| My sons business 16:06 - Sep 24 with 4130 views | FrimleyBlue |
Evening all,
My son started engraving when he was 16 and took the leap this year to start doing stalls, setting up his website, etsy etc and Phil has kindly allowed me to drop a mention of it on here, please don't worry, im not going to start spamming or anything, this post will be the only mention
Any feedback on the below would be great, as much as I want to help him, of course there are people out there with much much better knowledge of things, so any feedback appreciated although I will say be kind lol
www.engraved4you.co.uk
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Engraved4youUK?ref=seller-platform-mcnav |  |
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| My sons business on 19:14 - Sep 24 with 1274 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| My sons business on 19:04 - Sep 24 by PhilTWTD |
Fine by me. |
Maybe he can engrave those Audis you promised everyone, like when players got given a car with their name on it in the old days. |  |
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| My sons business on 19:32 - Sep 24 with 1222 views | jontysnut |
Did he start from scratch...
I've been to beer festivals where there's been a chap engraving tankards,glasses, hip flasks etc.
Good luck - as someone useless with his hands I like to see a bit of craft. |  | | |
| My sons business on 19:58 - Sep 24 with 1175 views | MrBeckinsale |
| My sons business on 18:09 - Sep 24 by FrimleyBlue |
He can however due to licencing and copyright they can not be placed on the website or etsy.
We did ask town for permission but they declined :( boooo lol. |
Even if they were done in an AI inspired kind of way, where they look nothing like the badge?
Good luck to him. Have to admire a young entrepreneur. |  | | |
| My sons business on 20:29 - Sep 24 with 1127 views | FrimleyBlue |
| My sons business on 19:32 - Sep 24 by jontysnut |
Did he start from scratch...
I've been to beer festivals where there's been a chap engraving tankards,glasses, hip flasks etc.
Good luck - as someone useless with his hands I like to see a bit of craft. |
He did indeed, we helped him with the machine, once he got that, off he went every night mastering the craft
Still learning and still working on things, different woods have different grains so its always tricky
He's recently got a new module so is practicing on jewellery at the moment | |
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| My sons business on 20:33 - Sep 24 with 1120 views | PhilTWTD |
| My sons business on 19:14 - Sep 24 by The_Flashing_Smile |
Maybe he can engrave those Audis you promised everyone, like when players got given a car with their name on it in the old days. |
I know a story about a player engraving a referee's car. |  | | |
| My sons business on 20:56 - Sep 24 with 1064 views | Swansea_Blue |
| My sons business on 20:33 - Sep 24 by PhilTWTD |
I know a story about a player engraving a referee's car. |
I read that as ‘ear’ initially. I’m sure either is a good story though. Can you share? Or is the player still alive! |  |
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| My sons business on 23:49 - Sep 24 with 868 views | The_Romford_Blue |
Am going to put an order in for a few of the personalised coasters. Think my missus would love those with various pictures of her dog. |  |
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| My sons business on 07:36 - Sep 25 with 635 views | Keno |
Frimmers Junior engraving genius |  |
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| My sons business on 12:34 - Sep 25 with 456 views | FBI |
| My sons business on 16:57 - Sep 24 by FrimleyBlue |
Etsy I just can't understand. No idea how to crack it
We've got an app that goes with it to workout the ratings of the tags etc and the listing description qualities etc and they are all high yet getting views is painfully difficult let alone clicks. |
If I can offer some advice from my experience (although the last time I did that on a 'learning the bass guitar' thread someone got all bell-endy) of my time on Etsy selling Vintage ceramics etc:
His site looks good but a lot of what punters find when they search is down to the Etsy algorithm, which pushes what it thinks are what that particular customer will find the most interesting results to the top, and that's different for everyone. This is fed by all sorts of things: keywords in titles, tags, quality of listing, number of photos and, crucially, how many people actually interact with the site and items within.
It looks like he has that side of things pretty well nailed on as a starting point, although I might suggest a couple of tweaks that he can ignore if he wishes :-)
The photos are really good quality but (and I know how this sounds) a bit TOO good for a handmade item. Lots of Etsy sellers offer Print On Demand (POD) items which they advertise using mockups generated by the service they use to manufacture. But shoppers also like to know they're getting the real thing so I'd suggest a more 'authentic' pic in the listing of the item, perhaps in his workshop whilst being made, just to allay any fears of a generic POD item. Video works well for that kind of thing too, although not something that's of much use to me with 70's ceramics!
