02 03 The Recycle-ista...Adventures in Vintage: Selling on Etsy ~ Getting Your Items Found ~ Photography 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

Selling on Etsy ~ Getting Your Items Found ~ Photography

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***Note...again my perspective on selling on Etsy is from the vintage/supply selling aspect. There are plenty of blogs about selling Handmade...but some of the principles would be the same**
Part One ~ Why Sell on Etsy

Getting your items found. Wow. This was going to be one blog post, but I realized I can't do that. There is too much information. There is information about your product, SEO, tags, titles, social media...Phew. I'm tired already.
So we're going to start with your items and presenting them in the best possible light.
Pictures.

And here's the reason.
As you know, Etsy is also a handmade marketplace. That means everyday there are thousands of artists and people interested in art (in all its forms) all over Etsy. They like things to be pretty. They like eye candy.
So to make your items stand out...or to catch a potential customer's eye....I personally would abandon the item on the washing machine/bed/carpet approach (which may work on other platforms) and work on upping the photography game a bit.

Spend some time browsing on Etsy and study some of the options sellers have chosen.
See what catches your eye.
Some sellers use an all white background. Others use a wooden or white table and a painted wall.

 Mid Mod Mom Store on Etsy 
Lovely cohesive look (and drool-worthy objects!). Scroll through her store and see how she uses the "Rearrange Your Shop" feature to group colored items together. Talk about eye candy!!

Some use printed backdrops.


Some keep their photos very straightforward while others prefer to stage their items with other objects. 
Brass Pear Bell by Wise Apple on Etsy
(check out this shop for examples of how you can have variety in your staging, yet still have a cohesive 'look')

My takeaway on this is this: Whatever you choose to do...do it consistently. It becomes part of your brand and your items can be instantly recognizable to your customers. I am constantly working on this. I have struggled with my "look" to my shop for years. Still working on it. So if you're just starting out...what a great opportunity to be consistent right from the get go.

Keep in mind you only get 5 photos per listing...so if you do get creative with the first one...make sure the other 4 showcase as much of the item as possible.
The other factor about Etsy listing pictures (at least the thumbnails) is that they have a square format that takes a bit of getting used to. I prefer for my whole item to fall within the square without any of it getting 'chopped' off. I've learned when I'm taking my pictures...to try to back up a little bit so there's space around my item. Then I can crop for square as I'm listing. My other option is to an extreme closeup and fill the square with the texture or main image of what I'm listing.
Etsy has a feature on the listing form where you can preview how the thumbnail will look, so that's helpful. But no worries, when someone has actually opened your listing, they see the whole photo.

I share all this, not to overwhelm you but to get you thinking. Etsy is its own marketplace. It's got its own feel and atmosphere. I've read lots of stories of people who tried Etsy and didn't get a sale so gave up. Did they just move items over from Ebay and let them sit? Did they spend any time getting to know the site and its feel? Did they look at other successful sellers and see how they approach their listings?
If you need more help with Etsy photos...the Seller Handbook has many articles to go through.
What do you think? If you are an Etsy seller, do you feel the photos are an important part of being successful?
Stay tuned for more in this series...will probably attack Titles, Tags, etc in the next post.
Thanks for reading!

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