10 signs of an Etsy seller

Being a seller on Etsy is a bit of a roller coaster. I feel most sellers will understand where my list is coming from. Especially the one about Extreme Statting.

1. You cannot go 24 hours without checking your shop stats (several times.... at least)

2. You have dreams (or nightmares) about transactions gone awry

3. You are your own boss and you think you're a lazy employee

4. Even as a seller, it's a danger to the purse strings (ssssssssshopping!)

5. You seriously wonder if - unbeknownst to you - your middle name is Promote

6. It's like being a junkie, hooked on Etsy!

7. You do gain a new appreciation for other artists and how hard they work (and end up feeling like a bit of a fraud, needing to give yourself a stern talking to)

8. SEO hurts your brain. A lot.

9. You're kept awake at night as you're designing new things in your head

10. By the time you wake up the next day you feel all 'ah... i'll do that some day...' - repeating the process often

I love my Etsy shop but I've observed these slightly nutty side effects. Maybe I should see someone professional about that. Get a prescription!

sometimes you really need a nap

The look on your digital face

I've noticed the question of Etsy shop banners doing the rounds a fair bit lately.
One of the most common problems for Etsy shops: my banner, what about it? Do I have to spend money on a professional one or fancy software? Just how important is a banner?

A banner is your shop face, a part of your brand and so if you'd like you can spend money on one. There are many banner makers on Etsy, you can buy premade banner 'shop sets' and can get custom designed one that are just for you. The premade ones are usually inexpensive but you may come across it in another shop unless the seller states it is an OOAK (one of a kind never to be sold again) banner. However there are so many banners available that the chances of running into the same one in many shops are pretty slim.

If you're like me and love to create things on the computer - but don't have any fancy software - you can still create simple but effective banners with simple programmes most of us have. MS Paint, basic photo editing software and word pad. What I do is set the Etsy maximum banner size limits as defined by Etsy and then work from there, often copying, pasting and hopping between programmes. I like to add photos to my banners so I play with the colour balance, saturation, temperature etc. in the photo editing software.
My own banner results are not artistic brilliance but they're functional and they serve their purpose!
Plus, if you do like to make your own banners you have the tools at your fingertips to change your banner at will, make holiday banners etc.

You can also download free software to play with, such as paint.net - which has more options than MS Paint has (layering is one feature). I haven't tried this programme though, i'm a die-hard MS Paint dinosaur!

For those curious, the banner in my shop is not one I created, it was one I fell in love with from an Etsy graphics shop (no longer selling on Etsy).

You've been treasuried

I spotted a question on treasuries today that got me thinking.

How do treasuries work? What are they for? How can they help me?

I enjoy making treasuries. I often make themed ones for our team so I'll try to explain this a bit!
As we know a treasury is basically a collection the curator chooses. So, how can treasuries help your shop? The simple answer is that it's free promotion. Whether or not customers search for goodies using treasuries is debatable but as we all know, many sellers are buyers too.

If a treasury is to gain popularity it will do so within hours of being created - the more clicks and admirers a treasury gets then the more popular it is. Or that is supposedly how it works. No one seems to know Etsy's exact formula there.

So it makes sense that the more popular a treasury becomes and the more likes it gets, the more it will be seen in peoples news feeds. The more circles a person is in, the more it'll be seen and thus the cycle continues. Treasury teams heavily promote their treasuries amongst each other, this is why their treasuries tend to be the ones trending or most popular - and often why theirs make the front page.

It's exposure - free promotion. And even if a treasury fails to gain popularity (as most do), you will likely gain a favourite or two from it and they DO count with search relevancy and your product will be seen in news feeds. So that sounds good right? And you didn't have to lift a finger. If you want to you can favourite the treasury. The treasury is then seen by your circle. More free potential exposure (apart from burning a calorie or two from moving the mouse around!).

Treasuries can also benefit your shop if you make them and here's why. The etsians you featured in your treasury are often curious about you, Or they might wish to favourite some of your items as a thank you gesture. So they might well check out your shop.
Many etsians that have been featured in treasuries say thank you by featuring you in a future treasury of theirs too. And so they cycle keeps going.

