Biz Buzz - Handling Buyer Requests

Ever get a request from a buyer that is so out of this world that you don't even know how to answer them? I know you have, because I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I just got a request to change the red lace on an Apron to blue lace. I get a lot of these requests. Of course you could assume that I don't carry blue lace in stock, and you would be right. Now you know I am not about to go out and buy blue lace at $1 or more a yard when I buy the few colors I have at $.20 a yard especially for a customer that got a pretty good discount on the merchandise in the first place.

Here's a good one. A buyer has to wear a red apron to work, so could you please make this Star Wars Apron with a red background instead of white. Well I probably could if you would like to pay $500 for it instead of $39, because I will have to design fabric and have it printed. Or I could get a red fabric marker and "paint" the background red, but you could do that yourself for a lot less money.

I know all of you sellers get requests that just make you want to pull your hair out, or reach through the "net" and throttle someone.

I am always as sweet as possible when the buyer asks the next day to give them the shipping information for their hand made merchandise that says on the listing to allow one week for completion. I am always as understanding as possible, even though I just want to say, what and who do you think I am? and can't you just take 2 seconds to read the whole listing of items you are buying.

I sell on eBay and many buying off their phone apps which do not see the whole listing. I also used to get a LOT of really dumb questions about merchandise and I would sweetly reply that all the information they need is on the listing. They would reply that they are looking at it from their phone and can't see the whole listing. EBay has worked on that issue now though.

I bet you thought I had an answer to this problem. I really don't. All I can say is that you have to remain as calm as possible, and if your buyer has angered you, don't even answer until you have calmed down. You will be able to think a little better the next day and if you don't answer immediately it will not be the end of the world. Always try to let the buyer know that you are working hard on their order. If they ask where their merchandise is when it should take a week, I let them know that they will probably be getting it a little early. "You are in Luck, I'm going to be able to get this our sooner than one week"

As far as colors I don't have, I focus on something else, "You will love it just the way it is listed". And I'm sorry that I can't make the Red fabric Purple, Or make the Onyx centers of these flowers with Moss Agate rondelles that aren't available.

I really will do what I can to please a buyer, but some things, you know, are just not possible at the cost they are willing to pay. And often request are made after the item is paid for.

As I don't really have a solution for you. I wonder if you can add your suggestions in my comments. How do you handle unusual or impossible buyer requests?

Putting it Together - Collaboration

It's come to mind that I've never really mentioned (well once a long time ago) that one of the ways you can accomplish great things is through collaboration. Take these fantastic photos My DD Poppy just got of her Harley Quinn Costume.

This Costume and other Great ones can be found at PoppysWickedGarden on Artfire.

Poppy doesn't really have a budget for photography, but she does have friends. Her model loves the costume and sells the makeup to make the mask. She sells really wonderful mineral makeup at GothCupcake on Etsy. It's the best. She's on a little vacation but she'll be back soon.



The Photography is so fantastic. All the pics were done in collaboration with TharnPhotography on Etsy. The photography is so fun and fantastic. I think they all did such a wonderful job. Wow, these pics look better than the ones Poppy had of the clothes on her Mannequin.

If you're not the greatest photographer, make friends with someone who is. It doesn't even have to be a professional, although if you want pictures like these you will need one. Sometimes you can find people who will do great photos for a trade.

Modeling is often the hardest thing to find, but if you have jewelry or clothing, a plastic person is not the same as a real model. Look at the Front page of Etsy and see how many pictures of plastic people, or poor photos are there.

Is there any other way to get good photography? Yes there is. If you are near a school that teaches photography, you can often get some nice work done by students to add to their portfolio. A photographer needs to have a portfolio of good work to show to potential clients, just like you need good photography to sell your product. This goes for all product, not just modeled product.

Often it is very hard for students, or even professionals, to get their hands on product to add to their portfolio. If the merchandise will be sold on a web site, even better.

But what if you need a model? You can find great models (and even photographers) at a site called Model Mayhem. Poppy has found great models there who were willing to do shoots in exchange for clothing and photography for their portfolios. There are models all over the country on that site.

But don't forget your friends and neighbors. Many of them would be thrilled to model your product. Don't be afraid to ask, and don't feel hurt when some say no. If you sell children's clothing, many parents don't want their children's faces publicized, many do. You can use friends and children as models without showing their face. I do it for my jewelry photography.

So grab yourself some great pics. And don't forget to stop by Poppy's Wicked Garden for some Great Costumes and clothes, Goth Cupcake for Fantastic Makeup and Tharn Photography for some wonderful Prints.

Biz Buzz - Fond Farewell and Marketing Tips?

I wanted to dedicate this Bizz Buzz to saying a fond farewell to the Clown that Ran Etsy But You can read about it at the Inc article or the Great Farewell that Etsy Bitch wrote HERE

I would also like to note that with what has happened in Norway, everything we do here seems so small. So many children lost at the hands of a Madman.

