# Advice on Etsy shop



## amowrer (Jan 27, 2015)

I have a brand new Etsy shop and would appreciate and love any feedback I can get!  It's called AllThingsSoap. Also, how do I get my shop noticed? I have had it up a few weeks and I haven't gotten any sales. 

Etsy.com/shop/AllThingsSoap


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## doriettefarm (Jan 27, 2015)

When shopping on Etsy, a complete ingredient list is mandatory or I'm not interested . . .


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## cmzaha (Jan 27, 2015)

One thing I quickly noticed was you have no weights on your soap. Customers do not really want to know how it looks with you holding it, they want to know What they are buying. Also your Tea Tree soap does not have any mention of tea tree eo. People that buy tea tree soap, in my experience, what tea tree eo in the soap. I also agree that you need a list of all ingredients for each item. Sorry I cannot help you with the site to me it looks like I would expect with an Etsy site. We don't sell through Etsy, there are just to many selling there.


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## snappyllama (Jan 27, 2015)

I noticed that your photography is a little off. Try to take pictures of everything with a plain background. Also, a few look like they were taken outside on the ground. That would be a big turnoff to me.


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## amowrer (Jan 27, 2015)

Thanks guys this helps


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## girlishcharm2004 (Jan 28, 2015)

For the pictures, they are a bit yellow in their tone.  I _always _take pictures outside in natural light, during the noon-time hours when it's the brightest outside, _*but *_in the shade -- not in direct/harsh sunlight.  You're colors will be so much more crisp and vibrant that way.  I wouldn't put any pictures up that aren't focused.

Image your potential customer is blind -- describe the weight, size, shape, color, what it will do, how it's use, what are the effects, and anything else that makes your product stand out from the competition.

Why do you sell soap and who specifically are you selling it to?  What is your niche??  Brag about the best qualities of your product!


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## mjt123 (Jan 28, 2015)

I tried selling a few things on Etsy but I never got any hits. I emailed them and did everything they advised and it still made no difference.
I'd love to know how to make it work.



girlishcharm2004 said:


> For the pictures, they are a bit yellow in their tone.  I _always _take pictures outside in natural light, during the noon-time hours when it's the brightest outside, _*but *_in the shade -- not in direct/harsh sunlight.  You're colors will be so much more crisp and vibrant that way.  I wouldn't put any pictures up that aren't focused.
> 
> Image your potential customer is blind -- describe the weight, size, shape, color, what it will do, how it's use, what are the effects, and anything else that makes your product stand out from the competition.
> 
> Why do you sell soap and who specifically are you selling it to?  What is your niche??  Brag about the best qualities of your product!


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## girlishcharm2004 (Jan 28, 2015)

I sell on Etsy.  I got sales within my first week of opening, and I consistently get sales throughout the month -- not enough to make ends meet, mind you, but enough to boost my confidence that I have something that people want AND buy supplies and new equipment.  Buying supplies and equipment is very important, you know.  

Anyhow, answer my first question and we'll work from there.  Why do you sell soap and who specifically are you selling it to??


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## Aline (Jan 28, 2015)

Hi Ashley, you have some really lovely looking products - especially the bubble bath bars 

To get found, your tags need to reflect what people would actually type in, so "bath bomb" not "bath" and "bomb". You can look at your stats to see how many views you are getting. Also, the more listings you have, the more you will get found. I had 2 products in my Etsy store the first year and never got found! I was also doing my tags wrong like you and had no idea.

Then I suggest you look around at other people's prices because you are competing with them - I'm guessing $10 plus $4 shipping is too expensive for a single bathbomb for instance. And $5 is up there for a wax melt clamshell - a lot of people are selling them for $2-$3. First class shipping can be really cheap, especially via Etsy so that is another area you need to be competitive in. I send out soap from Hawaii for $2.50 shipping and that covers packaging too (you can look up shipping costs with Etsy's shipping calculator).

My Etsy sales doubled from 2013 to 2014 because I got found more and more - in part by the snowball effect of people favoriting my items (which leads to more people seeing them) but also because I kept adding new products. This year I am going start promoting via Pinterest, etc (groan - that feels overwhelming). 

It's quite a learning curve. Evening figuring out shipping and packaging felt a bit daunting at first. There are lots of helpful people in the forums and my advice is to take one step at a time. Your first task is probably to fill out your descriptions, add product weights (add them to titles too), list ingredients and get your tags right. Look at other shops to see how they do it (you can even see their tags at the bottom of listing pages).

Good luck!


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## girlishcharm2004 (Jan 28, 2015)

Aline said:


> To get found, your tags need to reflect what people would actually type in, so "bath bomb" not "bath" and "bomb". You can look at your stats to see how many views you are getting. Also, the more listings you have, the more you will get found. I had 2 products in my Etsy store the first year and never got found! I was also doing my tags wrong like you and had no idea.



I have wondered that -- if having a phrase in a tag increased or eliminated possible views.


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## Aline (Jan 28, 2015)

From what I understand Etsy does not combine tags i.e. if someone searched for 'bath bombs' and you only have the separate tags 'bath' and 'bombs' your listing will not come up.


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## lillybella (Jan 28, 2015)

That's right. I just tried it. I typed in bath - nothing for bath bombs shows up. I had to type in bath bombs. I have found the best way to do tags is to type in a general search like bath bombs & see what comes up & study all the tags & what they have in common.


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## amowrer (Jan 28, 2015)

I sell soap because I love doing it!  It's almost like I'm addicted to it. I am online every day looking at recipes and watching soap making videos. I make so much I don't know what to do with it so I am trying to sell it in etsy and see if u can make a few dollars.


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## Aline (Jan 28, 2015)

As you have probably realized, making it is one thing, selling it is a whole other thing!


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## girlishcharm2004 (Jan 28, 2015)

Yes, selling is a whole 'nother animal!  It's all about marketing.

What do you look for in a recipe?  What are things you won't accept in a recipe?  Those are the kind of things that you need to announce.

The soap market is very saturated so you need to find out what makes you different.  At the very least, you should have a better picture and product description than your competitor.

Back to your Etsy shop, I noticed you had 3 (maybe 4) of the same-ish listing -- the Cranberry/Lavender Bath Bomb.  I would add the half-bombs as a variation of the Cranberry/Lavender Bath Bomb listing.  You can list a different price for the variation.  I, personally, don't like seeing repeat listings.  It makes it look like the seller doesn't have much to offer and is just filling the page.  

Also, you should really get your About page up!  I've seen some terrible, terrible Etsy shops, but have sold thousands of items.  Why?  People fall in love with the person behind the work.  You make a personal connection with them instead of just being a "manufacturer".  

I'm no expert by any means, but that's my take on it.  Good luck!


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## Aline (Jan 28, 2015)

One more thing is that you don't have photos of your goods packaged & labeled (apart from a few in cling film). A lot of people are looking to buy B & B products as gifts so packaging can be important...


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Jan 29, 2015)

Also watch out for your wording - soap can clean, nothing more than that.  If you say that you added things to make it exfoliate, then you have a cosmetic and must abide by the FDA regulations for cosmetics.


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## amowrer (Feb 1, 2015)

Where can I find more about FDA regulations for cosmetics?


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Feb 2, 2015)

If you have a browse through the 'general business' section, which is obviously a good idea for anyone looking to start a soaping business, there will be many links to the right section


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## amowrer (Feb 4, 2015)

If I add a variation to my listing instead of creating a separate listing for each product, does my buyer have an option to choose which variation they want when purchasing?


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