Virtual Lab Highlights

Since we can't all make it to every Virtual Lab session, we thought we'd start alternating the Ask-A-Rat column with highlights from some lab sessions. This week the questions and answers come from the Newbie Chat lab that was held on Wednesday, September 14, hosted by HeyMichelle and anee. There were lots of great questions and answers, both from our lovely hosts and the crowd gathered in the lab. Links were shared and one and all had a great time. Here's a smattering of questions and answers from the lab...Read and enjoy!

1. I've had my first sale, and am listing more and more, but I feel I've hit a wall. Any ideas?
This is a common question for lots of newbies. First of all would be congrats on that first sale! We all know how it feels to wait and wait for that very first one and then get it! One of the links that was shared by jswrites was a forum thread started by HeyMichelle about "Getting Views and Sales". Also shared in answer to this question were the links "Tips on Tagging", "How To Take Feature-Friendly Photos", and an Etsy help guide to "SEO: Search Engine Optimization". Both of the hosts recommended adding more items to the seller's shop, and raising their prices. In the case of this particular artist's shop, in which original artwork is sold, it was suggested that they look into selling prints as well as original pieces.

2. What's a good amount of inventory?
Anee mentioned that the answer to this question largely depends on what kind of items you are selling...it's all about having a shop that is full & beautiful, one that will give the buyer a place to explore once they get there. Shops that sell smaller or simpler items should have at least one full page of items, maybe two. Supplies shops may have thousands of listings, which works well for them. The main thing is to make sure you are listing regularly. One tip that was given was to check out other successful shops in your category and see what kind of inventory they have. This can give you an idea for where you want to shoot for.

3. Do you think having more people favoriting your shop helps with sales & marketing or is it just a feel good measure?

It was mentioned that alot of people, sellers and buyers, will use their favorites as a kind of bookmark. They may be items that they want to return to buy, shops that they really like, or they may use them to mark shops/items that they want to feature somewhere. Hearts can be used to help tell how popular an item is, and also if something in the listing needs adjusting. For example: if an items has lots and lots of hearts but no sales, something may be off with the listing. Maybe the price needs to be adjusted, the description or title may need to be tweaked.

Those are just a couple of the many questions that were asked and answered at yesterday's Newbie Chat. Our hosts did let us know that more Seller's Chats are in the works, which excited many of the not-so-new people in the group. Hope you enjoyed these highlights!