Seller How-to: Guiding Buyers with Shop Sections

emilybidwell

Story by emilybidwell

Published on Nov 12, 2008 in Seller Handbook

Photo by bitsandbobbins on flickr

So sellers: you’ve stocked your shop with holiday goodies, you’ve taken great photos, you’ve cleared your calendar, and you are ready for the holiday stampede. Your shop looks fly, and you need your customers to look at more than just your cute featured items. Enter shop sections. Help your customers hone in on what they need, and make it easy for them to cross off each item on their holiday shopping lists. This is the time of year when we shoppers are super organized.

Organize by Shipping
Recent featured seller topsyturvydesign has a great way to get her customers looking at crafts that will ship to suit their holiday needs. This is especially excellent for the nearing Thanksgiving holiday, since she has made it easy for customers to look at the hats that will get to them on time.

Etsy____topsyturvydesign____I_Make_Hatties.jpg
Organize by Size
Another great use of the Shop Sections is to organize by size.  As a shopper, I am so grateful when I can go right to the clothes, rings or shoes that fit me. This is great even for totes and bags, as it can be difficult to gauge size from a photo unless there is a scale reference. Small, medium and large is an economical way to use your shop sections, as you can create up to ten.

Organize by Price
Bath and body sellers, or other sellers that make use of gift baskets or groupings, can get a lot of mileage from using their shop sections to organize by basket and price. During the holidays, many shoppers have a budget that they have in mind for each one of their special people. For example, if I know that I’d like a luxurious bath basket for my mom, I am chuffed when I can use a shop section to go directly to: Gift Basket 70-100 dollars. And for my cousin? Gift Basket 30-50 dollars. Perfect. Check out this how-to on bundling items. For more info on pricing, see the Art of Pricing series.

Manage your sections in Your Etsy > Shop Settings > Info & Appearance (there is a tab for Sections).
You might also find this how-to, about introducing a new line, useful.

Don’t forget to check out the Seller Handbook – all our how-tos about running your Etsy business!

Comment below if you’ve used these techniques and seen the effects! Shoppers, do you like to shop with sections?

Discuss: 67 comments

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  • chainchainchained

    chainchainchained says:

    great ideas!

    3 years ago

  • oregonmaid

    oregonmaid says:

    thanks for the awesome suggestions!

    3 years ago

  • smcdesigns

    smcdesigns says:

    Thank you for this information - good ideas to think about.

    3 years ago

  • KalliopeJewelry

    KalliopeJewelry says:

    Super tips, thank you so much!

    3 years ago

  • dancingcircle

    dancingcircle says:

    what does "fly" mean? In the second sentence of the article, it read, "your shop looks fly" - ??

    3 years ago

  • VanessaAdmin

    Vanessa says:

    "Fly" means it looks really good.

    3 years ago

  • locallibrary

    locallibrary says:

    is it possible to put items in multiple categories? like "necklaces" AND "under $30" ? Thanks for the tips!

    3 years ago

  • minniesheart

    minniesheart says:

    Great tips. I have a lot to learn, thanks!

    3 years ago

  • dogties

    dogties says:

    Nice info... Fun items!

    3 years ago

  • JLMould

    JLMould says:

    I love the way to set up your shop based on shipping times. :) Great idea! Jessica Lynn

    3 years ago

  • madambeadjunkie

    madambeadjunkie says:

    Great article! Thank you!

    3 years ago

  • Domesticlady

    Domesticlady says:

    Thanks, learning much!

    3 years ago

  • tinygreenapples

    tinygreenapples says:

    Great tips, Thanks!!

    3 years ago

  • buzzbuzzbee

    buzzbuzzbee says:

    I LOVE to shop with sections!

    3 years ago

  • mamafamilias

    mamafamilias says:

    Price and size are so useful when shopping!

    3 years ago

  • bugbitesplayfood

    bugbitesplayfood says:

    Very good tips, I'll be sure to do that. I like the price sections...

    3 years ago

  • RubyStudios

    RubyStudios says:

    These days, budgets are definitely on peoples minds. Organizing by price isn't a bad idea.... Thanks for the suggestions!

    3 years ago

  • TheMysticCircleArt

    TheMysticCircleArt says:

    Thanks for the wonderful article and awesome suggestions!!!Keep up the great work. ;)

    3 years ago

  • alfastudio

    alfastudio says:

    thanks for the tips

    3 years ago

  • nfall2rt

    nfall2rt says:

    great ideas about organizing the shop!

    3 years ago

  • AnniesAttic

    AnniesAttic says:

    I Love the section part of etsy too!!

    3 years ago

  • KellyBaldwinDesign

    KellyBaldwinDesign says:

    Bring it on ...I'm ready!

    3 years ago

  • poppylane

    poppylane says:

    Sections are a wonderful organizational tool for our shops. I like the price suggestion too. Thanks!

    3 years ago

  • TheGreenZebra

    TheGreenZebra says:

    Great idea! Never thought of doing it that way.

    3 years ago

  • murrummuddah

    murrummuddah says:

    Very helpful suggestions. I'm based in Australia and very new to selling on Etsy (haven't sold anything yet) but I have been wondering if customers are put off by the thought of whether items will arrive in time for their 'deadlines but havent thought of a way to reassure them. Any ideas? (The airmail serice frpm Australia is usually a week turn around.)

    3 years ago

  • felicitycrew

    felicitycrew says:

    Thanks for these inputs and great ideas!

    3 years ago

  • Mimiandlola

    Mimiandlola says:

    Thanks for the tip!

