Failing at Etsy??

[Philpepe]

Got a question for you other guys with an Etsy store out there.

How long would you continue to put items in your Etsy store if you didn't seem to be able to sell anything?

I'm starting to think mine is a bust.

[PixelPockets]

the problem with any store is that you need to sale stuff right? Have you done promotion stuff to get more traffic? the more traffic you get, the more likely you are to sale things.

The amount of time you give it is up to you. The store it's self is pretty inexpensive to keep running, and if you renew listings they'll go back to the beginning so more people will view them easily.

as for a time frame.. well, I don't think there are any sort of rules for that.. you just do it till you decide not to.
I don't sale things very consistently on my store. I'll go a few months with no sales, then have 3 in a row.

[Lord Libidan]

I personally think it comes down to what people are looking for. I sell all my minecraft and pokemon ones all the time, but I gave up trying to sell zelda and mario ones. There are just too many out there already...

[StitchPlease]

I sell tons of custom patterns and patterns in general, but not as many finished stitched items. I found a good way to get traffic into my shop is my friends. I have a Facebook page with my Etsy store linked and then send requests to all of my friends, then it gets spread out from there. I also find shops when I can sell my stuff in my town. The comic book store I work at got me my first sales, and there's always conventions.

[BooChocoBoom]

The comic book store I work at got me my first sales, and there's always conventions.

That last part.....conventions are a big key to getting the name out there. Don't get me wrong, I lurk around Etsy and find things on accident. But I am more likely to "like" the shop if I had a card from neat person at a convention. The ones that swing around Chicago tend not to be too costly for a weekend (which is a plus).

[Philpepe]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I've been looking around for craft fairs and stuff like that in our area, and have my eye on one for the fall, but that will just depend on if we have the money for it. Right now conventions are definitely out because of lack of money. Atlanta and Dragon Con really isn't far at all, I just can't afford it right now.

I do seem to be getting a decent bit of interest in the Dr. Who piece I came up with though, so I think I'm just going to keep plugging along and see what happens!