♦♦♦♦ Alberta Street Team CHAT THREAD for JUNE-SEPTEMBER, 2019 ♦♦♦♦

[MagpieQuilts]

Welcome to the Alberta Team Chat Thread for June 1 through August 31, 2019. Feel free to use the formatting options available for you as you post! We're going to try something a little different and leave the chat thread open for the summer. Enjoy the sun when we are able to see it through the smoke and share your favourite Alberta get away vacation!

Posting in this thread counts towards your team participation and is the main place to get up to date on what we are doing as a team! 

Post your New Listings in our promo thread (public & sharable): https://community.etsy.com/t5/Alberta-Street-Team/June-December-2019-New-Listings/gpm-p/126563177#M4...

WHERE TO FIND OUR TEAM & PARTICIPATE:
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/AlbertaStreetTeam
PINTEREST: www.pinterest.com/ABStreetTeam/
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/etsyalbertateam/ #etsyalbertateam

If you have any questions about the team or how to get more involved please contact Kalen, the Team Captain, at www.etsy.com/shop/minibytes

Previous chat thread here: https://community.etsy.com/t5/Alberta-Street-Team/Alberta-Street-Team-CHAT-THREAD-for-MAY-2019/gpm-p...

[lampworkbyjulie]

Summer time chat! 😁 Loved that. 

[Splurge]

Yay summer time chat! I would say that I need a cold drink on a patio but in Calgary now it looks like I might need a sweater and umbrella instead! Does anyone know if posting listings in the new forum format has the same SEO value as in the previous format? I am bound and determined to add new items to my shop this month ;)

[lampworkbyjulie]

Sorry I don’t know the answer Darcy. Unless it’s gets easier to show our new listings with the pic, I’ll not  be posting there.

I do not like the new forum format one tiny bit. 😁

I would like to add, since I switched over to free shipping, I feel my sales have increased substantially. 

[lampworkbyjulie]

Did I miss something or just have a senior moment? When I click the the little house icon to take me to my shop manager, it takes me right to the dashboard with no option from there, to get to the shop manager. What the heck?

[hopnflop]

@lampworkbyjulie Not sure exactly what you mean. I'm already logged into etsy whenever I go to my shop and when I click the house icon for "shop manager", it does take me to the dashboard of my shop manager. Or are you referring to the etsy home page dashboard? 

[hopnflop]

Yay summer! Also, I see Etsy put a blurb/call out on my listings page to try free shipping, which I finally clicked on to see what I get and it actually gives you a step by step process to set up free shipping right from there vs. having to go back to your dashboard  shipping settings to make it. 

Also, my first market outside of Alberta is happening in Toronto end of July. Anyone got tips about things I should pack (and consider) since I'll be packing up products into my check in baggage. Lol.

[myCorabella]

It IS nerve-racking checking bags with inventory! I use a plain or ugly suitcase, pack everything into bundles with bubble wrap and packing tape (imagine the suitcase flying open...the bundles might fly out but would remain sort of intact, identifiable as being together). Attach business card/contact info to each bundle. Around outside of the suitcase I use a cinch strap. Then I wrap it in duct tape in both directions, and add 2 luggage tags. Looks very unattractive. Take photos of the suitcase. Oh yeah, weigh it BEFORE you get to the airport to make sure it is under 50lbs. Good luck!

[lampworkbyjulie]

Whoa! A market in Toronto! That’s sounds exciting and down right scary! 

No, not the Etsy home page dashboard. It doesn’t take me to my shop manager, where I have the menu options of clicking on my listings, or my finances, or my settings, etc. It only takes me to the dashboard. There is no side menu with all the options I just mentioned. And it used to be there. 

[MagpieQuilts]

That’s weird. Maybe try logging out & logging back in if you haven’t already tried that? Or is it just hidden? Try using Control - (minus) to reduce the size of what’s displayed on your screen. 

And a market in Toronto! Fun! I’d be a nervous wreck putting my products in checked baggage! You’re a market veteran so I am sure you’re going to do great!

