How to Earn 100 New Customers for Your Etsy Shop This Month: Part 3
29. Nov, 2011 
19 Comments
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Retro Camera Moleskine Journal Notebook by: subtleacts
I want to start off with my favorite quote from the book, Think and Grow Rich
That quote is a refresher from part 1, when I asked that you keep an open mind, because possibility and opportunity depend on it. I told you that I set an intention and created the affirmation, “I have 100 new customers by October 31, 2011.” In part 2, I explained how I used paid advertising to gain about 60 new customers. This is the final installment of the series and the key to the rest of my new customers was ….
The Groupon-like website for handmade: Heartsy.me
The statistics that come back from Heartsy-generated sales are hard to measure right away, but I was featured on the site for the first time back in February. I wrote about it for Handmadeology, and I promised to share the numbers when everyone asked, “Was it worth it?” Now, you can be the judge!
Before I get into numbers, let me say that I had very little reservation to do Heartsy, even when it was a brand-new site. At least half of my profits are reinvested back into my business and I spend money to advertise, so I view Heartsy as guaranteed sales and exposure.
As I’m writing this, Heartsy has 14,404 Facebook fans. I’ve heard other sellers ask, “How can you afford to do this?” But, when I see the chance to show my work to 14,000 people, my only question is, “How can I afford not to?” On my most recent feature, my shop had more than 2,000 views directly from the Heartsy site.
Several months ago, I was one of the first sellers on Heartsy, and at the time the deals were about 53% off the voucher price. My first deal was $19 for $40 store credit and I sold 25 vouchers.
During my February run, customers spent a total of $216.50 over their voucher amount. This is an average extra sale amount of $8.66 per customer. If you add that amount to each customer’s order, it’s equivalent to hosting a sale at 43% discount. Granted, the discounts at Heartsy today are deeper, and the customers are savvier, but the site’s reach has grown and it’s a reasonable price to pay for that exposure.
Total Intake, February 2011: $691.50 for the 25 vouchers ($19 each) plus the sales overage.
Retail Value of that Product: $1,216.50
Total Discount: 43%
Repeat customers from the Heartsy deal: 5*
*One Heartsy shopper went on to become one of my best customers, placing 13 additional orders since February! She alone was worth my first deal.
So far, my deal in October has brought in a slightly higher sales overage, and I sold 54 vouchers this time at $10 for $21 credit (or $31 VIP). I paid $1 per voucher sold,* so I brought in $9 for each. Although my latest offer was a much deeper discount because many buyers were VIP (34 out of the 54), because of the higher sales overage, I’m anticipating a total discount of about 50-55%.
This says nothing about what that volume of sales does for a jewelry shop, like mine, that thrives on collectors who are always looking for new products and styles. By the time my Heartsy feature arrives, I’m always sure to be over-stocked and prepared for big movement on my virtual shelves! I use up my older materials and feature listings in which my regular customers have lost interest.
Want to be featured? Sign up at Heartsy, read over their brochure, and when applying, be sure to include your best photos of product that you predict having in stock when your feature goes live (could be 3-6 weeks after negotiations). *Heartsy charges for: vouchers priced at less than $10: $1; Vouchers priced at less than $20: $2; and Vouchers priced at more than $20: $3. When your sale goes live and vouchers start selling, your payments are available instantly through a private link Heartsy has set up with Paypal. I’ve had two terrific runs with Heartsy, and I can hardly wait for my next feature.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the series and I wish you the best of luck. Until next time, Lisa
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This is great, I was looking for why it is a good idea to work with Heartsy and and how it can be good for business. This article is a keeper. I somehow missed the one preceding this, can you provide a link?
Thanks!!
Sharon Orella
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SharonOrella
Hi Sharon,
I’ve tried to leave the link, but I think there’s a hold-up on those comments. The rest of the series is linked and available from paragraph two in the aritcle. All the best ♥
Like Groupon (note the muffin lady) , Heartsy seems like a bad idea for sellers in the long run. If you make ooak items they turn you down right away.
Personally, I didn’t agree with the muffin lady at all. (Groupon incident)
I’m always happy to honor my vouchers and prepared for the sale. I wish you would have elaborated on your thoughts a bit, and explained why you feel Heartsy is a bad idea for sellers–and link to your shop!! I love to check out OOAK items. Best of luck ♥
Being turned down by Heartsy was a good thing for me too. I enjoy holding sales, but some of Heartsy’s terms for new sellers were pretty outrageous – some sellers were being asked to discount up to 70% for the VIP deals, and then Heartsy would oversell them, setting the sellers up for a huge loss if they weren’t careful.
