The Listing Edit - Issue 10

Hi there,

In Issue 05 we covered the Faire algorithm — the 100+ factors, the performance metrics, the mindset shift from passive catalogue to active search engine.

This issue goes one level deeper. Into the listing itself.

Because the algorithm can surface your product. But the listing is what makes someone click. And then buy. These are two different jobs, and most brands are only doing one of them.

Before you apply any SEO thinking to your Faire listings, it helps to understand what kind of search engine Faire actually is.

Google is trying to answer a question. Faire is trying to match a buyer with a product they can sell.

That difference matters enormously. A boutique buyer searching on Faire is not browsing for inspiration — they are solving a merchandising problem. They have a specific customer, a specific shelf, a specific price point in mind. Their search behaviour is more like a buyer placing stock than a consumer shopping for themselves.

Which means the language that works on Faire is retailer language, not consumer language. A boutique buyer is not searching for "beautiful floral notebook for journalling." They are searching for "illustrated hardcover notebook" or "botanical stationery wholesale" or "gift shop notebook." The emotional language belongs in your description — where you speak to the buyer's business needs. The title is for getting found.

Think about what a boutique buyer types into a search bar. It is almost never the emotional language on your product tag. It is the category, the material, the occasion, the price range, the aesthetic. Write your listings in that language.

Your listing title is doing two jobs simultaneously: getting you found in search, and getting a buyer to click through to your product.

Most brands optimise for one and ignore the other. They stuff the title with keywords and wonder why their click-through rate is low. Or they write a beautiful, evocative title and wonder why nobody finds them.

The structure that works for both jobs is this:

Product type first. Material or technique second. Occasion or use case third.

"Cotton Tea Towel — Illustrated Botanical — Hostess Gift" is findable and clickable. "Botanical Garden Kitchen Companion" is neither.

The product type has to come first because that is what buyers search for. If a buyer types "tea towel" into Faire search, the algorithm looks for those words — and where in the title they appear matters. Front-loading the category term is the single highest-impact change most brands can make to their Faire titles today.

The occasion or use case at the end is what converts the click. A buyer who searches "tea towel" and sees your result now knows at a glance whether it fits their gifting section or their kitchen section — without having to click through and read the description.

What to avoid in titles:

Vague adjectives that do not inform a search. "Beautiful," "unique," "artisan" — these words are in thousands of titles and do not help a buyer find you or decide to click. Replace them with specifics. Material. Size. Number of units. Technique.

Repeating the same words across all your listing titles. Every listing should have a distinct title optimised for its specific product. Identical title structures across your catalogue tell the algorithm your products are the same thing.

Most brands skip keyword research entirely and write listings based on what sounds right to them. That is a significant missed opportunity.

Here is how to do it without any paid tools.

Use Faire's own search bar. Type in your product category and watch what autocomplete suggests. Those suggestions are based on what real buyers are actually typing. If you type "greeting card" and Faire autocompletes "greeting card set," "greeting card display," and "greeting card wholesale 24 pack" — those are the phrases buyers are using. Put them in your listings.

Look at what your bestsellers have in common. Go into your Faire analytics and pull your top five selling products. Look at how they are titled, what categories they sit in, and what tags they carry. That is your highest-performing keyword strategy — replicate it across your underperforming listings.

Look at your competitors' listings. Search for your product category on Faire as if you were a buyer. Look at the listings that appear first. Read their titles carefully. What language are they using that you are not? What words appear in the first three listings that do not appear in yours?

Think in long-tail phrases, not single words. A buyer searching "notebook" is browsing. A buyer searching "illustrated hardcover notebook wholesale gifting" is buying. Long-tail phrases have lower competition and higher conversion. Write listings for the buyer who is ready to order, not the buyer who is still exploring.

The description field on Faire is where most listings stop doing any work at all.

The most common mistake is writing a consumer-facing description — the kind of evocative, emotional copy that belongs on a DTC product page — and pasting it into a Faire listing. A boutique buyer does not need to know the inspiration behind your artwork. They need to know whether the product will sell in their store.

A Faire description that converts answers four questions in this order:

What is it? One sentence. Product type, size, material, key visual details. "Set of six illustrated botanical greeting cards, A2 size, printed on 130lb uncoated card stock, blank interior."

Who is it for? One sentence. Not your brand's customer — the boutique buyer's customer. "Ideal for gift shops and stationery retailers with a nature-loving or garden-inspired customer base."

How does it sell? One to two sentences. What occasions drive purchase, what display context it works in, whether it has a proven track record. "Strong sell-through in gifting and seasonal sections. Pairs well with our Tea Towel and Notebook collections for a coordinated display."

What does the buyer need to know operationally? One sentence. MOQ, units per pack, shipping format, lead time. "Available in units of 6 per design. Ships flat, retail-ready."

