some very pretty items. I’m having similar problems on another site (and not too great on here either) so I know how you feel. Going to persevere for a while longer. I see you have made a couple of sales, so maybe this is the upturn for you! Good luck.
Hoi @ThatCrochetLadyUK your shop looks lovely.
As someone who spent my life designing, making and selling crochet I found in recent years that more and more people are learning to crochet, so the competition is higher than it used to be.
As proof of that, last year, I removed 153 items that I had crocheted and had in my folksy shop.
I found the problem was that someone might love my crochet jacket but not the colour, or they might love the colour but the size was wrong and now as an “oldie” I no longer want to take orders
Before I removed them I reduced them to under £5 for adults and £2 for children’s items…still no sales…sad fact of life. I have been here for nearly 11 years now and have watched the changing times.
I am lucky because I also paint and so now my shop is full of paintings and hand made cards…this month so far I have had 11 sales…
I DO belong to the daily challenge thread and yes it brings in the sales but you have to show a different item every day for a month and then take the time to like and pin everyone else;s items EVERY DAY…it is hard work but brings in the sales.
When you sign up you try to promise to abide by the rules,…If you have 30+ items in your shop , then you could always sign up for December…there will be an invitation to sign up , some time next week ( on the forums)
It also helps you to get to know everyone and make friends…it works…
I have taken part for nearly 3 years now so that is a lot of work…(365 new items a year)…although sssh…no one minds if you miss a few days or take a holiday etc…and you can just sign up for ONE month to give it a try.
Have you also taken part in any of the games on the forums?..all of these things get you known, so that if someone wants a blanket, they would remember your name and go to your shop to see what you have available.
The secret is to get to know people …they won’t find you if they don’t know you exist…
Folksy is a lovely place to be and everyone is really nice,…so jump in…join in and say Hi on as many of the forum threads as you can…
There are lots of threads where you can show your work…a thread for nearly every colour that you can think of…so if you have something green…find the thread that says…" show your green items "…and did you know that if you can’t find what you want, you can START your own thread?..lots of ideas and things to get you noticed x
OH and I just checked…you have the PLUS account so why haven’t you got any featured items?..did you know that if you go to dashboard ,…then shopkeeping…choose a minimum of 3 of your items ( must be at least 3 to work) click next to the item where it says feature…and say why it is featured…then it will appear at the top of your shop and change each time someone takes a look in your shop…I have about 10 items featured…and they change all the time…there…something to start you off…
Hello, Ive been with folksy for 2 weeks now and for me no sales feels daunting but il stick at it , hopefully for us all things will change soon and we start making some sales, Maria kay hand made crafts x
Hello again I’ve just had an interesting email from a long time customer , asking if she could buy from me direct as she has tried several times to buy from me via Folksy and been refused as my shop is ‘‘de activated’’ ! hmmm don’t know whether this is to do with me cancelling ‘’ Folksy plus’’ or not , and I’m definitely not in holiday mode, and kind of assumed that I would return to the basic …one listing one payment… method after Folksy Plus finished … my customer also said that she has bought from other folksy shops and had no problems . hmmmm YThought I would let folks know as others may be having the same problem thanks again Maureen
That’s odd, Maureen, your shop is definitely there and open! I wonder how she is trying to find your shop? Is she using Search, or a link which might be taking her to the wrong place? Is it possible to get any more detail from her about the message she is getting - a screen shot might help.
I’ve been in touch with Folksy, its probable that it’s my own fault for being lazy and not switching on to the pay by card facility and relying on PayPal only ! Doh !
I think perhaps that my lady was trying to pay by card,[ I will check for sure though] I’m vaguely remembering her a couple of years ago saying she didn’t very much like PayPal . In which case of course, it 's my own dozy fault for not keeping up ! good luck with sales everyone out there .
I’m having similar problems on another site (and not too great on here either) so I know how you feel. Going to persevere for a while longer. I see you have made a couple of sales, so maybe this is the upturn for you! Good luck.