Why can't I sell any of my wares, what am I doing wrong?

[Amazon_Floozy_Goddess]

I’ve been crafting many different things since I was about 16 (I’m 29 now). I’m part Native so I focus a lot on crafts of that nature, but I also do a bunch of other things.

Now, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but my whole time making things up till now, I’ve had absolutely crap luck at selling any of it. I’ve really put myself out there to try to sell it - put up ads around town, brought in a bunch of things on commission to my workplace (sold maybe 10 items total there), went around to powwows selling my native items, had stickers made up advertising my website, and I have two Etsy shops. None of those efforts seem to have made a difference.

I’m in a lot of debt and my workplace is suffering cuts, and I’m trying really hard to supplement my income by using the only talents I have. But there’s no interest. I feel really useless.

Maybe I’m deluding myself and it’s shoddy work. I do try my best at it and I think my prices are pretty reasonable. I don’t know anymore. Here’s my shops, if anyone wants to tell me what they think the problem might be just from looking at them.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7042152

WorldOfWuzzcraft - Etsy

Part of me just wants to give up, as it’s a waste of money to buy materials to make things that won’t sell. But making things is the only thing I enjoy.

[Bijou_Drains]

Couple of ideas you may not have tried:

Flea market type places
Getting local stores to sell your stuff

Also try looking around to see where similar type stuff is sold and you can simply ask the owner how well it sells. It can be tough to sell artwork , my wife tried and did not have much luck. Your stuff looks good to me.

[running_coach]

To be totally , brutally honest, while it all looks well made, it’s ordinary. There’s nothing there that stands out as “I want that!”

If you laid these out with items from other crafters, would they stick out as unique or just hand crafted items with a Native theme?

I know you’ve invested a lot of time, money, sweat equity and emotion in this and I really hate to put down the effort you’ve made but selling things means stepping back and looking at your work through the eyes of your potential customers.

All the best in your efforts and i do hope they work out.

[Amazon_Floozy_Goddess]

@runner pat

To be totally , brutally honest, while it all looks well made, it’s ordinary. There’s nothing there that stands out as “I want that!”

If you laid these out with items from other crafters, would they stick out as unique or just hand crafted items with a Native theme?

I know you’ve invested a lot of time, money, sweat equity and emotion in this and I really hate to put down the effort you’ve made but selling things means stepping back and looking at your work through the eyes of your potential customers.

All the best in your efforts and i do hope they work out.

Hmm, I can see what you’re saying for some of the stuff, like the dreamcatchers. But I’ve only very rarely seen anyone sell the porcupine quill earrings or things like the birchbark container. I had thought those things at least were more unique.

Other than that, I don’t know what kind of stuff people would want…that’s why I try to make a lot of different things.

[Gary_T]

As an artist, you create what you want to make.

As a businessperson, you offer what the customer wants to buy.

The questions are, how big is the intersection between those two worlds, and where can it be found. It may take some marketing research to find the answers.

One thing to look at is festivals of any kind that have crafts and other items for sale. Talk to some of the vendors at those events, and see if they can give you some field-tested guidance.

[Quartz]

This is going to sound harsh, but given the current economic climate, why should people buy your stuff? You’re selling luxury goods and people are cutting back on those sort of purchases.

Good luck! Remember Robert the Bruce and the spider.

[running_coach]

@Amazon_Floozy_Goddess

Hmm, I can see what you’re saying for some of the stuff, like the dreamcatchers. But I’ve only very rarely seen anyone sell the porcupine quill earrings or things like the birchbark container. I had thought those things at least were more unique.

Other than that, I don’t know what kind of stuff people would want…that’s why I try to make a lot of different things.

The earrings may be unique being made from quills but they are in the same general look/style as other Native earrings and the fact they’re made from quills is not evident from any distance.

The birchbark container is different but I can see someone thinking “that would look strange on my mahogany/stainless steel/rolltop office desk”.

I was going from my first impressions viewing your page. I believe that the first few seconds are crucial to making the sale in this kind of environment.

I don’t know what to suggest, I’m no artist, just looking at this from a consumer’s point of view.

[aruvqan]

Like others have said, a bunch of the items are fairly standard items, but the quill stuff is fairly unusual - I dont remember the last time I saw quill items …

That being said, my roomie adores macaws and you just sold the macaw feather dreamcatcher=)

[Heckity]

The baby mocs are really cute. Do you think it might be helpful to give folks options - like show a selection of ribbons and they can customize accordingly? At size 4 perhaps boy themed or girl themed . . . that’s what struck me first – the ribbons almost make the mocs look too ordinary . . .

