It's just amusing to see the level of interest Red takes in the packing process.
He's there in the basement to make sure the right size box is chosen. He's in the living room where I do the actual packing because I have room to work there. He's in an upstairs bedroom when I wanted the bright colored tissue paper I keep in an armoire to wrap around lids so they'd be more visible through the bubble wrap. (He knows the sound of the armoire opening- there are RIBBONS in there!!!)
This packing was for an Etsy sale. It's been a few weeks since my last one, but I've actually been surprised at the sales I've had since Christmas has been over, given the huge number of potters on Etsy.
There's a lot of time that goes into getting things ready to ship. I remember when a customer at the farmer's market was telling me about Etsy. She has a shop on Etsy where she sells knit things- cowls, headbands..etc. "Oh, you just put them into a padded flat rate envelope." After a couple of seconds, during which I'm sure I was looking at her sideways, she admitted it might be a little more involved for me.
It took a while to get going on Etsy. Once I got the shop up I left it unpopulated for an entire year- I was so intimidated by the process. I don't know if it's going to be a long term thing, but right now it can be gratifying to send my work all over the country (and one to England). It's been a learning experience too, in many ways. Photography, especially, being a big hurdle to overcome. Still working on that.
Just when I am ready to pass on etsy I read a post like this and it makes me think I should open my shop back up. I really hate that packing and shipping business!
ReplyDeleteNice packing assistant you got:-)
ReplyDeleteReally nice to hear, that someone sells.I´ve got a shop on the danish version of Etsy, and i haven´t had a sale i month. Sad.
So i´dlove to do some packing.
Hi Tracey, Well I'm far from prolific. I've always wondered if the high volume pottery sellers have family members who handle the packing and shipping. Or, maybe they're just better organized than I am.
ReplyDeleteHi Gabi, Yes, Red is at least a good packing buddy.
I checked out your blog and it seems like you've got a lot of positive energy in every thing you do. I'm sure more sales will be coming to you soon.
Posting something on etsy has been a lot of work for me. Time consuming! I hope to get back at it someday. I've found that I sell most of my pottery to friends on Facebook. Glad it's working well for you, though.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet packing cat you have, congrats on all the sales, when I started om etsy there were 89,ooo pieces of pottery and now I think there are 127,000, lots of competition and not much chance of folks finding one piece as opposed to another.
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