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| Workshop Minutes: Street Team Meeting 2008.1.17 |
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sarawearsskirts: hey, have you all gotten a chance to look at the guide we're discussing today? http://team.etsy.com/teamshops.html
SeaFindDesigns:
Winklepots joined the room
FishOnTheWall: yes, I went through it.
juliebcreative: im blocked from it here at work but ive seen it
dmriceart joined the room
Girlontherocks: how about that. i already learned something. i bet that guide answers all of my questions.
sarawearsskirts: you're blocked from the guide but not the virtual labs? odd.
juliebcreative: i know...but i ahve the passwrod override so i can see it now
sarawearsskirts: well, girlontherocks, if it doesn't, that's why i'm here!
juliebcreative: corporate america blows like that
sarawearsskirts: you can fire away your questions at me
sarawearsskirts: aww, julie!
montezumamudd joined the room
sarawearsskirts: hi, phyllis!
dmriceart: Vast doesn't have a shop...
montezumamudd: Hello!
dmriceart: How do I go about all this?
sarawearsskirts: has vast considered opening one?
sarawearsskirts: or an account to make mini's from?
dmriceart: We did for just a bit
juliebcreative: we were thinking of opening a team shop too
dmriceart: It was under my name...
sarawearsskirts: sweet
juliebcreative left the room
montezumamudd: Team shops are great!
sarawearsskirts: here's the link to the guide again, for those who just came in http://team.etsy.com/teamshops.html
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juliebcreative: whoops accidentally left
dmriceart: How do you do the "$ ?
sarawearsskirts: ?
harmonyvanlue: yeah that was my question
sarawearsskirts: oh, the money side of the shop
juliebcreative: there should be a treasurer
EraserWorld joined the room
sarawearsskirts: (is that your question?)
montezumamudd: We also have a team PayPal account
sarawearsskirts: great!
juliebcreative: or one person in charge...and have apaypal account set up for it
montezumamudd: Exactly
dmriceart: Right... it is confusing with so many team members...
sarawearsskirts: okay, well, let's get started, and we can line up questions in the queue
sarawearsskirts: and have a little order to this meeting. :)
sarawearsskirts: okay, hello, everyone!
sarawearsskirts: thanks for coming in!
sarawearsskirts: here's the link to the guide again http://team.etsy.com/teamshops.html
sarawearsskirts: and if you have questions, we can have them in the queue -
sarawearsskirts: type /ask before your question
sarawearsskirts: and i'll go through and help with answers
sarawearsskirts: and open the floor to get thoughts and ideas from you all, as well
FishOnTheWall asks, how are most team shops dealing with combined shipping?
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sarawearsskirts: well, there are two ways you can run the inventory side of a team shop
sarawearsskirts: (bear with me and slower typing today, sorry about this)
dsbrennan joined the room
sarawearsskirts: you can have the items shipped from the maker
sarawearsskirts: so that items from different makers on the team ship from their respective locations
sarawearsskirts: which would mean combined shipping really isn't possible - you'd want to list them as not being $0 when purchased with another item
sarawearsskirts: or you can have all donations / items in the shop are shipped to one person
sarawearsskirts: who is the designated team shipper,
sarawearsskirts: basically,.
sarawearsskirts: which would make combined shipping possible
sarawearsskirts: but then the team is basically paying for shipping twice -
sarawearsskirts: to get the item to the dsesignated shipper
sarawearsskirts: and for that person to ship it to the buyer
sarawearsskirts: (i'm going to open the floor for a moment - does anyone have any other ideas for handling shipping?)
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dsbrennan: It seems easier for local teams to do the combined shipping
sarawearsskirts: right
FishOnTheWall: What does everyone else do? JET ships from the designer.
sarawearsskirts: because you can drop the items to the shipper when you have a meeting, etc
sarawearsskirts: even though we're a local team, philly shipped from the maker / designer
Winklepots left the room
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montezumamudd: The Mud Team Shop does the non-combined shipping - items shipping from the location of the artist. Buyers don't seem to mind that we do not combine shipping.
sarawearsskirts: that makes sense, montezuma
sarawearsskirts: i think with pottery, you'd want to minimize how often an item is shipped
juliebcreative: thats what i think we're going to do as well monte
sarawearsskirts: i think it has a lot to do with what you're shipping, too
dsbrennan: makes sense julie - that'd be a lot of work for one person to take on
harmonyvanlue: yeah its a lot of responsibility
sarawearsskirts: however, shipping from the maker does require really good communication
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beadifuldesigns: Hello! JET member here.
harmonyvanlue: id be afraid of breaking something that was someone elses
sarawearsskirts: right.
SeaFindDesigns: me too harmony
dmriceart: or lose it... in the mail... etc...
sarawearsskirts: for teams that ship from the maker,
SeaFindDesigns: i can see my dog chewing on julies paintings!
