My fixer-upper Etsy shop..BEFORE & AFTER (Drawing included!!!))

BEFORE:
Whew! I finally did it. My poor shop was so neglected of all its potential, I decided to go full force and clean it up.

I first took some screen shots so I could look back and have a good laugh. I then had to look at my shop and decide what needs to be re-worked. I got some critiques off the forums, which was very helpful, and then did a lot of research by looking at other successful shops to see what it was that helped them.

1) PHOTOS: I looked back and said to myself "what was I thinking?" All of the backgrounds were a different color, texture, and out of order. The photos themselves were either blurry or mostly dark. So, I made a light box, which turned out pretty wobbley, but did the job. Problem was it was so unstable, it kept crashing down on me, so I broke down and bought a light box online. I'm really happy I did because it works really well and it allowed me to take much better pics of my stuff. I found that felt is wonderful to work with, but with photos, the light is absorbed by the felt (especially with dark colors), and therefore it is difficult to get the true color showing through. Alas, I was able to come up with a more realistic pic and I am pleased with the results. I also added a collection pic to show the other styles I have to offer and a picture of the packaging.

2) DESCRIPTIONS: I looked at my descriptions, which were not that bad. They were simple, but maybe too simple and didn't include as much as I would have liked. I did some research and saw that maybe I should include what type of packaging the buyer can expect and take out any self promotion to my other shop and just list that I have more to offer in the collection.

3) TITLES: My titles were not that bad to begin with, but when I really read them, they did sound sort of Tarzan-like, so I decided to go with Etsy's suggestion on their Storque article and name the item for what it is first, rather than the name of the item. This made sense and so now I think it sounds more together and understandable.

BEFORE: "Barrettes ROSEY felt snap barrettes for your hair"
AFTER: "Felt snap barrettes for your hair - ROSEY (Medium)"

....ahhhh...!

4) SHOP ANNOUNCEMENT, PROFILE & SHOP POLICIES: I never really updated my Profile before, even though a lot had changed since I started Etsy, and I didn't even know they had a Shop Policies section, so I didn't even have anything in there. For this I did a lot more research on and looked at some other shops on what they put. I took a general idea, a mix of other people's remarks, and added my sense of humor and voila! I finally finished these sections...it felt good!

5) SHIPPING: Sadly, I never had a scale and never took the time to get an accurate amount for my shipping and I'd say that 9/10 times I was eating the shipping, and sometimes by ALOT. I decided that I needed to be more accurate. Not just for the buyer, but for my business. As much as I wanted the sale, it just wasn't good practice to lose money. So, I bought a small USPS scale off Amazon that can weigh up to 10 lbs (which is perfect for my items), and now I have a more accurate amount to charge. Although I don't charge for handling, I did round up the amounts to the nearest 50 cents, so that it is an even amount and doesn't really look like an eBay seller on Etsy.

6) TAGS: I always knew that these were important, but never really took the time to really look into what keywords would be the smartest for my products. I put myself into the buyers shoes (easy for me to do--hee!) and thought about how I'd be searching for the these type of items. I also made sure to use up all 14 of my slots and tried to include my shop name as one of them in case someone wanted to find my items by name.

7) SECTIONS: I don't think my sections were that bad. I mean, they were in alphabetical order and most of them made sense, but after looking at another person's shop sections, I decided to be playful with the font style and separated the letters. I kept them alphabetical for easy searching, and took some old sections out since I wasn't ready to list those products just yet. I'm happy with the way this turned out.

8) PRICES: Oh, the dreaded price conflict. Do I charge a minimal cost for my work in hopes of getting more sales? or do I price it higher to get paid for my time? Well, I thought about this and I can say that as a buyer, whenever I see an item that looks like it is a quality item, but is priced very low, it does make me question it, and sometimes I receive the item and it has a cheaper feel to it. I'm sure that most Etsy designers would agree that they feel that their items are made of quality materials and detailed attention, and I am no different. And, as much as I would love to obtain more sales by selling my barrettes at a lesser price, I remember how much time and effort is put into each one and I think that it would be better to stick to a slightly higher, but still very reasonable cost. Of course I risk selling less amounts, but this is better than giving them away at half their value. I also have to keep in mind that I do Wholesale and Consignment and this can be up to 50% off the normal retail price. Overall, I think I've found a happy place with my pricing and I although I up'd my barrettes to their rightful price, I did lower my bunnies from $17, $19, and $22 to $15, $17, and $19, and my new ATM and Passport holders from $17 and $22, to a more reasonable price of $13 and $17.

9) MY LISTINGS: Ok, so this is really what I needed to clean up and have in order. I have an awful habit of making too many different items and sometimes they don't exactly match. It says to the buyer that I am all over the place and cannot focus on one item, which might tell them that each item's quality is foregone. This is not true of course because I DO give a lot of detail and attention to all of my items, but nevertheless, psychology rears its ugly head. What I decided to do is choose only 3-4 backgrounds for any and all of my items (past or future) and stick with that. This makes for easy on the eyes for viewing. I "inactivated" all of the unmatching items and will hold them for future use. There! I had a fresh start with just me, my barrette and bunny collection, and my soon to be ATM/Passport pocket protectors.

10) BANNER: I actually liked my old banner, as it had my own illustrations of my items and it was colorful. But, since I was re-vamping my shop, and this is the first thing you notice when you go to a shop, I decided to redo it. I chose a brighter, more eye-catching color, kept my flying barrettes, and with the help of my Sr.Visual Designer fiance (Thanks luvvy!), we worked together to find a catchy way to include my name, barrettes, and tag line.

BEFORE:


AFTER:

(psst...don't mind the white border--that doesn't show on the shop)

So, in the end I now have a very colorful shop, with more interesting items, and at a reasonable price. Was it worth it? well, that is to be determined with my sales (cross my fingers), but really, I enjoyed the process and just like the fact that I made the change and can move onto bigger and better things from here--like new items for you!!

CONTEST!!: I would SO love to hear what you think! To celebrate the Grand re-opening of my Etsy shop, I am holding a drawing. From now (Tues., 6/24/08) until the end of the week (Sat., 6/28/08), if you make a comment on this post, and include your shop name and/or email address, I will draw a winner on Sunday (6/29), and the prize will be one of my Medium sized, handmade barrettes! Good luck!!

AFTER: