u/Fit-Television6756

I’ve doing my entire wedding list purchases on Etsy I’ve learned a few things.

Give smaller shops with fewer purchases a chance but make sure to shoot them a message. Some of them have been on Etsy for a year or two with little purchases. Some people are inactive because of that. If they are active they are happy to hear from you. I always ended up buying two items from their site to help with sales if it was priced well.

Free shipping makes me want to buy something more than something that doesn’t have free shipping even if the item is priced higher because of the free shipping. I do understand that overseas shipping can be different so there are a lot of factors but if it’s native to my area. Makes me want to buy it more.

Be nice to your customers. Lord. Some sellers are very rude and do not take criticism well. As a customer make sure you pay attention to the listing and all policies. Sellers need to make sure that their item descriptions are true to what the buyer is purchasing. Beefing up your description isn’t going to help your product at all. You’re going to have a very unhappy customer. I do like good description or story like descriptions don’t let that stop you from being creative with it.

I will not buy something that the image has been enhanced by AI software, I will not buy something that’s is an AI image. Even if it is truly handmade and is what it actually looks like.

Don’t be afraid to post your pictures and take pride in your work. Show everything. I love when I can see all the raw details in somebody’s handmade work. I do however like when I can see the item. I don’t like when the pictures are too dark to show what you are selling. Give it some light 💡!

Always, I mean always reverse image search what you are buying. Literally 50% of the crap on Etsy is aliexpress or temu labeled as handmade. However there are sellers that hand make items with wholesale items from temu. Just be aware what you are buying and do research. If I don’t catch it and buy the item I will start a case and get my money back. People aren’t going to get away with that crap.

If you are looking for something specific you need to spend at least 2 hours lurking through Etsy to make sure it’s what you want. Often I would buy something and then find something similar that I ended up liking better. Thats a me problem. But just do a loooottt of digging. There are some treasure shops out there that are truly wonderful. The algorithm sucks. A lot of shops don’t pay for advertisement so you have to find them.

Reaching out to the customer, thanking them for the purchase, letting them know the item shipped, ect goes a very very long way. That always makes me want to give 5 stars.

Try your best to get your shipping estimate correct. I know it’s just an estimate but nothing is worse than it being delivered weeks later. Communication is so important. Let the customer know if you are behind on a customer order or behind on shipping. Communication goes a long way. If I hear from you and you let me know what’s up. I’m still a happy customer.

On that note the US delivery system sucks and things are taking longer and longer. Be aware of that and be nice to your sellers. If the item is taking a long time because it’s stuck at a distribution center that is not the sellers fault at all. Come on people.

Give people 5 stars if you are truly happy. I’m a customer and I hate seeing 4 star reviews left by people who truly loved the item. Like why?

A lot of sellers will go the extra mile if you communicate what the item is for. I had a lot of sellers go above and beyond when I said this was for an event. Same with birthdays, anniversary’s, ect. Sellers love making their product or selling you a product that’s going to something special.

Things on Etsy can be expensive people have to understand it takes people’s time, money and expertise to make these items. However it doesn’t hurt to reach out and ask if the shops offer any discounts. Most shops do and some don’t. 90% of the sellers I asked were happy to provide a 5% to 20% off discount. Which is really nice at this time where everything is so high. The seller gets a sale and the customer is happy to have saved a little money. As a seller you don’t have to. I have bought things even if the seller says they don’t offer discounts. Don’t be upset if they don’t offer it.

Communication between seller and buyer is the most important thing. It goes both ways.

Anyway these are the things I have learned on the platform and hopefully it helps sellers and buyers.