To me, it’s fostering the “Wal-Mart” ideal of handcrafts – people go there to look for the lowest price. It’s exactly what the handcraft community doesn’t need if we’re ever going to break free of the discount store pricing mentality out there.
I understand why Heartsy isn’t a good idea for every seller out there, however for information purposes, let me clarify that every seller agrees to the amount of vouchers sold. If they’re oversold, they’ve done that to themselves.
I don’t understand why Heartsy gets compared to Walmart, though. Walmart is a discount store that offers a constant stock of products at the lowest price. Heartsy is like groupon, a coupon site that offers a discount so that loads of new customers will be enticed to come buy. If you love the product and come back, you pay what the seller charges.
Thanks for the thought-provoking reply! I enjoyed the challenge on my perspective. All the best!
I’m going to disagree with you on the assumption that sellers agree to what Heartsy sells. I know of at least one seller who agreed to a Heartsy deal – one discount for regular Heartsy shoppers and one for VIPs, and after the deal was done, Heartsy oversold the VIP vouchers with the deeper discount and did not inform the seller.
She stepped up to the plate and honored those oversold vouchers with class and great customer service, but if she hadn’t been able to do that, it certainly would not have been a great customer base builder.
I’ve researched and read up on both sides of Heartsy both pro and con, and there are far too many cons in the way they do business now for me to ever consider their service an asset to building a customer base.
As far as pricing, I do see that their model is just like Walmart. They are setting a pricing expectation of super low prices for products that are worth more. You might be lucky and get a great repeat customer out of the deal, but how many other sellers don’t? How many are left in a worse state after their Heartsy deal is done? It’s a discussion many sellers would probably love to see.
I won’t argue with heresay, because I definitely don’t know the circumstances of every seller’s experience.
All I do know for sure: my results were fabulous! And I think my stats above are definitely something for capable sellers to consider. Thank you for your opinion.
Great ideas. I definitely have to do some more CPC, offsite advertising. I get scared that the $$ I spend won’t come back (I don’t know that my tags/keywords are always spot on) and then I’ll be making negative dollars, lol. Still, it takes money to make money, and I think I need to be less scared and more confident in what I make. Thank you for giving me that push
Best of success to you and your business, you clearly have a winning formula (and great jewelry)!
Thanks, Meghann! I think you’re wise to hold off until you’re confident in your strategy, because scared money never wins
(like walking into a casino needing to pay the rent–you’ll always come out worse off than you were when you went in).
I’m doing a Q&A post (coming soon) about Facebook advertising, and I’m going to use this feedback to touch on how to come into it with a strategy that makes you feel comfortable and confident. Thanks!!
Thanks for all the info Lisa, I look forward to seeing more of your articles in the future.
Thanks Lisa, for sharing your Heartsy experience. I’m looking forward to your Q&A about Facebook Ads., wonder what your thoughts are on Etsy search ads? I’ve tried it for a week now with very little change, and haven’t been able to change any of my tag words.
Thanks again! I always love reading about advertising opportunities.
Hi Kathy,
My verdict is still out on Etsy search ads, but I do admit, I have enjoyed creating them and watching the stats–and I love that it’s all right there when I visit my shop. It has never offered me the return that a well-strategized Facebook ad has provided, but I’m a growing shop and I enjoy all the exposure I can get at this time! Will come back to this subject, though. Thanks so much for the feedback!
Lisa: I may do Heartsy with my open edition miniature prints. This article was great to read on the subject, and gives me an idea what to expect. Thank you….Judy
Thank you for sharing this experience. I have considered Heartsy many times, however, your break down is the first thing I have read that helped it make sense for my business.
Thank you so much!!
Thanks so much Lisa, I now see those links. Your article was so informative that I was itching to read more in part one and two. Thanks again and I am off to read the other two articles. Keep up the good work!!
Thanks!
Sharon Orella
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SharonOrella
I’ve applied to Heartsy at least 6 times now with my Glamour365 shop. I get pretty good voting stats each time, but apparently not good enough. I’m starting to feel like wire wrapped gemstones and stamped jewelry are the only forms they will take.
I have pretty good pictures and I I always try to switch up the items I showcase each time I apply, but to no avail.
I wish I had an answer to this, but I’m not sure how the selection process works. Thank you for your feedback, and best of luck in every other endeavor!
Excellent article Lisa.
Im’ enjoying the pros and cons and your thoughtful replys to them. Both sides to the extreme discounts on time consuming artwork are important factors in deciding which way to go on this.
For the folks who are upset by discounts on your wonderful and original artwork, think of it as selling wholesale on a small scale. You gain exposure, but you definately do not have to sell wholesale if you are underpriced as it is. It is not for everyone, but at the same time it is not a rip-off if you have priced your items to include a possible wholesale contract.