Storque articles by calebwalt

Holiday How-To: Offering Services

2008-09-08T17:00:00-05:00

Sellers: it's never too early to start thinking about the holiday shopping rush! During the holiday season last year, the Etsy Support Team learned a lot about the issues that sellers face when offering services to Etsy buyers. This season, you may want to offer some promotions and additional services to your customers, and we want to help you be prepared. This article will describe how to provide some of these extras and stay within the DOs & DON'Ts of Etsy. Please follow the links for further information on each of these topics.

Gift Certificates

When selling gift certificates, be sure to create a tangible, physical item for the listing. This could be a traditional paper certificate, notecard or even a digital file that is delivered to the buyer.

More on selling gift certificates in your Etsy shop in this previous Storque article.

Shipping Upgrades

To let buyers know that you can upgrade shipping at their request, you can mention this in your shop announcement, profile or in item descriptions. A buyer can let you know if they need upgraded shipping, and you can then revise the listing or invoice to reflect the shipping changes.

Check out the full article about holiday shipping concerns for more info.

Selling Gift Wrap

All items must be available for purchase, but without requiring other purchases to be made. To offer gift wrapping, the paper needs to be listed as a supply that can be purchased with or without another item. You could write in the item description that if another item is purchased, it can be wrapped in the paper.

For further information on offering gift wrap to your customers, check out this article.

Sales and Other Add-ons in Your Shop

Rather than create a listing to let buyers know about a promotion or add-on, you can include this information in item descriptions, shop announcement, profile or even your banner. Additionally, you can adjust the price of your item in PayPal or make arrangements with the buyer to refund her after she purchases.

How to edit a PayPal invoice to accommodate a price change.

Do you have any questions on these topics or any other holiday rush bugbear and you're concerned about what you can and cannot offer in your shop? Please feel free to contact Etsy's Content Team at content@etsy.com. Happy holidays!

Etsy Finds: Mint Polka Dotted Dog Dress

2008-07-09T10:11:00-05:00

The more absurd your pet looks, the more likely she (and therefore you) are to be remembered. (Or at least that's what a good friend once told me.) Ironically, his dog was very boring, so I don't remember either of their names. Regardless, if you've noticed your pup is looking bleak and you've been considering spicing up her wardrobe, I suggest taking a look at some of the beautifully bizarre dog attire in furbabiesboutique's shop. This particular polka dotted formal dress is a feathery heap of insanity, sure to leave any passersby lost in its minty glow. It is the age of elaborate dog adornment; jump on the fancy bandwagon and buy your pooch a ball gown already!

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Etsy Finds: Hungry Squirrel Messenger Bag

2008-06-28T10:40:00-05:00

Are you going nuts trying to find a cool new bag to travel with this summer? Don't despair: try hoarding your vacation essentials into this awesome messenger bag by boygirlparty. Yes, this furry forest creature might appear out of place on the sandy beaches of Barcelona or the icy plateaus of Greenland (people vacation there, right?). But who cares when you know you'll have everything you need, while maintaining an air of eccentricity.

I wouldn't leave the bag just lying around, however; a renegade squirrel might mistake the printed rodent for a potential mate, and any nutty-esque treats you brought with you could vanish before you know it. (It's a little-known fact that squirrels are lightning fast with no remorse.) Happy vacationing!

Gotta Travel On | Travel Showcase | Etsy World Tour

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Etsy Finds: Floating Aurora Borealis

2008-05-09T11:54:00-05:00

The time has come to make mom feel like a star, so maybe you should light up her life with a delicately crafted paper mobile by theStarCraft. Made from hand-folded Moravian paper stars, these magical mobiles mimic interstellar bodies and celestial phenomena. These are pretty far-out creations for anyone's home, and what mom doesn't deserve the chance to peer into psudeo-space to escape the thoughts of changing your soiled diapers? For all the times she put up with you, isn't it time you put the northern lights on her ceiling?

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Etsy Finds: Sailboat Stuffies

2008-03-28T10:19:00-05:00

Not many things are as soothing as sleeping at the edge of the ocean. Salt-kissed breezes, endless webs of stars in the sky, the gentle hum of the tide.

And then you realize you're in the middle of the city, where the air smells more like warm garbage and the stars are hidden by a veil of smog. It's in these moments of realization that a true sea-dreamer needs one of katedurkin's sailboat stuffies to squeeze.

These snuggly ships bring a boatload of tranquil thoughts to mind, and the carefully selected colors of fabric and stitching are equally serene. If you need a quick getaway from life on shore, go a little overboard and grab one of these stuffies. Squeeze it tightly and take a moment to sail away from your worries... just remember to set an alarm!

Be sure to look at the rest of katedurkin's shop for more stuffed goodness.

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Etsy Finds: Fuzzy Tadpoles

2008-03-07T11:21:00-05:00

Hello, everyone! My name is Caleb, aka calebwalt, and I have just started working with the Etsy Support Team. To give you a better idea of what I'm about, I'd like to share my first Etsy Find with you.

Having grown up in the rural terrain of Northeast Arkansas, I have spent a fair share of my life around (and in) glorious, muck-filled ponds loaded with scaly, slimy creatures. Whether scooping frogs out of their muddy hideaways or whining when my brother caught a fish before me, I always felt like the dirtier I became, the more successful my adventure was.

