Hello! A new Chat Thread for 2012

[#1]

A happy New Year to you all. Blwyddyn Newydd Dda - a llawer ohonynt!

Let's hope the Sales Fairy is kind to us all in 2012 and scatters us with her magic dust!

I have now closed the old chat thread - a new thread for a new year!

I'll speak to you all soon

[Former_Member]

Congrats to you Kim!

I love love your shop Chloe all the things are lush :)

We have had a frost on the ground here the last 2 days & it even got down to -1 last night, too chilly for me! I caved in & put my heating on & have been drinking lots if tea.

Hope it warms up for you all too

New from me http://www.etsy.com/listing/38603588/glass-bead-swarovski-crystal-zipper-pull

[MollyandFlorence]

Happy New Year all. Going to try and stop by more often as I've been a little neglecting of some of my teams the last couple of months - sorry!

[MollyandFlorence]

Hope it's ok to post these here... new things from me

http://www.etsy.com/listing/89760387/welsh-birthday-card-penblwydd-hapus-red

http://www.etsy.com/listing/89760198/welsh-birthday-card-penblwydd-hapus-blue

[Former_Member]

Lovely cards Jessica :)

[MollyandFlorence]

Thank you :-)
Just added some Valentines ones too, not welsh this time, but didn't want to spam too much

[sewmuchfrippery]

Nice to see you again Jessica. Nice cards!
Don't worry about being 'spammy'. Although posting items from your own shop is frowned upon in the main public fora, we have always shared our new items on this thread. It's nice to see what everyone else is up to!
Providing we don't post links to our outside shops etc, we should remain on the right side of Etsy forum regulations!

[littlebudgetme]

Hope everyone's having a good morning :) Its very windy here again and its bin day so i've spent the last 10 minutes trying to get the rubbish to stay put and not fly half way up the street!

Fingers crossed they'll come soon!

[CariadClay]

Leannne i've just done the same!
ours has finally been done and i've resorted to bike locking it to a lamp post

the wind also kept me awake most of the night so am so tired today :(

[Former_Member]

Good morning all...it really is so windy!!! Terrible night last night, but hopefully it will all begin to die down a bit now.

Laura and I really need to get some new stuff made now for listing. It seems like we are just filling orders and not really being creative!! I have made some new hats over Christmas and gave one to my new grandson when I saw him on Tuesday...he looks so cute in it. Now I just need to persuade my son and DIL to let me use him as a model...lol.. :)

Have a good day everyone...and I hope your rubbish doesn't fly away before the bin men come Leanne!!

Kim

[Former_Member]

Bin day here too! Of course if it's not at the right point at the curbside they don't pick it up. I'll have to go out later with another binbag and tidy up.
At least the sun is shining, at the moment!

[Former_Member]

Bin day with us too- lots of people running round in PJs and nighties this morning after their recycling bags!
Lots of drains overflowing and localised flooding on a few roads.
Seems like we are at the mercy of the elements today!

[littlebudgetme]

Sounds like we're all got it! Luckily its not raining here but they haven't come yet and i've got to brave the wind to post something later on, so not looking forward to it!

[FragmentDesignsEtsy]

Wow am I living in a little bubble! I haven't noticed the wind at all, I'd sleep through anything, and the wind doesn't look that bad outside at the mo, maybe Roath has it's own little weather system :)

I know what you mean Kim I want to play and make new stuff but I keep getting asked about my constellation pieces so I need to make more star signs cause they seem to be selling. But I wanna make new stuff! But I also want to not starve! There has to be a balance somewhere!

[Former_Member]

I know what you mean. A shop here is having a sale and I've been fancying her wool for ages. Again no sales so I can't buy.

I have to go to town to pay bills. Derek has said that the winds will die down this afternoon. I'll wait until then.

[littlebudgetme]

Yeah, its a lot better now, phew!

Didn't Derek say the worst is over now? or did I just imagine that? lol

[Former_Member]

I came back - alive. The wind has died down. There's more on the way but Saturday should be the best day. I love Derek!

I have an ongoing battle with Santander. I'm not with them now - it's a long story. Today they wanted to charge me £5 for paying a bill with a bank giro even though they were the receiving bank!

