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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 9, 2019 8:59:43 GMT -5
OK, this time what they are doing will help me, but I pity the people who sell heavier items.
Etsy is now practically forcing people into offering free shipping. They will even have tools to make it easier for you to do it. A while back, they started floating the idea that you should have FS. I guess not enough people took the hint. Now, ppl with FS will have better search rankings. That will really knock out those that charge for shipping. I can understand the reasoning behind FS, but punishing those whose shops can not offer free shipping is horrible! Vintage seller are gonna take a hit- AGAIN.
Whatever happened to independent shops? If they either strong arm you or punish you, do you really have a choice?
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Post by fernwood on Jul 9, 2019 9:28:27 GMT -5
Sorry for an ignorant question, but what is FS? Free Shipping?
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 9, 2019 9:30:27 GMT -5
Sorry for an ignorant question, but what is FS? Free Shipping? Yes, it is. I'm a lazy typist. |
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Post by MsAli on Jul 9, 2019 9:39:59 GMT -5
I dont really understand why they are putting sellers in this position.
I am not sure what they will gain from it as a platform.
It certainly may drive buyers to the site, but at the same time I can see it driving more and more sellers away
I offer free shipping anyways, but I also dont sell overseas on Etsy at all
For me, free shipping on my items is not a big loss cost wise, as I can always just price the item at $4.00 higher to cover the costs.
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Don
Cave Dweller 
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Jul 9, 2019 9:46:58 GMT -5
OK, this time what they are doing will help me, but I pity the people who sell heavier items.
Etsy is now practically forcing people into offering free shipping. They will even have tools to make it easier for you to do it. A while back, they started floating the idea that you should have FS. I guess not enough people took the hint. Now, ppl with FS will have better search rankings. That will really knock out those that charge for shipping. I can understand the reasoning behind FS, but punishing those whose shops can not offer free shipping is horrible! Vintage seller are gonna take a hit- AGAIN. Whatever happened to independent shops? If they either strong arm you or punish you, do you really have a choice?
I saw this coming a while ago. Etsy has been pushing sellers to adopt a free shipping model for a while now. It was just a matter of time before they railroad everyone into offering it. I think we'll all be railroaded into a premium monthly subscription plan eventually too. Notice how they took away an entire page of customer stats a few months ago? It will be back...as part of their premium subscription plan... In the mean time, their redesign of the etsy shipping label software is horrendous, they can't fix basic things like validating a customer's shipping address when they enter it to make sure it's formatted correctly, and the etsy shop stats remain broken and completely unusable for tax filing purposes. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 9, 2019 9:51:22 GMT -5
OK, this time what they are doing will help me, but I pity the people who sell heavier items.
Etsy is now practically forcing people into offering free shipping. They will even have tools to make it easier for you to do it. A while back, they started floating the idea that you should have FS. I guess not enough people took the hint. Now, ppl with FS will have better search rankings. That will really knock out those that charge for shipping. I can understand the reasoning behind FS, but punishing those whose shops can not offer free shipping is horrible! Vintage seller are gonna take a hit- AGAIN. Whatever happened to independent shops? If they either strong arm you or punish you, do you really have a choice?
I saw this coming a while ago. Etsy has been pushing sellers to adopt a free shipping model for a while now. It was just a matter of time before they railroad everyone into offering it. I think we'll all be railroaded into a premium monthly subscription plan eventually too. Notice how they took away an entire page of customer stats a few months ago? It will be back...as part of their premium subscription plan... In the mean time, their redesign of the etsy shipping label software is horrendous, they can't fix basic things like validating a customer's shipping address when they enter it to make sure it's formatted correctly, and the etsy shop stats remain broken and completely unusable for tax filing purposes.
Oh yeah, I saw it coming, too. Not in the least surprised. And, yes, they will, at some point, force us all into paying for what we should get from a seller's platform JUST BECAUSE. Since they went public, they have gone downhill. What sense does it make to alienate the people who bring in your money?
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Post by opalpyrexia on Jul 9, 2019 11:01:07 GMT -5
I get upset at every change that Etsy makes. Even the ones that make sense because they invariably do a poor job of execution. I miss Regretsy, a watering hole to soothe Etsy frustrations.
