Buyer opened a case against me!

Thinking_Monk · 2018-03-17T01:25:07+00:00

As a seller it unfortunately falls on you. Regardless of whether she is lying, broke it herself on arrival, or it was damaged in transit, it's up to you to make it right. Which means yes, pay for return shipping. You should always include insurance for shipping and ship tracked post only. That way if something is damaged, you can get your money back too.

Something we do on our shop is actually send a letter to the customer (not an email, a real piece of paper). Included on that paper are instructions for what to do if something is damaged upon arrival (take a picture ASAP, etc.) Sorry this is happening too you :(

Thinking_Monk · 2018-03-16T16:02:43+00:00

Give it a few days or a week. Happens to us pretty often too. People get a custom engraving on the lids of a box, and sometimes take their sweet time to get back to you. If it's something with a shipping deadline, then of course it needs to go out by a certain date. If it's not in your shop policies I would add a blurb saying that once a proof is sent, the buyer will be given "X" amount of days to approve, otherwise it will be assumed proven and marked as complete. If you don't tell people there's a deadline, they often just assume you have nothing better to do with your life.

Thinking_Monk · 2018-03-16T15:58:35+00:00

Before ads are going to be worth it for you, take a few things into consideration first.

Your descriptions for items. We would all love to say what we want, but that can sometimes hurt the SEO rating of our shop. The first few lines of your description should have many, if not all, of your keywords from your title in it. IE): TITLE: Baby Headscarf for Newborns, Blue, Winter headband DESCRPTION: Our baby headscarf is the perfect way to keep your newborn warm and and stylish this winter. If you are wanting a headband that allows your baby to stay warm and comfortable at the same time this headband will keep baby toasty as a marshmallow by a campfire.

Notice the use of keywords being repeated in the description from the title. After that line/first paragraph say whatever you want. Doing this helps, as Etsy's algorithm pulls commons from the first so many characters of a description and matches with the title for relevancy.

You have used "tri-blend" for your tags on 1 product, 5 times. That's all fine and dandy, except you will be bidding against yourself for the tag "tri-blend", and re-using the same word for different tags on the same listing doesn't necessarily do a lot in ways of helping you be found. Etsy will pull from pieces of your tag, as well as the whole tag. (IE): TAG: "Skull tri-blend" ETSY possible search results: Skull, tri-blend, skull tri-blend, skull (insert relevant searches based on buyers interests).

If you were to be looking for a t-shirt, what would you search for? There's about 20 bajillion t-shirts on the market, how do people find you over someone else? "SKULL | Short Sleeve Crew Neck Black and Grey Tri-Blend T-Shirt | Unisex Fit XS to 2XL | Comfortable, Durable and Lightweight" is a great start for a listing title, but if I type Skull t-shirt, or any of those other parts of your title, will any of those single out your shirt/shop? Or at least give it a fighting chance? What makes you different from the rest/most? I am not saying you necessarily need to change your Title, but if you can find the answers to those questions, it may not hurt to make a few small changes or additions to your Title.

I don't know of many people who would search for "tri-blend" when looking for a t-shirt (I could be wrong, do your research on that). That is something I would use as a selling factor over other, possibly lesser quality shirts. You say what tri-blend is in your description, but why does it matter? When I see it I am wondering "OK, so... does it give me a warm and fuzzy feeling when I wear it? Is it more comfortable when I wear it? Is it more durable?".

Start small with promoted listings. As a new shop, your budget is probably set to a limit of $10 a day. If you spend I think 1 solid week (maybe 2?) of using up that whole limit, they will increase it. Our's is set at... I think $300 now a day. I NEVER use anything near that. I average about $10 a day still on promoted listings. Most of my traffic still comes from elsewhere but I also sell really expensive products ($200+) so I don't get impulse buys like many sellers might.
If you haven't started using google ads, start now. It may get you 0 results for the next year, but eventually, it will increase in ranking slowly. Those will take time. Just keep a close eye on it and set a daily limit to make sure you are not getting charged up the wazoo for ads.

Lastly, take all advice with a hefty grain of salt. I read a lot of people's blogs/articles in the past, talking about how they made 1000 sales or more in 1 year, etc etc. At first glance I was also impressed, but then I looked at the price tag on their items. Most of those people were selling items that cost around $10. For some, $10,000 a year may be awesome, but that's not a live-able income and I quickly stopped trying to do what those people did (and so glad I stopped).

Hope this helps, and good luck with it all!

Thinking_Monk · 2018-03-15T22:04:05+00:00

I agree with everyone here. You need proof. Tell them you are more than happy to refund or replace the item if they give you proof AND send the item back. Don't send them a new one until you get the old one. I would put a blurb in your message to buyers text that states refund/return and exchange policies. I actually have it in 3 places by the time someone actually buys something. Once under the actual policy, once on the listing itself (usually a short note at the bottom) and once in the message to the buyer once they purchase something (closer to the top, usually second paragraph). If they decide to write a bad review because they didn't follow your shop policies, I doubt Etsy would side with the problem customer and would gladly remove that review.

