Remember this post a couple of weeks ago where I asked if any of you had purchased an Etsy showcase? Well, no one had, so I decided to purchase one as an experiment. So, I went to the Showcase section on the My Etsy page (this is the one you can only get to after you have logged in and you are looking at a list of what you have for sale and there is a left sidebar with different options - showcase is one of them) and purchased a showcase spot for Monday January 28 in the Gift Guides section. I chose the Gift Guides section because this section is consistently sold out, so I figured it was a more desirable location. This cost me $7 and got me a picture of my choosing in the right sidebar section of the Gift Guides page for that entire day. I chose to show the purse pictured above because it has been one that has consistently received the most views.
So, at midnight on January 28th, this purse had 366 views and 13 hearts. This morning at 8 am it had 400 views and 13 hearts. This was the only way that people could have linked to my shop from the Gift Guides showcase, so at most 34 people looked at my shop because of this showcase. I did have three people heart my shop on January 28th, but I also added this banner to the shop yesterday, so I'm not sure if they even came from the Gift Guide.
So, for $7, I got 34 to look at my purse and I'm not even sure how many of them went on to look at my shop. That's a little more than 20 cents per view. I usually get at least 20 views in the first day on a new item and that listing only costs 20 cents. I think I would have been better off spending my money on 35 listings, which would have resulted in at least 700 views of my items. So, there you have it - my take on Etsy showcases. I probably won't ever purchase one again. Maybe a main showcase or holiday showcase would do more good, but those cost $15. I'm not sure I'd risk it. I'd still be interested to hear from anyone who has had a positive experience with a showcase - maybe I did something wrong. My shop wasn't nearly as stocked as I wanted it to be, mainly because I have been lazy and in a funk the last week or two, but also because I sold four purses on the 27th. But, I'm not sure it would have helped as I only had 34 views on that purse that day anyway...who knows? I just know it would take a lot of convincing for me to purchase a showcase again.
9 comments:
I have done showcases in the past, and late last year I tried the category showcase for Needlecraft. I have never gotten a sale on the day that I've done a showcase. I have had sales the next day... and I've wondered if that was from folks seeing the showcase and then coming back, but I don't know this for sure.
There's been alot of debate on this topic in the Etsy forums.
For me - it seems a better use of my money to re-list an item for $0.20 once a day, rather than spend $7 or $15 for one day in a showcase.
During the year I was selling on Etsy I purchased 3 or 4 spots in the main Showcase. At that time it was only $7.00 per slot. I'm trying to remember exactly...I think one day I had a sale or two, but I'm not sure that the sale came as a result of the Showcase or if it would have happened anyways.
I decided that purchasing a Showcase only a benefit to Etsy (they got my $7.00) and that I wouldn't bother with them again.
I think that your money is WAY better spent renewing items or adding new items.
That's just my experience though, I think other would disagree.
:)
i have never bought a showcase but i also never really look at them either. i think i search the treasuries more and the time lines. so i have never wanted to fork out that much advertising for an item. especially when that $7 is close to half of what the item would sell for. i am sure it is probably beneficial for some but i guess i am just way to cheap. :)
i haven't ever bought a showcase, but i have purchased items i have found through a showcase. so there is another view. i think you gotta go with your gut on this one though.
That's too bad. I don't have an etsy shop, but I will remember this *if* I ever open one.
I'm so new to etsy, I really don't understand how it all works yet. Thanks for sharing your wisdom!
I think I've purchased a total of maybe 5 Showcase spots over the past year. I think I've had 2 sales on days when I did a Showcase. They were monkeys though and at about $13, it's so not worth it. I too would rather relist and list as often as possible.
Very interesting. I'm just starting to populate my old Etsy store again, with some fabrics and planning some sewn items too. I abandoned Etsy late last year and went over to Ebay where the fabric sales were/are great. It's going to be interesting to see how my sewn things do on Etsy when I get them up.
I purchased 3 showcase spots last year before they had showcases for every category, the gift guide, and the other ones in addition to the main showcase. Since there were only two available showcases (main and holiday) I purchased 3 spots only in the Halloween showcase and made sure my shop had at least 5 halloween items. I sold probably 15 items between the 3 showcases, which definitely paid for the $21 it cost to be featured. I wouldn't do it again because 1)prices increased by more than 50% and 2) there are a bazillion showcases now and I don't think it gives as much exposure as it should to recoup the cost.
my 2 cents.
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