I’m planning to set up an Etsy shop, but I need to work out the logistics of shipping & stuff. I make plushies, so unfortunately can’t just throw them in an envelope.
Is there anybody here who sells stuff online and has advice?
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I sale stuff online.
Etsy takes care of a lot of the shipping for you. You can tell them you package size and weight and they will automatically charge your customers the cost of shipping the item. It is fairly consistent and you can even by the shipping label from them.
There is a cardboard box store about a block away from the hackspace. You can buy boxes there. You can also laser cut boxes and use that for shipping. It is a bit more work but worth it if your package is weirdly shaped.
Don’t forget to add personal touches to the item. A sighed picture of you holding the plush or some WIP shoots really adds to the personal connection. It takes 5 mins to do and it means a lot.
Oh, take good photos of your item. There is a product photography box at this hackspace for this purpose. Set up a nice white background really helps you items pop.
That is all the advice i have right now. Don’t be afraid to ask me anything else or find me in person.
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Thanks, that’s super helpful! I didn’t realize Etsy calculated the shipping costs.
I did, but a lot of the functions have changed. What @yeungx said is correct though, the shipping options have always been great on Etsy. Do some of the up front work to set up shipping options and package details and you’ll end up with a really easy time at shipping. If you’re shipping similarly shaped items that saves some steps too. If you don’t have one I suggest buying a Dymo label printer, the 4x6 version cost me like $300 on amazon but saves sooo much time printing labels over hand writing them.
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Where’s the photo box kept? I didn’t know we had one!
We have a Brother QL-570 label printer at the space too. The software is pretty awesome, you can create a custom template and link it to a spreadsheet to automatically fill in the text. Works well for printing large batches.
I think it is in the beaver room right now. I will look for it to confirm on Sunday.
Oh, nice! This is going to be a hobby thing and I definitely won’t have the volume to justify spending $300 on a label printer. I might get a postal scale, though.
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