Great White Background with Gimp for Etsy Sellers

I have had several people ask for my help lately with their Etsy listings. It has been a while since I posted any Etsy marketing tips here, so here are a few quickies that have to do with photos. Your product photography is the most important aspect of selling online. It is really 99% of the information the buyer needs to make a decision. There is a ton of information on the Etsy blog, under Seller Handbook, but I wanted to get straight to the point with the last several questions that have been asked of me.

The first thing you may want to do is photograph your items on a white background. For items that are small enough to sit on a chair, I use tag board from the dollar store to set up a cyc. See the photo below. The way the tagboard is set up with a curve makes it a cyc. I like tagboard better than fabric for small items because it is smoother. I set myself up where the lighting is best - usually outside or sometimes near a window. (I also have photo lighting I use in Winter. I sold successfully on Etsy for a couple of years before I splurged on lighting.) There was some haze over the sun this morning, but just barely - the light was pretty direct. Your ideal lighting would be an overcast day. Since my lighting was almost harsh, I added the light reflector - before I bought this, I used anything white (like a second piece of tag board held in place by a second person.) The reflector bounces the light back to the object from the shadow side which softens the shadow.

Make sure the sun is coming from the side, so you can take photos without casting a shadow on your subject. Photograph your item from all of the angles that a buyer would want to see. If I wanted to photograph something held in hands on this white background, I would either set the camera on a tripod and use the timer for my own hands, or get a second person to stand behind the chair and hold the item down in the white zone. Sometimes it is nice to have hands in a photo. Make sure they are clean unless maybe your item is for gardening.

Now here is the step by step I do with GIMP. GIMP is a free downloaded photo editing program that works a lot like photoshop. I have developed these steps to edit my photos for Etsy listings.

1. Do a rough crop to crop off any unnecessary edges. Crop to the height of the item you want to show, and allow extra on the width to crop later.
Cropping with GIMP - choose the crop tool from the tool box (circled in blue.) Click and drag to draw a rectangle around your item. Refine the rectangle by hovering near the edge until you see an arrow, then you can move the edge out or in. Move the entire rectangle by hovering in the center until you see the move symbol which is 4 arrows, then you can drag the rectangle around the image. When you are ready to make the crop, either single click in the center of the rectangle or hit the enter button on your keyboard.

2. Resize the image for best appearance on Etsy. Etsy likes images that are 1000 pixels wide and 800 pixels tall.  From the top menu on GIMP, choose Tools, Transform tools, and Scale.
When the scale pop up box opens (see the one below,) make sure the link between width and height is connected (just click on it it connect the links.) In the height box (the lower box,) type 800. When you click on the width box (the upper box,) you will see the corresponding width, probably something larger than 1000, depending on your crop. Click scale.

3. After you click scale, it will look like the screenshot below. The canvas is still the original size, so we want to crop this time to exactly 1000 wide by 800 tall. Choose the crop tool again from the tool box. Draw your rectangle around the photo.  After drawing roughly the rectangle I need, I find it easier to get the exact size by using the size dialogue inside the toolbox (see blue arrow.) I type 1000 and 800 into the spaces. Then I hover in the middle of the cropping rectangle and click and drag to position it. When I have the crop placed where I want it, I single click in the center of it, or I hit the enter key.

4. Make the white pop! This picture is already pretty bright, but the background appears a little grey. I want to make it pop as much as possible. From the top menu, choose Colors, and Levels.

There is a picture of the levels dialogue box below. I use the dropper that you see is highlighted in blue. That is the white sampler. The one to the left of it is a grey sampler and the one on the far left is the black sampler. Choose the white sampler dropper by clicking on it, then touch it to the best white on your photo and click. You will see the whole photo adjust. If you don't like how it came out, you can click reset instead of OK and try again. When you get it right, click OK. Even though this was already a bright photo, I think you can see how the background changed from a little grey to really white.

5. One more step before saving. In the top menu, click Image and Flatten Image.

6. Click File, Save As, and then you can file the photo where you want it and give it a name you like. I save as whatever.jpg

I hope this helps a few of you who want to improve your shop appearance for more sales!

Being New Again - My First 16 Friends

Having a new shop on Etsy reminds me of how hard it is to be new. Making connections, hoping to get noticed, creating a shop full of new items including photos and descriptions. I have fresh empathy for fresh shops on Etsy. I spent a little time using pounce to see who else was new. There is really just one tip that came to mind for brand new shops: open with at least 5 items. Take the time and effort to make the first photos of those 5 items spectacular. Make it clear in the photo what the item is. Yes, that is really one tip. The treasury below was on the front page last night. Many thanks to BatesMercantileCo who was one of my very first connections in my new shop. Having one of my vintage pieces on Etsy's landing page reminds me that I have more vintage clothing to list. The sun is shining this morning, so a photo shoot may be in order.

