For August, I've challenged myself to add five items a day to my Etsy shop.
The Reasons Behind This Challenge
Here's why I decide to try this crazy plan:
- Listing Period. Etsy lists items for four months, which means that items listed in August will expire in December if they don't sell. So I'm aiming to get some Christmas items listed this month (by the 25th) so that I don't have too many Christmas items hanging around my shop come January.
- The "List Every Day" Advice. I've heard (as I'm sure you have) that "you must list every day to have sales." I have been listing often and sales are up this year. However, I've been rather random about it, listing one item one day and five the next. Plus, I haven't been keeping track of what kinds of items I've listed to see if it makes a difference whether I'm renewing an expired or sold out item or listing a new one. Or even if it makes a difference what type of item I'm listing. This systematic process will give me some data to see if there's any truth behind this common advice.
- More Items, More Sales? I've also heard that "the more items you have for sale, the more you'll sell." While I understand the value of offering customers choices and having enough items to be easily found via search, is there an item limit? Is it possible to offer too many items for sale? This challenge may push my item count to more than 300, more than I've ever had in my shop.
- Calm Before the Storm. August is typically a slow month for me, so this is an ideal time to try this experiment. I certainly couldn't do it in the busy fall months.
The Plan
This plan isn't quite as ambitious as it sounds. I'm not making five new items a day; even I am not that crazy. I have lots of expired items to renew, plus sold out items (mostly custom) that I could relist and make again if I chose. I also have plenty of handmade jewelry that is finished, but need photos taken and descriptions written. I'm going to focus on listing ready-to-ship items (rather than custom) since those make my holiday season less stressful.
So Far ... So Good!
To keep me on track, I'm using a paper calendar and making a check mark for each listing. I'm doing them throughout the day as I have time, rather than all at once. I'm also noted whether I've listed a brand new item or not.
So far, it looks like the number of sales are almost exactly on par with last August's sales. Views are up 30% and favorites (hearts) are up 50%. It's hard to say exactly why that is, but it's definitely interesting. I'll share what I've learned in September.
Anyone else have a goal for their shop to share?