Mar 15, 2011

Beat The End of Winter Blahs & Sell!

It's that blah time of year. The weather is overcast, likely chilly and seems like it's been the same for days. Combine that with tragic events in Japan and it's easy to see why people may not be buying.

What do you look for at the end of Winter? A change. Cheerfulness. Gardens. Moving homes. Rearranging furniture. Spring cleaning. Freshening up. Summer vacation planning. Weddings. Graduations. Mothers Day. Fathers Day. Anniversaries.

Green Enamel Brooch & Earrings by reconstitutions

Why not provide what people are yearning for?


Brighten up your shop. Look at your shop with an objective eye. Stand back from your computer by 5-6 feet. What primary color do you see? Brown? Grey? White? Just like everyone loves the feel of crisp white sheets in the Spring, they'll be attracted to your shop if it feels light and bright. Make it feel fresh, alive.


Vintage Cake Pan by CheekyChicVintage


Make your shop feel all new, ready to be discovered. You can either re list items or use the custom sort feature. Think of it like a treasury-give your customers a reason to come back to your shop. I like to swap out my featured items every 2 days and rearrange the front page every 3-4 days. I have noticed the featured items get marked as favorites every time I change them.



Vintage Suitcase by MellowMermaid

Rephotograph older items to give them a new look. While your old photos may be fabulous, if the item is still in your shop, perhaps it needs a new perspective. I recently bought OTT lights. Wow. My lighting has improved 100% and so have my photos. I'm now slowly going back and redoing all my original photos. It's been working! Several items I've done this with have sold within 10 days.


Citrus Litho by vintagegoodness

Raise your prices! While this may seem counter intuitive, it's actually quite sound logic. As I've blogged about here before, it's vital to know who you're marketing to. Since we can't read minds, you can operate with some general information. What's the pricing comfort zone for an item to decorate the home? If you're drawing a blank, look at Potterybarn.com or CrateandBarrel.com. Both are very popular with the 30-50 age group. Both companies are blatantly copying vintage designs-and you're providing the real thing! Raise your prices and show that your items are worth it. Nothing causes the "what's wrong with it?" suspicion more than prices that are too low.


Pear Pottery Bowls by Shoptastic

Provide companionship. Are you talking to your Facebook fans? Do you treat them as potential friends or just as an audience to sell to? No one likes to be advertised to all the time. Stop just showing them your new listings and treasuries. Ask them questions. Tell them an anecdote about yourself. This also works well on your blog. Everyone likes a conversation to contribute to, especially in these bleak last days of Winter.

Seed Starting Tray by birdie1

Think of all the catalogs that come out this time of year. They likely arrived a few weeks ago to get you in the mood. The scenes in them are staged differently for each season. Spring is about bright colors, a fresh palette and a clean slate. Update your shop and see your customers respond!

16 comments:

Bevy said...

Great reminders to freshen up and brighten up for spring. Thanks!!

Anonymous said...

Just the boost I needed to refresh my shop! Thanks for these great suggestions!

Susan from The T-Cozy said...

Thanks for the great tips!

Designer4u said...

Thanks for all the Great tips!

I was just in Pier 1, so many vintage style items there.

Suzanne@threepeats said...

I agree...faux vintage or reproductions seem to be all the rage right now at lots of high-end home decor stores. We sell the originals and we're not hard-to-find at all!

Patricia said...

Great concrete, specific suggestions that I can put into action today. Thanks for the wonderful reminders...I need to treat my shop like my garden; feed it, weed it, fertilize it and then wait for the harvest. Thanks for the sage advice

Cheeky Chic Vintage said...

Wonderful suggestions! Just reading your post gets me motivated to do some Spring Cleaning in my shop! Thanks so much!
Donna
CheekyChicVintage

kits said...

You are right on here! wish I had the time to redo my photos, but every time I do, and make them brighter, it works! Just like my brick and mortar shop, white and light and airiness all work together to make the product look very desirable....

MellowMermaid said...

Thanks do much!! This is awesome! Some seriously sensational vintage!

MellowMermaid said...

Awesome advice & fresh ideas, thanks for the tips. I'm off to rephoto some oldies, but goodies. I may just jack up the prices to see what happens!

nora - treasurehuntvintage said...

Informative, as always! Thanks bunches.

Vintage Linens said...

Such excellent and motivating tips. Thank you. I especially like your advise to check out the companies that copy vintage designs.

Kelly George said...

Great post, and so true about all the faux vintage & some big names even have a small authentic vintage finds category now! Clearly, vintage is highly desirable & profitable or these companies wouldn't be investing their time into it!

cindy-the vintage hat shop said...

Great tips, I am going to check out my photography, you are so correct about the bright lighting!

Happily Era After and The Vintage Reader Etsy Shops said...

As always, an excellent read. I am SO guilty of only posting listings on my Facebook account. You have inspired me to change that, thank you!

Vicki said...

Enjoyable and helpful post - I'm inspired.