Please fellow grown ups and children alike, do not have a pity party and display these threads on the forums. When I see threads like these I feel like you are throwing away your sales and only hurting your long term business:(
Here are some prime examples of what I feel you should never do. IMHO♥
I need a sale because...
I lost my job
My husband lost his job
I'm moving
I'm graduating
I'm getting married
I'm having a baby
My (insert friend/relative) is having a baby,
I'm giving to charity
I want to reach my goal
I quit my day job so I need to start selling more on here.
My son's friend's mother has cancer.
My (insert relative) is sick.
I'm sick.
And don't even get me started on BnR's, (buy and replace). Worst type of self-doubt/pity sale ever:(
Okay, before I make everybody angry, I'm definitely not saying that you shouldn't share your personal info. w/forum friends or post in a thread w/these items. What I'm trying to say is not to use personal problems to beg for sales. When we feel sorry for you we tend to buy spur of the moment. But after the pity fades we will probably never return to your shop.
You have all seen those cutie pie kids that come to your door w/popcorn, candy, and cookies. Because we feel obligated or need to eat some junk food since it is being dangled in our faces, we buy. Will we go online next month and look for those cookies again? No, we will go grab a tub of ice cream on the way home tonight!
These types of threads all equate to begging in my eyes. I don't remember the last time I went to Nordstrom and the sales clerk told me her mom needs an operation, so be sure to buy so her commission will be bigger!!
Guess what people? You might not get a sale.
Yep, it sucks and I'm pretty impatient too. But if no one is buying there are so many reasons and you just can't push it. I don't understand why anyone would use these tactics? No sale is worth discounting yourself. Discount your items if you have to so they move faster, but never yourself. Always think long term gratification with your shop, because short term in this instance is a bad road to go down.
This Mama Bear knows of which she speaks!
Tara♥
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8 comments:
Hmmm...Guilty, of mentioning the lay off. And you know I kick myself for doing it because I don't want to throw my sob story out there on the forums
I completely agree with you, and I'm keeping my mouth shut from now on. And I will cross fingers and toes. lol :-)
Thanks for this post!!!
I was surprised when I saw how many threads like that there were; I don't really want my public face to be one of guilting people into buying things. I do sometimes post about the fact that I have had a hard time selling on Etsy, as opposed to the golden age of eBay, 8 or 9 years ago, but I know that the economy and the marketplace have changed. There are a lot of people out there selling stuff and it's harder to get yourself seen now. But I definitely don't want to just get sales because I have a sad story.
I don't bother reading the pity threads, though what bothers me most is when I see THE SAME PEOPLE posting day after day in the "Critique" section asking why they haven't gotten any sales, when the fact is that they get good advice on how to fix their shop and just ignore it! Is this method in one of those "succeed on Etsy" guides? "Post a sad-sounding thread about not having any sales and soon people will purchase from you out of pity!" *Sigh.
You said it sista!! That's all i ever see on the forums now. The "why aren't i making sales?!" "can you tell me whats wrong with my shop?!" "why have i only made 3 sales, i opened my shop a whole 2 weeks ago!"
I have had 5 sales. Opened the shop in March, didn't post any product until July. Is it disheartening that i haven't had more sales? It can be. Am i out of work? yes i am. But i'm not gonna ask people to pity me! Yikes.
I'm gonna do everything in my power to get my shop out there, improve my shop with whatever i can, and give it my all. Plus, i know i need to be patient. I'm sick of people opening their shop last week and complaining of no sales on the forums. What did they expect exactly?
For anyone who has no sales, there's only one thing to say. Stop complaining about it, and DO something about it already! :)
LOVE your blog hun. It's great to have someone out there sayin' it like it is! hehe
I agree that the pity tactic is not a good one - the only one I can understand is for charities, but it does depend on how they phrase it. I would personally only want someone to buy my things because they like them, never because they feel sorry for me! Seems like that would kind of take away from the whole pride in your work thing.
I cringe when I see those posts. I'm new and sales are slow, but I would be too embarrassed to try to guilt people into buying from me. I'd rather my work be appreciated and sells in its own right.
I did join a BnR before I had any sales, thinking that would at least give me one sale. It didn't, at least not yet.
So I just raced to put my computer back on because I was super worried about how this blog would be received. Thankfully, no one is ready to go postal on me!! LOL
Wanted to add that I completely endorse doing PIFs (pay it forwards), because it's just a nice thing to do and should only be done for that reason. If someone wants to do a BNR for some pos. feedback, guess that's okay too?? When I started in Jan. '07, I remember selling off some supplies, doing a PIF, and buying from other sellers to get some feedback going.
Okay, I'm relieved that no one is angry at me:) Thanks for reading, promise it will never be dull!
T♥
Great post! And I completely agree.
Jordan
www.jpulliam30.etsy.com
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