My Etsy Shop & Giveaway!

Besides having recently started this blog, I am also relatively new on Etsy, too! I started my shop, The Littlest Print Shop last month, and I won’t lie- I expected it to take off quicker than it has. I’ve scoured the internet and Pinterest for tips and advice on creating a super successful shop, and I feel like I’ve followed the steps as best as I can! I’ve put myself out there on all the social media platforms that I have, and even approached women that fall into my target audience, and offered them coupon codes- and nothing! Sometimes not even so much as an “Ok, thanks!”
Darn you Facebook messenger for allowing me to see that someone has seen my message and just doesn’t want to reply.
I even went the extra mile and had these super cute business cards printed, so I could hand them out to the women I know through work.
                
Ok, so I’ll stop whining now and get on to more about my shop! I’ve been creating my own invitations and announcements for awhile now (my first was an invitation to my graduation party, and I’m embarrassed that I thought they were the bees knees), and people are always commending me for my talent and saying how great my work is. With some prods and words of encouragement from a few people- namely my Aunt Jen on one or two occasions- I opened up shop. I have no real experience with photography, and especially not product photography. It’s pretty difficult to take interesting pictures of pieces of paper, so I established the signature style of having the wood of my kitchen table as the backgrounds to my products.

When it came to pricing my products, I looked at similar items on Etsy that were big sellers. For now I’m offering the actual, printed invitations, and not digital files, so that’s what I looked at prices of. I also checked out Shutterfly and Tinyprints to see what they charge per invitation/announcement/card. Once I had my price per card, I figured in the time it would take me to edit a customized piece, and tacked that on. I estimated the cost of adding envelopes, and then I had my price. To me, it seems extremely fair, considering I’m not charging for shipping! Since I’m also a newbie, I didn’t feel right about charging an arm and a leg for my items. If the price doesn’t seem right, or I find that I’m not actually making anything, once I start selling, then I can reevaluate.
So, with all this information, I’d love to hear from any Etsy sellers, or even freelancers or non-virtual shop owners! What am I doing right and what am I doing wrong, and am I just impatient?!
I’m itching for a sale- not for the money, but for the excitement of having my work “out there”.

Lucky for you guys, I’m giving away 20 FREE Invitations or Announcements of your choice from my shop! This offer excludes envelopes, but does include shipping to wherever you are, within the US. All you have to do is:

• Comment on this post saying “I Love Etsy”
• Tell me if you’ve ever purchased from Etsy and if so, what did you like about that experience?
• Your email address

Because I’m not sure how large my readership is right now, I’ll keep this giveaway open until there are 10 comments on it. Once there are 10 comments, I’ll randomly select a winner. The winner will then be emailed by me and we can talk about your order from there!
Feel free to check out my shop before you enter this giveaway!