An OUTLINE TO SELF-CRITIQUE YOUR SHOP (spelling improved)

Egilpatr says:
Dear All,

I have been involved in BostonBagLady's Thread on doing critiques of member shops (it is moving toward 260 pages at the moment). They take a lot of time do. In the process I developed an outline (reflecting my point of view). YOU CAN CRITIQUE YOUR OWN SHOP. Here it is. Does it work for you?

1. Look at the avatar.
Is it an attractive piece from the shop?
Is the color bright?
Is the Image easy to make out?
Is the image cropped enough so nothing is wasted on
background?

2. Look at the banner.
Is it color coordinated with the avatar?
If there are words, are they useful; easy to read?
Does the banner suggest the products sold or contain
some of them? Even the avatar.

3. Look at the images of the items being sold.
Are the thumbnails bright, easy to make out, and is
the color good?

Is the main image the best one of the item? Do all
the other ones add information?

4. Look at the item descriptions. Do they fully describe the item in terms of materials, dimensions, and any special information?

5. Look at the section names.
Do they reflect what you sell in language that anyone
could understand?

Do they include sections for anything special that
you might want to show together?
Do they cover everything?
Remember that an item can go into only one section.

6. Look at the Shop Announcement, Bio, and Shipping
Profile (found at the bottom of each item).

I suggest you reorganize these so that the following
is covered in the Shop Announcement and the Bio. in roughly the order below.

Read through to see where there is repetition,
defensiveness, too much intimate information, or
any self-deprecation. Edit to remove these, without
making the parts read as totally impersonal.

SHOP ANNOUNCEMENT.

Say hello and/or welcome the reader into the shop. Use the first person I or we if there is more than one person.

Tell the reader what is for sale and if there is anything special in the way you make it, or what it is for, or what it is made of---that makes it stand out--say that right away. Here is where to stress hand-made as a special characteristic, and whether made in a smoke free, or pet free environment.

Do not say the shop is new, unless you want to revise when it is not so new. How long are you able to claim you are new, anyway? Same goes for naming holidays.

You can say you hope they enjoy the shop or like what they see.

Make a statement about whether you take requests or customize the items and perhaps encourage the viewer to convo with you to get them just what they want.

IF YOU HAVE FREE SHIPPING, LIST THIS IN THE SHOP ANNOUNCEMENT--PROMINENTLY. Otherwise wait to get to the BIO for shipping issues.

Tell the viewer to click on your profile (the link on the right) to read more about you and to see your store policies

Thank them again for coming by; if you add new things often, tell that and encourage the viewer to come by again to see new things.

If you have a website, blog, or other store, give the links here,but not to sites where you sell outside of Etsy.
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SUGGESTED BIO

Here you can be more personal about what you do, what led you to do it, how you feel about the work, or how you make it. I do not advise telling how your spouse or sister is an inspiration or details on your pets or children. What do you want to know from a seller when you buy?

STORE POLICIES

What Payment Is Accepted?

What does shipping cost?

Where do you ship to?

Who do you use for shipping?

Put in the prices found at the bottom of your item descriptions. That includes multiple item prices.

You can offer alternative, faster shipping and prices.
You can mention insurance and make a disclaimer about responsibility for damage in transit.

Add anything about International orders.

You can give information on when you ship. I suggest you use this, adjusted for what payment you accept:

I ship within ___ days after I have been notified of receipt of payment by Paypal or when the check or money order has been cleared and deposited into my account.

You can say how items are packaged and how you send gifts, if you wish.

State your policy on acceptable reasons for returns, how they are treated, who pays for shipping, and anything on repair or exchange, as appropriate.

Invite the reader to contact you with ANY questions.
Posted at 12:25 pm, February 8 2008 EST

Posted at 12:30pm Feb 8, 2008 EST