Tips That Work

How do you reach out to your potential customers? Or do you reach at all? Do you wait, hoping you'll wake up to a slew of sales the next morning? 

Arabia Finland Coffee Mug offered by VioletQVintage

We all wait, hoping. But there is a lot more we can do to ensure sales. With the economy going up and down faster than a roller coaster, it's vital we find creative ways to market our shops and items. Here I'll provide a few ideas that I've seen work well. 

Mod 1970s Throw Pillow offered by Kultur

Network!! Join local email groups: Yahoo freecycle, Mothers/Parents clubs, Civic groups and more. I'm very active in my local groups. I post things on Freecycle and I also get things off Freecycle. When I pick up or give away the items this allows for face to face interaction. This always results in a friendly conversation that inevitably leads to what I do for a living. My two BIGGEST clients came from a word of mouth referral from Freecycle. 

Upcycled Carved Coral Jewelry Rack offered by MellowMermaid

Talk!! Tell every person you meet what you do. Tell the checker at the Super Market. Find a way to incorporate it into everyday conversation. Promote yourself. Yes, it'll feel awkward at first, but you'll soon find you can just seamlessly integrate into the flow of talk. And people will want to hear about it. Why? Because what we do is FASCINATING. People love to hear about it. And in addition to that, everyone will want to know you at some point because when estates come up, you'll be the one who can help. 

Vintage See No Evil Bar Set offered by EmeliasCupboard

Advertise!! There are so many ways to reach the public. Don't just discount advertising as too expensive. I just placed an ad with the company that does those advertising placemats in restaurants. I've already received 6 calls, one of which is an Estate of the head lawyer to Disney & Bob Hope in the 1950's & 60's. The ad didn't cost much and the company distributes 22,000 placements a month. A good value for my money-it pays to think outside the box. 

Enamel Flower Brooch offered by reconstitutions

Expand!! While I'm all for selling on Etsy, there may be times when it pays to expand out into other venues. I know many of us are selling on eBay as well. But what about Craigslist? How about taking your listing and putting it on Craigslist when you list it on Etsy or eBay? I know an antique store in my town that lists every single item on Craigslist when it comes in the door. She's now getting 45% of her sales from online. 

Mid Century Enamel Box offered by mascarajones

It's not good enough for us to depend on Etsy to help us. We need to think out of the box and figure out how to drive traffic to our items and shops. At the end of the day, only we are responsible for our success. Let's make sure we are!! 

Set Your Shop Above The Rest

As the Holiday buying season approaches, we need to be sure we're doing all we can to reassure our potential customers. Today we're inundated with stories of fraud, poor packaging that led to broken items, sellers that refuse to offer refunds for wrong items, and more. We can combat this and set our stores apart with a few basic words & practices. Some sellers hide behind their descriptions, leaving out information so the item will sell faster. You are building long term customer relationships-treat your clients as you wish to be treated. 

Vintage Ceramic Rooster offered by VintageInBloom

First of all, congrats! Being a member of the Etsy Vintage Team is a great seal of approval to have. The high standards set by this team mean that buyers can relax, knowing that they're dealing with a reputable seller. 

Antique Treenware Kitchen Set offered by birdie1

But it's going to take more than just a badge to get an insecure buyer to click the Add to Cart button. The first impression of your shop is vital, just as it is with people. Is it well laid out? Are colors & textures balanced-not too much of one color on a side, silver items spread evenly throughout the page, clothing balanced out with jewelry? If you're unsure, try this: back away from your computer screen a little ways and squint your eyes. You'll quickly assess what needs to go where.

Vintage Tole Metal Tray offered by tparty

Are your descriptions thorough? Be sure you're eliminating all guesswork for the potential buyer. Provide what the item is made of, what its measurements are and all elements of condition. Avoid the dreaded: "in good condition for its age"-it's far too subjective. Be specific: There is a 1/4 inch long crack along the side, the binding is tight & the pages all present, the leather is supple, there is consistent crazing, etc. 

Silver Kangaroo Ring offered by evalena

Are you providing extra information that other sellers neglect to provide? One such example is black light testing. It brings out the hidden flaws and repairs your naked eye may have missed, thus providing another level of security for your customer. Do you mention if the item smells fresh and is free from smoke? I consider this a vital piece of information when I'm buying, since I'm seriously allergic to tobacco smoke. 

1970s Maxi Dress offered by JojosRetroandVintage

Being willing to offer fast exact shipping is good idea for last minute shoppers. Providing tracking numbers and insurance is another way to give reassurance to a wary buyer. As I've mentioned before, it's always better to provide a variety of shipping rates so your buyer feels confident. 

Antique Lusterware Open Salts offered by vintageatchirp

Layaway is a popular option now; just 2 or 3 payments can make a world of difference. I've had 3 sales for over $400 lately done this way and they've all paid on time. If you do offer it, advertise it. 

Modernist Sterling Brooch Offered by darlingblu

In these uncertain times this extra level of service reassures the buyer and shows them you're sensitive to their needs. Since most of our shops are going to do the bulk of their business during the holidays, now is the time to be sure we're providing a top level of customer service. 

Fight Back Against the Slumps!

Vintage Clock Face by VintageInspiredVt

Lots of talk recently about sales. Or rather, lack of sales. Is it a slump? Is it the site we sell on? Is it us? Is it the time of year?

While those factors are worth considering, at the end of the day there are many elements we have direct control over. Not everyone heads out to the sun when summer comes! Millions of people work on their computers every day. Thousands of blogs are gaining new eyeballs every day-often at a very rapid rate. So we know the people are out there. The question is, how do we get them into our shops?

Crab Pendant by GeneralWhimsy2

Are you blogging? I don't mean once a month or once a week. Are you blogging every day? I know that sounds intimidating-and I'm certainly not a champ in this department. But I watch and I learn. I know from watching successful blogs that it takes frequent content to not only keep an audience but to continue to grow it. People want freshness. They want new. They want something great to look at every day when they sit down to their computers.

Vintage Soutache by AddVintage

What's the content of your blog? I admit, I still haven't found the voice for mine. I don't want to be a salesperson, shoving my shop finds down throats all the time. But I also don't want to ignore that I do have a shop. Find a way to keep your blog fresh: take your camera along on your estate hunts, write about the history of an item, or showcase items from another vintage shop. Mix it up and do it often. That's the best way to get found.

Barkcloth Folk Print Jacket by marybethhale

Are you making treasuries? Do. We all know they bring eyeballs in and we NEVER know where those eyeballs lead. Just this week a treasury brought me to a customer-in the most roundabout way. A woman saw an old wood saw of mine that was featured. She mentioned it to her father in law. He looked at it and went to my shop and left it up on his screen. His wife came along, saw some paintings I had and emailed them to a friend in Russia. The woman in Russia loved them and bought them. Now she's having me ship them to her best friend in Louisiana. Huh? From a treasury?

1930's Bantam Typewriter by YesterdaysSilhouette

Are you updating your Facebook page daily? Do you have a Facebook page? Again, not with just your latest finds. Solicit input from your viewers. Ask them questions. Have them post photos. Get them involved! And then sprinkle in your latest finds on a regular basis.

Rare Childrens Book by wonderdiva

We cannot just sit back and hope our shops are found. We should not depend on whatever website we're selling on to advertise for us. Yes, the site has a role to play, but we can greatly influence how much traffic comes to our shops. If we were just selling on our own websites we'd have to! So let's work just as hard as if we were all alone in the vast wasteland of the web, hoping to be noticed.

Packaging Up the Impossible: How To Do it Right

Two days ago a large, fragile, expensive, antique medical item sold in my shop-providing the perfect opportunity to illustrate what I preach to you about shipping. (I included a photo of his flattering side. His other side is rather graphic)

How you ship and how your shipping is perceived by the customer is critial to your shops success.

Two things are important to keep in mind with every package, especially large ones. 

1. They will be dropped from a substantial height. 

2. They will be bumped, jostled, possibly kicked and will have heavy items piled on top of them.

With these two points in mind, we began our packaging. Our item was 28 1/2 inches high, made of antique plaster, was around 90 years old and sold for $750. The pressure was on. Fortunately, we had had the foresight to charge the customer enough for shipping. Mr Anatomy was wrapped several times with bubble wrap which gave him a thick padding. Even his wood base was wrapped in order to allieviate any vibrations. 

The first step was to find a box. After several minutes of try outs, we realized a box would have to be made. Kelly is my amazing assistant and tackled this task admirably. She got a little goofy while doing this since the entire packing job took over an hour. Well worth it though. (and to be honest, what we love about her is that she's generally always on the verge of goofy) 

  

She found a box that was just 1 inch short of the statues height. We knew we wanted at least 6-8 inches of padding on all sides so she built the box up by 7 inches. This much space is critcal in packaging fragile items-peanuts should be firmly packed in to absorb any shock caused by dropping. 

The peanuts that went under the statue needed to be secured. Every time I've received a heavy item, the weight of the item has pushed all the peanuts up the sides, leaving the item against a bare box bottom (and often shattered as a result). Not too good for absorbing shock. We handled this problem by cutting a piece of cardboard the same size as the box bottom and taping it over the peanuts. Problem solved. 

The peanuts were packed around and around and around. Pressed down over and over, firmer and firmer. Why? 

Imagine your item packaged with lots of peanuts, but rather loosely. Now imagine a bag of potato chips. Those start out full. By the time they reach us, they've settled due to being jostled and thrown about in trucks. 

You need to compensate for all that jostling. The postal employees probably do not think about what's inside the box when they're lifting it. They want to get home to their families. It's our responsiblity to make sure the package gets there safe, not theirs. While we can't control the trucks, we can control the quality of the item riding around in them. 

Peanuts were put between the double box layers. Extra insurance and well worth the effort.

The box was built. It wasn't pretty so Kelly put another box over the bottom one to hide the imperfections. It will also help the package escape any damage from machines that might catch on loose cardboard pieces.