An In-Depth Look at Wholesale

There is an informative Storque article about the basics of selling wholesale. The article covers pricing, terms and packaging considerations. I wanted to get a little more in depth on the topic with a couple of knowledgeable and experienced artisans.

wristlet by janinekingdesigns
Janine King is an established independent designer of fine quality, fun and unique fabric handbags. Working from their expanded carriage house studio in upstate New York, Janine and her husband Donald run JanineKingDesigns, a premier Made in the USA cottage company. With over 6,000 sales on Etsy.com, Janine brings a mature perspective to the topic of selling wholesale. I feel privileged that she is willing to share her wisdom with us.

pendant by 215Design

Trudy of 215Design, is a 7th grade English teacher at a private school in Kansas City, MO. Making pretty pendants and packaging them beautifully gives her a creative outlet outside of her regular work. I love the enthusiasm Trudy brings to this article.

this photo byOrganicStills Trade shows and reps are the traditional (maybe old fashioned now) wholesale venues. Janine spent time pursuing these routes before settling on Etsy as her location of choice to market her lines. Janine says, "Our items fit into the ‘Gift Market’, which is inundated, with inexpensive China imports. We can’t compete with the pricing. And we can’t mass-produce at the required levels."

My own experience with the ABC show in Las Vegas is that attendance at trade shows has dwindled over the past several years, and both boutiques and small manufacturers are seeking less expensive alternatives to sourcing and marketing their goods. In response to this trend, juvenile marketing expert, James Girone, runs a virtual trade show on his site, a must-see for anyone with infant-juvenile lines. Additionally, rep commissions are usually 15%- 20% of the wholesale price. Unless you can produce your items very quickly and cheaply, your profits will be slim or non-existent. Both Janine and I found it difficult to make a profit selling wholesale through reps.

How Wholesale Happens Janine has had several shop owners tell her they found her by stopping women on the street and asking them where they got their bag. This echoes what I have learned from shop owners over the years. They know what they want when they see it.

(Get stopped on the street by carrying this bag by ArmandoJavierDesign)

If the wholesale buyers are not seeking you out, Trudy suggests sending an email to boutiques, referring them to your shop or website. This has resulted in several accounts for 215Design. Another source of wholesale accounts for Trudy and other popular Etsy sellers has been Trunkt.org (a website where brick and mortar owners can shop for wholesale items to sell retail.)

Having a shop on Etsy does make you visible to boutiques looking for unique items to feature. Trudy says, "I have 5 new wholesale accounts from people who have found me through my Etsy shop." Janine has used her Etsy shop to streamline the wholesale process, by clearly stating her offerings and requirements in her wholesale listings.

Put the horse before the cart. (toy by twelfthdimension)

I asked Janine, "Do you find that selling wholesale helped you get more efficient in your production methods and therefore, more profitable in your retail business?" Her response reveals her business savvy: "The other way around, actually. We became efficient enough in our production methods for retail that we realized that it was possible for us to sell wholesale, but on a limited basis only. "

Trudy offers some inspiration for getting more organized: "I have had to become very efficient in my production because large orders tend to overlap each other. Keeping my supplies fully stocked and my studio tidy helps my production speed. I have also figured out a nightly schedule to produce my necklaces (my necklaces take 3 days to produce due to drying time). I have a batch of necklaces going all of the time. I have to be efficient because I am a 7th grade English teacher by day. I have become more profitable in my Etsy retail shop because people have seen my items in boutiques and visit my website. Also, my husband helps me with the packing and shipping." Organize t-shirt by hungryknife

Don’t get discouraged. Janine (remember now, she is the top seller of bags on Etsy) gets many wholesale inquiries that do not result in new accounts. She comments, "In recent years gift shop owners have become accustomed to buying inexpensive China imports that they can markup 400% and more. When they realize that they can’t purchase one of our $60 bags for $10-$12 they often lose interest. We seem to sell best to very exclusive shops, usually in upscale tourist destinations."

