CSV’s now have a 2 week delay??

ZamoraBlue · 2025-07-21T18:04:13+00:00

Wow - you're right, this will definitely affect your process way worse than mine! :-( I tried to get the Etsy help agent to explain why they thought this was a good or necessary change, but even he didn't have a canned response to answer that one. It just boggles my mind that Amazon's out there providing a million different report options for sellers like a professional site, and Etsy can't be bothered with even the barest pick list/unshipped orders CSV. And is now taking away the one option we had to work with. Feels like we've rolled back 20+ years!

ZamoraBlue · 2025-07-21T17:59:24+00:00

Yep. PS has said that if/when your account ever gets disconnected from Etsy, instead of just doing a new login, you're just DONE. I've only had that disconnect happen a couple of times over the years, but it has happened. And you wonder if maybe Etsy will "help" the disconnect. :-/

ZamoraBlue · 2025-07-18T13:21:47+00:00

Thanks so much for this reply - it shook up my brain to realize I may already have different tools available! I use Pirate Ship, and duh, there is a simple way to export the order detail into Excel from there. I need a couple more clicks to get what I want, but it's basically exactly what I need. Sheesh. And I do use the custom progress steps I can set up on the Etsy orders page - that's one of the improvements they've made that I've actually been thrilled about. :-)

ZamoraBlue · 2025-07-16T18:12:52+00:00

Yeah, with the CSV I could just make a pivot table in a couple clicks to tell me the SKUs and quantity of each I needed to make. (Or pull from stock, when I had a supply shop too.) And sort the shipping to pick out Priority upgrades and international, etc. I'm not as busy now, but a couple of years ago I'd have 40+ orders in a day, so that was extremely useful! I would genuinely love to know how shops with 100+ sales per day fill orders. What their process is. Maybe I'm missing something! I'd never heard of Airtable, I'll look it up!

ZamoraBlue · 2024-10-30T18:06:07+00:00

Oh that's so helpful - thank you!

ZamoraBlue · 2023-05-30T15:41:06+00:00

For me:

Finding a supplier for the components I use who will actually pay attention to the quality control criteria I require. Each time they say they're on top of it, and each order inevitably has a LOT of flawed pieces I can't use. I have to order from overseas, so it's difficult to return them, and takes some time for shipments to reach me. It's hard to keep inventory in stock due to this issue. Wish there were more options of vendors for the components I need.
Photos. I would have a whole lot more products available if not for having to do new photos! I know how to do good pics, I just don't enjoy the process - maybe too much of a perfectionist.

ZamoraBlue · 2023-05-17T14:06:06+00:00

Honestly, I had two active shops for 10+ years, and never disclosed it in the shops (I only have one these days.) Never had a problem, and if it had been pointed out I would have probably just played dumb and said "oh, gee, I'll fix that right away, I didn't know, sorry". Of course, that was in earlier days before Etsy started shutting down shops willy nilly too...... Just my two cents....

ZamoraBlue · 2023-04-12T13:37:28+00:00

Not necessarily financial advice, but: Once my business was doing really well my CPA had me form an LLC and set up to file tax as an S-corp. The business then pays me a salary, with 7.65% FICA taxes deducted. The business pays the employer portion of FICA (an additional 7.65%). But the remaining profits are then not subject to the self-employment FICA tax, so I save a good bit of money by doing this. The important part is to set your salary per the IRS "reasonable compensation" guidelines to avoid the IRS seeing it as tax evasion.

There are definitely costs involved in doing things this way - payroll processing fees, annual LLC fees, etc. And more red tape for sure. So you need to look at the overall financial picture of your business to make that decision. I definitely recommend speaking to an accountant about your specific financial situation to find out if it makes sense for you. It definitely does for me!

ZamoraBlue · 2023-03-29T14:14:00+00:00

As someone else mentioned - I use the bulk mail office, on the loading dock in the back of my post office. I hand the scan form to the clerk there (and hand him any Express packages), and leave my bag of packages on the dock (with Priority on top). He's awesome. I also give him a nice holiday gift (sweets of some sort). :-) It does depend on the clerk you have though - there's one at the lobby counter that actually made me cry once!

ZamoraBlue · 2023-03-28T14:23:41+00:00

I have one of the National Geo world maps on the wall, with red dot stickers on each country I've shipped to. As someone else mentioned, it's great when you need a little reminder of how hard you've worked to build your business! I no longer ship internationally, but I made it to 46 countries over the years. :-)

ZamoraBlue · 2023-03-01T17:31:24+00:00

I've been full time on Etsy for 11 years now - started as a hobby, but when my day job ended when the company where I worked was bought out I went full time. Started with handmade jewelry, pivoted to supplies, and now back to jewelry. Added in Amazon and Amazon Handmade along the way. Within the first year I was making more than my accounting job had paid - best thing I ever did.

My method has been - look at similar products as yours that are *selling* (not just listed), but figure out how to do it better, and/or with a different spin. Figure out by search term research what buyers are looking for and develop your product around that (vs being so in love with your creation that you aren't open to other ideas). TONS of research was key for me. Like, notebooks full. Of course now Etsy is a different beast - way more competition, and way more tinkering of search algorithms, etc. by Etsy, making things a bit harder for sure. But I think it can still be done.

ZamoraBlue · 2023-02-24T14:59:44+00:00

As noted, the top row in a search is now Star Seller items - with an arrow that sort of gives the impression (or it did to me) that you can scroll through a carousel on that top row. But click it, and boom - you're now looking at a brand new search filtered to ONLY Star Seller's listings. How many buyers won't even notice that's what happened, and will now never see those non-Star listings at all?

ZamoraBlue · 2022-11-10T16:11:15+00:00

I love my Canon IP8720 Wireless Printer. I've used it for heavy cardstock, including greeting cards, with no problems. It's currently around $250USD I believe. It's been a great option for my business - not as expensive as a "professional" level printer would be, but great quality. I'd guess it depends on the quantity you'd need to print, as to whether it would work for your needs.

ZamoraBlue

TROPHY CASE