Etsy's Handmade Blog
Shop Makeover Series: Hello Brand New World
Story by contrary, EtsyStore
Published on February 5, 2008 in How-To 		Photo by

mirthstudios

Over the  course of January, we published the Shop Makeover series here on the Storque.  We tailored it to helping Etsy sellers make tweaks, changes, and overall facelifts to their shops for the New Year.  It was our hope that by offering advice on how to better the look and feel of one's business, that sellers would take a look at what changes could be made to their own shops to help boost their sales and overall brand.  In addition, when we hold all of our shops to a higher standard, the overall look and feel of Etsy gets taken to a higher standard, which helps us all in the scheme of things!

The following are a handful of sellers who read, made changes, and posted their "before and after screenshots" for everyone to see:

  • MayaBella took tons of advice from the shop makeover series and gave her shop a total transformation.  Check out pics of her shop front before the makeover:

...and the transformation of her shop after the makeover:


She redid her banner to incorporate the look and feel of her items. The red color of the banner also ties into many of her items' backgrounds.


And take a look at her shop now!  You can see she made both banner and photo changes to give a more rich and inviting feel to her overall shop. Her avatar also matches her branding.

  • Another wonderful overall shop transformation comes from hippiehempstress; hippie not only drastically changed the look of her photos, but also took advantage of the wondrous Etsy bannerator to give her shop a brand new look and feel!  Check out the photos from hippiehempstress' shop before she made changes:




...and just look at the improvements she made to her shop now:

 


Look at that!  The focus issue is cleared up (macro lens setting perhaps?) and the backgrounds are much more styled and of a piece.

  • Two sellers took advantage of the advice from this "What's in a name" article and changed their shop names.   feltsewwhimsical changed her name to CorkandCotton and MalibuBarbie112 changed her shop name to quintessentially;  they both systematically kept the look and branding of their new shop names the same as their old ones to create less confusion during the transition.  Both of these changes were smart choices in my opinion, way to go ladies!

 

  •  ShannonButler changed her shop banner and avatar to match each other, as well as the ordering of several of her photos to show off her items much better and create an enticing thumbnail shot for her shop viewers:

 

 
Congrats on the Make Overs! YOU LOOOK MAAARVELOUS!  And this are just some examples of the hard work that many Etsy sellers undertook in January.  If you took some of our shop makeover advice as well and are happy with the results, please share what you did and how it has helped in the comments below.  Before and After screenshots are always encouraged and welcomed! 

xoxo,

Etsy Labs 

Tags branding, HOW-TO, makeovers, Seller Handbook, selling, Shop Makeover Series, Your Shop 101
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40 comments     Login to add your own!

Feb. 5, 2008 at 11:58 p.m. heidiburton

Very impressive! Especially hippyhempstress' photographs, the 'after' shots are so beautiful and tempting!

Feb. 6, 2008 at 12:59 a.m. helloworldpress

great series, and so nice to learn of other shops that changed their names! i made the name change in january and am super happy with the result (a clear, consistent identity). i've kept my old shop open with limited goods, to cover a couple of showcases i had signed up for, and for new buyers to see my previous feedback... otherwise, i'm completely settled in my new place and buyers are finding me there.

Feb. 6, 2008 at 2:02 a.m. MayaBella

Oh wow! Thanks for using my makeover in the article. I have been having so much fun tweaking it with all the tips I am getting from the series! Thanks so much for all the help.

Feb. 6, 2008 at 4:06 a.m. pollyannacowgirl

wow! very inspiring. i love how much the subtle changes make a difference.

Feb. 6, 2008 at 6:51 p.m. libbymclinnphoto

whoo hooo! i'm all in for a new makeover now!!!

Feb. 7, 2008 at 3:31 a.m. Doucepoints

I was inspired by the improvement info and made some changes as well.
Last thing I did was modernize my banner.
I wrote a blog post about it:
http://doucepoints.typepad.com/muriel...
Thanks and good luck everyone with their shops!

Feb. 7, 2008 at 5:28 a.m. Quintessentially

Wow thanks for highlighting my name change! Although I am yet to have a sale under my new name I am very glad I took the advice of others and changed my name.

Some great changes are offered here!

Feb. 7, 2008 at 7:59 p.m. abitabite

i think mayabella is awesome, and her "new" looks fantastic.

Feb. 9, 2008 at 4:19 p.m. joontoons

Thank you for all the wonderfully helpful information put together in such a nice format!
It came just in time for me as I was getting ready to put together an Etsy for the very first time. There's still much room for improvement on Joon Toons, but having had this guidance has really helped a lot and I'm somewhat satisfied with the results for now (made the first and so far only sale right as I was posting items for the first time).
Yay for a fresh New Year!!! :)

Feb. 11, 2008 at 7:41 p.m. pawandclawdesigns

Aw....

Thank you so much for including my shop in the makeover feature.

Everyone did such an awesome job!

I feel so accomplished!

