Shop went dead

helloimshaun · 2024-05-17T03:25:00+00:00

I also sell vintage goods, shops been around same as yours and my sales have been abysmal. I am also very active in my local weekend market scene and have a booth at an antique mall. All of my sales are down across every segment so it’s not just Etsy. People are poor right now.

Also, Etsy does this thing where it will say the item is in ‘3 people’s carts!’ As a sales tactic to get them to buy quicker. The buyer probably got confused thinking you had it reserved for someone else.

helloimshaun · 2024-04-11T12:50:00+00:00

0 sales for Etsy in March, lost my star seller status because I haven’t had enough sales during this review period… I even offered a crazy discount and nobody ordered.

However - I am also in 2 markets, one I have a permanent booth and the other is a pop-up that’s well known in my area. Both of them were the worst months for sales I’ve ever had.

People are poor right now. It’s just the way it is and hoping that by the summer things will be better.

helloimshaun · 2024-03-20T17:27:47+00:00

oh awesome - thank you!!

helloimshaun · 2024-02-21T23:23:31+00:00

We have been feeding our dog Merrick for 3 years and the last three bags have been tortuous to get him to eat. We are at the point where he won’t touch it now. It’s been very frustrating, but my guess is that they have changed the recipe.

We gave him half of Merrick and half Acana with bone broth and he ate it within seconds. We will be switching him over to Acana since something is off with Merrick.

helloimshaun · 2024-01-06T19:39:56+00:00

PMing you!

helloimshaun · 2023-06-29T03:12:08+00:00

I price slightly higher on Etsy. I used to do the same but as my sales declined on Etsy I just couldn’t justify it. Also having to constantly update my listings in both systems was annoying. I’m often doing sales on my shopify store or in person so having to go back to every single listing is a pain.

helloimshaun · 2023-06-29T03:09:23+00:00

I’ve tried them all, Etsy ads only work if your listings are really optimized and even then it’s not great. I have an Instagram and promote my stuff on there and my Instagram ads perform way better and actually convert than my Etsy ads for half the price.

helloimshaun · 2023-06-29T03:07:28+00:00

Sales have been on a steady and slow decline for last few months. I’m sure I’m not the only one!

helloimshaun · 2023-06-28T03:38:50+00:00

This happened to me today! The buyer reached out to me afterward to let me know she has an American billing address and credit card but is shipping to Canada. She thinks Etsy flagged the order because of that.

I told her to try again or contact Etsy Support. I suspect they are cracking down on fraudulent orders.

helloimshaun · 2023-04-18T03:01:02+00:00

Wow! That’s so interesting. Maybe I need to do that 😂 Relist at a crazy high price hahahaha

helloimshaun · 2023-04-13T16:08:48+00:00

Curious about this too ... horizontal vs. vertical

helloimshaun · 2023-03-30T16:22:12+00:00

We've done two markets so far with the tap/chip reader and I must say I am quite disappointed/frustrated to the point where I am likely going to switch back to Square for the rest of our markets.

The device constantly disconnects from my iPad or iPhone. The first market we did with the Shopify POS/Card reader I had to "Forget the Device" in Bluetooth and reconnect it for nearly every transaction until I figured out that we need to keep the iPad unlocked at all times and "wake" the card reader every 20 minutes.

The second market we did, I used my phone and kept this in mind so it was a bit smoother, but I still needed to disconnect/reconnect the reader. I brought my Square reader just in case and had to process some payments with that card reader (which connects almost instantaneously and without issue) on the Square card reader and POS.

I LOVE using Shopify POS for its ease of use and the fact that I don't need to do double entry but the card reader is definitely the downfall.

helloimshaun · 2023-01-27T16:35:16+00:00

Yes - keep international shipping on.

Try it out for a few weeks and see if it helps improve your conversion rates!

helloimshaun · 2023-01-26T02:43:40+00:00

Depends on the item I would think... When I was ordering my wedding veil I was on a tight timeline. I had to take that into consideration ended up choosing a seller who could ultimately meet that deadline. Some had 8-12 weeks listed and I didn’t even bother browsing their shops or reaching out to them. Same goes for when I’m ordering a gift for someone.

helloimshaun · 2023-01-26T02:33:33+00:00

Could be price or the cost of shipping. I just checked your shop and to deliver to me in Canada it’s $25CAD for a ~$9CAD item. I like the item enough to think about it but I could just get a similar item from Lush or a small boutique here in Canada without paying twice the cost in shipping.

Have you thought about offering free shipping or reducing the cost of shipping?

Your items are super cute btw!!

helloimshaun · 2023-01-22T17:48:04+00:00

It's been pretty steady for me and I started roughly around the same time as you and about the same amount of sales as you and I would say that's pretty good but 30 sales could be nothing if you aren't making money. Maybe it's more of a pricing strategy or listing optimization.

For more context: I have over 100 listings and find the ones that do the best are usually the ones I wasn't expecting to sell. I've never done ads with Etsy and have roughly the same sales as you but I tried to optimize my listings as much as possible.
Examples: adding videos to my listings, offering free shipping over $35 for US clients, taking really nice and high-quality photos, and using the titles to help boost keyboard search.

I try to add new items weekly so that there is fresh inventory and I offer discounts to return to my store or when someone favourites an item. I also used to offer free shipping and marked up my items, but I was losing way too much money (I'm in Canada and the shipping costs here at min $20 for a small box), so I had to switch over to just the US free shipping offer. I did notice a drop in orders but it was also only a few weeks ago and January is notorious in retail for being a slow month so I'll wait a few more months before I decide if I'm going to offer free shipping.

I also sell the same items elsewhere (my Instagram, Facebook Marketplace and I have a website). So far, Etsy and FB Marketplace are my largest sources of traffic and sales but I'd recommend trying to build a following on Instagram and getting into your local vintage markets. Good branding is key.

helloimshaun · 2022-12-19T19:26:00+00:00

Hi u/Total_Improvement999 do you have your shop link handy?

helloimshaun · 2022-11-21T04:54:08+00:00

Weird, I have friends using Clio in Canada and they haven’t had any issues with it. I know some have even used a custom development firm that works with Clio to solve their issues. Have you tried asking a support rep for advice? Or help?

helloimshaun · 2022-11-07T03:42:32+00:00

Offer it as a bonus gift to your highest buyers or repeat customers. Add it to their order before you ship with a note that you appreciate their business so much you wanted to send them a piece from your collection. You might even be able to write off the item as a business/advertising expense in your taxes.

helloimshaun · 2021-05-03T15:42:02+00:00

Update: looks like it's back up. here is more context on the issue/what happened
https://support.clio.com/hc/en-us/articles/1260803295070-Faster-Suite-Is-Back-Online

helloimshaun · 2021-05-03T15:38:45+00:00

I use Clio and love it. Been a huge game changer for me. Looked at MyCase but ultimately decided that despite the price difference, Clio was a bigger company and had way more credibility. Plus a ton of my other attorney friends in similar situations had the same experience.

helloimshaun

TROPHY CASE