It's no doubt, then, that Etsy seller AYMK's crocheted tadpoles immediately caught my eye. To turn a tirade of these tiny critters into cuddly miniatures is truly an art, and I feel like anyone's life would be slightly more fulfilled with a plethora of these pollywogs swimming about. If your affinity is less amphibian in nature, AYMK also has some crocheted companions of a more furry descent.

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Welcome to Etsy, Martha Stewart Watchers!

2008-02-29T13:31:00-05:00

Welcome to Etsy!

We're so glad you were able to see Etsy's Founder, Rob Kalin, on the Martha Stewart Show today! Etsy is an online marketplace where you can buy and sell anything that is handmade. Etsy is a venue where individual sellers across the United States and the world sell their items from their online shops. It's important to remember that you pay each seller individually for their work. To check out the items featured on today's Martha, check out today's Etsy front page.

Read more about Etsy, our mission, and how it all works here:

About Etsy (with video!)

Etsy's Press Page

Guide to Registering on Etsy

How to Shop on Etsy (with video!)

To find out more about exactly what Etsy is, take a look at our FAQ. You may also be curious about how the Etsy website runs and the many passionate folks behind the site. For more information, check out the All About Etsy FAQ series in The Storque, your place for learning all things handmade. (Which is where you're reading this right now!)

We hope this helps! If you have any other questions, feel free to contact support@etsy.com. Watch the video on Martha Stewart's website.

Also, items featured on Martha appear below.

All about Etsy FAQ Series: Meet Customer Support

2008-01-14T16:32:00-05:00

"Oh no! I'm having a problem and I need help but I don't know who to ask?" As part of our All about Etsy FAQ Series, the Customer Support Team has detailed their role at Etsy and the best ways to communicate with them if you need help.

We are here to help Etsians! The Support Team writes a Featured Column for the Storque called Customer Care, with updates on issues such as billing, reporting transactions, and other support-related issues. We also post tips and how-tos which are meant to help you out before you encounter a problem. As they say, an ounce of prevention...

If you do encounter a problem and you want to get in touch with us, you can expect to hear from one of our team members: adrian1, Lori aka Chillionaire, emilybidwell, ErinHaldrup, jasonmseger, JoeTheBeard, calebwalt, projectmattnyc, mermaidclaire, adubois, Dillinger or jimchesters. Our team works on General Support and Billing 7 days a week and Abuse cases Monday through Friday. Expect a response within 24 hours during working hours. If you don't, please email back. Maybe we didn't get it! If you still don't get through, try sending one of us an Etsy Conversation, and we will find out what happened to your email. We eagerly respond to every email, but please be patient. There are a few of us and a lot of you! We believe in quality, one-on-one attention. You will always be emailing with a person when you contact Etsy support.

In order to help you as quickly as possible, send your email to one of the following addresses.

Email Support@Etsy.com for General Help, which covers:
Site navigation and functions, Selling and Buying, Closing and Opening accounts, Bugs, Muted Conversations, Questions about canceled transactions and refunds, Your Listings, Registration and Login, Your Shop, Advice, Question about what can and cannot be sold on Etsy, Forgotten Username, Email or Password trouble, Forums and Chatrooms, Questions about Site Policy, How to leave Feedback, and General Information.

Email Billing@Etsy.com for:
Trouble with credit card, your bill, or your fees.

Email Abuse@Etsy.com for all Disputes and Site Violations, involving:
Transactions, Conversations, Copyright, Trademark, Brand, Feedback, Harassment, Listings that don't belong on Etsy, Fee avoidance, General TOU violation, Behavior or Quality concerns, Sock Puppet accounts, Shilling (falsely inflating feedback), Spam, Scams, Non-Delivery, Inaccurate Listings.

Since most of the Etsy admin have a hand in helping you in one way or another, it can be befuddling as to who is the best point of contact!

For all Disputes and Site Violations involving the Forum and Chatroom, contact community@etsy.com. If you need help getting the hang of Etsy etiquette on the forums, check out the Community Team's Forum Decorum series on the Storque. The Community Team can also help you get acquainted with site policy and getting to know your way around the Etsy website. For more on Community, see their post in this All about Etsy FAQ Series (coming soon).

If you need advice or suggestions on your shop's appearance or the art of selling on Etsy and developing your brand, you might want to reach out to the Etsy Labs admin. For more on the Etsy Labs and how they mentor sellers, see this All about the Labs post.

And lastly, don't be afraid to ask for help! We think open communication works best for everyone.

Etsy Alumni: Caleb aka calebwalt

2007-04-16T13:12:00-05:00

UPDATE: Caleb no longer works for Etsy. Best of luck to you!

[The following was originally published April 16, 2008.]
Etsy has had quite a growth spurt in the past year, and we have the awkward pictures to prove it. We'll be posting a series of About Us pieces to help you get to know the Etsy admin (and since many of us work remotely, for the admin to get to know each other!). You've seen the admin badge, and maybe you're a bit curious about the person behind it! For more on Etsy's mission and about the company, please see our About page (the link is in the little blue footer of every Etsy page).

MP4 | Youtube | Blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes

Introducing Caleb, aka calebwalt: a sassy, soft-spoken Southern boy with a heart of gold! Caleb is a painter, printmaker, and likes to draw pointillist compositions of random folks on the subway. Although saddened when Pop Tart breakfast cereal was discontinued in the late 80's, Caleb has managed to accomplish much. He has worked with several great artists since his arrival in New York, including Chuck Close and Jenny Holzer. (You can see his self portrait below.) We are so glad to have him as part of the Etsy Support Team!

You can see Caleb's first Etsy Find here. See all posts in this About Us series.