Geek-in-Training

A couple of months ago, I learned about Google Base from an Etsy forum. I found a great tutorial on how to use LetsEts and post on Google Base. It was a little tricky, so I wrote my own blog post about posting to Google Base based on my experience. LetsEts picked it up and [...]

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Etsy has record-breaking November

So I saw it on the Etsy forums today and then on Ina Steiner’s Auction Bytes. Etsy has had a banner month in November with  total sales of $10.8 million, representing a 28% increase over October, and a 157% increase year-over-year. Wow.
I know I am having a very good month on both Etsy and eBay. [...]

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A Strong Case For Multiple Sales Channels

It’s been a while, but I hope to get back to regular blog posts now. We’ve had a lot going on around here and sometimes finding the time to sit and write gets tricky. But there’s so much to share!
One of the things I’ve been busy with lately is album orders. Finally! As we get [...]

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Are we really listening to what our customers want?

On Friday at work, one of my coworkers and I were passing in the kitchen and we exchanged the usual “Hi, how are you?” Of course the answer we always expect is “Fine” or “Good, and you?” and we move on. This coworker jokingly asked me if I was going to wait around for the [...]

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A Thousand Miles

Let us assume that you want to go somewhere a thousand miles away. You have no vehicle. You can only set off walking and hope that somehow, sooner or later, you’ll get a ride. There’s a risk involved. You have to make a gesture of intention, faith and determination and then see what it [...]

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Getting Your Etsy Listings To Show Up On Google

In the Etsy forums the other day, there were a couple of posts about getting your Etsy shop visibility in the famed Google search. I thought I might condense some of the information and make it a little easier to implement what appears to be a pretty cool— and free— way to let those outside [...]

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We Need a New Keyword (Tag) For Artisan Handmade on eBay

When I started selling my handmade photo albums, scrapbooks and journals online, I started on eBay. It was the easiest place to start and at the time, the only game in town. Now I sell on my website and on Etsy too, but I do still sell on eBay and I have to admit, when [...]

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Paypal Required To Report Payment Transactions To The IRS

If you are selling your crafts online, whether on eBay, Etsy or anywhere else, you should be reporting your sales to the IRS. The upside of reporting your additional income to the IRS is that you can also write off expenses and as we know, there are many–materials, space in your home that you use [...]

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Etsy Top Sellers – What Are They Doing Differently?

Once again, the Etsy forums have provided the coolest link.

If you’d like to know who the top etsy sellers are and see what they are selling, go to etsy wiki, top sellers. Thanks to flandersfield photography for providing the link. By the way, that top number is 31,000 sales. That’s something to brag about!

WOW! Look [...]

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Disney sues family-owned company over trademark infringment

If you read yesterday’s post and thought “that won’t ever happen to me,” think again. In July, Disney sued a small, family-owned company, Kool Klown Party People, for advertising and using what they perceived to be Tigger and Eeyore costumes the company purchased on eBay to use at children’s parties.
Granted, Disney gave them several warnings [...]

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