Cancelling an Order on Etsy

Alright, I'm going to go ahead and cancel the order. It's a disappointing first experience but I really hope that person comes back! I'm doing it as I write this so I can give a step by step of what I do. Perhaps so others will know...but more likely so I'll remember for next time. Yes, I'm selfish like that...

I went to my etsy, and under "Orders" on the left hand side was a link "Cancel an Order," which will take you here.

I relisted it first so that I wouldn't lose any information, then I went to the invoice section of the sold order and cancelled the transaction. I didn't leave feedback since I never heard from the buyer, but I did send her a message within the cancellation thanking her and telling her if she still wants a purse, to please come back.

I would think this is good costumer service. She may not have known how to buy and may not check her mail obsessively every day...like I do. I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt anyway.

SO now, the last thing I've done to finish this little unpleasant business is to cancel the invoice I sent from paypal. This I did by going to paypal. Under "Order Status" is a menu that says "remind." Click that and it'll give you an option to cancel.

AND DONE.

Alright, now it probably really will take me several months to get a bite, but you know, that's business. I just want to keep making things, keep posting, and if someone thinks they're worth buying, then as we say in Oklahoma...YEEE HAAAAW!! :)

My First Sell!...sort of

So a couple of days ago I made my first sell! This quirky little guy. I was stoked! I actually thought it would take me several months to even get a bite. I did however try several etsy tips to get better exposure.

1. Don't add everything at once

2. Add only a couple of items a day

3. Add them at around 7pm

The second batch of owls I added got a hit! But there was a problem. I got an email from etsy, but no confirmations from paypal. I had read here that you need to be sure that the person ordering your item actually paid for it.

I wasn't even sure where to check to make sure they had. The only for sure way I could think of was to go straight to my paypal account. Nothing was added, so after several hours, I went ahead and sent a message using both the convo feature on etsy and the buyer's email address, as suggested by this blog.

I politely reminded her, thanked her, and sent her a link to the invoice on etsy.

Nothing.

Today, I still had nothing so I went ahead and made an invoice using paypal. Here's how.

I haven't heard back yet, but I am a little disappointed that this is my first experience with selling. I am glad, however, that there is so much information about how to handle these issues. I assume they are fairly common, and I'm glad I know for next time!

NOW ON ETSY

I just posted my very first item!!! YAY FOR ME!!

I took pictures inside because by the time I got the camera I wanted and was ready to do it, it was dark outside. The pictures turned out all orange and weird, so I downloaded the free software, Picasa from Google. It's very simple. Works great. And I think my pictures turned out really well.

I have many more to add, but it's hard to convince my husband to take a picture of me using it. AND as most cameras go, I ran out of battery in like an hour...so that's always fun.

I decided as I was adding my first post that I would offer free shipping. I've heard over and over that if you're shop isn't doing well to try adding that. I love free shipping too! So I thought, "What the heck!" Especially with Christmas coming up, who wouldn't want free shipping!

Now I need to get busy posting my other items and waiting for the bite. You will hear from me soon when I sell my first etsy product!

First Etsy Shop

I have just started my first Etsy shop at http://byjanica.etsy.com

I'm very excited! I haven't, as of yet, added any content, but I have several owl phone purses made and ready to be photographed. So far I've been reading everything there is to know on how to start and manage a shop on Etsy.

At first I was a little overwhelmed. I don't know anything about accounting or web analysis or retail vs wholesale vs begging. But after having sifted through the endless helpful blogs and articles, I feel pretty ready to start my shop.

I think the research has been the hardest part so far. Not hard in accessibility! Etsy is so good at keeping content readily available for the newbie like me. It's hard because I didn't even know where to start! It was difficult to figure out what was important for me to know NOW opposed to what I may need to know down the road.

I'm sure there will be many more things to learn about this process, but I feel ready and excited about getting my handmade goods out there. Now I'll just have to figure out if there's actually a market for my product. Wish me luck!