Wednesday, December 15, 2010

shop keeping

I've definitely managed to find my misplaced enthusiasm for my etsy shop lately. I've been adding lots of new things (and old things) and keep popping in to have a look at it and smiling at it like a proud parent. I'm sure the flurry of pre-Christmas sales has helped my etsy mojo too. I say flurry... To most online sellers, my sales would probably be classified as a snowflake that melted before it even hit the ground, but to me it is a definite flurry. I've made more sales in the last month than I had made since opening my shop almost 18 months ago.
Today I added a couple of new items. Item number one - hankies (above) that I had only really been selling at face-to-face markets until now. These hankies are made from vintage floral fabrics that have been laundered and then hemmed with a colourful/contrasting stitch all the way round the edge. They come in a mixed pack of two hankies and are super cute, if I do say so myself. $10 including postage (if you're in the UK) and available here.
The other item I added was the good old Big Daddy lavender hangers. I used to have them in my shop a while back, but I took the listing down when I made packaging for them and somehow never got round to taking photos and updating the product description. Well, I have done it now! Phew! Available here for $7 including postage (if you're in the UK).
Is it just me, or did Etsy get much better while I was mostly ignoring it? It just seems like it is a bit more snazzy, with some handy features and a bit more... tweakable. I'm going to be changing my prices to pounds rather than dollars after Christmas, I think. I had decided that last night and thought it would definitely be for the best since I had only ever sold to people based in the UK anyway. Then what happened overnight? I made a sale to someone in America! I still think listing in pounds would be for the best though. It will also be a good opportunity to tweak prices (up and down) and put some more thought into the free UK postage and packing that I offer at the moment. I really like having the free P&P (no nasty surprises) but it really doesn't work for some items. It costs me almost the full price of a pom pom bomb kit just to post it on its own. Damn those chubby pom poms! I'm not sure whether it would be better to increase the price of those items slightly to cover the postage, or whether it would be better to start charging postage again... Hmm. All decisions that can wait for 2011 though. I just want to revel in the fun side of online selling for a while longer yet.

2 comments:

  1. Yay - glad to hear you're feeling the etsy love again Laura! Postage pricing is rather nuts isn't it- I find the same parcel can actually be cheaper to send to Europe than within the UK (by just a few pence, but still) - how is that??!
    I totally agree about the snazzy new features - like the circle (just added you!) and activity feed. Plus the currency conversion thingy. Not sure it was sensible for me to change as my orders tend to come from the states! WAH!!

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  2. I don't understand the circle thing. I am in three circles, but have no idea what that means. Another thing to look into after Christmas!

    I guess it doesn't matter too much who is buying our stuff as they can choose to see the currency however they like...? Oh, it's a minefield, I tells ya!

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