May Be Days of Chat, Metal and Stone

[#1]

As you were....

[LauraStasa]

Keeping my fingers crossed for you Jen. I hope you get both of your Mother's Day wishes- maybe the little Prox will be able to watch GoT with you:)

[cgwhitfield]

Pennee, I see it the other way.....even if everything is optimized, an item that people don't want to buy will just have more eyes seeing it and not buying it. Might be wonderfully made and presented but if nobody buys it....

[cgwhitfield]

I think etsy's VAT tax 'solution' for EU sellers by taking away the 'tax tool' will have a lot to do with it's operational presence in Dublin (EU). I'll bet if they provide the tax tool it will put some sort of legal responsibility on etsy.

So they take it away, and ask EU sellers to just raise all their prices for everyone. Too stupid.

[prox]

Ugh, my stupid neighbors dog is loose again. That man should NOT own such a beautiful dog :(

[SilverBlueberry]

Jen, we can get new GoT episodes through HBO nordic. Have to pay a monthly fee. We haven't done it yet but we may not want to wait a year before release on national tv...

[PPennee]

can you get anything like Netflix or Hulu in Sweden Esme? thy hav loads of good shows!

My cable has on demand so I can watch tv shows I missed the next day or for the entire season- the jerks have started charging for past seasons on some shows and that really annoys me

I think we are both right CG- there are a few things I have made that got loads of views and never sold- I liked the item, obviously no one else did. So you're right. But I have seen my own and other sellers make perfectly awesome stuff and it didn't sell because it wasn't getting seen. Jen's enamel pieces I think are an excellent example. Beautiful, clean and well priced enamel work and she sold almost nothing for 2 years, people weren't seeing it- now they are in her shop browsing and she sells the stuff- even if they didn't come looking for an enamel piece, it's selling because now it is getting seen. I se that a lot with people who sell PMC, great stuff- it doesn't get found- who knows why

[cgwhitfield]

Well, bad presentation will kill the sales of a sellable item but if the item isn't sellable it's possible that no amount of great presentation will force it to sell.

I'm thinking of the forum threads...'I've done everything I can think of, why isn't my stuff selling?'. Sometimes there just isn't a good market for what they're selling, no matter how well designed and well made it is.

An item's inherent saleability is often the last thing to be considered.

[PPennee]

definitely true - and I am sometimes amazed at what does sell- I have seen some ugly stuff posted on FB with squees of delight that this is my number 1 seller, I am back ordered- seriously, who buys that? Something for everyone!

[cgwhitfield]

I have one 'dog' here that I keep listed just to remind myself of the mysteries of what's saleable and what's not. Other bad sellers are long gone and forgotten, this one bracelet has become like a protected species for me.

[LauraStasa]

Up for a bit of lunch. Two pairs of bee earrings done- one of my best sellers but not particularly challenging. I just don't have much energy today for anything creative. Last night's bad night sleep has done me in. A nap is probably next.

I so agree about the crappy things I see that sell hand over fist. I just think I must be on the wrong planet or something. I wouldn't want to own or wear it at any price! And the squees. That's what really freaks me out. Really??

[ElfinWorks]

Good morning from here... That VAT conversation does not at all inspire confidence in Etsy as a selling platform. I don't understand all the EU rules, but I do have to collect a 7 % Provincial Sales Tax from all my BC customers including those buying on Etsy. The tax tool lets me set this up to be added to th bill as PST when my BC customers check out. If Etsy removed my ability to do this and imagined it was OK for me to raise all my prices 7 % and remit the additional 7% as PST whenever I made a BC sale, I would be beyond pissed. It is so unprofessional. But then a lot of the changes Etsy has made seem to be breaking something that did not need to be fixed. The overly simplistic canned policies, the latest reviews on the front page, before anything about our processes or policies, and some with poor quality customer pictures in the reviews.

The past 7 days my shop has been completely dead. And between getting a handle on my garden and that complication with the moonstone ring I have not felt like making anything or even listing some cool new pieces I have. When it got too hot to be outside yesterday I cleaned my workshop and put paper over some of the windows to try and cool it down up there. The bar of tripolie I had in the sun was melting...

So sorry you lost all your beautiful altered art pictures Kate...

That bracelet on IG had a really nice flow and polish Beatriz!

Nobody stays pregnant past a certain point Jen.... This stage has to be over soon!

[prox]

Guess thats true Dreia :D

[cgwhitfield]

Dreia, as you know I'm registered for the GST. That means I charge 7 or 8 different taxes depending on which province. The tax tool works flawlessly, it shows added on to the invoice. I can't see much difference between this and the EU VAT tax. Although we're required to show it separately, not included. Maybe some EU countries want it included and some don't.

I'll bet it has to do with conducting business from Dublin. And interestingly, etsy gets to collect the 3.5% on the VAT when it's included in the price.

While on this, I can 't find where I can see my tax setup here. Any hints?

[prox]

your shop > Finances > Accepted payments > theres a tax tab there

[cgwhitfield]

Thanks, Jen. Off to find it.

[cgwhitfield]

I have 13 different taxes depending on jurisdiction. Works perfectly.

Since it's illegal for us to include it in the selling price I don't know what we'd do without the tax tool.

[ElfinWorks]

Made a short trip to Denmark...

[ElfinWorks]

Lots of people say they include the taxes in the sale price, but maybe this is the BC PST? Is it illegal to do with the PST or just with the HST? (Harmonized GST and provincial PST)

I never have included PST in the purchase price.. I want my customers to know who gets that additional 7 %

[GreenJeweler]

I guess I'll jump in - I used to consign to galleries and artist co-ops in the 90's and 00's and would have steady,regular sales. Within the last few years I've noticed that there is a lack of care to sell work -by them -and a need to fill space with art/jewelry. This has made me want to do it less and less. Recently an upscale gallery told me my work was a great fit, would I bring some in to consign? As we Inventoried it with the director and asked her about their sales record. She says" oh we really don't sell much jewelry" What?
Also sales reps used to be a great thing, I think they are extinct.
So now I am grappling with where to go ......

[prox]

Hi Andrea,
I do think with the upswing of online sales, galleries are suffering. I have had horrible consignment experiences. So I pulled all my stuff out of them all years ago, I sell better online anyways. People around here don't buy my stuff, and I can't "babysit" my work in far away galleries.

[cgwhitfield]

Hi, Andrea.

I think many retailers are having a tough go of it now with increasing online sales. Until about ten years ago I did quite a bit of consignment on my own, and had a sales rep for wholesale. But I live in the bush, and it was my only way of surviving, no large population close than about an day's drive away. So my take on it will be a bit different. As soon as online was proven to be enough for me I stopped every other way of selling.

Consignment outlets are very individual, if you find a good one, yay.

[heartsabustin]

Hello, Andrea!

I think this lady actually is interested in selling - at least for now. We shall see.

We ate at a locall restaurant and I am STUFFED.

I sent an email to my mom - I felt like I should do at least that, since I'm not allowed to call her. *eyeroll* She sent an outfit for K, so I used that as my "in".

[heartsabustin]

K fell off my bed. Go me.

[prox]

A lesson in Gravity.

[SilverBlueberry]

Pennee, yes we have Netflix. We just finished watching House of Cards and before that Daredevil. I also like Orange is the New Black. We watched all Frasier episodes and all of the good Buffy seasons too, back when we still had time.. 😉