The same goes for the description in each listing. They're a bit too good and well-written! I'd add a more personal voice to them to stop any concerns about AI content; Etsy is eBay for the Waitrose market and that personal touch is something they value hugely. Also, the descriptions don't need to be so long and repetitive because the one place Etsy doesn't scrape for the search function is, ironically, the description.
I can't see his tags, so general advice here which he might already be doing: Use all thirteen tags; Don't repeat any words; Start with the item and then widen, eg Personalised Wine Set/Wooden Drink Gift, Bottle Opener Box.... Dad Son Birthday/Grandad Wedding/Fathers Day Present... that sort of thing. Some people suggest not repeating the words in the title but I've found otherwise. And tags are weird because there are two ways Etsy looks at them: it searches for the exact search phrase (eg Handmade Wine Gift Set) or for the individual words and then judges its results on a combination of the two, which is why a tag like Grandad Wedding above actually works because all it's doing is shoehorning two useful words into the search engine SEO.
Fill out every conceivable attitribute Etsy asks for because the more information it has, the more 'interesting' it considers the listing. Size, room, occasion, dimensions, the lot.
Make sure all the policies are in place. I think they are but I didn't have time to check properly.
Some people will say Star Seller doesn't make a difference but others do. Just dispatch on time, make sure the ratings are 4* or above and respond to messages within 24 hours.
I suspect the app you have, if it's not just the fussy Etsy Seller app, might be eRank? The free version is okay but to be honest I've not found it much use. One of the eRank staffers, on the other hand, named Starla Moore, has a brilliant YouTube channel which is probably the only one I'd take any notice of and is full of good advice. Seriously, the rest are almost universally useless. The other great place to go is the Seller Help Forum (Left Hand side, click the Help tab and go to Forums) where sellers talk amongst themselves and are really supportive.... in the main... it's a forum... :-D
Also, get onto every turgid cesspit of Social Media you can and share the hell out of it. I have Facebook, Instagram, X, Bluesky, Threads, Tumblr and Pinterest and might get round to YouTube one day. And I'm 58!!! It really helps, because you can go to a listing on Etsy, use the Share & Save function to put the listing on your Social Media and actually get a small discount off the Etsy charges if it sells from someone following that link. I spend £30 a month on advertising through Facebook which leaks onto Threads & Instagram; the investment is worth it, not just to drive traffic but also because the fabled Etsy Algorithm (again!) thinks that your site is more 'interesting' because people are going to look at it and then it'll push you further forward in the search as a consequence.
Oh, and new listings get a temporary boost in Search. So just put a few up at a time over a few days.
There's probably loads I've forgotten but that's the main stuff I think.
I make just over 1K a month from Etsy alone so I must be doing something right. It's a slog to get started but it does pick up but, like anything else, you have to put the time in first and then, the more successful you are, the better the search engine likes you!
Best of luck and keep at it. EDIT: I've just followed him - he has some good stuff!
Dave [Post edited 25 Sep 12:41]
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| My sons business on 13:05 - Sep 25 with 400 views | PhilTWTD |
| My sons business on 20:56 - Sep 24 by Swansea_Blue |
I read that as ‘ear’ initially. I’m sure either is a good story though. Can you share? Or is the player still alive! |
Not a Town player, a Sunday league story rather than professional football, although I'm sure it must have happened at some point. | | | |
| My sons business on 14:28 - Sep 25 with 337 views | bobbyramsey |
Looks great, best of luck to him... |  | | |
| My sons business on 16:36 - Sep 25 with 282 views | FrimleyBlue |
| My sons business on 12:34 - Sep 25 by FBI |
If I can offer some advice from my experience (although the last time I did that on a 'learning the bass guitar' thread someone got all bell-endy) of my time on Etsy selling Vintage ceramics etc:
His site looks good but a lot of what punters find when they search is down to the Etsy algorithm, which pushes what it thinks are what that particular customer will find the most interesting results to the top, and that's different for everyone. This is fed by all sorts of things: keywords in titles, tags, quality of listing, number of photos and, crucially, how many people actually interact with the site and items within.
