Now Shipping Internationally!

Finally, I’ve added true international shipping to my Etsy store! I’ve been intimidated by international shipping (beyond Canada) for too long, so I’ve finally taken the plunge. Why put up road blocks to increased sales? Jewelry is light and easy to ship at reasonable prices. And now that I’ve done a couple, the customs forms aren’t so scary.  I do hope the international buyers will find me. Etsy doesn’t make it easy to highlight the fact that you offer International shipping. I want to welcome all my readers from overseas and thank you for sticking with me!

Landscape Stone Pendant

Here’s a pendant I made last weekend. This gorgeous oval Landscape Stone pendant is wrapped in copper wire and hung on a rust colored suede cord. Landscape stone displays natural earth-tone patterns reminiscent of a painted desert landscape. I really love the natural pattern and colors!

This necklace is 25 inches long and finished with a toggle clasp. The pendant measures 1.75 inches long by 1.15 inches wide (41mm x 30mm). I hope you like it!

Wordless Wednesday - Aspen

More shop tinkering

Tonight I’m taking a tip from Timothy Adams and adjusting some of the prices in my Etsy store. I raised the prices on several items and lowered the price on a couple others. Timothy points out that people will gravitate to a medium priced item in most buying situations. How do you raise your median price? By significantly raising the price of a few items to create a new “ceiling.”  I probably fall in to the trap of pricing my items low, thinking no one will buy them otherwise. So many of us undervalue our work. I still think my prices are low, but I have a greater range now.

As a reverse experiment, I took a group of nearly identical items, my men’s chokers, and reduced the price on one of them by $1. By making one item look like an accidental value, it should be more attractive. I’ve tried so hard to keep prices consistent in my store that perhaps there hasn’t been any incentive to buy one piece over another. I’ll be interested to see if I notice any changes in sales from this.

A new look for an old listing – Spring cleaning for your store.

I’ve slowly started taking new photos for old listings that need an update. This Sodalite bracelet is one of the first items I listed in my Etsy store.  The listing only had two product photos and I wasn’t 100% happy with how the photos looked.  I think the pink just didn’t reflect my own taste, to be honest. 

I’ve kept the pink photo in the line-up, but my new main photograph is clear and simple. The background does not distract from the colors of the stones or try to convey a specific mood. The bracelet gets to be the star. In addition, it’s more in line with the other photos in my store. I will admit, my store doesn’t have a fully consistent look, but I’m trying to steer toward that goal. I have two more of these Sodalite pieces to update, and then the pink will be gone!

Another key to updating a listing is to tweak the Title, body text and tags. I actually found an error in the body of this listing that had been there for a year! And then I saw that I was only using eight tags!  It’s so important to use all 14 tags if possible so that you show up in Searches.

Now I feel like this is a new listing instead of an old one. It’s modern and updated and I feel proud to call it my own. How’s your store looking? Is it time to do some Spring cleaning?

Vote for my photo!

I entered this photo in Timothy Adam's product photo contest on his Handmadeology blog. I'd sure appreciate your vote, so here is the link! http://timothyadam.cheddrmedia.com/iframe/310-Etsy-Worthy-Photo-Contest/entries/1635-Chunky-Green-Bracelet.html

Wordless Wednesday

Cow in downtown Anchorage.
Copyright Bonnie Stotz 2005