My First Etsy Sale

Well break out the bubbly, I just sold my first item on Etsy.  Granted it's only been a week or so since I embarked on this Etsy journey, but I am feeling on top of the world. What did I sell?  My Aloe Vera plant.

It's small and green like the $5 I'll make off it, but it feels really great to get the ball rolling and see the process work.

It happens to coincide with my first venture into making treasury lists.  Causation? No, only correlation for now.  More data needed to interpret any results.

1 data point is pretty much meaningless, but in the human brain sometimes you only need to see it work once to "know" it will work always.  I also got my first blujay.com sale yesterday. Yea! me! 

One thing is for sure, I've relisted the item (I have lots of plants) and plan on making another treasury list. 

Cross your fingers.  :D

Circles Announcement

So I just got the following email from Etsy-

Hello!

We recently launched a new feature, Circles, that lets you connect with other people on Etsy. When you add someone to your Etsy circle, you can follow along with their favorites in your activity feed. It's illuminating!
Right now it's hard to find people you know on Etsy, and that's sad. Well, we're changing that. We're making it easy to connect your email address book to Etsy, so we can find people you know who are also members.
(If you don't want people you know to be able to find you, you will be able easily to opt out through your account privacy settings.)

We're letting you know about this in advance, and will be launching this feature in mid-February.
We have also revised our Privacy Policy in anticipation of this feature. You can review our Privacy Policy here: http://www.etsy.com/policy/privacy

If you have any questions or comments, please visit http://www.etsy.com/contact to get in touch.

You're receiving this email because you registered on Etsy.com with this email address.

Thanks!
The Etsy Team

Is this some sort of social networking feature like so many others are adopting these days? Is it just an expansion of the 'In your circle' idea?

 Time will soon tell.

Regretsy

I've been lol'ing at a new (OK, it's not new but new to me.) site called Regretsy.  In case you missed it, they say it's "Where DIY meets WTF."  Regretsy is the fail blog of hand crafts. And it's actually super funny.   Etsy bills itself as The online market place for all things handmade. Everything on the site is supposed to be handmade or vintage.

Regretsy does it's job of mocking the worst and weirdest, It's definately good for a laugh if your burned out from stringing beads or whatever it is that you do.
 

The New Alchemy at Etsy

I've been getting a number of emails asking me about the replacement for Alchemy at Etsy.  If you've been busy selling more standardized product options, Alchemy, which can be clunky and unsophisticated at times is the Etsy process for completing custom orders.  Etsy has made the announcement that it will end Alchemy on short notice.  While it is clear that Etsy will replace the program, at this point it is not clear how.

What I am hearing most often is about when Etsy will replace Alchemy?  Again there is no clear word on the matter.  It makes sense to me that they probably have a replacement in the wings.  With such a focus on handmade items, custom orders are intrinsic to their business.  They would do well not to isolate such a  segmant of their sellers, especially when internet glory can be so fleeting, and rumblings about artfire.com are trending up.

Getting started at Etsy

Etsy is known connecting buyers with sellers of handmade and vintage items, so I knew right I was interested.  I researched the idea of starting a shop for several weeks before deciding it was for me. That's going to take you some footwork, though I will say the etsy forum on craftster.org was very helpful. Read some blogs, surf around and see what other people are doing and how it's going for them. It will guide you more if you look at sellers with items close to what you plan on offering, it can give you a price range for similar items as well as an idea of what kind of market there may be for your works.

I found some really inspiring items Like James Madison's terraniums, (even if they are hundreds of dollars).
No sales yet, but I'm getting plenty of views, and I'm hopeful.

Every Blogs Gotta Start Somewhere

Welcome to my Etsy Tips and tricks blog. Humble beginings to be sure. But as the title implies everybody starts at the bottom.  I hope by the time the search engines take notice and I get a few readers I can really offer great content.

I'm working on a few topics, but I'd love to answer reader questions.  So please ask your questions in the comments below.

Etsy tricks, Part 3

It is better to spread out listings over the course of a week/month, listing just a few items at a time. Listing all items at once on the same day reduces your exposure on the category pages.

The default view for category pages is by recently listed. Things can move fast so items listed on Monday can appear on page 10 by Tuesday. If you list all 8 items at once on Monday that means all of your items are now pushed to page 10 and later, making it harder to find you. Whereas if you list 2 items on Monday, 2 on Wednesday, 2 on Friday... you are continually offering fresh listings for people to find you.

However, keep in mind that listing exposure is ONLY ONE SMALL WAY for buyers to find you. Promotion is very, very important, as I'll explain below. Sellers who rely entirely on listing exposure are not likely to be successful on Etsy.

Etsy Tips for Sales, Part 2.

Part 2: Consider Posting Store Policies

This is something many people overlook. You'll be surprised at how often those
unexpected circumstances arise, the kind that cause a lot of stress and could've
easily been prevented if policies were stated. Things to consider:

•What happens when you send a package and the buyer claims it was not received?
Do you refund the shipping? Do you take a big loss and send another item for
free? Do you state that buyers are responsible for requesting insurance? Do you
state that lost packages need to be addressed with the post office?

•What happens when a buyer decides they want to return an item? What if it's
because they changed their mind? Or what if it's 3 months after they bought it?
What if it's a custom item? Do you accept returns? Are there limitations for time
or quality? Who pays the return shipping? What if you never receive the item and
the buyer claims they sent it back?

•What happens when a buyer claims an item was received damaged?
Do you ask for proof? Do you state they should have purchased insurance? Do you
eat the cost and send another? Who pays for shipping of the new item? What if you
can't replace the item (one of a kind)?

Etsy Tips for Selling, part 1.

Part 1: Fill out All Fields

Include a banner, a bio, a store announcement, a location (more important than most realize), good descriptions with measurements and product details, photos that provide multiple views when appropriate. Calculate the shipping costs accurately and include these in each listing. If you sell internationally take the time to include shipping to each country. Creating shipping profile can help streamline the process.

These are all things that make you look professional and stable to new buyers. They also provide the necessary info for a buyer to make a purchasing decision. If a buyer doesn't have important info such as size or materials they are much more likely to just move on to someone else than to take the time to write you. Don't rely on the customer to contact you for the shipping cost because they won't.