When I Was an Etsy Noob – Part One

{Originally published a year ago, I’ve updated & edited this post for easier readability, as its lessons are ones that stand the test of time.}

Some people have had a shop on Etsy for years and have only a handful of sales.  Others have been there for only a few months and have hundreds, or even more than a thousand sales.

Newbie (or noobie) is a relative term, but however you want to define it, we’ve all been one.

Looking back at my first few weeks on Etsy, I now cringe at some of the things I did.  I will share my embarrassment with you, in the hopes that you will learn something and prevent yourself from making the same mistakes. 

If you are a seasoned Etsian, maybe you can commiserate with my experience and perhaps share some of your own in the comments section.

{Or if you are an Etsy snob, you can laugh & point and leave some scathing comments.}

Cringe-Worthy Mistake #1 –Eager Beaver Feedback

I left feedback for my first purchase as soon as I bought the item.

As in, about 5 minutes after I completed the transaction.

Yup, I didn’t even wait until I had the item in my hands before I raved about how much I loved it!  Good thing the item lived up to my expectations!  

{I’ll save you the trouble of going through my feedback, you lookie-loo! Just click the image.} 

Cringe-Worthy Mistake #2 –Missed Marketing

When I began listing items in my shop, I dutifully wrote out the fancy descriptions,  settled on shipping (more about that later) and prices …. but didn’t add any photos!! 

I wrote  “photos coming soon” in all the listings. 

????????

Did I really think people would purchase something over the Internet without  knowing what the something actually looked like?

Oh, to think how many views I must have lost!  How many people probably never bothered to click those blank boxes above my wonderful product names?

Those were the days when an item showed up in “search”, or on the front page of your category almost right away, and it stayed there for a good 5-10 minutes sometimes.  Things didn’t get buried as quickly as they do now. 

When I was a newbie, I wasn’t aware that hitting the “list” button is your first marketing opportunity for that item.  

Cringe-Worthy Mistake #3 – Not doing my shipping homework or Thinking Canada Post is normal

Before opening my Etsy shop, I was blissfully unaware of Canada Post’s  infamous “Slot of Doom”.

The Slot ‘O Doom is similar to the Death Pit in the movie 300.  If King Leonides doesn’t like what you say to him, you get the boot.  If the Slot doesn’t like your item because it’s a shave over 20mm thick (that’s less than 3/4 of a inch, folks), you pay something like $12 in shipping instead of something like $2.

Regardless of weight!  Weight is secondary for some reason. CP is all about the girth.

Here’s the other fun part:  This rule is  enforced arbitrarily by Canada Post’s employees.

A few weeks before opening shop, I sent a small amber glass bottle in a bubble mailer to a friend in the United States. I was charged just under $2.  I figured that was the standard rate to the US, and mailing within Canada would be even less. So I set my shipping prices to something like $2 for the US and $1 for Canada.

One of my very first sales was a small bottle of my Head Aid Oil.   The buyer lived in Canada, so only $1 shipping was added to the $12.50 sale price.

Imagine my surprise at the postal counter when the clerk told me the shipping cost – almost $12! 

Open mouth – insert extra shipping charges here! 

At least I did the non-cringe-worthy thing  by eating those extra charges.  Whether or not to ask a customer to pony up when the seller has mis-underestimated (see, George W? It is a word!) the shipping costs is a question that often comes up in the Etsy Forums.  Here is the answer:

You must never go back and ask a customer for more money for shipping once a sale is final.

Never!

It’s not only tacky, but it’s poor customer service and looks unprofessional.

I did contact the buyer to explain why the shipping charge on the listing is now significantly higher, should they ever come back to purchase another one.

I am now so familiar with Canada Post’s crazy rules that I think I should be working the postal counter at Rexall.  I’ve got my own Slot ‘o Doom and everything! 

Had enough embarrassment for one day?

{Mistakes 4-6 will be up later this week.}