There might be ways to hook up with a baby store near you too -

As Quartz said, your things are nearly in the “luxury” category, which make them harder to sell right now.

[sugar_and_spice]

Check out these photos - baby moccasins on etsy

i’ll leave an actual photographer to comment on the technical stuff, but the as a shopper the presentation about is much more appealing that what you have. The shoes are stuffed with tissue so they have shape, and the angle lets you see the shoe better. The backgrounds are plain or suited to baby products (gingham checks, little baby hands) while you have a maroon cloth (not very baby). This just makes me thing these sellers know baby booties better than you to.

In general I’d say there is much you can do to improve your presentation. Like the photo of the teen bangle – it’s very awkward to have an adult hand holding it, if you can’t find a child model then just lay it on the background. Outside of images I think you should also try for more a theme – you have a few of a lot of different items, I would try to get more selection in fewer categories. The combo of baby shoes, jewelry, incense, and table knick-knacks in ~1 page seems a bit random.

[Amazon_Floozy_Goddess]

Ok, I can see the distinction between ‘luxury’ and ‘necessity’ items. It can be confusing though; if you browse other shops on there, there’s heaps of stuff that would be considered luxury but look to be selling pretty good.

Good idea on looking into baby stores to sell the baby mocs…I also didn’t think of local businesses aside from my workplace (It’s hard to know what places will be open to strangers coming in to try to hawk their stuff). I’ll see if I can find any luck those ways.

[RickJay]

Well, if you want honesty, I’ll provide it. If you don’t, stop reading, please.

1. Nothing you’re making looks like stuff I can’t buy anywhere else. Unfortunately, aboriginal art is very in vogue right now and you’re competing with a huge number of people. You can get the same basic stuff everywhere, especially dreamcatchers, which are just as common as pennies nowadays. The apparent value and quality of your work is no higher than what I see in gift shops - I can see on examination that the moccasins are made of real leather, which puts them above junk, but that’s not something a person will notice without a second click.

2. Your Website is not very good. It’s boring, old school, and isn’t found through Google unless I happen to use the word “Mahekun.” No combination of suggestive words pulls it up early in a Google search. That matters, unfortunately.

3. Your prices aren’t expensive, but they aren’t cheap, either. $16 plus shipping for a pair of baby moccasins is more than I am normally willing to spend on a pair of slippers for my baby without fitting, and I’m not poor.

I would agree that you need better overall presentation, ESPECIALLY for the moccasins, which are quality items done no justice at all by your web page. You may want to consider, if you have any Web-fu or know anyone who does, having your own page designed - it’s really not that hard - and a better, more interactive site, esp. with regards to the moccasins. Given people some size and design options and make to order and you might be able to sell more AND raise your prices a little when the time comes.

[badbadrubberpiggy]

I agree with sugar & spice about the photos. Your backgrounds are generally either too dark, too distracting, or both. The photo of the Fern Tendrils Wall Art is, IMO, much better than any of the other ones you have. It’s clear, the background is simple & bright, and you can really see the product you are selling. Also, having so many of your products on the same purple cloth background makes them sort of run together, rather than stand out on their own.

[running_coach]

@Amazon_Floozy_Goddess

Ok, I can see the distinction between ‘luxury’ and ‘necessity’ items. It can be confusing though; if you browse other shops on there, there’s heaps of stuff that would be considered luxury but look to be selling pretty good.

Good idea on looking into baby stores to sell the baby mocs…I also didn’t think of local businesses aside from my workplace (It’s hard to know what places will be open to strangers coming in to try to hawk their stuff). I’ll see if I can find any luck those ways.

Just as an example, Capitola, Ca(near Santa Cruz) is a big tourist town. There are several stores in the downtown/wharf area that have as their entire stock, the wares of 15-20 different artists, the store only exist to provide space.

[Mahna_Mahna]

The thing about the Etsy community is that it attracts a lot of crafting pros who do this full-time. They take their work seriously, and they put a lot of effort into making a slick page that looks very polished and professional. If you’re going to compete with those guys, you need to make sure you’re on the same footing.

That said, I think you’ve got some pretty nice stuff, so I don’t think it’s necessarily your crafts that are the problem so much as it is the approach… here’s what I think you could improve:

Photos
They’re not terrible photos (in that they don’t look like they’ve been taken with a cell phone cam, they’re in focus and are relatively well framed), but they’re not really showing your wares in the most flattering light.
I can tell you’re using flash on some of these photos… that’s a big no-no. Shoot with natural light, or build a DIY lightbox on the cheap.
If your camera can’t do macro shots, you should also look into buying one that can (many mid-range point-and-shoots can do this). Macro means you can include some extra close-up shots to show details in beading, texture, etc on top of the main product shot.

Presentation
I think these necklaces are lovely but they way they’re displayed is really not appealing. As a rule, jewellery should be hung whenever possible instead of laid flat.
Try playing with displays - hanging necklaces and earrings from branches, for example, would be quite appropriate for the Native vibe you’ve got going (like this, for example).
Crop. There’s way too much background around some of your pieces, especially the smudge sticks.
Speaking of backgrounds - skip the dark, busy or otherwise distracting ones. Keep it simple, light and fresh… plain white or off-white is best.
Try playing with the angles or positioning of products, rather than shooting them straight from above. You want it to look interesting, so that customers will take a closer look instead of browsing on to the next thing.

Pricing
The shipping fees seem a little much to me for some of your items. The $5 shipping for a $7 necklace nearly doubles the total cost… that’s pretty hefty for something that can be easily placed in a padded envelope and shipped for a couple bucks.
Be consistent. Shipping is free on a $16 pair of moccasins, which means that at the end of the day, the customer is paying pretty much the same cost for the moccasins ($16), the necklaces ($12), or a bracelet ($15)… seems a little off to me.
Consider combining shipping for multiple item purchases. It encourages people to buy multiples, which is win-win for everyone.

All that said, I’m not a pro by any means… I’ve toyed with the idea of getting into Etsy for quite some time and have done a LOT of research, and I’ve been doing food photography for several years as a devoted amateur. These are just my non-expert opinions.

[lavenderviolet]

@badbadrubberpiggy

I agree with sugar & spice about the photos. Your backgrounds are generally either too dark, too distracting, or both. The photo of the Fern Tendrils Wall Art is, IMO, much better than any of the other ones you have. It’s clear, the background is simple & bright, and you can really see the product you are selling. Also, having so many of your products on the same purple cloth background makes them sort of run together, rather than stand out on their own.

This is excellent advice. That fern artwork is my favorite item on your site - and I’m not sure how much of that is the fact that the photo of it is more professional and flattering looking than the other ones. I especially think the dream catchers would look much nicer if you could take new pics of them hanging on a neutral colored wall like the one in the fern art picture rather than lying on a sheet.
I also agree that it would be helpful if you can get someone young to model the jewelery intended for teens. I might also like the necklaces more if I saw them on someone’s neck rather than just lying flat. (I do agree that porcupine quills are unique and cool - though some animal rights kind of people might be turned off by the use of animal products)

If you can reduce your prices without making it pointless to sell them, that would probably help too. The prices do seem fair for the effort that you probably put into the products, but like RickJay says it’s more than a lot of people would be willing to spend over the internet for something homemade. If you can get a table at a flea market or some touristy or artsy event, you might get better results since then people could look at the items in person to determine if they’re really worth the price. I especially think that might be true for the lotions. I would be more inclined to buy lotion in person at a store where I could smell it and try it out before I buy it to make sure I like the smell and feel of it.

[Amazon_Floozy_Goddess]

@Mahna_Mahna

The thing about the Etsy community is that it attracts a lot of crafting pros who do this full-time. They take their work seriously, and they put a lot of effort into making a slick page that looks very polished and professional. If you’re going to compete with those guys, you need to make sure you’re on the same footing.

That said, I think you’ve got some pretty nice stuff, so I don’t think it’s necessarily your crafts that are the problem so much as it is the approach… here’s what I think you could improve:

Photos
They’re not terrible photos (in that they don’t look like they’ve been taken with a cell phone cam, they’re in focus and are relatively well framed), but they’re not really showing your wares in the most flattering light.
I can tell you’re using flash on some of these photos… that’s a big no-no. Shoot with natural light, or build a DIY lightbox on the cheap.
If your camera can’t do macro shots, you should also look into buying one that can (many mid-range point-and-shoots can do this). Macro means you can include some extra close-up shots to show details in beading, texture, etc on top of the main product shot.

Presentation
I think these necklaces are lovely but they way they’re displayed is really not appealing. As a rule, jewellery should be hung whenever possible instead of laid flat.
Try playing with displays - hanging necklaces and earrings from branches, for example, would be quite appropriate for the Native vibe you’ve got going (like this, for example).
Crop. There’s way too much background around some of your pieces, especially the smudge sticks.
Speaking of backgrounds - skip the dark, busy or otherwise distracting ones. Keep it simple, light and fresh… plain white or off-white is best.
Try playing with the angles or positioning of products, rather than shooting them straight from above. You want it to look interesting, so that customers will take a closer look instead of browsing on to the next thing.

