Sunday, December 28, 2008

Making Etsy Treasuries

Making treasuries on Etsy can be addicting not only because it's a fun creative exercise, but also because you wander your way through lots of cool shops in the process. You pick a theme and then go on a treasure hunt through various Etsy shops to find items that fit your theme.  

One day while trying to think of a theme, I came across a shop with a pair of Ruffle Potato Chip earrings.  They looked good enough to eat and they gave me the idea for the theme "Ruffles or Ridges?" in which I would feature items in a variety of styles that had either of these two design elements. 

This was my first treasury to make the front page of Etsy.  That is a cool thing because when your treasury gets chosen for the front page, your shop gets exposure from the link to it that appears with the gallery photos.

A few days later, on Christmas, no less, I had another treasury make the front page! This one was my entry in a Etsy community challenge to put up a treasury that showcases your highest ideals, your greatest hope, a wish you have, for yourself, for the world, or anything else inspiring or moving.

The criteria from Etsy admininistration was
  1. To have a beautiful, artistic composition of the list as a whole. 
  2. Have a total of 16 items (12 for the Treasury list, plus 4 alternates), all from different sellers
  3. No mature items.
Other helpful suggestions were to include no more than 4 items under $10, or no more than 6 under $20 (including alternates).  This is because if the treasury contains too many lower priced items, they might all sell out before the gallery of photos expires. 

Here is my treasury, "Go with the Flow" which was selected for the front page for this challenge:


Anyone can make an Etsy treasury; you do not have to be an Etsy seller. Just sign up as an Etsy member (no salespeople will call!), read this article, and use the poster sketch tool to create your treasury. 

Helpful hints to snagging a treasury:
  1. You need to be prepared by having your title copied to the clipboard so that you can paste it into the treasury dialogue box when it appears
  2. Type your item numbers into a text editor in the order that you want them arranged, so that you can enter them quickly in the photo gallery when you get a list.
  3. When the treasuries number less than 333, the list opens to new ones. When the list gets down to that point, have the page open on your computer. Do not refresh your page, just wait for the dialogue box to open--it will eventually.
  4. When you get the dialogue box, click in the title field, paste your title, and then click on "CREATE".
It will take some practice, but you too could get your picks to the front page. What was helpful to me in getting a treasury to the front page was reading this blog post by Pink Polish Design. Thanks, Pink Polish!

Leave me a comment here if this post was helpful, or convo me at Etsy if you get a treasury up so I can come to see it!

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