Buying on ETSY

I have an ETSY shop and have found that sometimes you get very interesting questions asked. Now, before I talk about some of the questions that I have received, I have to explain that ETSY is a marketplace with a lot of separate retailers. Basically, it is like a mall but online, so each shop takes care of their own shipping, inventory and answering messages.

One thing that you must understand is what if you are on a page and there is a contact/message and a person’s name, you will be sending a message to that specific seller and not ETSY itself. If you need to contact ETSY itself, it is at the very bottom of the website and there is a Help Centre.

Here are some questions that I have received in my shop and what is interesting is sometimes they are about something that a person has ordered, but then there are times that they just confuse me.

Question: I need help as my order hasn’t arrived yet

Answer: The order hasn’t been shipped yet, and it is going out in the mail today. You will be receiving a notice as soon as the item is shipped. Shipping can take up to 3 weeks for an order to arrive as it is coming from Canada.

Question: I am purchasing 3 grime guards. Can you consolidate the shipping costs?

            Answer: If you are purchasing three grime guards, the shipping costs will be consolidated. Shipping costs are very high now. These items when shipped from Canada to the US are considered a small parcel.

            Question: I am looking for the finished piece that you have on your shop

            Answer: Which finished piece are you looking for? There are no completed cross stitch pieces available for purchase from my shop currently.

As you can see, it can be interesting the type of questions that you get as a seller on ETSY. So, remember that when you are shopping on ETSY you are buying from a number of little shops, and it isn’t like shopping on Amazon where once you reach a specific purchase total shipping is free or very slow. Also, with ETSY there are going to be some shops that will ship that day or the next day, but then there are shops that will only be shipping at specific times so the time to receive your order may vary.

ETSY is an interesting place to shop but like anything that is online, you have to be careful and make sure that if a price sounds too good to be true do some checking as it might actually turn out to not be the time as described.