(Not so) New Seller Lesson

[Former_Member]

When I made my first few sales, I stupidly assumed that "Add your private note" was my reply option to buyer.
So, I wrote my reply to customer, waiting for their response and got none.
Just yesterday I found out that private note is only accessible to seller themselves.

I learned the lesson, and would be more attentive to details in the future...

What's your "mistakes" when you just started? Do you have any?

[Grandmasandeze]

All my tags were one word tags. I learned very quickly they can be more than one word and should be more descriptive.

[Former_Member]

My first lesson way back when I had a different shop two years ago was that selling on Etsy is nothing like selling on ebay. It requires A LOT more hard work. Ebay was always so easy for me. Etsy, not so much.

[Former_Member]

So... why is there a 'add your private note'?
Strange...Is it a note to yourself? And why would we want to do that? Hmmm...

[Former_Member]

My first big 'mistake' was taking my items to the PO and buying their packaging. It was such a lifesaver to figure out how to use Paypal shipping at home and buying my own bubble envelopes at Target and just dropping off my package at the PO instead of waiting in lines. And I saved money. Now I need to figure out where to get my bubble mailers even cheaper ;)

[Former_Member]

Sandy! I made that asme mistake for approx my first 10 customers!

Rebecca, I now use that private note area for notes for myself that I want to remember when I'm working on custom orders, or whether the customer said something special in a condo that I want to make sure I include in my thank you note, etc.

[Former_Member]

Rebecca, we did the same thing! No more lines at the PO for us:) Let us know if you can find some cheaper bubble envelopes. We have found Dollar General to be the cheapest. At least in our area.

When we first started we were putting ineffective words at the beginning of our title. Now we know the first few words of the listing are the most important. So, we no longer put SALE in the first part of the title. We try to put important words like "Fisherman Tee" or something someone would search for on google.

Thanks Denise! I like learning from others' mistakes!

[Former_Member]

Denise!! I made the same mistake!! Fortunately, I realize the word "private" was suspicious and sent a convo to the buyer... she didn't reply anyway hahaha

[Former_Member]

I learned to make what sells. when i first opened my shop i had everything in there. Now i just focus on earwires and hoops. I found my audience and what they like:)

This may sound crazy to you guys, but it works.
I got my bubble wrap from rent one. When they get a brand new couch, it is completely covered in bubble wrap, and they just throw it out. I got a bubble wrap from a couch over a 1 1/2 ago and am still using it. It was monster big. All you have to do is go and ask them if they have any from a new couch that they are going to throw out and they will give it to. I then take brown paper bags that i get from the frozen section in the grocery store to keep my food cold and cut them up for wrapping. VOila free packing supplies . lol

[Former_Member]

I'm sure I've made too many mistakes to count over the 3+ years I've been on Etsy! One good tip I have to pass along is to contact customers through their email, not convo. For some people, Etsy stuff goes into their junk mail and they never see if you're trying to ask them a question.

Great thread!

[Former_Member]

I order my poly envelopes from Amazon. It came to around $10 after shipping for 100 of them. They're lighter than bubble mailers, weatherproof and cost so much less.

My new seller mistake would have to be not using PayPal shipping at first. I hate the P.O. so much and using PayPal is so much easier (and cheaper). I can even put my packages right in my mailbox and my mail carrier will pick them up for me. I love it.

[Interrobangirl]

My biggest mistake was not researching shipping charges overeas. When someone in Australia bought a large painting from me I only just broke even! It's all a learning curve though, we all make mistakes and sharing them on here helps others not to make the same ones

xXx

[sherischart]

Hah, Denise, I did exactly the same thing at first.
Reagan's right about the email over convo.
Annette, you are awesome to recycle. Great idea.

No mistakes just learning, right?

[CrazieHappy]

Yeah, overseas shipping. I've burned myself more than once by underestimating the cost.
Shipping prices in general has been a big learning curve for me. I ALWAYS used to underestimate. I just couldn't believe how much shipping cost. Now I know: it's expensive!
Also learning that you don't have to wait in line at the post office. I use USPS online and after initially being overwhelmed by all the steps, it's now a breeze and I love just walking past the line to drop my packages off. LOVE!
Oh, and photographs. I've learned what good natural light is and how to avoid getting shadows (for the most part!)
btw, I'm a "thread killer" so this might signify the end of this thread. Sorry, I don't mean to, it just happens. :(:(

[Former_Member]

Denise, I made same mistake for my first five customers. We learn from our mistakes.

[FenderGemsNCrystals]

i made my worst mistakes on eBay before coming here. I did not know about Paypal shipping and stood in line every Monday morning. That is pretty clueless. On Etsy I have learned so much about search and advertising. I try to apply one new technique a week. Some work, some don't.

[Former_Member]

1. buying showcase and search ads
2. pricing waaaaaay too low
3. not buying ingredients in bulk

[Former_Member]

Ohhh Tammy! Yay! I'm gonna check that out asap! Sounds great :)
Thanks!

[Former_Member]

My tags and titles also my pictures but I'm still working on getting them perfect :)

[happystitchery]

I fell for the "Add your private note" too ;)

[CardNotions]

For my first custom order for more than one of the same item I listed it as 30 available and paid $6 to list instead of listing it as one available with 30 items. Live and learn!

[Former_Member]

My biggest mistake for the longest time has been that I go to the post office to ship small things - I would have saved myself SO much money had I figured out way earlier that I could print much cheaper postage at home WITH delivery confirmation.

Also, I started out with awful titles (still working on them), single-word tags, and did not know how to promote my shop, which is also something I'm still working on. Gotta learn somehow!

[Former_Member]

Copying listings to save time, then realizing I missed changing some vital tagging info
like:
The women's item that was listed as a men's item
The fine china listed as earthenware
The plate listed as a bowl

I'm much more diligent now when coping listings!

[Former_Member]

Oh and one more BIG boo boo:

A customer purchased three of my items so I offered her a discount on shipping.
I split up the charge equally between the three items so she would only have to pay the one discounted rate.
I added a zero fee for the "with another item" shipping category .

Little did I know by doing this the shipping only applied to the first item and the rest shipped for free. So basically the three items were shipped at a cost of $2. Lost a few bucks for sure.
I'm sooo thankful the items were domestic, otherwise I would have paid dearly.

Now I know when offering shipping discounts it's the "with another item" category that needs to be altered NOT the main shipping category.

Big lesson learned!

[Former_Member]

I think I had to learn all the lessons above, the hard way, and then some. lol