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Etsy does it

September 6, 2007 /

Wowie Zowie! I have a shop!

Oh my goodness, I have a shop! How many commenters does it take to get me to do someting? I know. I lag. It’s just that these sorts of things intimidate me. I want to do it right and I know I only have the attention span of a gnat so this sort of creates a problem. Gnats do not make nice pretty shops. But enough of you hinted and cajoled that this is something I should really do so I finally buckled down and opened up an Etsy shop.

I’m not 100 percent happy with it. I want to ship to places like Canada and the UK and Paris ( because Paris is a country on the map of SAJ) and maybe even Japan (love you guys!) … but I don’t know how to yet. I have to walk down to my local UPS shop and inquire. So if you live somewhere outside of the United States and you really want a print, do not despair! Just contact me the old fashioned way and we will use you as a guinea pig to figure out how to do it right for my Etsy shop.

Another thing: Everyone who ordered a print via email in the last week… You got a deal! I didn’t realize shipping is so expensive when you need a box and you are sending glass… I just lumped it all together as a flat rate thinking I’d have plenty of profit to cover shippping.

Well guess what? Shipping costs bucks! Ack! Way more than I expected it to too. Maybe someday I will find a way to do it cheaper but for now I’m charging $25 to cover it all. It really does cost that much. Well, it’s actually $23 something. I’m adding two bucks for my walking because I’m worth it.

You don’t know how hard it is to schedule a walk to the UPS store with a toddler that you have to wrangle into a stroller. Or maybe you do and you’ll probably be happy to forward two bucks for my latte fund.

So anyway that’s that. I will probably upload more over the weeks to come. I’ve got some other digital art in the works and of course I’m selling prints unframed substantially cheaper.

But believe me, the frame is totally worth the $55. I thought fifty-five dollars was a lot at first but then after I blew dust and fiberboard sawdust out of the frames over and over, cleaned the glass over and over and then spent hours trying to match the matte up juuuuuust right (which took several tries of course) and wrestled with the matte and the funny bendy things on the back, I was so over it. Fifty-five bucks is mere pittance for my efforts.

Well maybe I exaggerate just a little bit but it did take a bit of tender loving care. Because I do care.

And with that I bid you farewell to go snoop in my Etsy shop. Don’t feel obligated to buy. This is just an experiment. When I have my real shop, I will have way more stuff and then I’ll really put on the hard sell.

25 Comments

  • erin rae

    September 7, 2007 at 1:46 am

    I too have an etsy shop (selling my silversmithing work… no competition!) and learned a bunch of that (shipping!) the hard way too :-)

    Shipping may actually be cheaper via UPS over a certain weight/size.

    I do everything via Priority Mail and flat rate can sometimes work out to be quite a steal. Plus, they provide free boxes (yay!) and you can print labels online. Plus, these can be used as is, for Canada. Printing shipping labels via PayPal will also provide you with the customs form, so you don’t have to worry about getting those little green forms from the PO.

    Anyway…the PO makes a flat rate box that is 8.95 to ship to the US, and $23 to Canada/Mexico that I think would fit these, even with ample bubblewrapping or whatever –

    I can send you the link, but it was long and ugly…

  • SmocknMama

    September 7, 2007 at 5:51 am

    Yes, UPS and USPS both will come to your door. I ship everything that way, unless it’s really big. I make all my labels online and put in the pickup order. I ship priority mail and UPS only. Doing it this way does require an extra day on the shipping because you have to wait until the next day for the pickup, but it is so worth it when you have six children to load up and take to post office or UPS dropoff. I have never once had a problem with shipping when I do it this way. Just start an account online at USPS.com and UPS.com. It’s easy peasy with both of them. I use my paypal debit card as my funding source since that is where the purchase goes anyway.

    Get yourself a small postal digital scale (you can even get one from USPS.com for $35.00) and you will always know the weight of your package. USPS.com also will send you free boxes to keep in the bottom of you closet or for BB to play with. There is no excuse, SAJ. Oh, and even if you don’t have to walk to the post office anymore, your still worth the $55.00.

  • josephine

    September 7, 2007 at 6:24 am

    You guys are awesome! I should have asked you for advice before I started all this. So it sounds like I can set up a little shipping and receiving shop right inside my house. I am most definitely going to do that. Thank you!

  • bluejaye

    September 7, 2007 at 6:50 am

    My best advise is to make friends with the post office guy. I took one of my purses to the post office and had him weigh and calculate shippings costs to several countries. You really only need to know the cost of Canada, England, France (it’s the same for all of Europe), Australia, and Japan.

    The great thing about Etsy is how easy it is to edit.

    Good luck.

  • Erin

    September 7, 2007 at 6:51 am

    Yay for an etsy shop! I feel so special as I was the 1st to suggest it. That’s me… miss smartypants! Good luck with your endeavors from a fellow etsy vendor!

  • comfortablycrazy

    September 7, 2007 at 9:06 am

    You can always use your bathroom scale to get an approximate weight for your packages. Definitely go to USPS and get the free boxes. The priority mail boxes come in different sizes. You can even get flat rate envelopes. Remember if you have any questions about shipping you can always IM us. I’ve shipped everywhere.

  • Leslie

    September 7, 2007 at 9:23 am

    If you are planning on shipping to Canada via UPS, be aware that they charge your customer $45.00 for crossing the border.

    USPS does not have this charge.

  • chris

    September 7, 2007 at 2:16 pm

    I am so glad you did this! Etsy is addictive.

    I think you must be having the guys at the UPS Store do the packaging for you. They do charge quite a bit for that service, especially if something is fragile. The upside is that you know it will arrive safely. And if it doesn’t, it shouldn’t be an issue to have them fix things.

    UPSP will deliver flat rate boxes and labels to your door for FREE. Go to http://www.usps.com to order. My friend had them ship a bunch to her and then used them to move! Smart girl, that one.

    I have noticed that most people who sell prints, ship them overseas unframed and it makes things a lot easier.

  • familymclean

    September 7, 2007 at 11:58 pm

    You don’t have to justify your cost, of course you are worth that, or more!!! Silly! And congrats, I am watching you….hoping to follow in your foot steps with the Etsy shop…..someday!

  • Heather B.

    September 8, 2007 at 4:16 am

    Since I’m currently in painting hell, I’m assuming at some point – after I’ve admired my handy work and shed a few tears – I’ll want/need something fun to put up on the walls and now you’re on my list. Not you, but you’re puppies. Yay!

  • lynne

    September 9, 2007 at 12:14 am

    Congratulations on opening your new shop! Up, up and away! When I have some fun money (pocket book still suffering from our house move earlier this year) I will be one of your UK customers, gladly.

    P.s. Especially if you branch into cats… Dog’s are wonderful but were cat people in casa de primrose. I think their must be an invisable sign only to be read by cat’s saying ” Friendly people live here” the amount of early morning furry visitors I’m getting in my front area.

  • amy

    September 9, 2007 at 6:56 pm

    For a time I worked in a frame shop and we regularly mailed out framed pieces. Then I started selling on ebay and perfected the technique. Find a source for boxes free (grocery store, friends, recycling depots etc). Get a good exacto knife and cut two pieces to fit. Then either wrap it with a piece of cardboard or get two more pieces of cardboard GOING THE OTHER grain. Tape the heck out of it. Put kraft paper on if desired. Found it so much safer and cheaper than shipping other ways. But yes, shipping not cheap and best to investigate prior to posting shipping charges.

    Not sure if it is true for the US but know in Canada if you can manage to pack and mail it in a large envelope the shipping charges less.

    Good luck with your venture!