That is it. Four questions. Four answers. The buyer has everything they need to make a decision without clicking away.

We covered white background lead images in Issue 05. This goes further.

The lead image gets you the click. The secondary images are what close the order.

Most brands upload one or two secondary images and stop. The brands with the highest Faire conversion rates typically have five to seven images per listing, each doing a specific job.

Image 2 — Scale reference. Show the product in a hand, next to a common object, or with a size marker. Buyers need to understand physical size before they order. If they have to guess, they often do not order.

Image 3 — Lifestyle context. The product in a retail display environment. On a shelf, in a basket, styled with complementary products. This is the image that helps a buyer visualise what it will look like in their store — which is the actual purchase decision they are making.

Image 4 — Detail shot. The finish, the texture, the quality marker that a buyer cannot see in the lead image. The foil. The embossed cover. The hand-stitching. This is the image that justifies your price point.

Image 5 — The range. Multiple products from the same collection shown together. This single image does more to increase average order value than almost anything else you can do, because it immediately tells the buyer there is more to explore and creates the urge to build a coordinated display.

Image 6 or 7 — Social proof. A lifestyle shot of the product in use, or a screenshot of a positive review. Optional but powerful for new accounts without many reviews yet.

One more thing on photography: Faire is increasingly being browsed on mobile. Buyers at trade shows, walking a fair, or checking the platform between meetings are viewing on a phone. Images that are visually clear and high contrast at thumbnail size outperform images that look beautiful at full size but become noise at small size. Test your images at thumbnail scale before you publish.

Faire's search is time-sensitive in a way most brands do not take advantage of.

Buyers are searching for seasonal product 8 to 12 weeks before the relevant occasion. That means Christmas searches peak in September. Valentine's Day searches peak in November. Mother's Day searches peak in February.

Most brands update their listings reactively — adding holiday tags when the season arrives. The brands winning in seasonal search add those tags and update their title and description language 10 to 12 weeks in advance, when buyer search volume is already building.

A tea towel that is tagged "kitchen gift" in March should be tagged "Mother's Day gift" in February and "hostess gift" in October and "holiday gift" in September. The product has not changed. The search term your buyer is using has.

Seasonal listings also benefit from catalog freshness. Updating a listing counts as new activity and signals to the algorithm that your catalog is active. A seasonal update is a legitimate reason to touch every relevant listing 10 weeks before every major gifting occasion.

Before you run any Faire promotions or ads, run every listing in your catalog through these questions.

Does the title start with the product type? If not, move it to the front.

Does the title include at least one specific material, technique, or occasion? If not, add one.

Is the description written for a retailer, not a consumer? If not, rewrite it using the four-question framework above.

Do you have a minimum of five product images, including a lifestyle and a range shot? If not, add them.

Are your listings tagged for the next relevant gifting occasion, 10 to 12 weeks out? If not, update them now.

Have you reviewed Faire's AI listing recommendations in your seller portal this month? If not, do it this week.

The brands that treat their Faire listings as a living document — not a one-time setup — are the ones whose visibility compounds over time. The algorithm rewards recency. Your listings should never go more than 90 days without a meaningful update.

A round-up of the most relevant news from across the gift, home, and wholesale industry.

NY NOW partners with Ivystone Group — announced June 29, two days ago. NY NOW announced a landmark strategic partnership with Ivystone Group and its family of agencies to aggressively rebuild and re-establish NY NOW as the preeminent gift and home show for the Northeast. Ivystone and Simblist plan to debut the new concept and meet with regional buyers at the August 2026 NY NOW show, with the full buildout debuting at the Winter 2027 Show. The most significant structural development at NY NOW since the ownership change. If you are exhibiting in August, this is worth knowing — the show is being actively rebuilt around Ivystone's brand relationships.

MarketTime names new Chief Revenue Officer — announced June 18. MarketTime, the industry-leading B2B commerce platform connecting brands, agencies, salespeople and retailers, named John Batdorff as Chief Revenue Officer. MarketTime is the platform most brands and rep groups use for order management and wholesale sales. A new CRO focused on "long-term partnership rather than short-term wins" signals the platform is doubling down on serving the independent wholesale community better.

Designworks Collective launches Hijinx - Designworks Collective announced the launch of Hijinx, a new lifestyle brand bringing a playful yet purposeful approach to modern gifting. One of the most established names in the US gift space actively building new brands rather than just growing existing ones — a signal of where the market is heading

That is it for this week. Short, useful, no pitch.

If anything here sparked a question — a listing you want a second opinion on, a title you want to rewrite, a catalog you want to pressure-test — just reply. That is what we are here for.

Until next week,
The Printwagon Team

Wagon Brands Corporation ·  Printwagon.com