Selling on Etsy

LondonZ17

Hi there,
Does anyone have any experience selling on Etsy? I have been on Ebay since 2004 with 1000s of positive feedbacks and no issues, but opened an Etsy shop two months ago; it's more anonymous and I can post pics of the jewellery on Instagram without revealing my identity or people thinking I have tons of stuff worth stealing at home.

Made my first sale last week, shipped it expensively with Fedex to the US (it cost something like £25, I only insured it for the cost price I had paid for the item, which I got second hand but is worth far more). Now it's showing as delivered, but straight away the buyer contacted me to say she hadn't received it even though she's already noticed they marked it as delivered. All I can do it open a claim with Fedex. No idea what happens next. It's just so depressing, especially as another buyer had been ready to buy the item on Ebay but the Etsy one got there first, and I thought it would help build my feedback to sell to her. 

Does anyone have similar experiences? Feels so alien compared to Ebay, whose Paypal protection service offers more protection as you just need to prove the courier delivered the goods...So, so disappointed as I don't do this for fun, I do need the extra money.

Thanks.

soolin

I have had an Etsy account for several years and have sold on and off, I’m currently back on there selling again but have never got my head round it. I find it confusing and time consuming and despite being on there for years really struggle to do anything quickly at all. However, it’s ideal for some of the quirky items I end up with. 

Are sellers not protected then against an INR where tracking shows delivery? everytime I sell something it nudges me to upload my tracking for my safety and security ,why do that if it does no good? Having said that though I no longer ship overseas as we should now be using export numbers and codes and with all the RM warnings about international post it doesn’t seem worth the effort. 

soolin

I just looked up Etsy seller protection and frankly I’m no wiser as it all seems to depend on what their customer services fancy doing in that particular day

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000344188-What-is-Etsy-s-Seller-Protection-Policy-?segment=selling

it doesn’t fill me with confidence at all, I prefer a policy with strict rules , not something variable 

LondonZ17

Thanks Soolin. 
Looked into into it on Etsy forums and it looks like I'm protected as the items shows up as delivered. Not sure how the buyer gets her refund if it's genuinely a Fedex mess up...I'll see what happens. Just very annoyed as was looking forward to using the funds to pay off a credit card and now I won't dare touch them until it's sorted...

LondonZ17

Oh thanks, just had a look at the link. Not very clear, as you say! I just have to hope it's a genuine Fedex error and that it can be sorted...

noitsnotme

I sell more on Etsy than eBay and Amazon combined these days.  It went mad last year and I was doing 5 figures in value of sales a month in the last couple of months of the year.  Had a few overseas people saying not received but as soon as I’ve pointed out the tracking shows delivered I’ve not heard from them again.  None of them have opened a case so far but if you have proof of delivery you should be fine.

I had a 1 star feedback rating a couple of weeks ago where a US customer claimed their order never arrived.  No contact from them at all, just the feedback.  The tracking showed delivered so I reported the feedback and a few days later Etsy removed it.

Etsy customer services is a lot slower to respond than other channels but they mostly seem to do the right thing.

LondonZ17

Thanks noitsnotme, and congratulations on your sales! Very reassuring to hear that proof of delivery should be sufficient. I feel bad for the buyer, if their parcel was stolen from their porch...It's very unfortunate that this has happened with my first Etsy sale as I want to build up some good feedback. 

soolin

As we don't have a dedicated thread on etsy can anyone tell me how to view completed listings?
I have some items, for etsy , others are listed between £6 and £80 and I want to know what the general spread of selling prices is as there is no point putting them on near the £80 mark if they only sell at £6. Ebay completed listings would suggest a price of around £9-£12 but I know etsy can often pick up people prepared to pay a lot more for the whole 'handmade/vintage' vibe. 

noitsnotme

soolin said:

As we don't have a dedicated thread on etsy can anyone tell me how to view completed listings?
I have some items, for etsy , others are listed between £6 and £80 and I want to know what the general spread of selling prices is as there is no point putting them on near the £80 mark if they only sell at £6. Ebay completed listings would suggest a price of around £9-£12 but I know etsy can often pick up people prepared to pay a lot more for the whole 'handmade/vintage' vibe. 

There is no easy way to search for sold listings on Etsy.  There are some workaround suggestions here but none of them are great - https://community.etsy.com/t5/All-Things-Finance/Checking-sold-items/td-p/126692367

LondonZ17

Hi Soolin, Etsy seems to hide the price of sold items. Once, I emailed a seller to ask how much she had sold a vintage necklace, as that's the only way I could find out. Luckily, she was helpful, but I can't do that for every listing!

I tend to match other sellers' prices as I don't want to undercut anyone. If the same item isn't for sale on Etsy, I work out a profit that is fair for me and the buyer...With the years, I have become more empathetic with buyers and want them to enjoy a bargain, whereas 15 years ago I just wanted to maximise profit...It all depends how much I paid for the piece, or how much I still love it, so would only bear to part with it for a certain sum.

But finding the right price is so hard! And also, you could have something for sale for a year and a buyer will come along and buy it, even if it's very expensive. 

soolin

LondonZ17 said:

Hi Soolin, Etsy seems to hide the price of sold items. Once, I emailed a seller to ask how much she had sold a vintage necklace, as that's the only way I could find out. Luckily, she was helpful, but I can't do that for every listing!

I tend to match other sellers' prices as I don't want to undercut anyone. If the same item isn't for sale on Etsy, I work out a profit that is fair for me and the buyer...With the years, I have become more empathetic with buyers and want them to enjoy a bargain, whereas 15 years ago I just wanted to maximise profit...It all depends how much I paid for the piece, or how much I still love it, so would only bear to part with it for a certain sum.

But finding the right price is so hard! And also, you could have something for sale for a year and a buyer will come along and buy it, even if it's very expensive. 

In my case this is a handcrafted item so although virtually the same, prices vary between £6 and £80 and I can make as many as I want. I sell them on ebay for around £8 and the same on facebook . I can see no reason why some are changing as low as £6 and as high as £80 , but looking at the listings I suspect that the cheaper ones are like me and can make them virtually to order in a very short time and have bulk purchased the equipment cheaply ,  whereas the expensive ones are made by newer crafters who spend a lot of time, and have to buy higher priced individual ordered parts - and then price up a very high 'wage' for themselves as well.