I have Items in 4 Treasuries Today!
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
United States
October 1, 2008 7:39am CST
Or, how promoting in Etsy can work!
Yesterday was a large turnover day for Etsy's treasuries. Treasuries are free to acquire and they last for 2 or 3 days, but you have to be ther when the treasuries "open up" and they close quickly.
Yesterday, I missed getting a treasury in the morning as I dropped my son off at school and then missed again in the afternoon when I went to the bus stop to pick him up from the school bus. I was bummed because I had my items selected for a treasury.
Since I missed out on getting one, I went through all the treasuries and found that I have items in two main treasuries and 2 treasury west lists! 2 of the treasuries are made by members of the EtsyNJ team and the other two are made by Etsy members who found items of mine from threads I promoted in!
Now I know some members are skeptical and claim buyers don't look in the treasuries, but late last week, I was in another treasury that was made by a fellow EtsyNJ memeber and a buyer was looking at the treasury, clicked on my item and checked out my shop. I'm not sure if she bought the item that was listed in the treasury, but she ended up buying 2 bracelets from me! And all because she found me through the treasuries!!
The Golden Rule of Etsy is promote, promote and promote some more. You can never tell when there potential customers looking to buy something. If you don't put your items/shop into the forums, they will most likely end up buying in someone else's shop.
Buyers are beginning to do their holiday shopping now and it's time for me to work those promotional forums a little harder...maybe I'll see you there?
1 person likes this
6 responses
@rosettaresearch (1285)
• United States
1 Oct 08
Congratulations. That is so great. Anything that gets more eyeballs on your stuff helps sales. People won't buy if they don't see.
1 person likes this
@rosettaresearch (1285)
• United States
1 Oct 08
Could you explain more how treasuries work? I went to forum and got lost in all the treasury forum posts. Thanks.
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
1 Oct 08
As I mentioned in the response above, it's amzing how much is being offered on Etsy. The numbers are quite staggering really. The necklace category shows that there are nearly 250,000 necklaces for sale on Etsy!
When I put those numbers into perspective, to not promote and make a sale is pure luck. The only way I can make a necklace sale is to promote and hope that the buyer is reading the thread at the time, or reading it shortly afterwards.
Without promoting, selling your necklace on Etsy is really the equivalent to the buyer finding your needle (necklace) in the Etsy haystack!
A quarter million necklaces! Looks like it may be awhile before I add another necklace to my shop.
You're right, people won't buy what they don't see and if I'm not promoting, my necklaces are absolutely buried among the masses!
Thanks for your response!
@carolbee (16230)
• United States
1 Oct 08
I am thinking part of my problem when I was a member of Etsy was that I didn't promote my items. They sat there and although I had several views, that's where the bus stopped! I never thought my items were good enough to be in the treasuries. Confidence I lacked and the ability to push what crafts were available for sale.
Good luck with your items and hope you sell many as we get closer to the holidays.
1 person likes this
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
1 Oct 08
I'm trying to find something on Etsy that lists the number of sellers. There has to be many, many sellers on the site, as some of the jewelry catagories are just loaded with items.
For example, right now on Etsy their are over 99,000 bracelets for sale! The earring category has over 200,000 pairs of earrings for sale (no wonder I don't sell many earrings on Etsy any longer!)
With numbers like those, there is just no way I could sell any of my items w/o promoting!!
Thank you for your kind words. I hope everyone has good sales this holiday season (especially you 
!) and as always, thanks for responding!
!) and as always, thanks for responding!@carolbee (16230)
• United States
3 Oct 08
That's some pretty hefty competition with the amount of earrings being displayed on Etsy. I probably won't be doing any holiday craft shows. Because my items are so inexpensive, it doesn't make alot of sense to rent a booth that is costly only to sell a few items and not earn enough to cover the booth. I did do well at one fair where the entry fee was dirt cheap. Had 2 other vendors with me in the area so the total cost for me was $5.00. That can't be beat!
