How To Find The Best

Low-Priced Listings

On ETSY.com

The 3-Step ETSY.com Buying System

Create A Powerful Search

Create And Fine-tune a powerful

search on Etsy.com by entering

your lowest favorite price in the

website search field.

Your Choice Of Many Selections

There will be many selections in

your search results. You decide

upon the item worth buying.

Do Research and Ask Questions

Send the seller an email and ask questions

Ask for any missing information not provided on

the listing page. When you have enough infor-

mation you buy it at the fixed price.

A Simple Technique

As shown above just enter a number like

99 cents or 1.00 in the search field and many lwo

priced listings will be shown on the results listing

Some will be the price you asked for and some

will be similar.

Enter 99 cents here in the search box!

Why Choose Online Auc�ons

If you enjoy sales and want to work from home selling items you make yourself or items made

by others, pos�ng items for sale on online auc�on sites can be an exci�ng home business that

you can make a steady profit from. Online auc�on sites have become more popular over the

years as people have become savvy about how they want to spend their money. On these

sites, visitors can browse through hundreds of categories and subcategories looking for items

of interest. Once people find the items they want, they may be able to buy them directly from

the seller, or they can bid on the item. Whoever has the highest bid wins the item...

Becoming a seller on these sites is very easy. If you have a home computer, valid email ad-

dress, and accurate payment informa�on, then you can create an online store and sell prod-

ucts. Since there are so many items listed on these sites you have the op�on of selling one

kind of item, or you can sell many different types of items to appeal to a larger audience. You

will also be able to sell directly to buyers or you can open items up for bid. Many online sellers

create mini-stores where visitors can browse and purchase items direct.

Another aspect of this home business is that you are responsible for marke�ng your products

on the site with pictures, descrip�ons, and answering customer ques�ons. You will also be re-

sponsible for shipping the item safely to the buyer. You can add these costs into the price of

your items or ask for a flat fee. Many online auc�on sites offer buyer different op�ons when it

comes to shipping, so you can increase your prices based on the site's op�ons. Building a solid

reputa�on is important when running an online store. Customers will be able to leave feed-

back, both nega�ve and posi�ve, that other customers will read before purchasing an item

from you. Always try to resolve any complaints quickly so that you can retain a posi�ve repu-

ta�on.

If you enjoy running your own business, but don't want the hassle of paying rent to open a

store, hire employees, and deal with suppliers, an online auc�on store is a great alterna�ve.

You can shop for items in stores, yard sales, and estate sales, and then sell them to your cus-

tomers. Knowing how to price these items is important because people going to these sites

are looking for a bargain and if you charge too much, they will find another seller. This home

business is a wonderful enterprise for those with or without a family. If you have a family, they

can help by packing items and taking orders. I o1en use etsy.com and ebay.com for my online

selling but there are many choices for working from home selling items at auc�on or direct

selling.

How To Sell Your Items On Etsy.com

Are you a cra1er who has wondered how to sell on Etsy? Most people in the cra1ing world have heard of

Etsy, but not everyone knows how to sell on an online marketplace like Etsy. Selling successfully on Etsy

takes a li3le prac�ce and know-how. A common mistake that almost every "newbie" makes is to think that

just because you set up a shop on Etsy, the customers are going to come flocking! That is far from the case.

Learning how to sell on Etsy takes some trial and error and a good understanding of how internet market-

places for cra1s and arts work.

It is very common for a newbie seller to set up their brand new shop, full of hope and enthusiasm, only to

discover that weeks and months pass by without a single sale. The seller becomes discouraged, and lets the

shop languish, and eventually quits. But this does not have to happen! It is possible to succeed on Etsy. But

like all things it takes hard work and a willingness to learn.

There are five secrets to selling on Etsy that every new seller who wants to be successful must master: pho-

tographs, tagging, pricing, descrip�ons, and promo�on. Learn these five secrets and put them into prac�ce,

and you will see a significant increase in traffic to your Etsy shop, and in �me, more sales as well.

