Number of sales display, could it be off-putting for customers?

Thanks Andy, very wise words! That’s great that you have been able to turn your hobby into a career, great items! :grinning:

personally i think feedback amount and what the feedback says , very important. ive got a not very good feedback left for me which im not happy about as ive not sold anything since it was left, it was for postage the buyer thought it was too high by 20p, it was only my 3rd sale. I do very well on alot of other sites and at craft fairs, so it’s a shame i cant do well on folksy yet.I hope you manage to sell some more items and get some good feedback to encourage buyers, your shop is lovely x

I look back at shops first feedback post to see roughly when they opened! It would be good to have an easier way though :blush:

I just had a look at your shop - all I can see on the feedback is ‘NA’ (not applicable) so I would have assumed that it just meant you hadn’t been left feedback yet, and as many buyers are ‘guests’ and can’t leave feedback that’s not really an issue.

I managed to look at a few of your items before the site decided to have a wobble. If you don’t mind taking a few tips, I would suggest doing a bit of work on your photos - it’s not my strong point either, but better photos will draw people in. Also, your descriptions lack capital letters, and are very brief. People like to buy from professional looking shops, and that means good spelling and grammar. A good description will also help, and people can’t tell much about the product otherwise, and it might put them off buying. Regarding the postage, it does seem a little high, so if you are including packaging costs in your postage charge it’s best to say so in your description. You can do one sentence that you can copy and paste into each description to cover that.

You are in probably the most saturated section for selling online - the competition is huge for selling jewellery, so you really have to make sure you stand out from the crowd to get people’s attention.

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Regarding the number of sales showing - it’s never put me off buying from a shop with low sales. Everyone has to start somewhere, and if I like the look of the product, and the shop comes across as professional looking, I will buy.

I’d hate for the number of sales not to show, I’ve worked really hard to get my sales figure, and am proud of it :slight_smile:

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I find the ‘Sold’ button helpful as lots of my items are one of a kind so it acts as an informal portfolio of previous work and personally, if I like an item, I will buy it - number of sales would definitely not inform my opinion.
As to your items I think they’re lovely - since you have asked for feedback (I would not offer my humble opinion otherwise!!) my only suggestion would be to try and fill most of the frame with your work rather than the props as it could be a little distracting - I’m thinking of the ‘Blooming Lovely’ embroidery hoop which has the planter filled with roses and the embroidered pendants hung on the bunch of flowers - perhaps a tiny sprig of the Gyp laid by the pendant to highlight it’s delicacy may work? Am certainly not suggesting you need to re photograph all your work but for me the photos which show your items on a plain bright background work better as a viewer and they are lovely enough to stand alone. I am useless at photography so don’t have any technical advice to offer but if you’re lucky enough to have a few devices in your household, try viewing your shop on your phone as well as your tablet / laptop to make sure the images are clear enough at thumbnail size to get people’s attention. If you would like advice from people with much more experience than me you could take a look at this thread Product photography crits - put your product shots up for review!

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I don’t let the number of sales a shop has had affect whether I from buy from them. There could be a number of reasons why that figure might be low - it might be a new shop, they might be focusing on getting non folksy sales, it might be a niche product that only a few people want. Bad feedback would put me off so it is best to keep those customers happy!

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Hi, I have only sold one item too, so its good to hear that wouldn’t put people off! I didn’t even realise you could click on the number sold and see what they were, so thats useful to know!

Your store looks nice Ditsy Tulip, I would agree that keeping the photos ‘clean and uncluttered’ might help though.

What channels are people using for promoting their shops - do you find Facebook works?

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I would really like to see date shop opened as it helps when looking at sales figures and feedback.i think it has been suggested to @folksycontent in the suggested features area.

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hi there

i don’t think it is off-putting as everyone has been on this position at some point and shoppers will realise probably that some shops may be new. Bad feedback would be off-putting.

a ‘date shop opened’ would be a good feature though as it helps people when buying.

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If a shop has bad feedback I tend to read the comment put by the buyer as sometimes it can be a customer who is a bit too ‘nit-picky’ rather than a bad product/customer service (if they want absolute perfection then maybe hand-crafted isn’t for them) I don’t tend to look at number of sales but hope it wouldn’t put off buyers, I’ve been on here over 3 years and haven’t sold 100 items yet but do quite well at craft fairs and through sales to friends/family off-line.

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Hi Melanie
Everyone starts from zero and sales will come along as your shop is very bright and cheerful and you have some lovely handmade items, I have never worried about whether someone will see my sales as I think it gives confidence to buyers. Ok it would be nice to have hundreds instead of in my case 94 but when I started in Oct 14 I had no idea how many people would buy, I now find that sometimes 2 weeks will go by with nothing and then 2 or 3 sales will happen. My advice is keep adding to your shop and try advertising on social media as it seems to work.

Mel

Thats great to hear, thank you for sharing, I was just a bit worried that buyers will be put off with low sales figures but I agree, if your store is professional, photos are good and represent your items well it will increase sales/feedback.

That’s great thank you for the feedback, I did start with the plain background pictures, then made the most of a bunch of flowers that I purchased and went a bit mad lol. Thanks so much for taking a look

Thank you, that is great advice :slight_smile: 94 sales is a great achievement!

Thank you, I have changed the photos back and must say it looks much cleaner and consistent that way, thanks for taking a look, I value your opinion :slight_smile:

Glad I read through this thread , had no idea you could click on sold and see all the items. Bet the customers don’t know this either.
Should have started with welcome and good luck with your shop, sorry! I really like the mini embroidery hoop necklaces.

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You have a lovely shop and you’re already off the mark with a sale so there was one customer that wasn’t put off by a low sales figure! :smile: Everyone starts on zero, so don’t worry. I think, with the lovely items you have in your shop, you’ll soon achieve a few more.

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Thank you so much for taking a look :relaxed:

Thanks Helen, thats a really good point!! Thanks for taking a look at my shop :relaxed:

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