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,982
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Post by Tommy on Jul 9, 2019 12:49:24 GMT -5
Well, we all kind of knew it was coming I guess. In my cabochon shop I've always offered free shipping just to try to gain some kind of competitive advantage I guess. Folks do love free shipping and I used to get a lot of complements about it in the beginning. Anyway ... yawn ... but yes I do feel really bad for the folks who sell heavy stuff, Vintage in particular. There's a lot of speculation on the direction Etsy wants to go (handmade?) and Vintage seems like the red-headed step child at this point. In the RTH Store it's worrisome to me.  We're using a print contractor and I can't negotiate with them to get them to include free shipping so I am stuck - we either eat all or part of the shipping cost out of already thin margins or raise prices across the board. I'm already charging $21.95 for a teeshirt which is on the high side compared to other Etsy teeshirt shops and after the print contractor's costs and Etsy's fees we make like $6 per shirt. We're currently charging $5 flat rate for shipping a shirt and I can't see raising our prices to $26.95 - maybe $24.95. The other option is to change all the listings in the shop to go with a bottom of the barrel shirt from the print contractor which I refuse to do. |
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Post by MsAli on Jul 9, 2019 13:00:00 GMT -5
Well, we all kind of knew it was coming I guess. In my cabochon shop I've always offered free shipping just to try to gain some kind of competitive advantage I guess. Folks do love free shipping and I used to get a lot of complements about it in the beginning. Anyway ... yawn ... but yes I do feel really bad for the folks who sell heavy stuff, Vintage in particular. There's a lot of speculation on the direction Etsy wants to go (handmade?) and Vintage seems like the red-headed step child at this point. In the RTH Store it's worrisome to me. We're using a print contractor and I can't negotiate with them to get them to include free shipping so I am stuck - we either eat all or part of the shipping cost out of already thin margins or raise prices across the board. I'm already charging $21.95 for a teeshirt which is on the high side compared to other Etsy teeshirt shops and after the print contractor's costs and Etsy's fees we make like $6 per shirt. We're currently charging $5 flat rate for shipping a shirt and I can't see raising our prices to $26.95 - maybe $24.95. The other option is to change all the listings in the shop to go with a bottom of the barrel shirt from the print contractor which I refuse to do. Do the shirts get shipped directly from the print shop? Would it be more cost effective to have a pre-order of shirts? |
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,982
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Post by Tommy on Jul 9, 2019 13:15:05 GMT -5
Do the shirts get shipped directly from the print shop? Would it be more cost effective to have a pre-order of shirts? Yes the print contractor is connected to the store so when an order is recieved on Etsy it goes straight to them and they start working on it and ship straight to the customer. Pre-order meaning keeping inventory? That would be impossible unless we were selling something like an event shirt in one color and a couple of sizes and I had prior commitments to purchase them already. Every shirt in the store has like 50 to 100 options when you include available sizes and colors. |
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Post by MsAli on Jul 9, 2019 13:31:44 GMT -5
Do the shirts get shipped directly from the print shop? Would it be more cost effective to have a pre-order of shirts? Yes the print contractor is connected to the store so when an order is recieved on Etsy it goes straight to them and they start working on it and ship straight to the customer. Pre-order meaning keeping inventory? That would be impossible unless we were selling something like an event shirt in one color and a couple of sizes and I had prior commitments to purchase them already. Every shirt in the store has like 50 to 100 options when you include available sizes and colors. That is along the lines I was thinking of Cost wise would it make more sense? Has there been enough interests in the shirts to continue as is? Maybe Pre-order a limited amount of sizes and limit the colors (based of past sales popularity) What about selling on the FB group as well? Creating a IG page for RTH? Just bouncing ideas in my head that would cut costs and increase revenue and exposure to RTH and maybe bypassing ETSY all together |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 9, 2019 13:53:21 GMT -5
Tommy, how much does a tshirt typically weigh? Just curious. I know that you and I don't pay much for cabs, just wondering what a tshirt would cost to mail.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jul 9, 2019 13:55:48 GMT -5
OK, this time what they are doing will help me, but I pity the people who sell heavier items.
