How to....? Information for Newbies

[#1]

This thread is specifically for detailing out how to do particular things. If you have a question on how to do something, please post it here & we will answer it (to the best of our ability). We will also be posting links to important information & instructions on basic etsy functions.

[CreativeGlassByBecky]

Thanks Roxie and Cathy! I was wanting to ask that question myself! :)

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone! I am a new shop to etsy as well and trying to figure out how to arrange my shop. Is it possible to arrange your items as you would like or does it just automatically do this based on most recent listings? If this is possible, can anyone walk me through the process? Thanks so much!!!

[Former_Member]

Hi Stacey! Welcome :)

Yes, you can rearrange your shop if you go to your public view of your shop (the boxy icon in your bar at the top of the screen). Then, scroll down & look at the left hand side of the screen, there is a column there with headings you can click on. The very last heading is Your Shop , under this you will see "Rearrange your shop" , click on that & then drag the items where you would like them to go on that page OR use the menu that drops down when you hover over the item to move it to a different page. If you still have questions please let me know! Good luck :)

[Former_Member]

Thank you so much Roxie! That worked perfectly! I appreciate your help!

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone! I'm new to Etsy. Would someone be able to explain to me what BNS is?

Thank you so much!!

[Former_Member]

LiveLaughLooloo: Welcome! Here I will re-post my explanation of BNR/BNS, let me know if you still have questions. Thanks!

BNR/BNS: they are special treasuries where IF you purchase from a shop "on the board" (in the treasury) you will be featured in that shop's spot. BNR is Buy-N-Replace-they move VERY quickly (the discussion is all in the treasury's comments) so as soon as you buy from someone you get their spot on the board (in the treasury). BNR's usually last only a couple of hours. BNS is Buy-N-Stay where IF you buy from a shop you will be featured in the next round in their place. The usually last days, weeks, even months sometimes. You will also find the discussion in the comments section of he treasury but it moves much slower. No matter what, if you purchase from a BNR or BNS & expect to be featured, you MUST post a copy of your transaction in the comments section of the treasury (I will post the instructions for this here soon as well). The main idea behind BNS/BNR is that you buy from someone & hopefully someone buys from you. Please note it does not always work out this way, but I have gotten sales from being in BNS/BNR's so it can be a way to get sales & build up your feedback. You also build friendships & your fellow etsians are more likely to purchase something from someone they know rather than someone I don't. (Like, if I'm going to buy wood toys for my kids, I will buy them from my etsy friend who does woodcrafting of toys).... am I making sense here? I hope so.... more to come.

[Former_Member]

Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Thank you so much for the explanation Roxie! I appreciate your help :)

[Former_Member]

Ok so one more question - this is actually a facebook related question - can anyone explain how I set up a link to my etsy shop on my facebook page?? I see that everyone has this but can't seem to figure it out.

Thanks in advance!

[Former_Member]

Hi Stacey! You would put your Etsy page on Facebook where it asks you to list your website. I'm assuming your Etsy page link would be www.etsy.com/shop/LittlePeanutEvents. If you type that in on Facebook under the website section, it will turn into a blue link for anyone to click. Hope that helps!

[Former_Member]

Stacey- Also. There's a great app called Easy Social Shop that makes it really simple to put your store on your page. http://www.easysocialshop.com/

I use it and love it!

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone! I was just wondering how you all ship your products. Do you insure everything and what postal service do you guys use?

[Former_Member]

Thanks again for the great info!

Lauren,

I am still playing with this and figuring it out as well. I use regular USPS and I have been paying extra for the tracking just for my own piece of mind and I know where it is ($0.90 extra) and I do factor that into their shipping charge. My packages tend to be smaller and light so it is economical to do the first class shipping (2-3 days). It is just too expensive to insure everything. I may do that on some of my larger orders in the future. . .

Hope that helps!

[Former_Member]

Thanks Stacey! I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to ship everything, so that it's not super expensive for the buyer.

[SweetLittleAleena]

Lauren~ I ship the same way Stacey does. USPS First Class with tracking for me comes out to $2.97. I do not insure the packages,as it wouldn't really be worth it for what I sell. It also depends on how much you charge for multiple items to be shipped together.

For example,my shipping for one item is $2.99 so if someone buys only one bow only the shipping and tracking number are covered. I eat the cost of the envelope,display card,and whatever else I pack their order with. For me though alot of people do buy more than one and I can fit 2 in an envelope,so with the additional $.50 I charge for shipping on extra items it sort of evens out.
When I get a large order I ship in a box and with tracking that comes out to about $4. For anything larger or heavy I would suggest maybe Priority mail with the "If it fits,It ships" boxes. It does not matter how much it weighs,its a flat rate price as long as it fits in the box which is great if you have items that are heavy but not super big. Plus with Priority,tracking is included so there is no extra charge for that.

I would just try out different things to see what works best for your items,depending on weight and such. There is alot more costs to shipping than just the actual shipping cost itself. Such as the envelope,box,bubble wrap,thank you cards,etc....Just find a balance between that and what you are charging your customers,because you will most definitely pay some of that yourself. I think most people do not charge what it actually cost them to ship because it would turn away buyers. For me it probably actually costs $3.99 to ship instead of $2.99,but that would turn away alot of customers because my items are small and light,plus I have to keep competetive shipping rates to the other shops selling the same items as me. If you price your items and shipping at a good balance,then you will not actually be losing out on money, because the cost of your item covers what the shipping price does not!

Hopefuly that helped you some :)

[Former_Member]

That does help! Thank you very much you two!

[Former_Member]

I agree with Cassie, thanks for getting that girl! :)

[SweetLittleAleena]

No problem! Happy to help out any way i can :)

[Former_Member]

K Jones (sorry don't know your first name!!!) Thank you so much for the easy social app suggestion. It was so simple. I still have to figure out how it all works. . .like do the fees still get charged through etsy etc. But now I have a link to my items on facebook which I love. Thank you!

[Former_Member]

This is so informative! Thank you!

[Masanetti]

Hi everyone. I've just got my first custom order request ! And I'm so excited ..
Now, I m going to make a requested item and list it on my page so that my customer can buy it. Is this step correct? It's such a basic but please advise me.
Thank you!

[Former_Member]

Hi Shino. Congrats on your first custom order!

Before Etsy updated their custom order set up that was what your would do. The problem with that is that is that other people would have a tendency to buy reserved listings even though they said reserved, which caused problems.

First start by making sure custom orders are turned on. I looked at your shop and it seems you already did that (but for anyone else reading it's under Options on your shop settings).

You received your customer order request via convo, I assume. Depending on your polices (which I'd recommend adding policy for custom orders now) the custom order would either be paid for in full before completed, or (what you sound like you want to do) ask for payment after the listing is completed. Go back to that same convo and click create custom listing or Make this order a custom order. You'll then have to fill in the info for the item.

It's important that you do this through the convo because that way, the only person who will see the listing is the person you are making it for and you won't get charged .20 for listing until the person actually buys the item.

For more info, see here: https://www.etsy.com/help/article/3923

Hope that helps! :)

[Former_Member]

This is good to know! I wasn't aware of all of this. So thank you, Shino, for asking. And thanks, K, for explainng

[Masanetti]

Thank you very much!!!! I 've completed a requested order and created a custom listing for her.

I'm excited too much and even sew a dream about it last night....

Thanks!!

[AdelaidesCorner]

I was reading somewhere that someone recommended unfavoring an item and then re-favoring it. Why?

[Former_Member]

I'm not sure if this is true still (anyone want to test this with me?) but I believe when you unfavorite and re-favorite, it shows up in your followers activity feed all over again, which can get an item even more exposure.