Questions!?

[DapperCatDesigns]

Who has questions!? Feel free to ask them here, and I will do my best to get back to you all!

If anyone else knows the answer, feel free to chime in!

[CheckerboardFaire]

I saw on another board how there is a thread where you go to the shop of the previous poster and favorite one item them come back and post why you liked it.
They usually post a thumbnail picture (with Etsy info) of their choice with their comment. I've also seen these thumbnail pictures on "I've just listed..." threads. DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO COPY THESE LITTLE PICTURES/INFO INTO YOUR POSTS?

[DapperCatDesigns]

It's actually a lot easier than it looks!! All you do is copy and past the URL (web address in the bar at the top of the page) into your post. When you post it to the forum, it converts to the cute box with the thumbnail and etsy info :o)

[Former_Member]

I have heard of URLs but have no idea how to find it. Can any one help me? I've had someone ask for the link to my shop and I have no idea what to tell her.

Thanks!

[DapperCatDesigns]

The URL is the web address. This is what appears in the little white box at the top of your Internet window. (The same box you type the website you want to go to in!). Hope this helps!

[CheckerboardFaire]

Nicole -- thanks for the info...
Okay, I'm going to try what you state as the procedure to get a thumbnail. Hope this works...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/153039424/sorbet-crochet-cotton-spa-set?ref=shop_home_active

[CheckerboardFaire]

So unbelievably cool!
Who knew it was so easy? (Well, apparently you did.)
Thanks! That was fun.

[DapperCatDesigns]

Agnes...I had to ask the first time I discovered it too :o)

[CheckerboardFaire]

I have a question. I wanted to mostly concentrate on dolls in my shop, but I am - at some point - going to add 1 1/4" pin-back buttons and accessories to my shop. Should I set aside finishing the 5 dolls I have in production right now and fill up the shop with buttons and button accessories?
Will that draw more people to the shop? I'm not sure drawing people that are willing to spend a couple of bucks on a button is going to help sales of my dolls and that is really where I want to concentrate.
Thoughts?

[Former_Member]

Interesting question.

I think you should think about how much time needs investing in production of either. I started my shop with the fastest, easiest items possible just to put something there.

After I finished those I moved on to the more labor intensive stuff. I figured at least if I had SOMETHING in my shop I could start working on "figuring out Etsy". So far, that plan has worked well for me.

So...I think I vote buttons. At least if they are fast/easy. remember the more items you hvae, the more visible you are!

[Former_Member]

I've got a question.
Has anyone used the accounting software that Etsy has promoted? It is called Outright. It sounds like a good idea. I want to get my books set up right so I'm not scrambling to fix a bunch of mistakes at tax time.

Thanks!

[Former_Member]

Nope...sorry. I'm pretty sure with my level of production...ehm...slow...I won't make enough to worry about taxes at all. Interested about how it works, please let us know!

[Former_Member]

My level of production is pretty slow too Mama Berry. Just being optimistic that I'll need to have everything tracked properly. : )

[BlackRavenCreations]

I am unable to find out what exactly is a treasury? Could someone please explain this to me. Thanks Rhonda

[DapperCatDesigns]

There is a "team treasury" thread that has some examples, but a treasury is basically a collection of other people's items that you like or think go well together.

[Former_Member]

Team Question: As a newer seller, are you ready to ship international? I haven't looked into it, but am a bit worried about underquoting shipping, dealing with customs/tax, or even over quoting shipping then having to reimburse customers. Anyone have any experience with this yet?

[DapperCatDesigns]

I shipped one item to Canada - the etsy shipping made it super easy because it printed out the customs form already filled out :o) otherwise I tried to look up my most expensive shipping costs, and guessed - knowing full well I will take a hit at some point and learn :o)

[Former_Member]

So how big of a "hit" did you take on that Canada order? Did you reimburse any shipping? I don't even know how to do that!! :)

[Quagorsky]

Jeana,

I am using Outright, though my level of production has also been slow...haha. Still, I figured it wouldn't hurt to be organized from the start in case things pick up (a girl can dream, right?). I haven't used it extensively but it seems really well designed and easy to use. I like that it automatically includes transactions from linked accounts (Etsy Direct and Paypal), but you can also manually add transactions if needed. The mobile app lets you take photos of receipts, too. I'll let you know if I discover something buggy, but so far so good!

[Former_Member]

Thanks Michelle.
I was thinking the same thing. I've never tried to run my own business before and I really want to get it right.

[DapperCatDesigns]

Mama - the Canada order I did pretty well on, I think I was only $1 off? If you have a general idea of what your packages will weigh, you can scope out the international shipping costs at www.usps.com (first class is the least expensive). As far as reimbursing for shipping, if you are a ways off, you can issue a partial refund through direct checkout and through paypal. DC was easy to figure out, but I haven't done one through paypal yet...

[Quagorsky]

I have a question about the types of social media everyone is using. Basically, I've heard that it's a good idea to choose 2-3 social media platforms and use those frequently, rather than spread yourself too thin. I'm already on Tumblr, Google+, and Pinterest, but I was wondering if it's a bad decision not to be on Facebook. Do you all get a lot of traffic from Facebook? I just avoided it because I don't really like/use it personally.

[DapperCatDesigns]

I am currently not getting any traffic from Facebook, but that is because I rarely use it. I have seen others who swear by it, however. I believe social media is more about what type of social media matches your target audience. I like pinterest because i feel like it gets my merchandise out there to a large audience. However, facebook may be great for a seller that does craft fairs a lot, or other things where getting the word out to a lot of people quickly about an event is important.

Has anyone else had a different experience?

[Former_Member]

Social media is sooooo not my thing. My friends had to practically pin me down to set up a FB page. My problem with FB is I have no idea how to use it, and because I don't use it personally I have no idea how to get the big audience I'd like to have.

I like to browse on Pinterest personally, but don't really get how it's supposed to get my items out in front of people that want to buy.

Regardless, I "try" to post thing in both places but have seen nothing more than a few random views in the past few months, no sales.

[Former_Member]

I've been pretty busy lately with school and life in general. I haven't been spending nearly as much time on social media as I probably should. I do get a lot of views from pinterest though. It's probably my number 2 source of traffic...after etsy search. I also get a lot of views from search ads. The only views I ever get from facebook are friends and family that want to check out what I'm up to. They never buy though. Has anyone paid for advertising on facebook? It seems kind of pricey but maybe it would be worth it.....