Etsy is now practically forcing people into offering free shipping. They will even have tools to make it easier for you to do it. A while back, they started floating the idea that you should have FS. I guess not enough people took the hint. Now, ppl with FS will have better search rankings. That will really knock out those that charge for shipping. I can understand the reasoning behind FS, but punishing those whose shops can not offer free shipping is horrible! Vintage seller are gonna take a hit- AGAIN. Whatever happened to independent shops? If they either strong arm you or punish you, do you really have a choice?
I saw this coming a while ago. Etsy has been pushing sellers to adopt a free shipping model for a while now. It was just a matter of time before they railroad everyone into offering it. I think we'll all be railroaded into a premium monthly subscription plan eventually too. Notice how they took away an entire page of customer stats a few months ago? It will be back...as part of their premium subscription plan... In the mean time, their redesign of the etsy shipping label software is horrendous, they can't fix basic things like validating a customer's shipping address when they enter it to make sure it's formatted correctly, and the etsy shop stats remain broken and completely unusable for tax filing purposes.
I had to print an international label last night. WTH? I REALLY don't like how they do the customs forms now.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2019 13:59:13 GMT -5
I was just wondering whether there is a compelling reason to keep the RTH store on Etsy?
There are other sites with lower or no fees and without being nudged toward free shipping, etc.
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,982
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Post by Tommy on Jul 9, 2019 14:11:09 GMT -5
Tommy, how much does a tshirt typically weigh? Just curious. I know that you and I don't pay much for cabs, just wondering what a tshirt would cost to mail. The PC bills me for actual shipping costs at what they call the "garment rate" and it ranges from order to order depending on where they are shipping to. I've seen it as low as $3.50 and as high as over $5. I'm currently charging $5 flat rate on Etsy to cover the range. |
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,982
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Post by Tommy on Jul 9, 2019 14:40:26 GMT -5
I was just wondering whether there is a compelling reason to keep the RTH store on Etsy? There are other sites with lower or no fees and without being nudged toward free shipping, etc. It's more than just a 'nudge' now but anyway, I guess the only truly compelling reason to stay is the time and energy to set up and manage another shop at this point. I love Etsy for selling my cabochons so it's a natural fit to run the RTH store there too because I'm familiar with it and I'm there anyway managing my other shop. Like or hate Etsy, we can't deny that they provide an instant pool of millions of shopping eyes around the world from the moment you add a new listing. Aside from Amazon and Ebay no single site in existence can provide that kind of exposure to my products. The question for me is are they killing the platform or are they improving it? Remains to be seen I guess. Honestly (and this goes back MsAli's questions too) If we were killing it on teeshirts, and hats, and mugs sales and I thought moving to an independent platform and or working promotion channels like IG would be successful then it might make sense. At this point it's barely a trickle of sales (2-4 shirts a month?) on a worldwide platform loaded with rock lovers and jewelry and lapidary artists. The bottom line is aside from the time I spend creating and adding new listings, the shop is a self-managing ecosystem. Etsy collects the sale, takes their fees and automatically deposits the rest into the same account that the PC automatically bills me from and I never have to touch it or have to worry about it. It took quite a while to reach this level of efficiency and stop the cash bleeding, so this shipping thing is worrisome but it's really just a bump in the road that I'll have to make adjustments for. My long term goal with the RTH Store is to keep working on new products on various expanded subjects from camping to rockhounds (dogs) and get the store up to the "magic number" of items which is said to be around 150+ and at that point if we're getting a handful of sales per month then I'm a happy camper. I'm not trying to get rich or even profit much from the shop. A steady flow of sales is good and desirable because it goes directly into covering the board expenses - "ad free" and the yearly hosting expenses etc. which is all I've ever wanted it to be - a self sustaining source of revenue. |
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Don
Cave Dweller
He wants you too, Malachi.
Member since December 2009
Posts: 2,616
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Post by Don on Jul 9, 2019 14:49:52 GMT -5
I saw this coming a while ago. Etsy has been pushing sellers to adopt a free shipping model for a while now. It was just a matter of time before they railroad everyone into offering it. I think we'll all be railroaded into a premium monthly subscription plan eventually too. Notice how they took away an entire page of customer stats a few months ago? It will be back...as part of their premium subscription plan... In the mean time, their redesign of the etsy shipping label software is horrendous, they can't fix basic things like validating a customer's shipping address when they enter it to make sure it's formatted correctly, and the etsy shop stats remain broken and completely unusable for tax filing purposes. I had to print an international label last night. WTH? I REALLY don't like how they do the customs forms now.
