Preparing an Effective Etsy Listing

Effective Etsy Listings and Tips too!

Once a buyer reaches your listing, it is important to keep them there. You want to do everything possible not to have your potential buyer hit the back key and leave.

These are a few tips for preparing and writing a basic listing and be sure to check out our Etsy listings for an example of what we do.

Please note that these are only my personal suggestions and tips and not every point may fit your situation or business practice.

Title

Make full use of the title and be sure your listing title is keyword rich.

Use descriptive keywords, words that you think buyers might enter when they search for your item.

Buyers do not search for terms such as "Wow", "Look Here" or "Great Deal".

The maximum length is 155 alpha-numeric characters, but I find listings with these long titles too hard on the eyes. I usually skip by these without even clicking on the listing.

Description

Prepare a clear and concise listing description. Think like a buyer, does it answer all the questions you might have if you wanted to buy this?

Potential buyers appreciate a well-written description and this will also reduce the need to ask questions, saving time for both you and the buyer.

Some items may require far more detailed information, but in general, keep to the point; you don't want to lose your buyers interest.

Adding humor or a personal background story is ok, but only if appropriate to what you are selling and keep it brief.

Quick Tip

Remember, many of us may know all the "Ins and Outs" of Etsy and where to find information, but a new buyer won't.

Be Buyer Friendly

Description of Item

Does your description clearly describe what you are selling?

The following are a few quick examples of what you should include in the item description to get you going (and will not apply to every situation):

Product Material - although Etsy has a material "tags" section, not all buyers may look there. Include what the item is made of. Some buyers are looking for something specific, some may have allergies.

Size and Weight - include size, dimensions and weight, this will ensure the item will meet your buyers needs. Do you need both standard and metric measurements?

Color - state the color, your picture(s) may show a different color on some browsers.

Highlight - special features or uses. Many artists also like to explain how they made it.

Pictures

A picture is worth a thousand words.... include at least one great picture, more if required.

I had to use smaller sized images to fit on this page, but they give you the idea. Obviously the first picture is most likely to sell your product.

Here's a great article to get you started if you need some help.

Shipping (Mailing) Charges

Provide the shipping cost (whenever possible) AND include the method of shipment in your listing.

Some buyers won't bother to contact you for the cost and will hit the back key if these costs are not stated.

If I see your shipping is $10 or $15, I would also like to know it is being sent by Priority and not First Class Parcel mail.

Both USPS and Canada Post Personal or Business websites have postal rate calculators.

Offer combined shipping rates (highly recommended). Although we can't use the Etsy Shipping Options set up (for the second item) as we have varied sizes and weights, we do clearly state in our listings we offer combined shipping and how we handle this.

Insurance

State in your listing if your S&H fee includes insurance or not.

You should not include statements anywhere such as "if buyer doesn't take insurance, the seller assumes no risk or liability" or "seller is not responsible for items once they have been mailed".

This is a common misunderstanding of the purpose and need for insurance by sellers.

If a buyer does not receive the item, whether or not insurance was available or purchased, they will Report a Transaction with Etsy and payment charge back (where applicable) and the dispute decision will be in their favor.

A seller will recoup their loss by filing a claim with their courier.

Quick Tip

Sellers take insurance to protect themselves, not the buyer.

Handing Charges

Actual packaging material costs may be charged (commonly referred to as Shipping & Handling charges) and included in your shipping fee. This is your personal choice, some sellers do and some sellers don't.

Handling charges can include any additional costs to get a parcel in the mail; padded or specialty envelopes, boxes or tubes, bubble wrap or peanuts, brown kraft wrapping paper, shipping or packing tape, shipping labels, etc. and may also include the cost of gasoline for those who have to drive to their post office. These are all legitimate expenses to include for handling.

What you cannot include is any payment surcharges, i.e. PayPal or credit card fees, and Etsy fees have nothing to do with the handling or mailing of your parcel.

Return Policy

Include a return policy in your Shop Policies, this instills buyer confidence and may increase your sales potential.

If you trust the quality of your items, so will the buyer.

Taxes

If you are registered to collect taxes, specify that taxes are additional in the listing as well as your Shop Policies.

Don't surprise your buyer with additional costs when they complete the payment process.

Accuracy

Take care with your spelling, grammar and capitalization, be accurate and maintain consistency.

Check your listing description and title, as well as your Shop Announcement, Profile and Shop Policies.

Quick Tip

A little attention to detail reflects positively on your attitude as a seller.

Format

Refrain from over-use of those fancy characters (such as hearts, diamonds, etc) in your Shop Announcement, Shop Policies, Profiles or listings. I have seen a few shops that really do go overboard.

PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING ALL CAPITALS. IT IS VERY HARD TO READ. AND AS YOU CAN SEE BECAUSE IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ PEOPLE TEND TO NOT READ EVERYTHING OR MISS SOMETHING ESPECIALLY WHEN IT GOES ON AND ON AND ON.

Try not to type all the information in one very long running description, without breaking it up using paragraphs. I do understand some folks are not all proficient typists, but it only takes a person to hit two "enter" keys after a section to create a paragraph.

All of these things make it difficult for a person to read and may cause your potential buyer to miss something important. Even worse, they may hit the back button and buy somewhere else.

Shop Announcements - Shop Policies - Profile

Keep your Shop Announcement brief. It should be written to attract buyers to look at your wonderful handmade items or to highlight important announcements. Here's ours:

Bolo Ties, Belt Buckles, Bullet Pens, Card Guard Protectors, Clocks, Keychains, Shotgun Shell Party Lights, Zipper Pulls and more.

Offering unique gift ideas for men, and the ladies too, hunters, shooters, police officers, military personnel, conservation officers and those who are hard to buy for.

On Etsy, we ship to USA only.

I give a quick blurb of what our products are and who may be interested in them.

Don't include information in your Shop Announcement that should go in your Profile or Shop Policies. Remember, we are trying to keep this area as short as possible.

Pictures are what grab a buyer's attention, not lines and lines of written text. You at least want your three Featured Item images to show on their computer screen when they first arrive at your Shop. Some folks may not scroll all the way down to look for them and you may lose a customer.

Go to your Etsy Shop right now! Do any images show on your screen without scrolling? Or do you only see a a screen with lots of text (a long Shop Announcement)? If you don't see any images, consider shortening your Shop Announcement.

Complete your Profile, it doesn't have to be difficult to write or long, but include a little something. This may help your potential buyer feel a little more comfortable buying from you. See example of our Profile

Definitely complete your Shop Policies. This is new on Etsy and a great feature to have. See example of our Shop Policies.

Quick Tip

Did you know that some buyers do not feel confident and may not purchase from a seller who does not take the time to complete this information?

New Seller to Etsy?

Here are a few good places to start

Etsy :: FAQ: Here you'll find answers to questions about selling on Etsy
Etsy :: Dos and Don'ts: Just like it says, the DOs & DON'Ts of Etsy
Etsy :: Help Guides: Help guides are step-by-step guides to help you find your way around Etsy.
Etsy :: The Storque :: How-To :: A Beginner's Guide to Starting a Shop on Etsy: Want to get a shop started on Etsy?? Don't know where to start?? This guide will help you find the help you need to get your shop up and running! What to Sell?First things first: you need items to sell! Make sure your items follow the ...
Etsy :: Forums: This is where you can ask for help, share ideas about how to make Etsy better and report any bugs you've found while using the site

My Other Etsy Tutorials

Kathy's Etsy Tutorials

This lens includes all my Etsy Tutorials. I've just started, but as new topics are completed they will be added here. Be sure to check back from time to time.

Reader Feedback

Are you an Etsy Seller? Got a tip you would like to share? Or maybe you would just like to say howdie!

Lensmaster

awelldressedbullet wrote...

Hi, thanks for dropping by. If you noticed our "type" of product and with the increased security and complicated custom regulations around the world, is why we do not ship beyond the US and Canada. The reason we only ship to the US on Etsy is for many reasons, a few being in Canada there is varied shipping and have to deal with taxes, but we definitely sell to our fellow Canadians through our website. Unfortunately we can't state this in our announcement as that would be fee avoidance with Etsy.[in reply to Eliza]

Posted September 29, 2009

Lensmaster

Eliza wrote

Thanks for the well written article and great advice. Although, the line "We ship to USA only" seems a turn off. I wonder why you only ship to the US? Maybe if you state it in your shop announcement, it should come with an explanation, or point to where you provide one elsewhere. A big tip I've read to sellers is to ship internationally, and to explain why if they can't.

Posted September 29, 2009

Lensmaster

MorningstarPhotos wrote

Great tips, I just set up a shop a couple months ago and love the format of Etsy. Great for beginners and pros!

Posted August 13, 2009

Lensmaster

Laniann wrote...

Very good information for starting your Etsy store on the right foot.

Posted July 22, 2009

Lensmaster

henzy wrote...

great tips. just started my Etsy shop yesterday and these are great tips for a beginer.

Posted May 27, 2009

view all 11 comments

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