It looks like he has that side of things pretty well nailed on as a starting point, although I might suggest a couple of tweaks that he can ignore if he wishes :-)
The photos are really good quality but (and I know how this sounds) a bit TOO good for a handmade item. Lots of Etsy sellers offer Print On Demand (POD) items which they advertise using mockups generated by the service they use to manufacture. But shoppers also like to know they're getting the real thing so I'd suggest a more 'authentic' pic in the listing of the item, perhaps in his workshop whilst being made, just to allay any fears of a generic POD item. Video works well for that kind of thing too, although not something that's of much use to me with 70's ceramics!
The same goes for the description in each listing. They're a bit too good and well-written! I'd add a more personal voice to them to stop any concerns about AI content; Etsy is eBay for the Waitrose market and that personal touch is something they value hugely. Also, the descriptions don't need to be so long and repetitive because the one place Etsy doesn't scrape for the search function is, ironically, the description.
I can't see his tags, so general advice here which he might already be doing: Use all thirteen tags; Don't repeat any words; Start with the item and then widen, eg Personalised Wine Set/Wooden Drink Gift, Bottle Opener Box.... Dad Son Birthday/Grandad Wedding/Fathers Day Present... that sort of thing. Some people suggest not repeating the words in the title but I've found otherwise. And tags are weird because there are two ways Etsy looks at them: it searches for the exact search phrase (eg Handmade Wine Gift Set) or for the individual words and then judges its results on a combination of the two, which is why a tag like Grandad Wedding above actually works because all it's doing is shoehorning two useful words into the search engine SEO.
Fill out every conceivable attitribute Etsy asks for because the more information it has, the more 'interesting' it considers the listing. Size, room, occasion, dimensions, the lot.
Make sure all the policies are in place. I think they are but I didn't have time to check properly.
Some people will say Star Seller doesn't make a difference but others do. Just dispatch on time, make sure the ratings are 4* or above and respond to messages within 24 hours.
I suspect the app you have, if it's not just the fussy Etsy Seller app, might be eRank? The free version is okay but to be honest I've not found it much use. One of the eRank staffers, on the other hand, named Starla Moore, has a brilliant YouTube channel which is probably the only one I'd take any notice of and is full of good advice. Seriously, the rest are almost universally useless. The other great place to go is the Seller Help Forum (Left Hand side, click the Help tab and go to Forums) where sellers talk amongst themselves and are really supportive.... in the main... it's a forum... :-D
Also, get onto every turgid cesspit of Social Media you can and share the hell out of it. I have Facebook, Instagram, X, Bluesky, Threads, Tumblr and Pinterest and might get round to YouTube one day. And I'm 58!!! It really helps, because you can go to a listing on Etsy, use the Share & Save function to put the listing on your Social Media and actually get a small discount off the Etsy charges if it sells from someone following that link. I spend £30 a month on advertising through Facebook which leaks onto Threads & Instagram; the investment is worth it, not just to drive traffic but also because the fabled Etsy Algorithm (again!) thinks that your site is more 'interesting' because people are going to look at it and then it'll push you further forward in the search as a consequence.
Oh, and new listings get a temporary boost in Search. So just put a few up at a time over a few days.
There's probably loads I've forgotten but that's the main stuff I think.
I make just over 1K a month from Etsy alone so I must be doing something right. It's a slog to get started but it does pick up but, like anything else, you have to put the time in first and then, the more successful you are, the better the search engine likes you!
Best of luck and keep at it. EDIT: I've just followed him - he has some good stuff!
Dave [Post edited 25 Sep 12:41]
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Hi Dave, thank you for this reply, Will sit down with him and discuss some of the points, epecially the one about photos. | |
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| My sons business on 17:19 - Sep 25 with 254 views | Bruin56 |
Hi does you son do hand engraving I’m a silversmith and there is quite a demand for the skill at the moment and there will be even more in the future | | | |
| My sons business on 20:58 - Sep 25 with 154 views | Tangledupin_Blue |
| My sons business on 16:52 - Sep 24 by The_Flashing_Smile |
The store looks great and 18 sales in 4 months is much better than me! I set up an etsy store selling framed poems (written by me) and have only sold two - one to a mate and the other to Lady Dollers! |
So you sold a poem to your missus...
...and they say romance is dead! |  |
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