I decided instead, to write about something that came to mind after a few events this week. It has to do with your audience. Who are you selling to? I was trying to come up with search terms for my jewelry. Because it was unique, I wanted to come up with some terms that the average person would use to search. I was thinking about my product and I was thinking of all the other handmade product. I'm not including vintage here, because they have a greater chance of people searching for their items than handmade sellers do.

I thought about all the lovely handmade products and artwork, I and I thought about all the nice things that people had said about my flowers. I thought about how we are pushed by ourselves and our sites to create something so unique that it stands out against our competition. And I thought that if it is so unique, how will people find it. If you designed handkerchiefs for Elephants, that would be unique. Maybe useful (they would have to be pretty big) But who would search for it.

It popped into my head, that the people who are looking at my work, or your lovely work, are mostly artists, or people involved with or admirers of the arts. Is that my target audience? Wouldn't it be nice if the average person, or at least a percentage of the overall population would like my work?

I pass QVC sometimes and see things that are not as lovely as our handmade craft, but mass produced, sell by the thousands. I used to work for a company that sold to QVC and it was not our usual lovely inventory. But that's another story.

And then there was something that Poppy said this week. She was listing a biker T-shirt that had previously sold for $250, and she was debating weather to list it auction, or buy it now on eBay. She was discussing how much to list it for and I said was it too much in this economy. She said people with money have money and they don't really care, they buy what they want. She's right you know. We struggle to sell our beautifully hand crafted wares for under minimum wage and someone pays $1800 for a Lego Millennium Falcon still in the box. (I'd rather have it built for that price).

We work our tails off at the craft we love and yet we could take a $1 t-shirt we found a the thrift store and turn a $200 plus profit on it.

My point isn't despair. It is, how the heck do we get the guy spending $250 on a T-shirt to spend a few bucks on our handmade? How do we inspire the "want monster" (I hate that term and wish it would go away and die forever) to absolutely love handmade. What we really need is not a clown but a Marketing Genius to help us out. Barry Manilow will you write us a handmade product jingle for the new millennium? There is more to marketing than just good SEO. SEO does not inspire desire. How about "I'm wearing Handmade Today" "I just hung Handmade on my walls, did you?" "I'm cooking in handmade."

Biz Buzz - Another Life

I have to admit, I was really bummed when I got my Etsy Apron shop closed. It was very inconvenient, but I opened one in only my name, not shared with my DD, after all I HAD completely taken over the shop.

OK, so I was seriously bummed when Etsy shut down all of my shops and eventually BLOCKED my ISP so that I couldn't even buy or browse on Etsy. Well that's not entirely true. I have my backdoor ways to browse, but that's my little secret. And Etsy, just try to figure out which email is mine so that you can block my Finds email again.

I guess the point of all this is that my posts were always geared toward Etsy sellers. Etsy this, Etsy treasury, Etsy that, Etsy SEO, Etsy, Etsy, Etsy. Like the Sun and the Earth revolved around Etsy. Well guess what. it doesn't.

I didn't realize that there was a whole other world of sellers and seller sites out there. I moved to Etsy from eBay, the top seller site. And while I really had to adjust my product line. I'm selling about as much. Oh and what I mean by adjust is offering far less product. I don't have to design something new each week, there is enough traffic for my limited selection.

I've also found other sites that work in a very different way. Like flat rate. I really like flat rate. Artfire, Zibbet and Groove Press to name a few, only charge one monthly fee. I like that. And you don't have to be on, relisting all the time, because relisting only breaks your links, and makes it harder for buyers to find you. I can list multiple items now with no penalty, awesome.

There is another benefit to working on lots of other sites. You get to meet very interesting people. Sellers that don't even sell on Etsy, because they WANT to. Not just because they've gotten kicked off. There are actually nice and very talented people who don't "live" on Etsy. There really is another life. How much have you sold on Etsy this summer? I've sold quite a bit.

Biz Buzz - Big fish in a Little Sea or Little Fish in a Big Sea

There is a new seller site that opened this week. It's called Groove Press and not that anyone is selling there yet, but for some reason I really liked the vibe so I am setting up a shop there.

Since I have opened the shop, I have been on the front page constantly, because there are so few sellers. I have sold on eBay, Etsy, Artfire and the bomb (not in a good way) site Zibbet, and I have never received so much attention. Although my Etsy Treasuries and Artfire Collections have been on the Front Page, and I have been in the Etsy Finds and Artfire Collection of the Day, I still have not had the constant exposure that I am having on Groove Press.

Of course no one knows about Groove Press yet, so no one is really buying from them. But there was a time when no one knew about Etsy either. I just have a gut feeling about this site. I think they are moving in the right direction.

Groove Press is not fully functional yet either, there are quite a few little glitches so I've had to write them every day to help point out some of the problems. Their customer service at this time, is fantastic. they auto respond immediately and I get a real response within the day. Of course they don't have a lot of people to respond to right now.

So because I have been trying to help them with little things they might have overlooked, they have promised to make me a featured seller soon. So here is my question, is it better to be a Big Fish in a Little Sea, getting a lot of exposure on a little noticed site, or be a Little Fish in a Big Sea like Etsy or eBay and get very little to no Front Page time and be almost invisible?