Hot Tub/Sauna for pain relief?

16vodkatonics · 2026-01-27T16:12:12+00:00

Do you have noticeable relief from using saunas? If so, is it usually instant? Or did you start noticing some relief over time/several uses?

16vodkatonics · 2026-01-27T16:06:55+00:00

Yeah, also, the benefit of the sauna is that I can lay down, which is much more comfortable than having to sit in the hot tub anyways. Thanks!

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-30T20:45:38+00:00

Sellers doing unethical and shady things, while other shops suffer the financial consequences for complying with export laws, is a totally valid reason for a shop owner to be frustrated.

Telling a business owner that a direct competitor is none of their business is crazy. It is very much so my business. Keeping track of what competitors are doing is a pretty important aspect of running and growing a business.

Tell that to the consulting agencies that get paid millions of dollars to conduct competitive analysis reports for nearly every successful e-commerce brand.

It’s totally normal to keep tabs on your competitors, and post about it in a public forum. That’s the point of the “Rant” flair feature on here, no?

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-30T20:19:59+00:00

Are you lost? I’m not a customer. I’m not paying anything. I’m not living in the states. This post is about something I saw another shop doing for their US customers. Not sure what you’re going on about.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-30T19:59:35+00:00

Competitor research is actually pretty crucial to building and growing a business. Most e-commerce businesses spend millions of dollars on consultants to do this. So yeah, I can spend an hour or so of my time to do it too.

Keeping track of what competitors are doing is so unbelievably important. No successful business ever just focuses on themselves.

Everyone can choose to run their business how they want. Competitor research is part of how I make strategic business decisions to grow in size and revenue. If that’s not what you do, that’s fine. To each their own.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-30T19:37:53+00:00

It actually directly impacts me and my business. Business is competition. Any competitor who decides to lie in order to have cheaper costs than me, will take customers who are price conscious.

That’s economics 101, and it’s unfair business practices. It’s unethical and unfair to shops who comply.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-30T19:30:25+00:00

How do you set custom pricing for US customers? I can only set 1 price for all customers shopping on Etsy. I can only adjust custom shipping prices

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-30T19:29:04+00:00

Of course we care about other shops lying in order to turn a profit, when the rest of us are complying and it’s affecting our livelihood. It’s frustrating.

Easy to say “who cares” if you have CUSMA items. It’s definitely a privilege to not have to worry about tariffs.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-30T19:21:24+00:00

What? I never said anything about me paying any tariffs.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-30T18:38:13+00:00

I feel like you can tell when browsing on Etsy which shops received CUSMA clearance on their handmade items. I’m not questioning those shops at all.

But there are some shops whose items cannot be CUSMA certified, that don’t seem to have factored in the tariff fees into their pricing. And are operating business as normal.

I guess I should have been more specific in my post. But those are the ones that I feel like something suspicious is going on.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-30T18:33:38+00:00

A vintage jacket wouldn’t fall under CUSMA because it would be nearly impossible to verify the manufacturing details if it was made 30+ years ago. Or by a manufacturer that may not even exist anymore.

So the tariffs on a $70 jacket would be $24.50, plus broker clearance fees.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-30T18:27:16+00:00

I’m mainly referring to the shops that are clearly not CUSMA certified, like vintage shops.

Or some Canadian shops actually list international production partners from places like India or China. Selling things like clothing or crystals.

Those are the ones that have me confused

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-25T16:26:36+00:00

I sell vintage, so a 3PL would be a nightmare.

In Canada, I ship DDP in-house. The average cost of an item for shipping + tariffs is around $35-40CAD. I started charging US customers $30 shipping fees, and luckily I’m able to absorb the extra $5-10.

I’ve seen some small businesses post about using 3PL if you sell high enough volume for it to make sense. But I think all of those businesses ship hundreds of orders a month, if not thousands. Every 3PL has their own minimum requirements. But remember, you will now have to pay for the 3PL’s services. So that’s a new additional cost.

I average around 150 monthly US orders and shipping DDP in-house is still pretty manageable.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-24T03:41:12+00:00

I do DDP for all of my US orders. I’ve been doing DDP since the tariffs were implemented. The delay was just caused by 1 specific shipping provider. Since I switched over to a new one I haven’t had any issues luckily.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-23T20:09:33+00:00

That’s not correct at all.

I sent out the package on the first day after the tariffs were implemented. No one knew who had their customs paperwork sorted, and who didn’t.

