Social Media Sales
Selling your Etsy products on Facebook can be a great way to make a little extra quick cash or unload some leftover inventory. We recently had Mother’s Day and Teacher appreciation week. I made special items for these 2 holidays and I wanted to have everything ready to ship for those last minute shoppers so I made a lot. Now I have extra inventory. No worries though, I know just what to do with it.
Most people are last minute shoppers. Everyone has a busy schedule and a busy life and things just slip up on them. Especially teacher appreciation week. There are a lot of people who wait until literally the day before to start looking for something and of course they want something original. We can’t accommodate that with our Etsy shop because well, shipping takes a few days. Selling your Etsy products on Facebook is the perfect solution. You can accommodate these shoppers in your local Facebook buy/sell/trade groups or on apps like 5mile.
Some things to note about social media sales:
- Buyers in these groups don’t like to see that somethings has to be prepaid. This is totally crazy I know. I mean you don’t expect to go to a specialty cake shop and have them design a cake and make it for you before you pay for it. Of course not, you have to leave a deposit or sometimes even full payment up front. That’s just how it works but in these groups, if you put that the order has to be prepaid, most people will just move on. So make something that isn’t personalized and that way there’s no stress if someone doesn’t show up to pick up the item. You can just sell it to someone else.
- Professional photos don’t convert as well as amateur photos. Again, this is crazy but it is what it is. Don’t post your professional Etsy photos and expect your item to sell like hotcakes on Facebook or 5mile. Take your product, put it on the kitchen table in some good lighting and take new pics for your social media sales.
- Don’t make a photo collage with everything you have to offer and put it all into one post. Too many options overwhelms people and they just move on. Only put one or 2 items in each post and make a few different posts. You’ll want to spread your posts out over the course of the day rather than posting them all at once. Posting a ton of posts all at once will most likely bring negative attention from the page admins. You don’t want them to think you’re a spammer or you’ll get booted from the group.
- Now for the most important part. Put in the post that the items have to be picked up. DO NOT offer to meet people. Since they are not paying up front there is no obligation for them to meet you. I have been stood up time and time again and it is just not worth it. Offer a time window for them. Something like “This item will be available for pick up today from 6-7:30pm at 123 Main St. SomeCity, USA.” or “This item will be available from 6-7:30pm today only. Please PM me for address and more info.” This sets out a time block for you so that you’re not wasting half your day waiting on people to show up and it creates a sense of urgency for the person who wants your item.
Keep it safe
You can choose to have people come directly to your home if you’d like or you can choose to provide a “safe site” address and have people meet you there during the time you specified. I’ve had people meet me in the shopping center my son takes karate in. He’s in there doing his karate class and I’m in the parking lot selling my items. No one knows why I’m there or that my son is there too. They just see a big shopping center with a lot of people and it seems like a safe option for them.
I have found that selling your Etsy products on Facebook can be really profitable. Especially during holiday times like Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Teacher Appreciation week. I keep my items rather inexpensive (like $5-$10) and I’m able to make around $100-$200 each time I do it. Just create a buzz around your item by only offering it for a limited time and making it affordable and ready to gift.
[yikes-mailchimp form=”2″]