justrightcandles Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I am trying to get as much exposure as possible. I have heard a few things about etsy but you have to pay just to list your items. I don't know if i want to do that when i have my own website. I have hit and visitors but not many buyers. Summer in Tucson is just not good weather to hit the craft fair circuit either. how do i get people to stop lurking and to buy...I offered a free mini melt when people signed up for the newsletters but it ended up on a lot of freebie sites and i think most were just wanting the freebies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadryga Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I was thinking of an Etsy site too actually, for the exposure... do you pay a one time fee or is it per item? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justrightcandles Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 I know it is crazy. You pay 20 cents for each item you list and when they buy 3.5% goes to them. I listed like 6 items last night to see how it would go. I got around the each item thing by listing all of the scents i have the description and asking them to pick one in the comment section when they check out. The shipping is weird to. you have to state ahead of time what the shipping will be. and there is an option to give a discount if they offer more than on of your product. ???? it was dumb to me. how are we supposed to tell how much some thing will cost with out the weight and destination? I just acted like it was flat rate shipping and put one price for all. I also put my website all over the place hoping they would go to my website instead. check it out. www.JustRightCandles.etsy.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 It is against Etsy policy to list your website within your Etsy store. If they notice it, they will take your listing down. They don't want you to just use it for an advertising tool, they actually want to make money for you using their store features.Did not know that about the shipping though, that is kind of weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justrightcandles Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 It is against Etsy policy to list your website within your Etsy store. If they notice it, they will take your listing down. They don't want you to just use it for an advertising tool, they actually want to make money for you using their store features.Did not know that about the shipping though, that is kind of weird.Really? BUMMER. i will take it off.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Actually, I can't find where I read that in the terms now... perhaps they changed thier rules. I would contact them and ask for certain. That would be awesome if they changed that... I would much rather direct people to my site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justrightcandles Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 yeah really, do you have an etsy too? How is it going? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I do, but I haven't listed anything yet because I'm still unsure about it. I do like that I can do my normal pricing there, unlike eBay where everyone seems to expect something for nothing! I contacted them about being able to put your website in the listing... if that is allowed after all, I think I will put some stuff up and try it out too. Worst case, you pay a small amount for some advertising! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Nevermind I found it:http://www.etsy.com/dosdonts.phpUnder "Selling":Don't post links or URLs anywhere in your shop to another web site for the purpose of encouraging buyers to purchase your items off Etsy; this is considered fee avoidance. Ok the good news is at least I'm not crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justrightcandles Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 Nevermind I found it:http://www.etsy.com/dosdonts.phpUnder "Selling":Don't post links or URLs anywhere in your shop to another web site for the purpose of encouraging buyers to purchase your items off Etsy; this is considered fee avoidance. Ok the good news is at least I'm not crazy.oh man!! i think i have one under my signature. opps actually i had i one listed in the descriptions too. Also i wonder if they will have a problem me listing the scents for them to choose from. I just listed one for each size and then ask them to choose the scent. do you think they will see that as "wrong"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I don't know for sure but I think that's ok, lot's of people do that. I would just do it that way unless they contact you and tell you differently. I didn't look at your pictures very closely but I know a "work-around" is to have your website on your labels in your picture and hope people will see it on the label.I just went to look at your pictures and noticed you didn't have the website on them but you have really pretty labels. If someone were really curious to see if you have a website they will see your business name on your labels (or in the etsy store) and google it like I did. It's the first in google listing so they'll find your site if they really want to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justrightcandles Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 that is a good idea. i think my labels are too small to see. i hope that they would google just right candles and find it. i hope anyways. also there is a section where you fill out the message you want them to receive i have it in my signature but then they will only get it when they buy something. so oh well. i will see how it does. the one thing i like is that it tells you how many looks your products have gotten. that is cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtybirdsoaps Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I have a shop on etsy, and right now thats all I have since so many people have told me that they have their own website and havent sold much or that they even closed their website since sales have been better on etsy. It took me about 1 month to get my first sale but after that I've done great. Now I did have to go into the forums and post some of my listings every so often to get recognized but after I sold some items it picked up and I have tons of return customers. The listing fee isnt bad. Ya its $.20 but its for like 6 months! Opposed to ebay which kills you on fees. Etsy even allows 5 free pictures and puts it in the gallery at no cost, ebay even charges you for that. Once again, its just my opinion but I LOVE ETSY. Its easy to maintain, cheap, and for a listing that doesnt expire in a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justrightcandles Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 oh...i did not realize they had a forum....yeah i try to post on forums often to get my name out too.....really it is that good? i hope so. the only thing i don't like is the shipping. i like the ability to see how much it is going to be up front. and i think i read some where that it is 4 months now. but that is still good. i have never tried ebay. i have only heard bad things about it. lot of good stuff on etsy. so here it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcitysue Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Here is a suggestion if you want etsy to work for you -- stagger your listing times. Tons of stuff gets posted daily, and lots of people only want to scroll through the first couple pages of, say, candles. Once you get buried on page 20, you will really see your traffic decline. I like to list at least once every couple days, preferably every day. Oh, and it took quite a while for me to get my first sale there. Don't get discouraged if you don't see instant success. Building up a good customer base there takes time. As for shipping, you can set it as a flat-rate based on the further zone from you, and you can always put a note that any excess shipping will be refunded upon shipping. You also might want to participate for a few weeks in the Saturday Night Specials which are listed in the forum. It will at least get some traffic your way. Good Luck!~Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtybirdsoaps Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 oh...i did not realize they had a forum....yeah i try to post on forums often to get my name out too.....really it is that good? i hope so. the only thing i don't like is the shipping. i like the ability to see how much it is going to be up front. and i think i read some where that it is 4 months now. but that is still good. i have never tried ebay. i have only heard bad things about it. lot of good stuff on etsy. so here it goes.Ya with ebay its pointless in my opinion with all the fees they charge. As to the shipping you dont have to put a shipping price on there I believe dont hold me to that but im pretty sure some of the sellers I have talked to didnt put one because some items vary. I know for shipping outside the us and canada I put ask for quote in description. Alot of items are pretty standard shipping though and you end up getting a feel for the price. Also if nothing else you can charge a little more than you think and put in the notes that youd return the excess amount. The only problem I've read with that is that it turns some people away not having a shipping price to see when considering the items. As to the forums THERE'S TONS!!!!! Very addicting (like this one LOL) but you can also join street teams as well that help promote each other, and theres a treasury spot to showcase favorite sellers items NOTE: You can add one of your items its about 1/2 and 1/2 some frown upon you adding your items the other half dont care but they see it rude to promote more then one of yours. Your able to pick 12? I believe and it can be themed or not, but it helps with exposure because if you pick 11 peoples items to show MOST will take a peek at your shop as well Also it seems the more items you have the better the sales, bigger variety I guess, but when I had 10 listed I didnt do so well but after I added more it picked up and so far I've been pleased Just my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justrightcandles Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 thank you so much for all of the advice dirtybird and sue! i am kind of excited now. i think i will add a little more as time goes on. it is just so hard to get your name out in the summer times (too hot to do craft fairs here in tucson) there sounds like there are a lot of opportunites in etsy. thanks a bunch!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 So you can't set your own shipping price? I'm confused? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtybirdsoaps Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 So you can't set your own shipping price? I'm confused?Yes you can, its posted along with your ad. Thats why with some items its better to pick a higher shipping price and tell them youll refund the over payment if there is one. There is no set shipping from ETSY you have to enter your shipping price. After a while you know what the cost will be kinda like my tea lights for 6 of them in an envelope it cost $2.16 to ship unless its out of states. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Oh oh ok, I see. I get it! I had to look at your Etsy page to make it click. I think I was making myself more confused than I needed to. So, can you include a small handling fee like people at eBay do? That way you don't have to refund like .20 here and there, which would be easiest... and it would cover the cost of packaging.Or is this totally unacceptable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crystala25 Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I have two etsy stores, one for my mineral cosmetics and one for bath and body. It cost $.20 per item to list and the listing is for a four month period. I haven't sold too many items on etsy, but then again I just started listing items about a month or two ago even though I've had it a few months. Some people sell a lot, it just depends on how much you advertise your products. You choose the shipping price at the time you list your items. And you can list it by country also. I charge actual shipping and include the cost of packaging, but not the listing fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtybirdsoaps Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Thats not a problem. It seems everyone on there understands that shipping cost have went up and that you have to cover the cost of shipping material. The only thing that gets to people is when you charge $5.00 for shipping and it cost $2.00. What I usually do before I even put in a shipping price is box it up and then pick a zip for one of the states that is furthest from me and get that quote off USPS.com that way my shipping cost is pretty close if not exact Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudsnwicks Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I know it is crazy. You pay 20 cents for each item you list and when they buy 3.5% goes to them. I listed like 6 items last night to see how it would go. I got around the each item thing by listing all of the scents i have the description and asking them to pick one in the comment section when they check out. Yeah, this could get really expensive if you had 3 sizes of candles and 20 scents each, for a total of 60 items! It's a good thing you figured out how to list it as one item. Actually, the listing fee is not as bad, compared to ebay's which is even higher. It's best for selling mid-priced items (because $1 items would result in a 'loss' of 23.5%) and if you don't have a lot of things to list. Otherwise it would be more economical just to sell through your own site. The shipping is weird to. you have to state ahead of time what the shipping will be. and there is an option to give a discount if they offer more than on of your product. ???? it was dumb to me. how are we supposed to tell how much some thing will cost with out the weight and destination? I just acted like it was flat rate shipping and put one price for all. I also put my website all over the place hoping they would go to my website instead. I agree the shipping is weird. It took me a while, having to look through several people's listings, to understand how it works. Well not so much weird, but rather, it wasn't explained clearly. I think the reason for the discount if they buy a 2nd item is because it may cost you $4.60 to ship one item, but the 2nd item might only be $0.70 more. If you didn't set up this discount then someone ordering 2 items would be charged $9.20, resulting in an overcharge. I think the best way to remain compliant with their rule, is only to include your website when you send them their order. Then they can re-order directly from you using the coupon you sent them or whatever, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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