When venturing into a new business it’s always important to look at the whole picture and do your research before you take the big leap. Without the proper research your business can fail, be overly frustrating or can break your creativity.
- Do some research on Etsy and find out who else is selling items similar to yours, what is their price point, what is their return policy, shipping policy? How is their quality, do they offer a guarantee? Do they ship internationally? Etsy is so large, you need to make sure that your item(s) stand out, that you aren’t competing with 50 other sites and blend in with everything else.
- It’s important to create your mission statement, set up what you will and won’t do. Create this ahead of time so when you receive questions you have a standard answer and you don’t start second guessing yourself. A good example, If someone orders locally do you refund their shipping and drop it off at their house or meet them somewhere? Your first thought might be yes, sure. But think about your time, how much is your time worth? The time it takes to set up a place and time to meet, the cost of gas to get there and back, and the time it takes away from your family.
- Do you ship internationally? Are you going to package it in a way that will survive that journey? Most shipments take three weeks, how do you make your customers aware of this time delay? Shipping internationally takes on another twist for your business. You won’t have a way to track shipping once it leaves the country.
- Copy right laws can be a very tricky business. When you are setting up a store and you are creating links for other social media do you understand what you can and can’t do? Make sure you review copyright laws and understand how Etsy handles and views issues as well as the social media outlets you are creating links with. You may see copyright infringement issues on other sites but you could be the one site that gets banned forever.
- Review the quality of your product. Do you do any product testing to see what the breaking point of your product is? Can your product put up with a child, dog, being dropped, being washed? What are your limitations? Your biggest building block for your business are your reviews, everyone has to start with none but you don’t want to have to overcome negative reviews. Make sure you are always listing and providing the best possible product
Always make sure you start with your best foot forward, that you are giving it your all and your efforts can be very rewarding.
Jennifer Rathbun
Jennifer has been designing and creating her own jewelry for the last five years and has recently started to branch out into housewares items. You can find her items at www.jensbeadsandthings.com, The Perfect Piece in downtown Cary, NC (212 East Chatham Street) and on Etsy.
You can find Jen’s Beads and Things on the Vend Raleigh Directory.
Check out the posts from earlier in the week from the Etsy blog series!
- Say Hello to Amber! - January 30, 2020
- Welcome the NEW Leader and Owner of Vend Raleigh… - January 28, 2020
- It’s a New Season - January 27, 2020
Comments
Etsy is sooooo tempting. Every time I log on I think of another thing I’d like to sell on there, but that’s the problem – I have so many interests! I realize it’s a time committment for each one, so that’s why I’ve stayed away for now. This is making me want to give it a shot! 🙂
“like”