First and foremost, are your photographs good enough? In most cases, the answer is no. Even when you

have worked hard on your photographs, chances are they're not good enough. Look at the front page of

Etsy. Look at the crisp, clear, vibrant eye-catching, professional looking photos in those front page featured

shots. Those photos were taken by average sellers with li3le digital point and shoot cameras. The difference

is, successful sellers know how to use the Macro se9ng (the li3le flower bu3on) on their digital cameras to

take ultra close up shots of their wares. They know how to stage their pieces in clean, unclu3ered, sophis�-

cated se9ngs such as against rocks, or on a piece of wood, or most commonly, in a simple light box. (you can

purchase a simple light box set that includes the box, colored backgrounds, two photography lights, and a

small tripod, for not much money on Ebay, and it will be the best investment you ever make in your busi-

ness.)

Successful sellers also know how to �nker with their photographs to make them effec�ve marke�ng tools.

Every seller, to be successful has to learn to use some kind of photo edi�ng so1ware. Photoshop is the most

common but Picasa is free and simple to learn. Cropping is the most important step. Pull your product right

up to fill the en�re screen. Get rid of blank space around it. Then sharpen the image and play with the fill

light and highlights and satura�on and contrast un�l your photo pops. Export it in the correct file size for

Etsy (up to 2 mb) and you are ready. Photos should be cropped square since that's what appears on the Etsy

lis�ngs. Good photos get you into treasuries, which are collec�ons of 12 items chosen by other sellers. Treas-

uries get seen by lots of sellers and buyers, so taking Treasury-worthy photos is key to your Etsy success.

Second comes tagging. Tagging means choosing keywords that are the terms that customers will type in for

their searches in Etsy, and in Google. You get 14 tags in Etsy, and successful sellers use them all. Tagging is a

bit of an art form and takes prac�ce. Be sure to refer to the "From the Merch Desk" monthly blog post on

Etsy, which informs sellers of the coming seasons color and style trends and suggests tagging terms.

Third, pricing. Pricing is tricky. Price too high and customers will flee. Price too low and customers won't take

you seriously. Look at your compe�tors---the sellers selling items very similar to yours. Aim for the general

average of those prices....and then go higher. Here is the secret of pricing on Etsy: if you want more sales

raise your prices. It's the psychology of the handmade marketplace. If you price your items a bit higher, they

have an impression of value. Also, have a couple items with very high prices. Those make everything else look

"reasonable," and buyer-friendly.

Fourth, descrip�ons have to be complete. Remember that customers can't pick up and handle your item.

They can't ask you ques�ons directly. So you descrip�on has to answer all of their ques�ons. What is the

size? The color? The shape? The feel? What are the exact dimensions, and can they be varied? What are its

uses? If it's jewelry, is it good for day�me or evening, or both? What are the materials? Where did they come

from? How were they handled? Is it a durable or delicate item?

Beyond all of these factual elements, though, it is good to tell a story. What inspired you to create the item?

What feelings does it evoke? Where did it come from? How do you imagine it being used? People love a good

story, so tell one here.

Last of all, promote. Even if you do the four things listed above to perfec�on, it is unlikely that your shop will

grow without promo�on. You have to get your shop name out to a wide audience. You need to create your

"brand." There are paid and free ways to do this. The free ways include crea�ng a Facebook Fan Page and

ac�vely seeking fans, and crea�ng a Twi3er account and regularly twee�ng about your work and business.

Star�ng a blog is an important way to build your brand and get exposure. Lis�ng your business on free cra1

business directories like Unanimous Cra1 is helpful. Also, par�cipa�ng enthusias�cally on Etsy's own forums

and teams brings you into contact with a wide range of other sellers, who are also buyers (and friends and

families of poten�al buyers). If you sell jewelry, wear your jewelry everywhere you go and always carry your

business cards. Put your business in the local yellow pages and Google business directory.

One of the best ways to promote your business is to par�cipate in large online forums and blogs related to

your cra1. By pos�ng comments and contribu�ons o1en, you build hundreds of links back to your business

site, and make your shop visible to all the readers of those forums and blogs. Remember, those readers are

already interested in your item, because they made the effort to come to that specialized site in the first

place.

