Why Do People Buy?

People don’t just look at a product and buy randomly. There are reasons that drive them to give up their hard-earned money when buying a product.

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When you go to a store, a good salesperson needs to know what the customer is thinking in order to convince them to purchase effectively. 

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You, as an Etsy owner, need to do the same to convince shoppers to buy.

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People buy mainly because of their emotional wants or needs, whether they are positive or negative.

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In other words, if you want to sell effectively, you need to appeal to customers emotionally.

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Two main emotional triggers that drive a sale are:

• Improving life
• Reducing pain

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Improving Life

The first category is the “improve your life” products. These products make the customers see “what you can become” or simply make customers feel better. Some common situations include:

• Bring happiness
• Improve skills
• Improve health
• Become more attractive
• Become richer
• Increase pleasure

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Gym sells fitness classes by showing you how fit you would look and how good you would feel about yourself after taking that class.

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Skincare products have ads that show the before and after. So that you can envision yourself using the products and achieve the same result.

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Big companies use celebrities to endorse their products. In no way they are actual experts of the product, but they represent the better “you”. The companies know many people aspire to be someone famous or important, and celebrities represent that end goal that is deep in many people’s subconscious minds. 

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So as an Etsy seller, you can think of how your product can improve the lives of your customers. And what kind of positive transformation that your product can bring to their lives.

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A few more handmade product examples:

• Custom-made photo albums or scrapbooks that preserve cherished memories (Brings happiness)
• Yoga blocks with exercise tutorials (improve health)

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Reducing Pain

Another main reason people buy is to solve a problem. They usually have a pain point, and they are looking for a solution to solve it or reduce the pain.

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Some problems are straightforward. Painkillers for a bad headache, better shoes to avoid blisters, or simply a cup of coffee to make your morning more bearable.

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However, most of the ‘pain’ is more subtle and nuanced. They can be in the forms of annoyance or frustration. Some common situations include:

• Save time
• Save money
• Save effort
• Reduce stress

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Let's look at some examples.

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Tailwind is a Pinterest analytics and scheduling app. One of its selling point is that it save time for users to constantly go in Pinterest to create and schedule new pins.

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Meal delivery apps like UberEats reduce the 'pain' of cooking or getting takeout yourself. This saves time and effort for the customers.

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Digital templates like wedding invitation templates allow customers to edit and print pre-made designs themselves. Therefore saving money and time for them.

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So, think carefully of what problems your target customers are facing, offer them the right product, communicate how it can solve that problem, then you will be much more successful in convincing them to buy.

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A few more handmade product examples:

• Washable makeup remover pads to reduce one-use item cost (save money)
• Weighted lap blankets or fidget toys crafted for anxiety relief (reduce stress)

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Exercise

List out 3 positives or negatives of your product to your potential customers.

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I’ll start first, for my printable label templates:

• Cost-effective as professional graphic designs can cost thousands
• Saves time as the design is already done; Customers only need to edit the words and change the colours
• Flexible and future proof as customers are able to go in and change the design anytime they want in the future

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Now it’s your turn.