Ask Luci: Low Etsy Sales and Putting Granny Squares Together

Hello Friends!

I am the captain of the Etsy team The Hippie Peaceniks.  I have been an accountant/bookkeeper for 10 years.  I worked at an ecommerce company for a year, and a search company for 2 years.  I have been crafting for almost 30 years.  So if you have questions about accounting, taxes, SEO, the ecommerce game, or crafting you have come to the right place!  If you have a question email it to askhippiepluci@gmail.com!

Lost on Etsy

Dear Luci,

I have been on Etsy for a year and have had no sales.  I am ready to throw in the towel.  I love knitting and making things for my shop, but am frustrated at no sales.  What can I do?

Dear Lost on Etsy,

There are a few things you can do.  First is check your prices.  Search on Etsy for items similar to yours and see if your prices are in line with everyone else's.  Now prices on Etsy can vary widely, so be sure to check and see what kind of sales those shops are doing.  

Another thing I would do is see if you are in a saturated market,  By that I mean are there are lot of similar items to yours on Etsy.  If so, I would suggest looking for items you can make that are unlike what you are seeing on Etsy.  Find a niche, create a brand, and market the crap out of it.  Being unique and providing an item that people can't find in other shops can greatly increase your sales.

Make sure you have great pictures and engaging descriptions that will make shoppers want to buy from you.  Many shops have difficulties in this area and spend most of their time tweaking listings.  You can't spend enough time on making sure your listings are perfect.

Also make sure your SEO is working for you.  If you don't know about SEO you can read previous posts on Ask Luci, or you can do some research on your own.  Google provides great information on SEO, but only some of it will relate to how you name your shop, title your listings, write your description, and what tags you use.  Those are the areas you will work on for an Etsy or Etsy like shop.

On Etsy, I would also recommend becoming active in a team.  Teams are a fantastic support and a great way to help promote and get your shop noticed.  There are many teams on Etsy.  Look through and find the one that best suits you.  You may just love being on the Hippie Peaceniks.  ;)

Best of luck!  And don't throw in the towel just yet.  The internet is a huge place and getting noticed can take a while, but work on these things first before you give up.

Much Love and (((HIPPIE HUGS))),

Luci

What's Up Granny?

Dear Luci,

I am making a granny square blanket.  I have all of the squares made, but am not sure what the best way to put them together is.  I have looked online and there are several ways to do it.  How do you put yours together?

What's Up Granny

Dear What's Up Granny,

There are several ways to do this.  It really depends on how much stretch you want and what you want it to look like when it is done.

I do it one of three ways.  You can attach the squares by crocheting one single crochet into each of the stitches on the squares.  Make sure you have them lined up evenly.  This will allow for some stretch and will create a lovely seem on one side of the blanket.

If you do not want a seem, the other way I put the squares together is by sewing them together with a yarn needle and the leftover yarn I used to make the squares.  Line up the squares like before.  Use a whip stitch, one whip stitch per crochet stitch.  This will leave you with a seem that is not very visible, but there is not a lot of stretch between the stitches.

A great compromise between these two options is to use a slip stitch.  Like always, line up your squares and use one slip stitch for each stitch on the squares.  This leaves a less noticeable seem than a single crochet, but allows for more stretch than a whip stitch.

I would recommend trying out all three and seeing which method you like best.  

Much love and (((HIPPIE HUGS))),

Luci 

Have a question?  Email askhippiepluci@gmail.com!!  Ask Luci appears on the Hippe Peaceniks blog every Saturday!!