Etsy 101 - Using Teams to Your Advantage

It's time for part two of our Selling on Etsy Series. Thank you so much for your positive feedback and suggestions for topics. Please feel free to email me with questions you'd like to see addressed.

Today, we're going to be talking about some ways I increased my views and sales using Etsy teams. These might not be helpful for established shops, but I believe these helped my shop tremendously during those early days.  

Get active in the Etsy Teams and Forums. It took me a while to even realize that Etsy had teams and forums. Etsians love to interact with one another, and the information you can glean from reading their conversations and asking questions to the community is invaluable. I found critique teams to be especially helpful. There are threads for critiquing titles, photos, and tags, as well as discussions about entire shops. Most people are very kind, but you want to make sure you have relatively thick skin before you dive in.

To find these teams once you're logged into Etsy, scroll over the "community" tab in the top left corner. A drop down menu will appear. Click on "teams." Once you're there, you will be able to search for teams that suit your needs.

One word of caution: be sure that you're not just posting and running. You need to stick around to help the other team members out, too. 

Join a trade team. Trade teams are amazing, and I believe that my success on Etsy truly started when I became active on the Trade-a-holics team. Sometimes people browsing Etsy are a little bit scared to purchase from a shop with no sales and no feedback. Etsy trade teams allow you to get a few sales under your belt, as well as some reviews. 

Here's how it works: trades are treated just like "real" sales - you go through Etsy, you pay Etsy fees, etc. You're just paying each other with handmade items rather than money. Also, you're working with other Etsians who realize the value of good feedback. Team members will post threads listing items they're "in search of" (ISO). If you have something that they need, you can reply to their thread or send them a convo. There is also a list of "trade friendly shops" that are always willing to be approached about trades. Throughout the years, I have traded for jewelry, clothes and bows for Riley and Caroline, and other things. 

Don't be offended if people say no. With the size of the group, chances are there will be someone who wants to trade. That said, also don't be afraid to say "no." It's ok if you're not interested in what someone else is offering for trade. 

If you missed the first post in this series, be sure to head over and check it out here. It talks about how to title, describe, and tag your posts.