Paid promo�ons include buying adver�sing on blogs, or buying ads on Facebook or Google AdWords. It can

also be effec�ve to pay for promo�onal spots (usually called "booths") at online cra1 marketplaces such as

HandmadeCra1show.com. In exchange for the money, you get the added Facebook, Twi3er and blog

pos�ngs that the site does on a daily basis, as well as a smaller venue with less compe��on for the custom-

er's a3en�on.

Work on these five aspects of building your Etsy business, and in �me you will see your traffic and your sales

grow. Remember that it takes �me to build an Etsy business. There is usually no such thing as overnight Etsy

success! But with effort and determina�on, and a healthy dose of pa�ence, you too can learn how to sell on

Etsy.

Tips For Selling On ETSY.com

I've been selling my art online & in person for several years. These are the things I'm dying to tell

people about their etsy shops. Ten quick tips for your etsy shop and online sales of arts and crafts

in general:

1. Niche thyself. Your shop should have a consistent aesthetic or product line. Don't try to be eve-

rything to everybody. A shop full of cohesive work that connects with a potential buyer is a power-

ful thing. Nail your niche.

2. List it! If you sell it, list it- don't make people ask for it. As a photographer, I offer prints in vari-

ous sizes. Since I've started listing my larger prints in my shop and not just mentioning in the de-

scriptions that large prints are available, my sales of large prints have risen dramatically.

3. Smile. Be happy. Always, always, always have a positive attitude about your business. Everyone

loves a success. Never complain about lack of sales. Never. Always find something positive to say.

Success creates buzz, creates excitement, makes people wonder what they are missing and they

visit your shop looking for the fabulous things they're missing.

4. Photos. Photos. Photos. They can always be better.

5. Build your brand. Be in it for the long haul. Buy the advertising that you can afford to do for 3

months or more. If you can only afford an ad on a particular site or blog for a week, look for anoth-

er place to advertise. Work to make your name & product familiar to people; they need to see your

ad over & over. When people are familiar with your name & product, they will think of you when

they are ready to buy.

6. Price for success. Low prices may be killing your business. People may think your product is

cheap. The people that are buying from you may be buying only on price- those are not the buyers

you want to cultivate for the long term success of your business.

7. Make the things you love. Then find the market. Put your heart & soul into your work & people

will know.

8. Answer your buyers' questions. Write full descriptions. The number one reason online browsers

don't buy is they don't feel that they have enough information about the product. (Info from Etsy's

usability testing.) Give your browsers plenty of information on your product. Write your description

as if there were no photographs in the listing.

9. Give your buyers confidence. Tell them they can return it if they are not happy. You might get a

few returns- build that in your cost model. The increased sales will be worth the cost of a few re-

turns.

10. Know thyself. What is your mission? What are your goals? What do you want from your busi-

ness this year? Next year? in 10 years? Getting clear on your goals will help you focus your efforts

in your business. Should you pursue wholesale opportunities? Licensing? A larger studio space?

Should you branch into another media? A vision of your future will help you make these decisions.

Se9ng Up Your First Shop On ETSY.com

Etsy is one of the best ways to create an online cra1 business for a new seller. You can quickly and easily set up an

online store without worrying about building your own website or se9ng up ecommerce on your own. In under an

hour you can be selling to a built in market of eager customers from all over the world! It just takes a li3le know-how

and prac�ce to make Etsy work for you in building a successful online business selling your cra1s. If you're just

star�ng out on Etsy this ar�cle will show you how to build a new Etsy shop and start selling your cra1s online.

First some sta�s�cs: Etsy is the world's largest online marketplace for indie handmade goods and it is growing fast.

$25.5 million worth of goods were sold on Etsy in August. That is a more than 7% increase over July, and a 75% in-

crease over August of 2009! Etsy got 777 million page views in the month of August alone.

Here is how to build a shop on Etsy. First you have to visit Etsy and set up an account. It's free. You will choose one

account name that will never change (so choose well!). But one account can have several shops so if you have more

than one kind of cra1 business, you can divide up your wares into dis�nct stores with their own branding. Try to make

a shop name that is unique and memorable!

Once you have your account and at least one shop, you need to set up your storefront. You do this through "Your

Etsy." Click on the link for "Appearance" to start. First you have to get a banner for the top of your shop. Etsy provides

some banners but it's be3er to make your own. For good tutorials on making Etsy Banners and other aspects of sell-

ing on Etsy, you can check the Etsy Blog, called "The Storque." They have "How-To" posts all the �me that are really

helpful. And there are great graphic design shops on Etsy who will custom design a banner for you for a small cost.

A1er your banner you will enter your one-line shop descrip�on, and also create a Shop Announcement, where you

explain what you do and what makes your shop unique. You will also fill out sec�ons on Shop Policies, which explains

how you will handle shipping, and things like returns. Last, you will create a "Shipping Profile" that covers your do-

mes�c and interna�onal shipping rates. You can get an idea about how to do all these by checking other shops. It's

not hard.,

Once you get your shop set up, you can start lis�ng items. Just click "list an item" to start. You give it a �tle (think

about Google Search and put your keywords up front in the �tle--avoid whimsical or vague �tles), and then describe

it. Be specific. Include colors and measurements. Tell a li3le story about it what makes it unique. Then move on to

materials, where you list what went into the item. Be careful to use commas between each material, and no periods

or dashes. Then on the next page, you "tag" the item. You get 14 tags. Use them all! Tag with colors, especially trendy

seasonal colors, seasonal themes like holidays, pa3erns (houndstooth, polka dot, etc.), shapes (square, chunky, etc.)

and mo�fs (woodland animals is trendy right now, for example).

A1er that you upload 5 photos. Now this is the important part--your photos have to be good! You can use your digital

point and shoot camera, but make sure it's set on macro for closeup shoo�ng (the macro func�on is the li3le flower

bu3on on most cameras). Get a good simple background that has some interest to it. For example photograph your

jewelry on pre3y rocks, or on a piece of wood. Take lots of shots!

Then, and this is important, import your photos into photo edi�ng so1ware like Photoshop or even Picasa (easy and

free), and �nker with them. Crop them to highlight and magnify your product. Sharpen them. Use highlights and fill

light to brighten them, and use contrast to make your colors stand out. Remember that the �ny thumbnail photos

that customers see when they're browsing are li3le squares so make sure your product is visible in a square version of

your photo.

Finally, export your photos to a Pictures file in about a 1000 pixel size. Etsy won't take photos larger than 2 MB. You

can upload your photos from there into Etsy.

A1er you finish uploading, you just click "finish" and agree to pay 20 cents per lis�ng, and you're done.

Here are the fees: it costs 20 cents per lis�ng, and then Etsy takes 3% of your sale. Paypal also takes 1%. So, price

your items accordingly.

A note on pricing: don't price too low! The word on the street at Etsy is: if you want to sell more, raise your prices.

It is a good idea to have at least 20 items in your store, and more if you can. Someone did some research and found

out that sellers who have twice as many items do more than twice as much business. In other words, having a well

stocked shop makes customers buy more!

Now that you have your shop set up, it's �me to promote it. Easy ways to promote are to use the Showcase Feature

on Etsy (cost: $7), relist and add new items constantly (that way your stuff stays at the top of lists in your catego-

ries), and par�cipate in the Forums that are on the "Community" sec�on of the Etsy site. Join some Teams of other

sellers that do similar work as you (find Teams in the Community sec�on also). That gets your name out there.

Other ways to promote your Etsy shop are by pos�ng your photos to free galleries like Cra1gawker or Show-

caseEdge, se9ng up links to your site at resource sites like Unanimous Cra1 or Esellernow, and checking out mem-

bership sites like Handmadecra1show and Handmade Spark.

And of course, you'll want to create a Facebook Fan Page for your business and a Twi3er account and a blog...but

not all at once of course!

Last--be pa�ent and persistent. For most sellers, it takes months to see traffic build on their Etsy site. You learn

tricks of photography and tagging that help customers find you, and li3le by li3le you build a customer base. But,

with some work and pa�ence, you can use Etsy to build a successful online cra1 business.

Well, This short ebook does not tell the whole story of how to become extremely successful with yout etsy.com

store or your online selling as a whole but as for finding those great low-priced lis�ngs it is easy to do the research

to find them and you can re-list them for a nice profit.

Best Wishes and Happy Selling

Kimberly of JandK Designs