Girlontherocks: It seems that if you are making sampler packs (like I saw in the FAST shop once upon a time) shipping to one person beforehand makes sense.
sarawearsskirts: how do you communicate to make sure the buyer get stheir purchas ein a timely manner?
dsbrennan: and handling returns, etc. would be a hassle - different makers may have different policies
sarawearsskirts: good point, girlontherocks
harmonyvanlue: good point ds
juliebcreative: i was just about to ask about smapler packs
sarawearsskirts: policies for returns, etc are something the team shop would have to have - and the team would have to agree on
sarawearsskirts: when everyone donates items
montezumamudd: Our shopkeeper sends a convo to the maker of the item purchased, letting them know their item has sold. The convo includes all buyer information - name, mailing address, e-mail address, etsy user-id.
harmonyvanlue: ah i see
sarawearsskirts: that sounds efficient and great, montezumamudd
dmriceart: For international shipping, do team shops have difficulties ?
SeaFindDesigns: sounds good mud
sarawearsskirts: good system - it works well?
gypsywoman left the room
sarawearsskirts: ahh, good question, dmriceart
dmriceart: Tracking doesn't work... so ?
montezumamudd: Yes, very well. The maker of the item is responsible for communication with the buyer so most of the transaction is maker to buyer.
sarawearsskirts: (we like maker to buyer transactions at etsy!)
dsbrennan: that makes a lot of sense montezuma
dsbrennan: also helps the seller develop a personal relationship, along with the relationship the buyer made with the team
sarawearsskirts: which is ideal!
juliebcreative: good point dsbrennan
sarawearsskirts: okay, more comments / questions on shipping, or should we move on?
Girlontherocks: oh yes. /ask Is there a page that compactly lists all of the Team shops? It takes forever to try and find them through the Etsy Team Geographic listing page Too much other info..
montezumamudd: International shipments work the same way. Items are listed as being shipped from the U.K. or wherever. The maker informs the buyer of the details.
Girlontherocks: oops. soory. i'm new
sarawearsskirts: girlontherocks, i'm working on that currently
Girlontherocks: cool
sarawearsskirts: :)
dsbrennan: julie - you asked about sample packs and i'm curious too
dmriceart: Thanks, Girl on... Any problems losing items internationally?
montezumamudd: None so far.
sarawearsskirts: okay, we can move on to a new question for now
dmriceart asks, How do groups deal with the money aspect of a group...?
sarawearsskirts: this is the tricky part of a team shop, in my opinion
sarawearsskirts: i'm going to open the floor in a moment
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sarawearsskirts: because i think there are some teams here who are doing well with this
sarawearsskirts: it's definitely something that needs to be completely worked out before the shop opens
sarawearsskirts: so there's clear communication
sarawearsskirts: and everyone knows what's going on
sarawearsskirts: etsyMudTeam
sarawearsskirts: how do you handle the money?
sarawearsskirts: do you have a designated paypal treeasurer?
montezumamudd: The Mud Shop has a PayPal account. The person who opened our account is the treasurer and handles all the money from our shop. The treasurer sends out monthly statements through a mass e-mail.
sarawearsskirts: or JET team, what do you do?
FishOnTheWall: The JETs have one person in charge, it's her CC & paypal, she deducts listing fees & paypal fees & then sends $ to seller
dmriceart: Like the idea of the monthly statement!
juliebcreative: me too
FishOnTheWall: But a monthly statement might be good too.
sarawearsskirts: so they money doesn't go toward the team? it goes back to the seller?
sarawearsskirts: a monthly statement sounds really organized and great!
juliebcreative: we were thinking of doing it to raise $ for advertising, so the statement would be sufficient
FishOnTheWall: In the JET store, $ to seller.
SeaFindDesigns: right
sarawearsskirts: does JET have dues, out of curiosity?
FishOnTheWall: nope.
montezumamudd: The money from the Mud Shop goes to the team. We use it from group business cards and advertising.
sarawearsskirts: okay. (interesting!)
sarawearsskirts: that makes sense, too, montezumamudd
juliebcreative: is the mud shop local?
dsbrennan: yeah i like the idea of using it to generate team income
sarawearsskirts: nope, mud is a global team
montezumamudd: No - we are a global team.
sarawearsskirts: :)
juliebcreative: so does your $ mostly go to online advertsing?
dsbrennan: for the mud shop - is there ever a situation where one type of good sells more, and so that seller in effect contributes more money to the team fund?
juliebcreative: good question
SeaFindDesigns: good question
dsbrennan: i can see mark's jewelry selling a lot faster than photos, just due to the nature of your typical etsy buyer
juliebcreative: right
harmonyvanlue: yep
SeaFindDesigns: true
montezumamudd: We each donate two items per year to the Shop - more if we choose.
harmonyvanlue: how many items do people typically contribute to the team shop?
