5 Steps for When your Handmade Products Aren’t Selling

Those of us who create often have a strong desire to. We didn’t start making bags, jewelry, or scarves because handmade became trendy; we started because it excites us. But what do you do when your handmade products aren’t selling?

It’s hard when your passion and hard work aren’t validated through sales.

The craft room starts getting crammed with piles of unsold inventory and unused materials. You need to sell some stock to make room for more creations, justify buying new materials and cover some expenses.

And when you desperately want your craft to pay the bills, it’s even more frustrating when your products aren’t selling. Sales aren’t just a nice-to-have; they’re a need-to-have.

• If your Etsy sales have dropped, it’s not enough to list more or promote listings
• If your products aren’t selling at craft shows, they won’t start selling by simply signing up for more events
• If nobody is paying attention to your Facebook or Instagram posts, posting more isn’t the answer

This article is to share ideas when your products aren’t selling; your work is reaching people but not getting much attention or sales.

 

1) Check your mindset

If what you’re doing isn’t working, you need to be open to making changes.

Doing the same things you’ve been doing and being upset that sales aren’t there, or upset because Etsy changed their algorithm, or annoyed that an organizer didn’t promote a craft show enough, won’t fix things. 

I have never started a business and had the right idea or product out of the gate.

Success has always come when I’ve been willing to pivot, no matter how great I thought my original idea was.

When I wasn’t willing to put the work in to adjust; those businesses failed.

Even if you get your business model right from the start, the rules are always changing.

Etsy is not what it was 2 – 3 years ago. Nor is Facebook or Instagram or Pinterest. There will always be obstacles thrown in our path, but we can move past them if we’re willing to change our strategy.

 

2) Ask for feedback

Your first and most important mission when your products aren’t selling should be to gather feedback.

There’s no point shutting down your Etsy shop to build a new website, paying to promote listings, or running Facebook ads if what you have just isn’t selling.

We all have our unique talents and style but sometimes they need to be tweaked and developed to become more marketable.

Here are some tips for gathering feedback:

Use Forums

Head to forums and ask for brutally honest feedback. That doesn’t give people permission to be rude, but reassure them that your feelings won’t be hurt if they share their honest opinions.

What surrounds your products also has a big impact on how shoppers perceive your products, so get people to give their overall impression of your online shop or a photo of your craft show setup.

It may be that your product is awesome, but your photography doesn’t do it justice. Or maybe your branding is throwing people off.

Ask specific questions such as:

• • Why do you believe people aren’t buying my product?
  • If this were your shop, what’s one thing you would change?
  • Is the photography sending the right message?

Hire a Coach

I realize this can be a big expense, but decide if it’s worth it for you. If you’re serious about turning your handmade business into a main source of income, spending the money on one-on-one time with a coach who has been-there-done-that could be just what you need.

Call in a favour

If you’re not in a position to hire a coach but could really use feedback from a professional, try reaching out to a business owner you admire or a craft show organizer. Get out of your comfort zone and gather a few names of people you may feel a little intimidated to approach. Try to choose people who are where you’d like to be in 5 years.

Don’t expect everyone to say yes, or even answer your request. Be respectful of their time and send all information they need, so if they’re feeling helpful and have time, they can look at your shop and answer specific questions regarding why your products aren’t selling.

Include a link to your products and 1 – 3 questions you’d love to get their opinion on.

 

3) Research

This step is in no way to encourage you to copy someone else’s work or business. But you need to have an idea of the standards in your industry and for your product, which requires being aware of your competition.

Look to shops around you; who’s selling a similar item (or a non-competitive item, as mentioned above) and seems to be doing well.

Then look at the differences between your shop and another’s and get ideas on where you can improve.

Etsy is a great platform to use since you’re able to see how many sales a shop has had since joining.

A “good” sales number depends on many different factors, such as price points and how much time a seller dedicates to their business. 1000 sales per year may be a good guideline for success (depending on your industry and product) and is generally a healthy number of sales in a year for a handmade business.

You may also visit websites. You’re unable to tell how well a business is doing from its website, but you may be familiar with the business and know they rely on it as their only source of income.

Compare your business to your competitors’ in the following ways:

PRODUCTS

• Selection – how many types of products do they offer compared to you?
• Theme – do all of their products follow a certain theme when it comes to materials, colors, style, etc.?
• Photography – look at lighting, background, props, types of photos, etc.
• Prices – are their prices much higher or lower than yours?
• Quality – look at detail photos and determine if their products look finished and polished. Do they use a higher or lower quality of material than you? Read their reviews; are customers happy when their items arrive or are they stating they thought it would be bigger, a different color or better quality?
• Brand – what’s their brand like? If their logo looks modern and sophisticated, do their bio, photos, product names, etc. also feel modern and sophisticated?

MARKETING

• Which social media platforms do they use?
• What do they post, and what type of interaction do they get?
• How do they interact with people in comments?
• Do they have a newsletter set up?
• Have they been featured in the press?

SELLING

• Which sales channels do they use?
  • Are they selling at craft shows?
  • Do they have an Etsy shop?
  • Do they have their own website?
• What are they doing differently than you on each platform?
  • Do they offer “free” shipping, discount codes or fast turnaround times? Read the reviews; what are customers raving about?
  • Have they posted pictures of their craft show booth on social media? How many events do they participate in and what’s their display like?
  • What does their website look like? Is it easy to navigate, put items in a shopping cart and checkout?

 

4) Brainstorm

Once you gather feedback and complete your research, make a long list of all the things you think you could do to improve.

Again, you’re not copying another business’s model or setup. You’re simply looking for differences and then coming up with your own ideas that fit your business.

List ideas for:

• Products
• Marketing
• Selling

 

5) Test

Once you have ideas on how you can change your products, marketing and selling, it’s time to test.

Choose one or two aspects to change, test them and see what the response is.

If you overhaul all your products, your Facebook page, and website, you’re not going to know what’s responsible for improvements. Or worse yet, if sales get worse, you won’t know what to simply go back to how it was.

Pay very close attention to numbers.

• How much interaction did the new photo you posted to Facebook get?
• How many visits did a listing receive?
• How many sales do you have each month, and how are they broken down by product?

Don’t form opinions too quickly. Give each change a fair chance. You can’t try something once and decide whether it worked or not. You must be consistent and play around with small changes until you’re certain you found the right way.

For example, if you try posting something new to Facebook and don’t get a response, don’t write the method off. Try posting something similar on a different day of the week and at a different time.

On the other hand, if you put a new product out there and it sells right away, don’t be quick to assume it’s the answer to your problems and scrap all other products. You may have gotten a lucky break. Make another one and see if it sells again.

You must see the same results at least a few times to label it as “successful” or “unsuccessful”.

This process takes time, and you likely won’t see sales turn around overnight.

Change happens slowly, over time, so don’t get discouraged.

If you’d like more guidance on getting sales beyond friends and family, check out my ebook HOW TO SELL HANDMADE BEYOND FRIENDS & FAMILY.

Are you making any changes to your business or products this year to sell more stock? Share your ideas or ask questions in the comment section!