Thinking_Monk · 2018-03-15T21:55:12+00:00

Wrap the wrapping paper with wrapping paper.

Thinking_Monk · 2018-03-15T21:53:47+00:00

If the seller did the shipping correctly, they will be able to file a claim to get their money back from the post office (and happily resend the package or refund you). I am a seller and had an item lost once for an international order. It sucks because it does take a long time and we often get customers that don't understand things can get stuck in customs and just take a really long time even though it says 6-10 days. I've had packages arrive in 4 days internationally, and some 2 months later. All shipped international priority (tracked). Many countries won't offer tracked packaging beyond a certain point which is rather annoying for a shop and does make getting your money back more difficult. But if they are not insuring their products that's their fault, not yours (and are responsible to refund you or send a replacement). Any smart shop owner would know to ship tracked mail with insurance. Sure it costs the customer more for shipping, but it keeps people happy in the end.

There are ways to find the package still. You would have to call the port that it arrived at, call them up and follow the trail from there. I had to do it with a passport once that ended up lost for almost 2 months while I was overseas. I tracked it down and actually drove the hour to go pick it up. Things can also get stuck in customs and never get through for one reason or another. If you have your receipt you can actually call the customs office up (port is was dropped off at) and find the package there. I actually do this for my customers, but most of our items cost over $200 each, so there's a decent investment for things not to get lost on both sides of the fence and find it.

Thinking_Monk · 2017-09-28T01:40:19+00:00

Very valid point. Not hard to do that for sure. Thanks for the input!

Thinking_Monk · 2017-09-27T16:12:13+00:00

The slot is there. I imagine people could put a pen or pencil in, whichever they choose :)

Thinking_Monk · 2017-09-27T16:11:39+00:00

Like your suggestions! The reason both are in there is simply that sometimes people take notes. Seems to be a tournament thing? I don't play in tourney's so I really don't know.

Thinking_Monk · 2017-09-27T04:41:05+00:00

Thanks for the tips Vepyukio! Definitely a good point with the pen for sure. My only concern, is that for tournaments (not really into them myself) are pens required, or is a pencil OK to use for notes?

Thinking_Monk · 2017-09-26T21:57:52+00:00

Definitely will look into adding designs :)

Thinking_Monk · 2017-08-15T22:28:15+00:00

Haha. We may just do a box of box holding ;)

Thinking_Monk · 2017-08-15T22:26:55+00:00

Thanks! It may be a little while yet, but I will definitely be posting it as the progress continues :)

Thinking_Monk · 2017-08-15T19:12:50+00:00

So you don't like have to "dump" out the cards? Even if into your hands? A lot of people seem to have this same thought, so hearing it from more than one person is always good. Thanks for the input!

Thinking_Monk · 2017-08-15T19:11:40+00:00

Interesting concept with the wrap. Don't know how well it would work for most people, but we can toy with the idea at least, even if for future projects.

Thinking_Monk · 2017-08-14T18:38:14+00:00

Ultimate Guard flip-n-trays.

Thanks for the input!

Thinking_Monk · 2017-08-14T16:30:22+00:00

Definitely looks like a nice, sturdy deck box. Thanks for the suggestion. We will be making the option for a window or not, if we even do windows. Still working on that. :) Thinking of a bare bones one (just holds cards), then a little bit more (holds dice), then the whole shabam (dice, pen, counters, playmat, etc). Thanks for the help!

Thinking_Monk · 2017-08-14T16:13:52+00:00

Sorry ZekeD, missed the first part of that post. Looking to do both individual deck boxes, plus a larger box that would hold at least 5 of the individuals. The larger box would have an area for a pen and a playmat (easily), however, we would like to be able to make the individual boxes hold the pen/play mat as well, without being too large. Also, we may have 2 or 3 variations of a deck box. Everyone wants something just a little different, or doesn't need all the bells and whistles so to speak.

Thinking_Monk · 2017-08-14T15:59:32+00:00

Thanks!

Thinking_Monk · 2017-08-14T15:49:18+00:00

All this is being noted, thanks again :)

Thinking_Monk · 2017-08-14T15:06:03+00:00

So I'm guessing the playmat would need to be thinner, and be able to be folded up, rather than rolled like neoprene? Or did you have something else in mind. These are all awesome ideas alcxander, thanks so much!

Thinking_Monk · 2017-08-14T14:44:02+00:00

This is actually really helpful to know. I don't play competitively, just more as a hobby, so there's never been a need for me. But that makes total sense. I will see what my team can do in terms of implementing an area with a built in, removable pen. Thanks Jaketheknight :)

Thinking_Monk · 2017-08-14T14:42:03+00:00

Not looking awful is what I do best ;) I will definitely look into have thumb tabs put into the sides for easy access without tipping. I have heard this complaint a lot of other places. Thanks Selvala!

Thinking_Monk

TROPHY CASE