harmonyvanlue: oops you beat me to it montezuma
dsbrennan: i see
FishOnTheWall: better, what is the VALUE of items contributed?
dmriceart: How long do items stay in shop... do you relist unsold?
juliebcreative: but 2 items from one eprson may be way more $ than 2 items of someone elses
sarawearsskirts: it's up to the team to decide on a minimum or recommended contribution
sarawearsskirts: some teams say you can donate an item or, for example if you're a local team, time marketing, flyering, etc.
juliebcreative: we'll have to worj that out RI guys
harmonyvanlue: yep
dsbrennan: definitely
montezumamudd: We ask that items be valued around $15 - it is up to the artist donating if they donate a piece that is more in value.
sarawearsskirts: i guess you could as a team decide on how to make contributions more level - like donating a certain $ value of goods a year?
dmriceart: I am getting lots of organized thoughts... this is good, gals/guys!
sarawearsskirts: thanks, mudteam!
montezumamudd: We do relist items.
harmonyvanlue: that makes sense sara
sarawearsskirts: great!
harmonyvanlue: what if some peoples items dont sell?
dsbrennan: RI peeps - we could do something similar at local shows - have a team booth or auction table , etc.
juliebcreative: i like that
sarawearsskirts: after the four months then the item expires and maybe the seller can list it in their own hshop??
juliebcreative: especially if we get a double booth type of thing
montezumamudd: We will replace it with a different item from the artist.
FishOnTheWall: that is a good way to use team shop $$ a booth
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sarawearsskirts: definitely, fishonthewall
harmonyvanlue: but like, say julie sells a painting for 100 and mine never sells
dsbrennan: yeah, the income generated can help feed into more advertising
sarawearsskirts: there are lots of great things -projects, events, ads, etc teams can use funds on
Girlontherocks: oh a booth! i have always wanted to do this
harmonyvanlue: her 100 goes to advertising but ive contributed nothing
dsbrennan: yeah harmony that's kind of my concern too
Girlontherocks asks, What types of things do Teams spend their money on? Promo items?
sarawearsskirts: philly uses our dues ($5 per quarter) on flyers and local promotions
montezumamudd: Team business cards (for inclusion in shipments) and advertising. We are hoping to do some off-line ads in magazines this year.
juliebcreative: i think philly has the right idea...have a basic due
sarawearsskirts: team business cards are a really great idea
harmonyvanlue: julie is designing a postcard with all of our shop items on it
sarawearsskirts: of course, for a global team, things like cards make a lot of sense
dmriceart: Do flyers work well for global teams? Anyone do them? ... maybe a pdf ?
sarawearsskirts: or you could pay for an ad on a blog, that links to the team shop, etc
harmonyvanlue: where do you put flyers?
Girlontherocks: Where do the ads direct people? your team shop, blog page...??
beadifuldesigns: I like the ad on a blog idea.
sarawearsskirts: i think graphics that people can put in their blogs, myspace, etc are good
sarawearsskirts: and of course, that can be free for global teams (and local teams)
montezumamudd: We included flyers in our shipments - advertising upcoming events, etcl
dmriceart: Ah.... montezuma!
juliebcreative: hey i have to run (im at work)...harmony, seafind, and dsbrennan get some good ideas and let me know later
dsbrennan: i think we'll use some team money to fund our events/"real life" sales
sarawearsskirts: ads can direct to wherever the team likes - a blog with etsy minis are great because then it easily links back to etsy
juliebcreative: thansk sara
dsbrennan: will do julie
juliebcreative left the room
SeaFindDesigns: bye julie
jenygwen: Hello! i'm on etsypaper, we have .ning site and people advertise on it all the time
sarawearsskirts: no problem (thanks for this great dscussion, everyone, we have a couple more points i'd like to cover, this is great so far)
sarawearsskirts: great!
FishOnTheWall asks, what about listing ALL shop contributors in profiles? I saw that in the TeamShops handbook.
sarawearsskirts: (here's the guide fishonthewall is referring to http://team.etsy.com/teamshops.html
sarawearsskirts: this is because it's etsy policy to disclose ALL your accounts in your profiles
sarawearsskirts: so if you have access to the team account (ie, if you have the password)
sarawearsskirts: you MUST disclose this in your profile
sarawearsskirts: does this make sense to everyone then?
dmriceart: We have MEGGA members... so could we just say "see VASTBlog for contributing members list"
sarawearsskirts: it prevents shilling (feedback inflation)
Girlontherocks: yep
dsbrennan: yep, makes sense
sarawearsskirts: but do all the members have the password to the account, VAST?
montezumamudd: Only one person has access to the Mud Team accounts - does this apply? Do we need to list all contributors in our profile?