Here is Janine King’s advice to Etsians wanting to break into selling wholesale. "Unless your ultimate goal is to be a large manufacturer or a well known brand thus leaving Etsy altogether, I recommend that you put your energies into expanding your online retail business and use wholesale only to supplement your retail sales. If you aren’t selling enough retail on one site, then expand to other sites. This is called multi-channeling and many professional artisans do this, and if you really want to sell wholesale:
RULE #1: Make it easy on yourself. Be selective in what you offer and offer only your best selling items and/or items that are easy for you to produce. Make sure they are items that you can continue to produce for awhile. If an item sells well for a shop owner, they usually want to re-order and will be disappointed if the item is no longer available.
RULE #2: Make it easy for the shop owner to buy from you. Shop owners are busy people and more likely to buy if they can do so quickly online, without contacting you first for terms and pricing. I recommend setting up a wholesale section in your Etsy store and offer your best selling items at quantity discount. For example, we offer an assortment of 6 wristlets at 50% off retail.
Note: We stipulate in the listing that the customer must include tax-id in the ‘message to seller’ field to qualify to purchase the wholesale listing. As a general rule, you don’t want to offer quantity discount pricing to your retail customers. The intention is to grow your business with the repeat business of your wholesale customer who will come back to you over and over again to stock their store. A retail customer who buys in quantity will usually do so only once, say for Christmas or bridesmaids gifts. A retail customer cannot offer the repeat business a shop owner can. You will upset/alienate your wholesale customers if you offer the same discount to everyone and consequently they may look elsewhere to buy. " laptop bag by JanineKingDesigns

Trudy adds an uplifting anecdote. "I wasn't expecting the amount of wholesale business that I received before the holidays. I had only been selling on Etsy for a few months, and I was contacted by 3 boutiques for very large wholesale orders (over 600 necklaces). I told my husband that I was determined to finish the orders. I am a perfectionist, so I pulled a few all nighters, being fed snacks and water by my husband who would periodically check in on me in my studio. He would also assemble the ballchain necklaces. The night that we had to package the orders was hilarious. It was 3 in the morning, we were slap happy, trying to bubble wrap the necklaces and singing along to our Ipod. We would periodically take dance breaks to help keep our sanity. With the profit made on those orders, I took him away for a fabulous long weekend to Vermont. My lesson was learned - in my downtime on my summer/winter/spring vacations, stock up!! Wholesaling has been a wonderful experience for me with incredible shop owners. I have a few shops in my city where I take a big batch of necklaces monthly for them to purchase. I just love it when the owners and customers "ooh" and "aahhh" at my work. And, knowing that my product - made with so much love by me - is around the necks of people worldwide, makes me happy."

Expert Help Available

the Beatles in Mouse Form by TheHouseofMouse

An Etsy seller named TheHouseofMouse posted a list of Etsy experts who are willing to share their knowledge with the Etsy world. It is quite an exhaustive list. To get the help, you just send a convo to the expert, and they message you back with their help. What a deal!

Perfect Red Heart Earrings by OverTheTop

Using the list, I came up with this as a follow up to my "Peddle It Like Peterman" post. Click on the title to read the description. I believe this woman is an expert in that area. How cool of her to offer to help others.

Am I worthy?

We see versions of this question posted daily on the Etsy forums. Are my photos treasury worthy? Why am I never picked for the Etsy front page? Answers abound in the form of photography tips and tricks, and networking advice. In my opinion, what most of us are missing in our own photography is the vital element of perspective. How do your photos look side by side with those that are appearing on the font page? Using Etsy's poster sketch, you can easily check for yourself and, in some cases make adjustments to your existing photos to make them work.

First, go to poster sketch. (I saved mine to my desktop by clicking "page" and "save as" in my browser bar, now I can click on it anytime and get to work.) Load the sketch with the item(s) of yours that you want to test along with items you have seen on the front page. I started with the photo above because I thought it was so great and I could not understand how so many front pages featuring these colors could get posted and not one of them feature my bag. What I discovered was that while my bag was photogenic, showing it in its entirety was keeping it out of treasuries. There was too much white space and the photo lost all of its punch. After cropping the photo closer, it becomes treasury worthy. Here is a screen shot of the finished sketch. My bag is in the lower left corner.


list of sellers in this sketch in order of appearance: outoftheflames, randomscraps, humbledaisyhandmade, ragnazidnar, livepoultry, petalandpink, thepaintedlily, rachel323, khphillips, debbyaremdesigns, patapri, studiocherie, studiocherie, sagegold, rachel323, elephannie

Using this method, I have discovered that some of my bags need a fresh photo shoot. The last photo in the third row of the poster above is a detail shot of a cute bag, but I am afraid that the fabric is a lot better in person than it is in the photos. This shot might work a little better, but I am afraid it is still too washed out and small for the front page. The door and the brick wall is more interesting than the bag. Can you be brutally honest with yourself? I have to accept that this bag is not front page material and never will be.

Here is another sketch I put together with one of my bags in each row. Each row could be the start of a complete treasury. I think they hold up to scrutiny along side the most popular sellers. So now I don't have to ask if my photos are treasury worthy, I can check them myself.

sellers appearing in this sketch in order of appearance: rachel323, studiocherie, larimeloom, LittleSparrowNest, studiocherie, makool, sherrytruitt, redrubyrose, totusmel, dillondesigns, studiocherie, maryandangelika, paintedmetal, studiocherie, livepoultry, imagesofbeauty