What’s Old is New Again: Reworking an Unsold Item

I know for certain that I am not alone when I admit that I have perfectly good items in my shop that have been there forever and remain unsold. There are other sites that will try to convince you that it isn’t sold simply because it’s not near the top of the list anymore; renew the listing often to keep it at the top of the list. My feeling is that there’s more to it than simply being near the beginning in the search results; if being first was all it needed, it would have sold when you first listed it.

I knit a lovely pair of burgundy mohair blend booties some time ago and listed them in my shop, and there they remain.  So I decided to take a good, hard, critical look at the listing. Here is what I found.

Pictures 

Although my pictures weren’t all that bad, they weren’t all that good either.  I have a much more sophisticated camera now than when I originally listed these booties, and a much better lighting set up.  Plus, there were only four pictures in the listing instead of five.

Description

My description was terrific if I was trying to communicate with another knitter!  Nearly the entire text described the weight of the yarn, the size of knitting needles used, and even the integrity of the yarn manufacturer. At no point did that description sell these booties to someone with a new baby who might wear them.

Tags

I had all of six tags in the original listing.  They were handmade, knit, baby, booties, burgundy, and girl.

Pricing

These booties were originally listed at $12.00.  This price takes into account the actual price of the yarn and the time it took me to actually knit the booties.

The Fix

New pictures were the first order of business, with better lighting and five different views.  The description was next.  Instead of focusing on the actual yarn, the new description concentrates on how much the reader needs a pair of booties as unique as the baby wearing them, they are easy care, they are soft/warm/fuzzy, they are affordable. The new tags included all of the original tags and also unisex, gender neutral, boy, infant, newborn, shower gift, soft, warm, fuzzy, easy care, and unique. The price came down to $7; the yarn was purchased for another project which was sold – that sale effectively paid for all of the yarn.  So the new price is only paying me for my time.

Conclusion

The new listing may still not sell these burgundy baby booties as they are a bizarre color in the world of baby footwear, but it has a much better chance of enticing a buyer.  Looking at older items in your shop with the same critical mindset might just give you a new idea of how to sell that wonderful piece that you’ve had for too long.

Tags: handmade business, marketing, rework, sell handmade, sell online, unsold

Posted in Handmade, Handmade Artisans, Information, Promote Handmade, Selling Tips