Are treasuries a great way to get exposure? Often the answer is no, it isn't like waving a magical promotions wand/ But you can't just dismiss the potential rewards. If you do make treasuries it helps if you enjoy making them, if you enjoyed it I think it shows!

So I have some helpful tips to share.

• How do I know if I have been in a treasury? Most people don't check their news feed all the time so they will miss many treasuries. If the curator didn't send you a message alerting you to the treasury feature you can simply go to the treasuries tab on the etsy homepage and search your shop name in the treasury section. 

• There is also a very very cool free tool at http://www.shmetsy.com/                                                For creating treasuries and sending the treasury convos in one full swoop. A note about shmesty, I use it in Google chrome and the only way I can get it to work is to open shmetsy (and treasuries) in 2 windows. Using 1 window to carry out my searches.

• There are also a a number of prototype teams on etsy - members of the team get trial tools. I currently use the add item to treasury from item page team and the saved item stash team. Both useful tools for treasury making and i hope etsy will implement them. 

I hope this might have been helpful!

Trade friendly and trade happy

Trading is not an officially sanctioned activity on Etsy (in other words, there is no official trade method) but so long as people treat trades like transactions and stick to general transaction rules trading is not discouraged either.

Juno smoochie sporting a scarf I traded for

I absolutely love to trade. I love knowing that i'm bartering in the time honored method of our ancestors (that does sound a bit twee but it is absolutely true). Trading does not pay bills and some folks can't barter but trading pays for itself in other ways. It boosts your sales and feedback numbers, you gain experience with shipping, have an excuse to make more (yay!) and most of us have birthdays, christmas gifts to get and then there is one of my favourites: you can get some little goodies for yourself that you otherwise wouldn''t be able to. You can also trade for something more serious: one of my trades was for my lovely shop banner (and other matching images as part of a Shop Set). You are basically paying for something with your own product.

bLaneArts trade beauty

There are actually a number of trade teams: trade-a-holics, yay for trades and trade uk are among my favourites. People share wish lists, add themselves to 'trade friendly' shop lists and so on. Some of these teams hold trade events too. In addition to this I occasionally run a search with the phrase 'trade friendly' as many folks (myself included) tag some of their items this way. I have never approached someone with a trade request if I didn't find on a trade team, or through a trade friendly search although it can be done. The truth is many sellers are unaware that trading is a possibility and some folks appreciate being contacted. Others dont. REALLY dont and that puts me off contacting anyone outside of the methods above. However there is no shortage of trade friendly shops even if most sellers are unaware of the practice.

So, how can trading benefit you? Trades are carried out like any transaction *except* you checkout using the 'other' or 'money order' method as you are paying for their item with yours. This way Etsy gets it's fees, there is a record of the transaction and you increase your shop sale numbers. You can also gain and leave feedback. So you do have some protection.
Just as with any purchase, exercise some caution and use some good sense.

ArtByJaneane trade beauty

There are some general rules which all of the trade teams suggest you follow:

• Never reduce your item price for an agreed trade. It is fee avoidance and is the one thing that would force Etsy to put a stop to trading 
• If you find someone you are interested in trading with, send them a polite convo asking if they are interested in trading 
• Please respond to all trade requests even if the answer is no thank you 
• Check out with 'other' or 'money order' to keep the trade above board and to protect yourself 
• The trade value is the item price PLUS postage - some items have higher postage. so to keep it fair consider the total cost. An example is: i wish to trade for a scarf that costs 20 dollars with 10 dollars postage. So the trade value is 30 dollars, the other seller can chose an item(s) that cost 30 dollars including the postage
• To help each other out, leave feedback
• Above all stay polite

The only real downside is that you do pay for the postage. But if you can afford the odd trade it can be a great little activity for your shop and your wallet. For me personally, the main problem is that i'm in Ireland and most Etsy traders are in the USA. The US had a big hike in international postage costs earlier this year so it is not as worth it for many of them to trade with me. That's not to say it isn't worth asking people are they interested they can - at worst - say no. I always go into trade requests expecting a no, so when I get a yes it's a nice surprise. 

I'm a trade friendly Etsy shop