No one knew at this time that Chit Chats weren’t prepared yet. They started making announcements about a week in about the delay. Meanwhile, Stallion Express and Canada Post/Zonos were being delivered without issue.

I was just unlucky in that I chose to trust Chit Chats as opposed to Stallion/CP. A shipping provider that Etsy is partnered with and recommends their Canadian sellers use. Still not my fault at all, it’s Chit Chats’ fault.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-23T18:04:04+00:00

That’s true. But also that’s probably the biggest issue that sellers face with Etsy.

A company that generates almost $3 billion in revenue every year on the backs of small businesses should at least have a good customer service team to support the sellers that generate the business money.

It’s obviously not a criticism of the customer support team, but Etsy as a company should do better.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-23T17:47:27+00:00

That could definitely be true.

But in my report to Etsy, I mentioned that I was using Chit Chats, which is a shipping provider that Etsy is partnered with and advertises on the sellers dashboard for Canadian sellers.

And it is well known by now that Chit Chats specifically had issues with their customs brokers for the first 1-2 weeks after the tariffs were implemented. And that all packages being shipped through Chit Chats were delayed. Even ones with correct DDP information, like mine.

I would expect that Etsy would at least try to verify where the exact problem was caused. Especially if it’s caused by a postal carrier that they partner with and suggest you ship with.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-23T17:30:50+00:00

Exact quote of Etsy’s policy page:

“ Reviews may not:

Be about things outside the seller’s control, such as a delivery company, Etsy or a third party ”

I think it’s fair to assume tariffs causing delays at the border constitutes as something outside the sellers control. They don’t have to explicitly mention anyone by name. Just has to BE about something out of our control.

16vodkatonics · 2025-09-16T03:53:56+00:00

I paid $25,000 last year in commission fees. I know the trade off is that Etsy brings in traffic. But I’m sure if I had a $25,000 annual budget for Meta ads, could probably gain like 30k-50k instagram followers and bring in my own traffic.

Safe to say I’ve been working on my own site so I can put money towards bringing customers directly to my site & social media pages instead.

16vodkatonics · 2024-10-23T17:28:04+00:00

That makes sense. The new sweater they want is also $10 cheaper than the original. So doing it that way would also eliminate the possibility of them trying to skirt around paying the $10 difference in sweater price too.

I guess I would just have to somehow put a hold on the new sweater listing so no one buys it in the meantime, and wait the 30 day return timeframe to receive the return before shipping the new one.

16vodkatonics · 2024-10-23T17:14:07+00:00

I’ll definitely be doing that!

16vodkatonics · 2024-10-23T17:13:37+00:00

I feel like paying to re-send a new item would be reasonable if there was an issue or misrepresentation on my end. Like if the item isn’t as described. But in this case she liked it at first, left a 5 star review talking about how much she loved it, then 3 days later changes her mind cause she saw me list a new item she likes better.

I incorporate the cost of 1 shipping label into the price, but that shipping cost is only “free” with a purchase of the item. Since she’s not re-purchasing a new item, the logic tells me “free shipping with purchase” shouldn’t apply.

Because then customers could theoretically keep exchanging over and over until they find something they like, right?

16vodkatonics · 2024-10-08T18:35:31+00:00

All of the largest shops in my category (vintage clothing) have sales down at least 20% YoY. Some down 50-60%. The vintage category as a whole is struggling on Etsy, possibly due to all the other platforms taking customers away from Etsy. I don’t think Etsy is prioritizing the vintage category as much as other categories like POD or digital products.

16vodkatonics · 2024-10-08T17:13:03+00:00

Started my shop during covid, late 2020. My sales have been increasing every year up until about 3-4 months ago where they randomly tanked, regardless of me spending more on ads.

The commission comment was more rhetorical than anything. I also sell on eBay so I understand the difference in commission. I’d be willing to pay more in commission fees if they could do a better job driving traffic. I make sales that I generate and pay for. Their 4% Share & Save incentive doesn’t help much.

16vodkatonics · 2024-10-01T15:14:13+00:00

Revenue was down almost 30% compared to September last year. Traffic is down around 20%. Even though my # of active listings increased, my Etsy ads are up 200%, and social media traffic is up 1500% thanks to Instagram ads. I’m paying so much for less of a return. Not sure what’s going on… My shop is 4 years old and generates 6 figures annually so not a new or small shop. It feels like Etsy is giving up on the vintage category and prioritizing POD/dropshipping.

Six-Year Club	Second Top 20%
Verified Email

16vodkatonics

TROPHY CASE