[MagpieQuilts]

I just moved to my computer - there's a little double arrow at the bottom left of the dashboard screen. Click on it and you should have your side menu back.

[lampworkbyjulie]

Thanks Anm! Yes, the side men is on my computer, just not on my  iPhone anymore. It’s there in my devices once I’m in the listings or conversations, etc., just not when I hit the shop manager icon. 

[MagpieQuilts]

What a beautiful weekend! Still feeling the lazy day in the shade feeling today! Let's switch things up a bit and share our fav summer food and beverages! 

While in Kentucky for our son's wedding a couple years ago, we were introduced to Bourbon Cream - it sure tasted great yesterday on the rocks after a great dinner of smoked pork loin stuffed with plums, apples and pears. Every time that smoker gets turned on, I find another favourite meal!

[SnowmanCollector]

I had never been a fan of pasta salad but my tastes seem to be changing. A while back I was introduced to Dill Pickle Pasta Salad. Yummo! Guess what is for supper tonight!

[MagpieQuilts]

Pickles and pasta! That sounds yummy! Amazing how tastes change as we get older. 

[lampworkbyjulie]

Surely I’m  interpreting this incorrectly! Do I now have PAY to receive email notifications when there’s a sale in my Etsy shop? I haven’t received emails on the last several sales and did not change any of my settings. So when I went and checked my subscriptions, it’s a whole lotta charges. So confused. 

[MagpieQuilts]

I still get email notifications and haven't had to pay for them. I have Etsy standard - no upgrades. Is it maybe something with your email? Gmail will sometimes classify some emails as promotional or social media that I actually want in my inbox. 

[SnowmanCollector]

I have still received email notifications. But I haven't checked my charges ... off to have a look at that now. 

[hopnflop]

Thanks @myCorabella for the travelling tips! Great ideas and I'll make sure to use them too. 

I just got the notification of linking photos to variations under one listing. I just updated a section of my listing with that and it's super easy to do. 

As for sale email notifications, I still get them. But like what @MagpieQuilts says it could be being sifted and put into a different inbox. Have you checked your Etsy shop settings too? @lampworkbyjulie What mail program do you use? Gmail, yahoo, etc...

[lampworkbyjulie]

I use gmail. I tried to check my shop settings but only see the fees for plus. Of course I’m on the standard plan but can’t find where my actual choices or settings are. 

[lampworkbyjulie]

Ooooohhhh! I love linking photos with the variations! So easy. Really glad this is now an option. 

[lampworkbyjulie]

Is this still the way it works? Am I understanding this correctly from way back when?

If I have several of one thing, in the listing, I only get charged the listing fee for each of the quantity as they sell? Correct? That’s how I remember it from years ago. I’m just double checking with you gals. And renewal fees are just for ONE listing even though there’s several quantity? 

Which leads to my next question. 

Does variations work the same? I have 5 separate items in one listing, each one being a different color in the variations. If say the blue one sells, is that when the extra listing fee kicks in? Or am I paying renewal and listing fees for each of the 5 every time renewal fees come up. I tried to look at my finances but I’m still confused on this. 

[hopnflop]

I saw the flat fee parcel boxes at my local Canada Post! Darn it...I thought I could upload the image I took on my phone, but the forum needs a source link. Argh.. Anyways, if anyone is interested, I'll just post the pic on our FB group page. 

[hopnflop]

Oh and here's the link to our FB group page with the post of the image - https://www.facebook.com/AlbertaStreetTeam/

[SnowmanCollector]

I am having my own senior moment today! I am trying to change my banner and icon and can't seem to figure it out. I think I have the icon finally but the banner is making me pull my hair out. When I make the changes, it says they can't be saved but doesn't say why. The only thing I can think is that the overall file size is too big (the 100 x 760 pixels is right), but I don't know how to make it smaller. So frustrated. That might be why I have not changed my banner in my 10 years on Etsy!