    3 years ago

  • pnkvintage

    pnkvintage says:

    Great tips! Thanks! :)

    3 years ago

  • bonitastreet

    bonitastreet says:

    Good tips. I always struggle with how I should organize things.

    3 years ago

  • IlluminatingDesigns

    IlluminatingDesigns says:

    Thanks for the tip! Since I'm new to Etsy I need all the tips you can post. Please keep them coming! ;D

    3 years ago

  • zakkaArt

    zakkaArt says:

    great tip! maybe i should do something to my sections too!

    3 years ago

  • frenchroast

    frenchroast says:

    I like that- I think I'm going to organize maybe by who might like my different items. And I LOVE the idea of "ready to ship."

    3 years ago

  • Valleycreations

    Valleycreations says:

    Great ideas! Thanks!

    3 years ago

  • stylesmith

    stylesmith says:

    I do wish that one item could be in more than one section... Is that something that's in the works?

    3 years ago

  • Jeanice

    Jeanice says:

    Like the idea of organizing sections by price! What a great idea!

    3 years ago

  • HModine

    HModine says:

    LOVE your tips...my shop has standard jewelry sections and I am going to rethink them!! Thank you :)

    3 years ago

  • idea2lifestyle

    idea2lifestyle says:

    Really helpful! My concern is the delay by shipping. Will post office slow down the shipping speed cos of heavy traffic and short handed for Christmas?

    3 years ago

  • victoriavelting

    victoriavelting says:

    thank you! Now, back to the studio to see what I can find that might work...

    3 years ago

  • esmeraldadesigns
  • thePinkAcorn

    thePinkAcorn says:

    i love shopping by sections. great tips.

    3 years ago

  • shellydaly

    shellydaly says:

    Great suggestions! Thanks

    3 years ago

  • shujayat

    shujayat says:

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    3 years ago

  • Laura4ca

    Laura4ca says:

    Thanks for the info............I would have never thought of this and I think its a great idea.

    3 years ago

  • haighthearts

    haighthearts says:

    AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH i love that card catalog i NEED one now!

    3 years ago

  • yarnna

    yarnna says:

    I'd really love to see this enhanced to tag approach rather than fixed category. I'm going to start a jewelry store in the new year (new name :-), and I'd love to be able to group items by both type earring/bracelet and also style line. And when I'm looking in people's clothing shops, sometimes I want to scope by skirt/top and sometimes by size. That would also let us put things in a Sale section without losing the original classification like we do now.

    3 years ago

  • zimka

    zimka says:

    Thank you for the tips on how-to! :) I'm still trying to figure out the best way to group my items since I'm interested in making a lot of different things. I used to make mostly clothes but then my wrist was broken last summer and I couldn't sew for a few months... I started making jewelry and really love it. Plus to that I'm a costume and accessory designer/maker and etc... oh yeah I'm into making home decor items too :) So I see it's coming to means of separating different directions and opening a new store for some of that I guess.

    3 years ago

  • HomesteadBleu

    HomesteadBleu says:

    I like the tips on various ways to "organize" a shop. Thanks!

    3 years ago

  • jenskelley

    jenskelley says:

    thanks!

    2 years ago

  • bonjourpierre

    bonjourpierre says:

    Thanks for the helpful tips!

    2 years ago

  • jaroslava

    jaroslava says:

    Interesting ... Thank you!

    2 years ago

  • lizjewelry

    lizjewelry says:

    I'm going to change some of my shop policies right now to include more options!

    2 years ago

  • kikkucraft

    kikkucraft says:

    What a good idea! Thank you.

    2 years ago

  • mammysshop

    mammysshop says:

    Great info. Thanks!

    2 years ago

  • LittleWhiteDresser

    LittleWhiteDresser says:

    very well!

    2 years ago

  • Starrbeads

    Starrbeads says:

    I read this article for organization and It is inspiring. Recategorizing is perhaps the best for my time purposes. Now, If only I could have 10 more categories with description space for more words! LOL! Thanks ...This was a very helpful article. -Rachelle Starr

    2 years ago

  • Stompz

    Stompz says:

    Thanks for the recategorizing tip. For me,it will be earrings/necklaces separate instead of "jewelry"....specifics. Thanks again!

    2 years ago

  • etincelledesign

    etincelledesign says:

    Hmm, personally i prefer to shop by style/line/look once i'm in the store itself. I understand sections as a complement to and different from tags. In a search one can easily use tags to sort through eg skirt/top or earrings/rings.

    2 years ago

  • bgstyle

    bgstyle says:

    Greatr tips, thank you so much! ¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨) (¸.·´ (¸*´¨(♥ (¸.·´ (¸.·´♥

    2 years ago

  • Vidalbuttons

    Vidalbuttons says:

    Awesome tips! I am thinking of doing my categories by prices ...

    2 years ago

  • FarmFreshArt

    FarmFreshArt says:

    I have lots to do.

    2 years ago

  • FarmFreshArt

    FarmFreshArt says:

    Thanks.

    2 years ago

  • timasartstudio
  • Marsilia21

    Marsilia21 says:

    very useful!

    1 year ago

  • Marsilia21

    Marsilia21 says:

    nice

    1 year ago

  • cottageflowers

    cottageflowers says:

    I am going to organize and use the shop sections in my shop. Great tip!

    1 year ago

  • BrandeezBest

    BrandeezBest says:

    I cant figure out how to add items to a section?? Doesnt give me the option to load any picture!! =( this is so confusing and its a little intimidating for a first time seller.

    1 year ago

  • AusdenFound

    AusdenFound says:

    Thanks for the tip, i sure hope Shop Sections help me out!

    301 days ago