dmriceart: No, just one would have it... me ( it isn't set up, I am learning today):O)
sarawearsskirts: my interpretation is that it's important to list who has the password - ie, the power of feedback, etc
sarawearsskirts: in the profile
sarawearsskirts: people who donate and contribute should get credit for what they're doing, of course
sarawearsskirts: but
dmriceart: Ah, Thanks Sara
FishOnTheWall: I just added a paragraph to our team shop lising all with items listed, since we each add our own items.
sarawearsskirts: it's not so crucial that they disclose it, etc
sarawearsskirts: great!
sarawearsskirts: should we move on to the next question?
dmriceart: Sure!
juliebcreative asks, has any other teasm here done the sampler packs?
montezumamudd: Feedback is left by the artist. The artist is convoed when they receive their feedback and they convo the shopkeeper with their feedback for the buyer.
sarawearsskirts: montezumamudd, that is so sensible. great!
sarawearsskirts: thoughts on sampler packs?
dsbrennan: what types of items go into sampler packs?
FishOnTheWall: What types of things are in these "Sampler Packs?"
FishOnTheWall: *JINKS*
sarawearsskirts: ha
sarawearsskirts: this is up to the team
jenygwen: we did one for a contest winner
SeaFindDesigns: i like a contest
jenygwen: the items were all donated
sarawearsskirts: a sampler pack makes a great prize
beadifuldesigns: Are sampler packs the freebies that go out with orders?
dsbrennan: thats' a great idea
dmriceart: For VAST... it might be tiny artworks... (little 2 inch squares? )
Girlontherocks: I have always thought these were great http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=5801709
sarawearsskirts: it depends on the value of the sampler pack, really
Tayuki joined the room
montezumamudd: We usually do a sampler of magnets
dsbrennan: we could set a max value on the contributions - say a $5 item from each of us
Tayuki: Hello!
sarawearsskirts: it can be business cards, or it can be a small variety of work from all the artists
FishOnTheWall: Okay, JET is all Jewelry.... Would we send out actual items?
sarawearsskirts: not necessarily
Girlontherocks: oh like sampler packs of people's promos. I get it.
sarawearsskirts: right
jenygwen: for us it was all voluntary...our members donations go to cover shipping
sarawearsskirts: or if it's a prize, you want it to be special, so that might include a sampling of, say, $10 or 15 work from several team members
sarawearsskirts: so that it's a desirable prize
Tayuki: Are we currently talking about Etsy Teams?
sarawearsskirts: that makes sense, jenygwen
sarawearsskirts: we are talking about etsy teams
sarawearsskirts: we're talking about team shops
Tayuki: I'd love to possibly help out
sarawearsskirts: okay.
Tayuki: My listings have all expired, but possibly I could send you some images of my work?
dsbrennan: if we chose to include, say, our postcard and our individual buisness cards, we could have a sampler pack making meeting, RI folks
sarawearsskirts: does anyone have more questions for the queue? (you can type /ask and it will go into the queue)
SeaFindDesigns: sounds good ds
sarawearsskirts: tayuki, you can learn how to join an etsy team here: http://team.etsy.com/teams.html )
Tayuki: Thank you.
sarawearsskirts: this has been a great chat, everyone!
dsbrennan: thanks sara
jeynreyn joined the room
sarawearsskirts: do team shops make more sense to everyone now?
SeaFindDesigns: thanks sara
jenygwen: thanks
sarawearsskirts: my pleasure!
SeaFindDesigns: yep
dmriceart: Sara, Thanks much! Off to work I go... Hugs!
Girlontherocks: yes, thanks!
sarawearsskirts: great!
jenygwen: yep
sarawearsskirts: more questions? anyone?
montezumamudd: Thanks!
harmonyvanlue: thanks sara
dsbrennan: none here
jenygwen: bye
SeaFindDesigns: bye guys!!
beadifuldesigns: No more questions. Thanks
dsbrennan: bye all!
montezumamudd: bye!
FishOnTheWall: I just asked one!
TheTwistedPurl joined the room
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sarawearsskirts: great! thanks everyone for coming!
SeaFindDesigns left the room
jenygwen left the room
sarawearsskirts: this transcript will be up soon!
jeynreyn left the room
Tayuki: Ok.
harmonyvanlue left the room
Tayuki: In the Storque or the team.etsy.com site?
TheTwistedPurl: darn I just missed the meeting!
montezumamudd left the room
Girlontherocks: I was just wondering what groups everone was from
Tayuki: I'm currently not in a group
FishOnTheWall: JET, Jewelry on Etsy Team
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Girlontherocks: I am SF Etsy
allthosethrees joined the room
allthosethrees: hi!
sarawearsskirts: hi! we just wrapped up here!
allthosethrees: oh crumbs! I'm too late for the party...
lushbeads joined the room
allthosethrees: well... see ya round :)
Tayuki: Thanks for you time... I'll contact the UK Team.
Girlontherocks left the room
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dmriceart left the room
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