WIN a A POPPY TRIO ECO FELT NECKLACE

Here's your chance to win one of my MOST Popular Necklaces Custom Made for YOU

To win you have to do a little work.
go through all of 3 of my shops and choose your favorite item from each one.
akaCINDERS.etsy.com
cinderbox.etsy.com
cinderellascache.etsy.com

Add your list of your three favorites to the comments in this blogpost to be entered. Please enter only once

Contest ends OCTOBER 1st I will randomly choose and announce the winner on OCTOBER 2

Don't forget to let me know how to contact you if yo are not a registered user!

NO MORE FREE SHIPPING! and Other ways to save Fees

THEY THINK THEY'VE GOT YOU. Ebay offers preferred ranking if you offer free shipping. Why is that?
Because they know you will make up for it in your pricing. THE MORE YOU CHARGE, THE MORE YOU PAY IN FEES.

Do you offer a discount on your Etsy account if the buyer enters a code? NOOOOOOO!!!! When your buyer buys AT YOUR LISTED PRICE, that is what your fees are based on. There is a reason that Artfire offers a "sale on entire shop option" and Etsy doesn't. Etsy can offer it too, but their income is individual sale fee based, while Artfire is monthly fee based.

PLEASE CONSIDER THIS when making discounts on any site that is item fee based. If you're offering a refund of 50% (or 2 for one) you're paying the fee for what you are giving away too. You've lost 50% of your sales, you're giving your seller site 3% (or more) which is a total of 53%. That leaves you with 47% of your selling price. Subtract Paypal fees and what do you have left? Maybe your cost of materials? YOU ARE WORKING FOR NOTHING.

Even if you're not a math whiz you can see that there can be little advantage to a refund or re-invoice discount.

THERE IS A WAY TO DO CODE DISCOUNT! Have the buyer contact you with the item they want, go to the item and change it to a custom with the sale price and change the price of that item for the buyer. That way your seller site will get only the percentage of the actual sales price of the item, not the list price. And that way, you do not have to change the price of every item listed.

NEVER GIVE A REFUND OR REVISED INVOICE AS A SALE. You will get back you paypal fees, but not your seller fees.

How to Snag an Etsy Treasury

Etsy Treasury is a prize worth it's weight in Gold. You can get attention with it, you can make friends with it, you can even make the front page of Etsy with it. But getting a Treasury can be elusive to some.

When I am prepared, I always get the Treasury I aim for, and I'll share my secret with you now.

First trick is to be prepared. I usually get my 16 selections ready by picking them in my favorites. That way it is easy to retrieve when I get a treasury.

You need to have alternate selections to make it to the Front Page.

Next, calculate as close as possible when the next open treasury will be available. There are a few good ways to do this.

Craftopolis.com has a Treasury Clock will give you a pretty good estimate of when the Treasury will open.

Or you can calculate the time. Take the number of treasuries listed and subtract 333 (222 for Treasury West) . Click on Expiration with the arrow up. Now take the number you came up with. For example 435 - 333 = 102 and count back. Each page has 20. Skip the first 5 pages of Treasuries, on the 6th page the 3rd treasury from the top will tell you how much time there is left.

Not exact as some people will end their Treasury early. Go early and wait for about 10 minutes to be sure. Ten minutes seems long, but little time for the reward.

Final tip. You have your selections, you know when, Now you need a title. Make it brief, like twitter you have a limited amount of characters. Type your title and copy it. You are going to paste it on the title box. Now go to the Treasury page, sit and wait at the bottom of the page. As soon as the box opens, paste in your pre-written title and hit create.

You can then go to your pre-selected item in favorites (open another browser page to make it easier).

When you are finished it is always nice to contact people in your Treasury. Copy the link at the bottom of the Treasury page. Click on an image and it will take you to the seller site. Click contact and you can send them the link to your treasury.

P.S. You need a decent computer and server to get a Treasury. Windows 98 with dial up? You might get a Treasury West in the middle of the night. LOL

Next Tip: How to save money on Fees

Phote Editing on a Budget

Getting good photos first is always best, but, if your images are a little less than perfect, there are several things you can do to improve them. Photo editing is a wonderful way to improve your images, even if they are not quite perfect.

Of course Photoshop is the best program to use, but it can be very expensive. Here is a link listing several free image editing programs and the pros and cons. www.readwriteweb.com/archives/free_alternatives_to_photoshop_with_all_the_bells.php I always get my free software from downloads.com I find their rating system to be helpful and they are pretty safe. Although nothing is free, just make sure you have a good spyware and adware removal program running on your PC.

Now that you have a photo editing program, play with it. Your less than perfect photo CAN be improved on. I always take my photos with a fairly high resolution. This will make a crisper picture. You can always reduce your resolution later.

Here is an example of an edited image:



The first picture is too light, not enough contrast and definition, and the composition could be more interesting.

First: adjust levels. Play with these settings until you get a look you like. This can add definition and contrast.

Second adjust brightness and contrast. In this case I would make darker and raise contrast.

Your photo editing program may not have a levels setting but they all have brightness and contrast.

Third step is color balance. Have your item in front of you and adjust the color on your screen to match what is in your hand. This will not be perfect, as all monitors do not have the same color settings. You may get complaints about your color, but it is impossible to have your color match every screen in the world. The best you can do is match yours and add a disclaimer on your site.

Once your photo is perfect, crop your image. Try a few different compositions, until you get the one that looks the most interesting and show off your art. Remember, your first image is a teaser to make a buyer want to see more. Your remaining pictures should show your complete item with as much clear detail as possible.

Finally reduce your resolution to your sites specifications.

Now look at your pictures. Would you buy from this shop? Would you add these pictures to a treasury? If yes, you have done a great job. Congrats!!!