Useful information for EFA sellers

Please check this Storque post out.

I constantly come across people who have not put their stuff in sections properly, and have definitey been guilty of forgetting to do it myself once or twice! It means people don't get to see all that you have - and yes, some of us DO go and look at your Sections, not just your front page.

Etsy has included the ability to add to Sections during the listing process. Tres Useful!!

Here's the Buzz!!!! LIVE Links on Etsy

It is worthwhile reading the newsletter that Michele sends around to all EFA members as it often reminds me of things I forget. Those charities I promise to send a donation of goods to, the challenge I need to enter, and so on. The most important one recently is this :-

"Etsy shop websites in your shop will now be a live link, so be sure to link to http://etsyforanimals.etsy.com wherever you can, thanks ;)" Michele.

This means that EFA sellers (and all of Etsy) can put 'live' links in their shops and I think, profiles, to other Etsy sellers. This is great because it will allow people to link through to the EFA shop - one of the main focusses of EFA fundraising. If you have donated to the EFA shop, and with 500+ members the shop is actually fielding a nice range of stuff now (and providing great advertising to the contributing sellers), it is well worth putting up the EFA signpost in your shop announcement.

OK off to do it myself.....

Policy Page Update on Etsy

This is the start of a very important article that has just appeared on Etsy's News pages. It is something that every seller should take note of as it is in our best interests to promote ourselves to the maximum on Etsy. I know Michele will ensure that the EFA store policy is up to the mark and I advise you to the same.

QUOTE :-

Dear Sellers,

We're all very excited to introduce the newest shop feature: The Shop Policy Page! Currently, most sellers post their shops' policies in either their shop announcement or profile, but we figured these areas can be better utilized for other your bio or promotions and news about your shop; it's time to give policies a special home. We hope that adding a new feature like this will help the communications between buyers and sellers, making transactions smoother and easier. Now there's a clear place where buyers can look for extra purchase guidelines and info, and sellers can worry less about any important information going unnoticed.

There are now links to your Policy Page from your main Shop page, right in between the link to your Profile and Favorites. Also, a link to your Policies will be included in each listing in your shop. You can edit your Policy Page from the Your Etsy page.

We are not requiring that sellers enter information into their Policy Pages; we welcome users to post their policies wherever they like. But we encourage it! Here is an introduction to the Shop Policy Page as well as some tips on what to consider when creating or modifying your shop's policy.

The following sections are available on the Policy Page; if you do not enter information into the section, its heading will NOT appear on your shop's Policy Page:

1. Welcome
Here you can welcome buyers to your policies; feel free to talk a little about your shop and your handmade or vintage items and supplies. Keep in mind that this is a buyer's first impression of your customer service. A message to let users know about your philosophy and creative process would be a great thing to include in your Welcome section.

2. Payment
Use this space to notify buyers of your shop's accepted payment types and deadlines for submitting payment.

3. Shipping
This is where to explain how you ship your items and when, if you offer upgrades or other options and what to do if a buyer has special shipping requests.

4. Refunds and Exchanges
Let your buyers know whether or not you can accept returns or exchanges on some/any/all of your items and if they have a time frame for contacting you regarding a return. If you do not offer refunds for shipping errors (ie. getting lost or damaged in the mail), this is a good place to mention that.

5. Additional Information
Do you welcome wholesale and consignment inquiries or custom Alchemy orders? This is the place to let everyone know! If you have any other tidbits that didn't quite fit into the other sections, go ahead and add them here.

The Storque has published a more detailed report on the Team Tags issue here. It is worth a read to bring yourself up to speed as a seller, and as a buyer.

Remember if we use the team tags it will be easier for people to find EFA linked items. If you DO have any questions on team tags it is worth raising them for discussion in the YaEFA Yahoo Group list.

Tag Update for Etsy Sellers

Michele posted the following message on the EFA Yahoo group and as it concerns tags I thought it would be helpful to post it here too.

Michele (mvegan5) says :-

"Tags: Hi all, I convoed with Sara from street teams admin directly, and she said adding team is strongly reccomended but not required right now, she reccomends phasing it in. So, I think "efa" is fine, but if you add new ones, "team efa" with a space is best, it includes team, and allows the items to be found by an "efa" search. Thank you so much all!"

So, it seems that while it's not vitally important to change EFA related tags right this minute, it will be a helpful and useful thing to do. It will focus searches on the right things and encourage more accurate searching. We can then start asking people to look for 'team efa'. It may seem a bit of a fuss but the whole point is to get searches working more accurately and if we want people to find EFA and help save even more animals - we must do everything we can. Both you and EFA supporting sellers and the EFA shop need support to help animals - tags help!!

Team Tags information

Etsy is currently rethinking its 'Team' tags category and this is causing a lot of discussion. It appears there has been tag abuse in the team category, which means all Team members across Etsy may have to change how their tags are written for their team items.

