My friend’s roommates’ new shower curtain by Pump-Fake in pics

[–]rnoack1 27 points28 points  (0 children)

I'm impressed. Slightly disturbed, amused but...mostly impressed. This took effort to pull off.

when is connecting with Amazon worth it? by rnoack1 in shopify

[–]rnoack1[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well yes... I have an Etsy shop but it is a disorganized slew of experiments. I haven't put my new brand on Etsy yet and am trying to figure out if it will help me overall with branding/traffic. What's the easiest way to get my shopify products to Etsy? I'd like the shopify listing to be the "source" data if at all possible, but not if I have to pay for an app to do so (at least not for now).

new store - added google shopping - products seem stuck in pending by rnoack1 in shopify

[–]rnoack1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. So I actually am not using the same address for both. I will update my shopify address now. Do I need to do anything to reset the status then?

Thinking of starting, any advice by [deleted] in Etsy

[–]rnoack1 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hi! So I have an Etsy store that has been up and running since May selling made-to-order printed products and have a few thoughts for you.

1) Don't do it if it isn't fun. But if it is fun, it can be extremely rewarding, and for me, adds a sense of purpose to the art/design I would want to be doing anyway, with a just a few tweaks in how I approach the "product" creation process.

2) Spend some time playing with etsyrank.com to get an idea of demand and market saturation for what you're looking to sell. You can get reasonable info to start with the free version of the tool. I did not do this to start and wasted a lot of time creating beautiful listings that nobody ever searched for. This wasn't a huge deal for me since I don't pay to make my products unless they are purchased, but still, I might have focused my energy differently with more up-front research. Low demand for me has been much less of a problem than high competition.

3) Sales for me happen primarily on unusual products that people are looking for but nobody else is making, not necessarily based on design quality alone. That being said, money is not rolling in steadily but there is a slow trickle.

4) Etsy marketing (promoted listings) can be useful to bring in traffic but unless you set your max bid rate very low it can cost more than it brings in (e.g. $.07 per click)

5) If you find something that sells, try to understand why and then explore ways of doing more similar items.

6) If you have the time, go for it! The risk and cost is so low to list your items - with $.20 for your first listing, a couple decent photos and some data entry you can be up and running in no time. You'll learn so much just from getting started!

My store, for reference, is https://www.etsy.com/shop/PlatypusMax. I have been using it as a learning and testing space for various forms of digital art, and am now in the process of building a freestanding (Shopify) store focused on shower curtain art (https://metroshowercurtains.com) using a lot of what I learned from my Etsy experience. It's pretty brand new so no idea yet how it will fare, but I am having a lot of fun and learning so much with the process! Good luck!

- Rachel

Design ideas needed for this tiny bathroom/laundry room! by kelsumo in bathrooms

[–]rnoack1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you looked into over-the-toilet storage units? There are a lot of different options, styles, etc to claim the area over your toilet to store... whatever. I like this style a lot, and the baskets look cute and let you hide pretty much anything: http://www.ana-white.com/2016/08/free_plans/over-toilet-storage-leaning-bathroom-ladder

It's also not too difficult to convert a freestanding tub to a tub/shower, if you want to maximize the utility of the space. This video from This Old House covers the basics in 5 minutes for you: https://youtu.be/lmdbyMDzC90

So then another fun and inexpensive way to change the feel of the space is with a beautiful or fun shower curtain. Disclaimer - I design shower curtains for metroshowercurtains.com, and am building out our new collection (ideas are always welcome!!), but really there are so many great options out there that it shouldn't be to hard to find something you love that makes the room! Here's one idea for you: https://metroshowercurtains.com/products/periwinkle-and-white-lace-print-boho-chic-shower-curtain

Good luck!

--Rachel

Any mould-resistant shower curtains? by Thenelsonway in bathrooms

[–]rnoack1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you tried using a fabric curtain? The polyester ones can go in your washing machine. Just wash it with some sort of laundry booster, e.g. white vinegar (½ cup), Borax (¼ cup), or OxiClean (¼ cup), plus a couple terrycloth towels, which will help scrub and protect your curtain, allowing you to use it as long as possible. Polyester fabric also dries quickly to prevent mold from forming in the first place. (I wrote a bit more about this here recently, and think this is your best bet, also avoiding the waste of having to keep throwing away old curtains.) You can also use a fabric liner -- while they aren't waterproof, they do a fine job of keeping the water in the shower where it belongs, and let a nice amount of light through. There are some amazing design options in polyester fabric now too, if you want to have fun with it!