The Savvy Etsian - Shopkeeper Secrets

Boy, there is just so much to learn about the ins and outs of Etsy. The twists, turns and hiding places are where great shop keepers (and visiting buyers) can really have some fun and take care of business! Did you know that:

• The "Featured Items" section will put three photos of your choice at the top of the shop .  This is a great way to bring items that might be buried at the bottom of your shop to the fore. and encourages shoppers to go looking for them, necessitating a click through every page.  You can choose which items to feature by going to "Your Etsy", "Items" then "Feature In Shop".  Click on a grey star to turn it green and voila!

• There are two ways to view the items in any shop, either your own or other Etsy shops. These choices only change the way YOU view things, not the way visitors do.

1. The "Gallery" view sets the shop up much like the Treasury.  Larger photos laid out in columns of three.  There's also a drop down list that allows you to sort by, "Most Recently Listed"; "Least Recently Listed"; "Price: High to Low" and "Price: Low to High".

 

2. The "List" view arranges much smaller thumbnails in a single column, but also shows how many times each item has been viewed. Look for the buttons to the right - above the Featured Items in a shop. 

• There are two ways to temporarily close your shop for a live art show or during a lingering illness (heaven forbid), neither of which costs one red cent. Wish I'd known about them last summer when I totally deleted everything so I could take my work to the conference. When I got home, I had to completely re-list my entire shop.  What an expensive PITA. A quick search on The Storque brought up an excellent article about this very topic.

1. "Vacation Mode" will make your shop appear empty so that no items may be purchased while you are away.  You can access this feature in the Shop Setup section of Your Etsy. You can easily re-activate the shop in the same section. By doing this your items will no longer be seen in searches, gift guides, available for treasuries or in other people's favorites. It's almost as if you dropped off the face of the earth. But don't fret, Etsy has also arranged a way for your shoppers to be notified when you get back.

2. "Batch Deactivate" allows you to pick and choose which items will no longer appear. So, if you're only taking your best sellers to display in a show, your other items are still available. This is a good way to maintain a presence at Etsy while you're away. I might even intentionally keep three items that can be easily reproduced (even if I actually take them to my art show) so they're still visible in other member's Favorites lists. This feature can be accessed by clicking the boxes on the left side of the "items in your public shop", then scroll to the bottom of that page where you'll see a "Deactivate" button. Easy Peasy!

• And then there are hearts! When someone likes your shop or a particular item, they can give it a heart. Other members can view these stats which gives your shop some much loved street cred.  After a while the members who have hearted you become tiny little dots and you can longer see who they were. 

 

But Majaba developed a fabulous Heart O Matic site so you can easily see every single member who loooves you. Just enter your shop name or number and everything will be made clear.  So much nicer than the old Bass O Matic. (Please don't tell me you don't know what that reference is from!) 

So... this is the first edition of Shopkeeper Secrets. There'll be more to come.  The intricacies of Etsy are innumerable. And be sure to check out "Pimp My Shop" in the Storque.  Grrrreat article with tons of tips for a makeover.