Thursday, May 10, 2012

Getting in Touch with Your Etsy Shop: DAY FOUR: Make a Trade

Welcome to Day Four in the Getting in Touch with Your Etsy Shop series! In case you missed the first few days you can catch up here

Still waiting on your first sale? Been awhile since your last sale? Looking to grow your sales numbers? Considering doing a trade might be your solution. Instead of purchasing an item with cash you are trading your goods (or items from your shop) with theirs. Here are some of the benefits that I found through my trade experiences:

*Someone who may not have otherwise stumbled on my shop is exposed to my products. A trade can turn into repeat business as well and your new customer may share their new goodie from your shop with their friends, thus in turn sending more people your way.
*It helps to increase your number of sales. If you are still waiting on your first sale this is a good way to get the ball rolling. It may surprise you to know that my first 12 sales on Etsy were actually trades but this helped to grow my sales number and create a good feedback score. New customers coming to my shop saw that I had sales and felt more comfortable purchasing from me.
*If you have yet to make your first sale it familiarizes you with the checkout process
*It gives you something to relist

*It is a way to see what items people are drawn to in your shop (by what they choose to trade your for)
 *It is a chance to treat youself to something 
*It is a chance to practice/ work with your packaging
*You are able to give and receive feedback

For new sellers especially I think that trades are an excellent way to practice and refine your online selling experience. It is important to know how the process works so you can assist a customer if they need it and when those orders start rolling in you will have an idea of what to do. And of course you get to choose something wonderful to enjoy as well! There are plenty of trade friendly shops on Etsy which you can find through searching "trade" and "tradeaholics". Do remember that it is also ok to say NO to a trade but always be sure to answer an inquiry.

Have you had any experiences with trades on Etsy? What are some of your favourite things to trade for?

1 comment:

  1. I'm new to Etsy (5 weeks) and learning as I go. I've found your blog to be very helpful! I've never heard of the trade thing, I'll have to look into that.

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