Finally it was taped up and ready to go! Kelly did an amazing job and our customer is sure to be happy. He said he'd already ordered one of these and it had arrived shattered. He specifically requested an excellent packaging job. Here's to success! 

Relist, Deactivate, Feature? Oh My!

Vintage Butterfly Brooch by SweetSugarBoutique

It can be somewhat of a juggling game figuring out how to balance your shop. How many pages are just right? How much is too much? How often should you relist to keep things fresh? Is it even worth rearranging items? Do customers search specifically or do they browse? All solid questions.

Vintage Easter Postcard by TheOldBarnDoor

Be careful you don't start from the premise of a bias. If you're a browser, chances are you operate under that assumption in how you structure your shop. If you don't really buy online and just have your shop, that likely is influencing your behavior as well. Never assume your customer is familiar with Etsy. Etsy is focused on and is successfully bringing millions of new eyeballs to the site monthly.

Art Deco Hall Teapot by jenscloset

First step is trying to understand your customer base. Who is your customer? Take out a piece of paper and fill in the following items: education level, profession, age, urban or rural, martial status, kids, and what kind of car of they drive. (I go into this in detail in my other Wednesday posts) This loose analysis of your customer will allow you to grasp how they shop.

Vintage 1980's White Lace Mini by PersonalPursuits

For example, a young urban executive earning 6 figures working 60 hours a week is probably not going to do more than scan the first and maybe the second page. (Google analytics will show you this information in detail) When I saw that the 1-3 pages got the vast majority of traffic on my Google analysis I switched my behavior.

1950's Automobile Speedometer by TheFancyLamb

As a result, I now change my featured items every 24 hours or so. Every time I do, they start popping up as favorites in the activity feed. This is such valuable feedback! I try to make sure that my featured items are also never on the first page of items. That's just wasting advertising space.

Aynsley English Bouquet Earrings by GeneralWhimsy2

I assume that once an item is listed, it'll be buried in a few hours. While it's tempting to assume that something is wrong with the item, don't. It's probably not the photo or the pricing. they probably just haven't seen it. (Assuming you've got great photos and reasonable prices)

Royce Enamel Pocket Watch by VintageinBloom

For my customers that are Etsy sellers (the crowd that tends to browse more), I rearrange the shop often. And every night before I go to bed I relist 4-5 items for that International crowd that is just starting their day. I never deactivate items unless something is wrong. Why waste your listing fee? Rotate in a new photo, but don't bother deactivating it.

Vintage Chip & Dip Set by thecreekhouse

Now obviously this is just my interpretation of the Google numbers. Use yours. Look at the Etsy stats. Figure out who you're primarily selling to. This isn't hard-it's fairly safe to assume that hip vintage clothing isn't being gobbled up by the generation that had to wear it! People tend not to appreciate the decades that they lived through. (Meaning, it's hard for me to appreciate the late 1970's & 80's) Keep your shop fresh and the sales will follow!

The Nuts & Bolts of Owning a Business

Is selling on Etsy just a hobby or is it your business? Do you do it for enjoyment with little regard to year end profits or are you concerned about boosting revenue? Are you keeping records that will help out in case of an audit? 

15 Quart Pyrex Bowl by beppiebags

These questions matter, especially at tax time. Unless you're trying to keep your business under the table and operate on a cash only basis (Which I highly discourage), you'll need to keep records. Keep in mind that Paypal will report their records if you're audited. 

1970s Hummingbirds Dress by PersonalPursuits

The first question is hobby or business? It's an important distinction. If you are planning on calling your Etsy shop a hobby, read up on the restrictions. Let's assume for the sake of this discussion that you're a business. 

The Skin of Our Teeth offered by TheOldBarnDoor

Are you keeping track of your expenses? Are you keeping records? Here's a few of things I keep track of: 


A. Receipts from thrift stores, estate sales, etc. 
B. Mileage to estates, thrift stores, etc. 
C. Excel Spreadsheets of what it is, what it cost, where I got it, what it sold for, and any shipping losses. 
D. Excel Spreadsheets of all my consignment sales.
E. Costs of business insurance.


That's all I worry about. I could get into deducting costs associated with my home office, but I've heard those kind of gray area deductions can trigger further investigations. 

Vintage Wall Mirror by moxiethrift

Some ways in which I practice sound business management: 


I keep a separate bank account for my business. It's a business account, not a personal one. 


I keep records about each consignment client and keep them up to date on their sales for their own tax records.


I keep detailed inventory lists to stay organized, to know who owns what and in order to find things quickly once they've sold. 


I keep track of all my in state customers for sales tax. Check with your state and see what your requirements are. 


I keep track of the rules surrounding Self Employment tax & Social Security and pay accordingly. 

Victorian German Silver Purse by justbecauseshecan

While I'd prefer to just focus on finding the next cool item, I've found that taking a little time each day to maintain records saves me a lot of wailing and gnashing later on. Now while this is what I do, please know I'm not a tax expert, I don't claim to be and I'm just sharing my personal experience. 

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!