It took HOURS of work, but I've had lots of sales, custom orders, views and hearts since i did it.

It was well worth the time to read my cameras owners manual for better shots (finally) and "invest" in a 2 dollar pack of card stock scraps, and book from the thrift shop, for background paper :)

Feb. 12, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. noelledoodle

I love my shop now because of its make over. I dont have old screen shots because i was so disgusted....but thank you etsy!!!!

Feb. 14, 2008 at 4:17 p.m. SusyJack

holy cow. all of the new shops look excellent. congratulations everybody. i wish you much success.

Feb. 16, 2008 at 2:57 p.m. RiaJanta

WOW I'm impressed! The new shops look much, much better. Maybe I'll manage somehow to improve my shop to... :)

Feb. 16, 2008 at 4:25 p.m. contrary

I have loved seeing all the changes...it is sooo true how minor little tweaks and changes can make a world of difference!

Feb. 29, 2008 at 8:19 a.m. hills07

Inspiring! I never knew backdropping in your photos would make suck a difference- Stunning!

March 20, 2008 at 4:32 p.m. Jbeanknits

Very inspiring! I am about to open my own shop and got a few ideas from this. Thanks.

March 20, 2008 at 7:11 p.m. lindsayart

I need to get to work making changes to my shop! thanks for the guidance.

April 6, 2008 at 12:42 p.m. youmeyou

very great...Love the before and after shots!!...inspiring for sure!! Thanks!

May 28, 2008 at 7:07 a.m. ebbnflow

Its definitely all in the presentation, and the changes made by these shops is certainly impressive. Now I'm off to spruce up my own shop with the suggestions featured here. Thanks a million!

June 21, 2008 at 1:16 p.m. WORKSBYARIEGAW

I'm so glad I found Etsy. I'm new so
all the advice is great. thanks to everyone who took the time to write the articles. I'll be going back to the drawing table for sure.

June 26, 2008 at 7:09 p.m. JesicaMilton

Very cool to see the difference in before and afters. Subtle things really do make a huge difference.

July 8, 2008 at 4:53 p.m. jewelrybyreshell

I love it. I was just feeling I had to do some house cleaning and give my shop a make over. Love the ideas, great job ladies

July 19, 2008 at 4:08 p.m. TwelfthEternity

okay, those looked really nice after. But I can't afford a new camera right now and can't do fancy focus..any tips on keeping a theme?

Sept. 20, 2008 at 9:43 p.m. kerricakes

I'm definitely going to be taking these tips and makeovers into account this weekend while working on my own shop appearance! Thanks so much!

Sept. 29, 2008 at 8:05 a.m. MonasMane

I really take pride in my shop appearance, your tips are great.

Oct. 1, 2008 at 12:38 a.m. lynnetteart

Super ideas! I need to improve my photos and banner.

Oct. 6, 2008 at 9:07 p.m. Anika

Very inspiring!

Oct. 20, 2008 at 10:39 p.m. Alpa

great ideas.

Oct. 23, 2008 at 8:39 p.m. BeadSmithDesigns

Great ideas and wonderful changes on all the etsy sites mentioned especially hippiehempstress. The difference in the photos is astounding and will surely boost your sales. Great job!

Oct. 25, 2008 at 11:04 p.m. GoodScents

Just saw this. I think the changes are fabulous. I seriously need to do 'something' with my shop as I'm languishing here and getting no improvement. Am considering starting an entirely new shop, with a new name...or SOMETHING.

this has been very informative. thanks.

Nov. 10, 2008 at 1:53 p.m. theroyalpea

Lovely!

Nov. 16, 2008 at 1:14 a.m. SleepingporchStudio

Being very new to selling, I found these suggestions helpful. The background in the photography really makes a huge difference!

Nov. 16, 2008 at 2:38 p.m. mwilsonian

hmmm, cool.

Nov. 26, 2008 at 2:22 a.m. shopAtMaries

wow, 'm impressed at how subtle changes can make a big difference.

Jan. 10, 2009 at 8:04 a.m. hanginmoon

I am gonna try those. thanks for the heads up

Jan. 15, 2009 at 2:38 a.m. 2BellesBeads

I really need to get on this.

Jan. 22, 2009 at 11:40 p.m. LullabiesandLace

I am trying to incorporate some of these changes in my shop. I changed my avatar to reflect my items instead of a picture of myself. I am also in the process of playing with my photos and coming up with a consistent background that will match not only the items but the banner too. Its still a work in progress but every little bit helps. Thank you so much for posting these helps for us.

July 10, 2009 at 6:11 p.m. danitaapple

lovely! i've been wanting to give my shop a makeover, this will definitely be one of my goals.

July 31, 2009 at 10:43 a.m. Tina669

Very inspiring!

Oct. 19, 2009 at 8:36 a.m. scrapboxgirl

cool... I'm so new to this that I can't wait to get the ball rolling... Thanks for the tips :O)

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