A suggestion was made,and our Team Leader mvegan5 Michele is in discusson about our exact wording and other matters. Details will be clarified soon and appear both on the EFA Team yahoo group and here on the blog.

This is nothing to worry about and a measure we will all be able to undertake in our own time. Just keep your eye open for Team Tag news over the next week or so.

EFA Seller tag information

For those who help EFA, Michele has some helpful information about a new tag for your items.

Michele says :-

"Wanted to let you know of a new reccomended tag for your item listings. For items that give 100% to animal charity, it will be great to tag with "donation" and you can always tag any of your items with "efa" and "animals" and "charity" if they pertain. Its great to spread the word about efa in your shop, you can add to your intro and/or profile: "Etsy for Animals (efa): etsyforanimals.com and if you have want: "Etsy for Animals Shop: 100% to the Animals: etsyforanimals.etsy.com". Everyone's shop info, etsy mini, and charities should be up on our website now, so by promoting efa you are promoting yourself and your favorite animal charities too."

Etsy buttons and banners

Sellers all want to make more sales - but EFA sellers have the additional motivation of helping animals.

The Etsy Teams page has some fun buttons, badges, banners and stuff for you to add to your page. Check them out - it all all help both your sales and those of EFA,

100 Tips for Etsy Sellers from Etsy Sellers

Hi all,
I wanted to give my fellow street team members a chance first before I post on the forum.

I am calling for the submission of your best seller tips that you might share with other etsy-ians. It can range from the practical, for example "always cross check your buyers address on etsy to the one on Paypal, to more "life affirming," for example, remember during the holidays to take the time to clear your mind and to quietly breath.

Please make you tips concise and clear.

This article is for my blog, and hopefully for the storque.

Send me your tip in the format below to nickandnoraphoto at gmail dot com
Email Header: My Esty Tip
In Email Body:
Tip: --- "always cross check your buyers address on etsy to the one on paypal "
Your Etsy Name: - --- mycatlulu
Your http:// of etsy seller id, ---- http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5218446

Thanks!
Becca

--
Buy Handmade
mycatlulu.etsy.com
mycatlulu.blogspot.com

Buy Handmade Pledge

Please read this.

It is of huge importance to all Etsians, great and small, who support Etsy for Animals. It will help us all raise the profile of everything handmade AND EFA.

Etsy Team Page ReVamp!!

In case you have not been in the Forums lately, or read The Storque, there have been big improvements to the Etsy Team Page. They are worth a look for everyone involved with Etsy for Animals

I know lots of people would not look at the Team page much as it was not a gripping read or useful for finding anything * BUT * now things are looking up!!

To quote Etsy "Teams are Etsy’s biggest and most creative grassroots engine for support, networking and marketing – for each team member’s shop, for the Teams themselves, and for Etsy as a whole". As a result of this upgrade in recognition, the Team Pages have been given a real shake up and there is a whole bundle of things helpful to Etsy teams that are now much easier to find and use.

There is a listing of all the current teams here, as well as info on starting or joining a team.

There is also a resources section that will be useful to everyone who belongs to a team, such as Etsy for Animals. Here you will find promotion downloads for buttons and badges, flyers and posters, as well as a making buttons video tutorial and stuff for your blog.

A lot of the resource stuff will be great for EFA members to use, making our presence felt, and helping animals with our funding contributions by MAKING SALES!!

There is also a BIG LIST of links for Team members to utilise - ranging from attending craft shows to classes, magazines, how-to's and kits. If you need guidance, inspiration or just a new idea, this is a great place to look.

Finally, Workshops. These are sometimes for Leaders, othertimes for all team members who want to attend. I went to the last one which was where I heard about all the new stuff that was coming up. Keep your eyes open for the open workshops, it's a place to learn a lot about Etsy, and helping OUR Team, Etsy for Animals.

Heads up for EFA Street Team members

I have just got back from an on-line Workshop hosted by Etsy, and there was news that will impact on EFA and every other Teams members.

Reports of Etsy teams have been in The Storque news recently and knowing how important the Teams are and the focus they bring, it was announced that Etsy is bringing in some rolling changes from Friday for the Street Teams; how they are organised on-line, communicated with and promoted.

Etsy is also spearheading a big initiative to encourage more handmade holiday spending. I can do no more than hint with the world 'Pledge'...... although I am sure more rumours will leak out!

This push to things handmade will be done with partners, as yet unrevealed, over the internet and, (maybe) a press campaign. It will be up to all of us to contribute with Etsy Street Teams like Etsy for Animals raising the profile 'off-line' by encouraging our friends and family to 'buy handmade'.

http://team.etsy.com/ The tabs on the Team Etsy page and The Storque are where you will be able to find news this coming Friday, and Etsy see this as a big marketing opportunity for everyone, this means, the EFA store and our own shop windows.