Why do people love my product but not buy?
Website visitors and workshop attendees praise the product or content but do not add items to cart, book calls, or complete purchases, leaving founders stuck constantly searching for new prospects. This gap between high interest and zero sales forces businesses to rely on manual outreach instead of predictable revenue.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since September 2026.
- This comes up 30.8× more often in r/smallbusiness than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1comparing pricing to similar handmade productsDid this help you?
- 2seeking feedback on website design and user experienceDid this help you?
- 3analyzing metrics to see where interest dropsDid this help you?
- 4Posting on social mediaDid this help you?
- 5Using personal network and asking for referralsDid this help you?
- 6Posting client testimonialsDid this help you?
- 7Putting business cards in shops and deliveriesDid this help you?
- 8Sending cold emailsDid this help you?
- 9Conducting free workshops and giving away mini digital productsDid this help you?
- 10Applying to jobs to stabilize incomeDid this help you?
- 11revising marketing channelsDid this help you?
- 12shifting target demographicsDid this help you?
- 13partnering with creatorsDid this help you?
- 14building new customer casesDid this help you?
- 15analyzing local business and startup websitesDid this help you?
- 16fixing structural elements like loading times, layouts, and call-to-actionsDid this help you?
- 17Focusing on building email listsDid this help you?
- 18Using SMS alertsDid this help you?
- 19Writing blog posts to build trustDid this help you?
- 20Reaching out periodically to potential clients who messaged.Did this help you?
- 21Posting process videos on Instagram and TikTok.Did this help you?
- 22Considering creating an Etsy store to attract more paying customers.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I make posts that I do commissioned work but no one seems to be biting at the “advertisements” that Ive been posting.”source ↗
“Ive also had a lot of interest/messages but zero follow ups even with me reaching out every so often.”source ↗
“I launched a small handmade dog enrichment brand about two weeks ago and I’m struggling with the gap between people saying they love the product and people actually buying it.”source ↗
“I’ve had decent website traffic from Instagram/ads, but only a few sales and hardly any add-to-carts.”source ↗
“I’ve gotten 3-4 but i’m struggling to get more to the point where I don’t have to constantly search or do outreach.”source ↗
“I find people want to book, but then only want free services and I can’t do that. People are asking questions, but don’t want to pay…”source ↗
“I did a 1 hr workshop where I taught about pod storytelling techniques. It was amazing and everyone learned a lot from me, 15 showed up, but no one booked with me or scheduled a call.”source ↗
“I received 70+ inquiries and converted none of them.”source ↗
“- 70+ individual inquiries - 12 inquiries with some genuine intent - 0 appointments - 0 completed customers - 0 revenue”source ↗
“I’m a rug tufter who is looking to get more customers interested in my business but i’m not exactly sure how to make that happen, I get the views but I’m not making any sales.”source ↗
“Lack of call to action and bad layout for me. It doesnt convert. But it also doesnt get traffic”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to track pre-orders to see if customers are interested
- 2How to hit reseller revenue quotas before getting clients
- 2How to get consistent clients
- 7Why are customer leads getting so expensive?
- 19Why isn't cold outreach booking any client meetings?
- 2How to structure commission for lead generation contractors