Pricing
The shipping fees seem a little much to me for some of your items. The $5 shipping for a $7 necklace nearly doubles the total cost… that’s pretty hefty for something that can be easily placed in a padded envelope and shipped for a couple bucks.
Be consistent. Shipping is free on a $16 pair of moccasins, which means that at the end of the day, the customer is paying pretty much the same cost for the moccasins ($16), the necklaces ($12), or a bracelet ($15)… seems a little off to me.
Consider combining shipping for multiple item purchases. It encourages people to buy multiples, which is win-win for everyone.

All that said, I’m not a pro by any means… I’ve toyed with the idea of getting into Etsy for quite some time and have done a LOT of research, and I’ve been doing food photography for several years as a devoted amateur. These are just my non-expert opinions.

Well, I have been crafting for 13 years now, and I do take it seriously - I wouldn’t have taken so many different avenues to try to sell it if I didn’t. I have a full-time office job, so unfortunately I can’t devote as much time to making things as I’d like to. I’m a graphic designer by trade (college-trained, graduated in '02), so things like logos or illustrations are no problem for me (I designed the banners for both of my shops). It’s when it comes to presenting them in a marketing fashion that I have some trouble. I’m a buyer at my place, so I look at flat photos in catalogs all the time - I think that’s why a lot of my shots look boring. So I do appreciate your advice.

Shipping prices always seem to be waffly around here, so I’m never quite sure how much is enough, too much, or not enough. For instance, I sold an old iPod on eBay last month, and I estimated the shipping would be around $10. It was $22, so I lost $12 of what I sold it for just on shipping. I’ll have a look at mine and see if I can make them any better.

I do appreciate all the advice from everyone so far, thanks.

[Cat_Fight]

@Amazon_Floozy_Goddess

Ok, I can see the distinction between ‘luxury’ and ‘necessity’ items. It can be confusing though; if you browse other shops on there, there’s heaps of stuff that would be considered luxury but look to be selling pretty good.

Bolding mine. Etsy is huge. If you don’t already have a personal website (even just through Tumblr or similar), start one. Then try exchanging links with other sites and getting your pieces, including photos and links, featured on them. With these sorts of things, blog mentions are invaluable advertising.

As others have said, your pics need to be top notch. Also… some of your work seems a bit, I don’t know, ‘safe.’ I have some native art and clothing that I love, but much of it is really ornate or somewhat risqué (e.g. a quilt that mixes traditional native patterns with modern popular culture subjects). Make huge earrings, unconventional pillows, dramatic art. Believe me – as far as Etsy is concerned, you can’t go wrong with wolves, foxes and most birds (looking at some of those pieces – yikes that stuff is cheap. Maybe you are better off selling at local fairs).

[Mahna_Mahna]

@Amazon_Floozy_Goddess

Well, I have been crafting for 13 years now, and I do take it seriously - I wouldn’t have taken so many different avenues to try to sell it if I didn’t. I have a full-time office job, so unfortunately I can’t devote as much time to making things as I’d like to. I’m a graphic designer by trade (college-trained, graduated in '02), so things like logos or illustrations are no problem for me (I designed the banners for both of my shops). It’s when it comes to presenting them in a marketing fashion that I have some trouble. I’m a buyer at my place, so I look at flat photos in catalogs all the time - I think that’s why a lot of my shots look boring. So I do appreciate your advice.

I’m not suggesting that you’re not serious about your crafting… just that, unlike some the Etsy pros, you probably haven’t had much experience in selling your wares to the general public.

Some of these folks treat crafting as a full-time job, which means they’re incredibly motivated to get as much attention on their work as possible… the only way for you to catch up is to put yourself in the same mindspace when it comes to promotion, presentation and branding. The banners are really good, but everything else just needs a little polish and branding to get it on the same level.

BTW, have you considered joining a local crafting organization? Not sure where you are in Ontario, but I know Toronto has several active groups (I’ve been to a handful of Church of Craft and City of Craft shows in the past few years, and they seem to have a very eclectic membership).

[Sattua]

Etsy seems to have gotten so populous that it’s hard to attract any buyers… it’s a place where people usually go in order to sell things, not to buy them. To be honest, the items I’ve bought there, I have bought in order to build up a feedback history.

Try eBay?

Dunno what to say to you about the other places–I haven’t tried to sell anything except over the internet. For internet selling, though, building up a rapport seems to be a big deal. Submit pix of everything to as many flickr groups as possible, comment on as many pix in those groups as possible, start a blog, and do giveaways on that blog. Giveaways really draw an audience.