It's a joke. I just had an international order returned to me because I used initials on my name instead of my full name for the sender address. WTF? Does Jeff Bezos have to put his full name on every international order amazon sends out too? |
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Post by MsAli on Jul 9, 2019 14:56:59 GMT -5
"moving to an independent platform and or working promotion channels like IG would be successful"
Interesting as I was just literally listening to a video that spoke about social media platforms either growing and or killing our business.
IG especially * More people are more likely to buy from someone or do business with someone based off the number of followers they have. Its crazy, but its fact
Especially for products that there is such a competitive market or a small niche market
I know for me personally, I work 4 hours a day plus trying to build my followers to drive business to ETSY. I have to, its the world of advertising we live in.
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,982
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Post by Tommy on Jul 9, 2019 15:13:30 GMT -5
"moving to an independent platform and or working promotion channels like IG would be successful" Interesting as I was just literally listening to a video that spoke about social media platforms either growing and or killing our business. IG especially * More people are more likely to buy from someone or do business with someone based off the number of followers they have. Its crazy, but its fact Especially for products that there is such a competitive market or a small niche market I know for me personally, I work 4 hours a day plus trying to build my followers to drive business to ETSY. I have to, its the world of advertising we live in. I hear and understand what you're saying. As you probably noticed, earlier this year I started banging hard on Instagram trying to drive business to TLO on Etsy to sell cabochons. I now have 573 "followers" and I'm following 2292 jewelry/rock type people. The result over a several month period was a steady decline in Etsy sales - and I cannot point at any one single Etsy sale and identify it as someone who followed me over from IG. Not saying the numbers and marketing information is not correct - I'm sure it is correct - but for me personally the payoff of all the effort I was putting into IG posting to drive business to TLO was not there and I'm not ready to start a similar operation promoting the RTH Store on IG. |
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Post by MsAli on Jul 9, 2019 15:49:23 GMT -5
"moving to an independent platform and or working promotion channels like IG would be successful" Interesting as I was just literally listening to a video that spoke about social media platforms either growing and or killing our business. IG especially * More people are more likely to buy from someone or do business with someone based off the number of followers they have. Its crazy, but its fact Especially for products that there is such a competitive market or a small niche market I know for me personally, I work 4 hours a day plus trying to build my followers to drive business to ETSY. I have to, its the world of advertising we live in. I hear and understand what you're saying. As you probably noticed, earlier this year I started banging hard on Instagram trying to drive business to TLO on Etsy to sell cabochons. I now have 573 "followers" and I'm following 2292 jewelry/rock type people. The result over a several month period was a steady decline in Etsy sales - and I cannot point at any one single Etsy sale and identify it as someone who followed me over from IG. Not saying the numbers and marketing information is not correct - I'm sure it is correct - but for me personally the payoff of all the effort I was putting into IG posting to drive business to TLO was not there and I'm not ready to start a similar operation promoting the RTH Store on IG. I did notice your efforts and it is interesting and a tad discouraging to hear the sales on ETSY for you declined as well. Mine have been slow since March. Ive been watching quite a few sellers and im sure you follow some of the same people I do and for me some of them blow me away (in a good way) on how they can hold a once a week event and sell out of almost every single cab or piece of jewelry they make and I am talking a decent profit at the end of the event. The one thing I noticed is the number of followers is high and most all of them do not sell on Etsy at all. So it makes me think that maybe its ETSY in general that is the problem? Something to continue to keep an eye on |
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We're using a print contractor and I can't negotiate with them to get them to include free shipping so I am stuck - we either eat all or part of the shipping cost out of already thin margins or raise prices across the board. I'm already charging $21.95 for a teeshirt which is on the high side compared to other Etsy teeshirt shops and after the print contractor's costs and Etsy's fees we make like $6 per shirt. We're currently charging $5 flat rate for shipping a shirt and I can't see raising our prices to $26.95 - maybe $24.95. The other option is to change all the listings in the shop to go with a bottom of the barrel shirt from the print contractor which I refuse to do. 