In my head there are lots of bad words and evil thoughts!!!

[Former_Member]

Hey Sarah- interesting about your constellations being popular- Chris my hubbie is an astronomical artist- he did a wooden relief series of the astrological star signs to try and engage people in astronomy- but never sold any.
He sells his black holes- they are his most popular pieces (but sadly no on etsy!)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/80599616/black-hole-8?ref=sr_gallery_2&ga_search_query=chris+williams&ga...
I need to get some inspiration-but the bills come first!

[sewmuchfrippery]

I do sympathise Cat (don't get me started on banks!!)

Your husband's Black Hole scuplture is amazing Gayle - though I'm sure that it's one of those pieces that need to be 'seen in the flesh' to be fully appreciated.

Thank goodness the wind has died down. Abermaw seafront is no fun in windy weather. The road looks like a lunar landscape - there's so much sand. My son has taken to wearing a balaclava and googles (I jest not!)

[FragmentDesignsEtsy]

Ooooh I've seen that black hole one before and thought it was fab, I may have even put it in a Treasury at some stage way back. I'd say the issue with him selling on etsy is probably the size of the work and the fact that most of the buyers are american. Pity though.

Ye the constellation pendants seem to sell and I've been asked about earrings etc so will be rolling them out over the next few weeks, people buy star signs for birthdays etc but orion has sold really well for me, ...still not huge numbers since I'm only really getting off the ground though :) Fingers crossed it keeps up! I give fact sheets with them too which people seem to like if he maybe wanted to try that?

[sewmuchfrippery]

Yes, since most buyers are in the US, etsy provides limited exposure for sellers who are advertising their wares primarily to a domestic clientele.
However, every bit of exposure is bound to help. And I suspect that as the years go by, etsy will raise its profile within Europe (and the UK)

[FragmentDesignsEtsy]

Well there is always folksy and the likes, but it's such an amazingly slow platform! Loading a listing takes ages! and you can reach so many more people on here anyway, and it's cheaper! Hmmm actually Folksy isn't really in the running all that much!

[Former_Member]

Folksy is an old fashioned clunky machine compare to Etsy. Every time I list on it I feel as if I'm throwing away money. The sellers do so much self promotion and while there are successful ones, it's not common.

[sewmuchfrippery]

I haven't tried Folksy as I'm not making my own stuff yet. I had thought of giving it a go when I do start but I'm not so sure now. I'm sure Etsy will gain more 'traction' in the UK eventually.

There is certainly more scope here to reach a huge international marketplace. However, since all the changes that were introduced a few months ago (e.g. with the region filters) it's more important than ever to have our shipping profiles filled in correctly. Many buyers now have their 'Ship To' filters set to their own country or region and will only see items in their search results if sellers have set the shipping profiles for those items to include the country in question. Using the 'Everywhere Else' option is the best bet, since it will ensure that our items appear in the search results for each and every country - for instance, I have mine set to UK, European Union and Everywhere Else which ensures that all my items appear in the search results for all countries. Hopefully most sellers are aware of this change by now - but many don't appear to be, as etsy didn't publicise it very well at the time, and I suspect that a lot of sellers are missing out as a result.

At least, that was the case a few months back - when I was more in touch with what was going on here. Please let me know if things have changed yet again!! I find it hard to keep abreast of all the changes!

[teabreaks]

Until Folksy changed their website it was really good....I think they have shot themselves in the foot because it is now SO slow and they have also lost a lot of shops because they decided they only wanted hand made items.
I can list on etsy in a fraction of the time for less money. I know it is only 4 months on here as against 6 on Folksy but 4 months is quite enough.
AND Folksy have now added VAT and so a listing costs 24p as against about 15p on etsy.
I am just listing one or two items a month on Folksy...just to keep my shop active but am now using etsy much more and getting more sales too. It HAS helped that I have joined a daily listing club on etsy and it is definitely paying off as I have already had 3 sales this month....
The winds have gone and after yesterday ever tree looks SOOO still....almost weird...lol

[teabreaks]

sewmuch...what do I click on to check that my shipping says "everywhere else"....talk to me in layman's terms....I have looked but can't find it....where do I find the link please?