How to Get Sales on Etsy in 7 Steps, with Photos

Key Points

• Improving product images and listings can help increase sales on Etsy.
• Getting more product reviews can boost conversions and build trust in your store.
• Promoting your store on social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest can help reach a wider audience.
• Optimizing your Etsy shop’s SEO can improve your rankings and drive more traffic to your listings.
• Creating product bundles and using scarcity tactics can incentivize buyers to make a purchase.
• Offering free shipping can attract customers and increase sales on your Etsy shop.

Etsy is a popular and powerful platform for handcrafted goods. However, after you launch your store, you might be wondering what you can do to make more sales. After all, simply creating a product listing isn’t enough, you need to get your product in front of potential buyers. Luckily, there are a lot of ways you can improve your store traffic and convert more visitors into buyers. In this article, you’ll learn how to get sales on Etsy, using these seven steps. By the time you’ve finished reading, you’ll be well-equipped to start growing your shop.

1. Improve Product Images and Listings to Make More Etsy Sales

Your product listings should work for you to help you get more sales on Etsy. However, a lot of store owners don’t spend time properly optimizing their listing pages. Optimizing your listing pages can help you make more sales from the traffic you’re already getting.

The most important parts of your product listings are your images and your product description. Here are some keys tips to improve your product images:

• Include various angles of your products (if they are physical).
• Include close-up shots of your products.
• Include eye-catching backgrounds.
• Use different layouts and include lifestyle shots.
• Create a sense of feeling with your images that align with your brand.

Here’s an example of an Etsy product listing with high-quality images. You’ll notice that multiple images are used and help to give the visitor a sense of using the product. You can even use the bonus Etsy product video feature so you can better convey your products.

Once you’ve improved your product photography, you can move on to your product listings. Your product descriptions should highlight the features and benefits of your product. A solid product description can also make your brand feel more trustworthy. Here are some tips for improving the quality of your descriptions: 

• Include the most intriguing details of your product at the top
• Break up your text using short sentences and bullets
• Focus on the benefits of the product (not just the features)
• Include relevant keywords throughout your description and headline

2. Get More Product Reviews to Boost Conversions

You should be doing whatever you can to increase your product reviews. After looking at your pictures and reading the description your potential customers will check out the product reviews to see how your product stacks up. Not only that, but reviews help to build confidence and trust in your store. Here’s an example of how the Etsy search results tend to rank listings with a lot of reviews at the top of the page.

Now, Etsy will automatically send out an email that asks past customers to leave a review. However, there are a few things you can do to improve your chances of getting one. First, you can create a small physical card that you add to your Etsy order with a link to your review page. Second, you can manually send out a follow-up message and ask them for a review. Combining these strategies with Etsy’s automated message is a great way to increase your review quantity and get more sales on Etsy. 

3. Promote Your Store on Social Media

If you’re not active on social media, then you should create accounts for your store today. Two of the main social media platforms for Etsy sellers include Instagram and Pinterest. Both of these platforms are visually oriented and cater well to your Etsy audience. You might be able to do well on TikTok too, since the algorithm heavily favors new creators who create good content.

Some great tips to improve your social media presence include, using relevant hashtags, actively responding to comments and messages, sharing fun and creative images, and offering discounts or early-bird notice of new products. Here’s an example of an Etsy shop that shares poems, which you can purchase on Etsy via the bio link:

4. Boost Your Etsy Platform SEO to Get More Traffic

Etsy SEO is how well your shop ranks when people search for specific items on Etsy. According to Etsy, your shop’s ranking is based on how well your products match what’s being searched and how many positive ranking factors your product has. The higher you rank for relevant searches, the more traffic you’ll get, and the more products you’ll sell.

To influence your product rankings, you’ll want to include relevant keywords in your product title and description and utilize tags in your listings. When editing your listing you have the ability to add up to 13 tags, so make sure you take advantage of this. Keep in mind, the number of reviews and positive feedback can also influence your rankings. 

5. Create Product Bundles

Another great way to make more sales is to offer product bundles. Product bundles let you create new listings from products you already have. This helps you target new keywords and give your visitors a way to buy products at a discount. If you have products that haven’t been selling well, then this can be a great way to sell these as well.

You can get creative with the types of bundles you offer. For example, you can create a summer bundle filled with products that are summer themed. Or, you can create bundles based on holidays, buyer types, or simply products that complement each other. Spend some time searching Etsy to see how shops in your niche bundle products.

6. Get Etsy Sales Using Scarcity On Your Listing Pages

Scarcity is a common tool used to get buyers to act quickly. If you have a low volume of products on-hand already, then this will occur naturally. With Etsy, you input your product stock and it’s automatically shown in the search results, and on your listing page. You can also consider running short term sales that last for a certain number of days, or until the items are sold. Etsy will also show product variations that are sold out.

Scarcity suggests to buyers that your products are popular and there’s a chance they’re going to miss out. This works as social proof and helps to trigger FOMO in your buyers. That’s why you’ll see so many sales with limited-time offers or limited quantity to get people to act. If you don’t have a limited quantity of items, then you can add, “Product sells out fast,” or something similar to your product listing page. 

7. Offer Free Shipping 

With the advent of Amazon and other retailers following suit, customers have come to expect free and fast shipping. That’s why it’s a good idea to offer free shipping if it’s possible. A lot of store owners end up building shipping into the price of their products, and then offering free shipping. 

Or, you can offer free shipping for orders that are over a certain sales volume. This can help to increase the total volume of sales on your site since customers will keep adding items to get their cart over the free shipping threshold. Feel free to try both options and see what leads to more conversions on your storefront. 

Closing Thoughts: How to Get Sales on Etsy in 7 Steps

As you can see, there are a ton of ways you can get more sales on Etsy. No matter which ways you choose, it’s important to experiment and see what works best for your store. For example, your store may respond well to social media, but for others, encouraging customer reviews works best. Finally, making sales doesn’t happen overnight, it’s crucial you take consistent action using the methods above to truly create a successful Etsy shop.

Summary Table

The image featured at the top of this post is ©Sergei Elagin/Shutterstock.com.