Hi all. We are new here and wondering if anyone could offer some help on our new (ish) store. We hand-make the bags and take the pictures ourselves, plus we have a Facebook page, but we have had just one sale in the 3 months we’ve been here.
We also used “Etsy Rank” (which we assumed would have carried over benefits) to use the best headings, descriptions and tags, but nothing has worked.
We Had around 3000 views in the first few days when we opened. The past 30 days have seen 2103 impressions with 116 views. So, there are people looking at our stuff, but they are not liking something about the images, descriptions or price. Any input you guys have would be much appreciated.
Hi Welcome to Folksy.
First of all your views figure. Think the equation is 100 views needed for 1 sale so you can’t necessarily use your view figure as a guide to popularity.
I’m sure others will provide useful points to help you but I have one which I think is most important.
Your listing photos don’t jump out at me and say buy me.
You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to take your photos but if you look at other popular shops you will see that they are nearly always better if taken with a ‘cleaner’ background. Look at some of the shops on https://folksy.com/bestsellers and see how they display their things or other shops selling Tote Bags…
There is a link somewhere about best photos which I’m sure someone will provide.
Just had a look at your shop. Lovely bags. The close up pics are good, but the main one needs to sing out. There is too much back ground clutter and the pic itself is not sharp. You need a background that is immediately behind the bag and doesn’t distract from it. And the bag image needs to be sharp. Hope that helps.
Try photographing your bags on a plain white background. FWIW, I usually take about 10 pictures to get one that’s usable. So for 5 picture slots, around 50 photos. And I run them through photoshop afterwards!
Lovely bags…I think the only thing I would add , is to put “UK POST FREE” in the TITLE because that then makes the bag appear as better value for money. (or charge P&P and reduce the price in the listing)…people expect to pay P&P on top of the listed price.
Good luck x
(Hope to see some of your Mum’s knitting and crochet too)
Whilst I think a white background is good to focus on the quality of handmade items, Folksy also suggest a “lifestyle” shot showing the item as it could be used. I can see you’ve chosen a garden as a background, but the garden looks unloved with a falling down shed in the background! If you don’t have access to a well kept garden (and many don’t) then maybe visit a local park with the bags ad have them hanging off the end of a wooden chair (you could also take it with you as a prop)? Or hang them from a branch? If you have a model that could show one being used, even better, say a Farmers market with them buying something? You could crop the picture so it didn’t show faces if you wanted.
If you use the white background, I would have things surrounding the bag that suggest how it could be used - a vase with gorgeous blooms maybe? Or a bowl with fruit in?
I think you have a lovely selection of bags. But I looked at them from the Categories i.e. Sleeves and Bags, Tote Bags and they didn’t appear until page 8/9. No-one is going to see them.
I don’t have a Plus account yet, as I only have a few items in my shop, but I still relist certaIn items before the 4 month listing ends, just to keep them nearer the top of the listings. Because you have lots of items in your shop you may be better off paying for the Plus Account and then you can list some or all of your bags daily or weekly whichever you decide, thus keeping them in the public eye.
Hi, Thanks for the feedback. I was initially going to go with the cleaner background, but because most of the customers who buy these bags also like gardening, I thought it would make a nice link. The results however are not supporting this so I will make the changes. I do notice in the top sellers list, Elizabeth Larsen at number 33 uses something similar with a highlands background, but that is the only one, so I shall go with the majority. Thanks again!
Hi, Yes that helps a lot. I actually took all of these on the mobile phone, but I got a new camera a few weeks ago. I shall retake them and hopefully they will come out much more sharply this time around. Thanks!
I hadn’t thought about putting in that amount of work on the images, but it definitely makes sense that that’s the way to stand out. Just looking at getting the Adobe Creative cloud subscription, then I shall get to work. Thanks for taking the time to respond!
Hi Liz. We do go cycling in Thetford forest every few weeks, that could make for a good opportunity to do some more lifestyle shots. I think I will firstly be experimenting with white or less distracting backgrounds. I will definitely have suitable items surrounding the bags. I think books would make a good option too. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