Much success with your holiday sales,
carolbee
@lovespecialangel (3632)
• United States
5 Oct 08
I told my dad about etsy and he asked me to create a shop for him. He does woodworking and makes very beautiful things, I might add. I created the shop for him and am still adding things in there. The shop is his, so it's about him, but I am the one taking care of it and will be the one promoting for him. He's not as familiar with the computer as I am. I haven't started promoting in the forums yet as I'm not quite sure how to go about it, being it's his shop and I am running it for him. His shop is www.MBHCrafts.etsy.com if you want to have a look.
@simplyshawn (650)
• United States
6 Nov 08
Wow, sounds like a lot of promoting time and that you should have your items ready to go. Do you go in cycles as far as creating and selling?
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
6 Nov 08
Yea, I really do go in cycles. I do work full-time and with two young boys, it becomes a grind to sit my crafting table after dinner, when all I really want to do is sit on the couch and relax.
I do find crafting theraputic, but at this time of the year, I find myself crafting for a reason (custom order, upcoming craft show, trying to keep my Etsy shop stocked)By the time Christmas comes around, I'm totally burnt-out. Thankfully my hubby does a bit of promoting for me on Etsy, handles my listing, helps with my pictures and my blog and pretty much manages my craft show schedule (he makes all the contacts, fills out applications, talks w/ organizers and takes care of the details...I just make the goods )
Sales on Etsy are unpredictable. Last year my November and December sales on the site had me depressed, but then January and February sales were just crazy (and of course just when I needed a break, Etsy pulls me back in...lol)
I had 2 shows and a home show 2 weeks ago. I made quite a bit of jewelry for those shows, much of which hasn't made it into my Etsy shop. Since then, I've only made 2 pieces of jewelry and spent a couple of days taking pictures of items. I have show this Saturday and since I'm off from work tomorrow, I'll probably make some jewelry for the show. I believe I don't have a show the following week, so I'll probably do very little creating next week : )
And then the following week, I'll probably make more for the show that weekend.
So yes, I do create in cycles and those cycles are usually out of neccesity...lol
)
Sales on Etsy are unpredictable. Last year my November and December sales on the site had me depressed, but then January and February sales were just crazy (and of course just when I needed a break, Etsy pulls me back in...lol)
I had 2 shows and a home show 2 weeks ago. I made quite a bit of jewelry for those shows, much of which hasn't made it into my Etsy shop. Since then, I've only made 2 pieces of jewelry and spent a couple of days taking pictures of items. I have show this Saturday and since I'm off from work tomorrow, I'll probably make some jewelry for the show. I believe I don't have a show the following week, so I'll probably do very little creating next week : )
And then the following week, I'll probably make more for the show that weekend.
So yes, I do create in cycles and those cycles are usually out of neccesity...lol
@kymommy72 (588)
• United States
27 Oct 08
I can't figure the treasury thing out. I was reading up on it at the forums but I still don't get what it is and what's good about doing it. I can't get in to see what it what it's all about because my firewall is blocking something I think and I can't figure out how to unblock it. But anyway, congrats on your sales. That's wonderful. I agree about promote, promote, promote. You neve know who's looking for just the exact thing you sell. Good luck to you! Hope you get lots more sales.
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
27 Oct 08
A treasury on Etsy can be anything you'd like it to be. I like promoting some of the EtsyNJ street team in the one's I create and I often have a theme...like an autumn theme, or a beach theme. You can do color themes, baby themes, whatever strikes your fancy!
It's considered a big-deal to have your treasury posted on the front page and it's great for the shops that are in a front page treasury. The last time a treasury I was in made the front page, that item had 30+ views and my shop and individual items received more than a dozen hearts (and one of theose customers bought something a couple weeks later) Treasuries are always good for about a dozen or so views, so it's another form of promoting and you just never when someone will see one of your items. I've made a few direct sales through the treasuries and have had buyers tell me they found my shop through a treasury that led to their purchase.
I think there's a Flash program that you need to download to see the treasuries. I believe it has something to do with the treasuries loading properly.
Hope this helps & thanks for your response!
