March 26th, 2010 
Kelly This is from Daniellexo over at Etsy via The Storque. It’s a great list of questions every seller should ask themselves to make sure their shop is the best it can be. Something I need to look over!
I’ve been running Shop Critiques in Etsy’s Virtual Labs for almost three years. By now, I think I have mastered the fine art of the shop critique. (However, a week doesn’t go by that I don’t learn a new tip from another seller in these workshops.) I’ve gathered most of the questions I ask myself when critiquing an Etsy shop to help you critique yourself (or even another Etsy seller). Click on the section titles for more information on that particular topic.
Public Profile
If you have text in your avatar, is it easy to read?
Does your avatar grab your attention?
If your avatar displays an item, is that item for sale in your shop? (If not, perhaps it’s time to change it up.) Is it easy to tell what this item is?
Do you have your location set to City/Town, State/Province, Country?
Does your bio tell a story?
Etsy karma points! Why not support your fellow Etsians?
Double check your account information.
McKinney Inspirations by thatsaplanonline
Shop Setup
Does your shop title display a name that is different from your Etsy username? (If so, this might confuse buyers.)
Does your shop title contain a few keywords that relate to your shop?
Does the style and color of your banner go well with the current items listed in your shop?
How does your shop announcement look in a web search result?
Is your shop announcement so long that when a new visitor comes to your shop they see nothing but text?
Do you accept custom orders? If so, is your Alchemy setting enabled?
Does your Alchemy announcement give buyers a good idea how a custom order works?
Are you letting buyers know what happens next?
Do you let buyers know how to contact you should they have a question?
If you have this option enabled, have you rearranged your shop lately?
Most importantly, do you have them?
Do you have way more shop sections than pages of item listings? (If so, you might be leading buyers to areas of your Etsy shop that have only a few items. You should always be leading buyers to well-populated sections, that way they don’t get bored and move on.)
Have you thought through your shipping options? (More on this below.)
Do you accept PayPal? Checks? Money Orders? Make sure all the settings are accurate!
Have you set up your web analytics?
Items
Do your item listing titles contain relevant keywords?
How do your item listing titles look in gallery vs. view mode?
Are your titles easy for buyers to read?
How do your descriptions look in Google search results?
Do you provide all the necessary material, dimension and size information?
Does your description include an interesting story or quirky detail?
Do you suggest who this item would make a good fit for?
Do you answer all the questions a buyer might be asking when browsing your item listing?
Do you use all 14 tags in each item listing?
Are your items in the proper category (your first tag relates to the listing’s category)?
Do you use style, color, size and texture tags?
Do you use any tags that a niche buyer would search (such as a rare type of material or specific process)?
Do you have a range of prices in your shop?
Do your prices cover your cost of materials, labor, equipment, packaging, travel expenses…?
Do you ship internationally? (Did you know that roughly 1 in 4 sales on Etsy involves a buyer or seller outside of the U.S.?)
Do you ship “everywhere” for a flat fee? (In my opinion this is a “no-no.” A seller in the same state as you doesn’t want to know they pay the same amount of shipping as a buyer in another hemisphere.)
What is the ratio of an item price to shipping cost? (If you have a $10 item with $8 shipping, that might be a hard sell.)
Are your images at least 430 pixels wide?
Are you using all 5 spots for images?
Are you showing one close-up and one photo that shows the piece in its entirety?
Do you have unnecessary graphics, borders or logos on your photos?
How did you do? Think you’ve mastered all these points? Don’t worry, there are still a few things you can work on that I didn’t cover here (like promoting, branding, product development, etc.). Never stop evolving your shop, that’s what makes running your own creative business fun, not only for you but also for your buyers.
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