Thank you for sharing your advice - I am just looking to start up and feel really lost right now with so much to take in!! so thanks for bein open with your experiences
Listening to you confirmed to me why I've been so adamant about having a website. I have seen quite a few creators being banned by Etsy or Amazon KDP. I always wanted to have a website for a landing space for lifelong customers...
One more tip, Etsy, EBay and Amazon collect and remit every states sales tax for you, which is why I originally picked Etsy, before I was suspended and deleted the account. But if you are on your own, you are responsible for the sales tax in each state. Digital downloads are even subject to sales taxes in a couple of states. So something to think about, as you set yourself up for success.
Thank you so SO much!!! I am seriously considering opening up our own craft business with my Cricut maker & 8 in 1 heat press. I’m trying to learn all of the ins and outs and if it’s worth our time to expand or just do things for friends and family. Your videos are so helpful!! THANK YOU!!
Thinking of starting an etsy shop and of all the videos online, your delivery of the info just resonates with me. Great video. Thank you for sharing your tips!
Sooooooooooooo glad you made this because shipping is a thing so many people struggle with when starting a "from home" business. 1. Pirateship is great, but limited. You can only use USPS and that's problematic currently because USPS has been less than reliable. Last year, around February, I switched from Pirateship to Shippo and I am super happy with the change. They integrate with all carriers (not just USPS) and offer a heavily discounted UPS account (54% off published prices) that you can use for free (and get billed by UPS directly). When you factor in that discount, UPS (which currently is way more reliable than USPS) is about the same price as USPS and WAY faster. They also rate shop, so if you configure Fedex, USPS, and UPS, you'll see the rates for all of them and can make an educated decision based on the ship time and cost. It changes the way you approach your shipping drastically. 2. Definitely get a thermal printer. The Zebra ZP450 is an industrial grade one (we use it in multi-million dollar warehouses) and will never die. You can buy refurbished ones on Ebay with 5 rolls of labels for under $200. You'll never replace that printer. Ever. And the amount of time it saves is immeasurable. 3. The other advantage of shippo is that it literally integrates with every ecommerce platform and does it transparently. I use it with Wix and when I get an order it shows up in Shippo. When I ship it puts the tracking and fulfillment info back into Wix. It's just braindead simple and you can make it do more than I use it for (you can have it send ship notifications if your ecommerce system doesn't, for example). I'm always available, Amy, if any of your listeners need some help getting going. This is something I wish people were around to teach me about but I learned it at the day job the hard way (by being tossed into the fire) and now I want to save other people the stress. You can contact me via my profile if you need any help and I'll be happy to help as best I can!
@@eriksmovies244 Never use the post office directly; it’s always more expensive. Shippo and Pirateship have better USPS rates than they do. I’m not sure how they compare to Etsy labels but I’d guess they’re on par with or cheaper.
For all you Extra T-shirt’s Amy maybe Sell them as Blanks to embroidery places , At a Cheap price like $10 or to get rid of them $8 , It can still make money, Blank shirts are popular with printing places or print on them and give it as a Extra for the customer buying from you as a Freebie print a positive note on the shirt 👕 🎉 Rather then throwing it out ! It’s money back to you rather then a loss!❤
Thank you SO much for sharing all this information so clearly and understandably. This is such great information and amazingly helpful for those of us who are just getting started with a side hustle. You also have a kind and delightful voice - easy to listen to and again, so articulate. Thank you! I hope all this "paying it forward" comes back to you in wonderful success in all of your own endeavors. BTW, I love your name - "Amy Makes That" - easy to say, read, remember, and it leaves you open to doing all kinds of things. Perfect example of a great business name. Again, thanks for sharing!
I do have a video on "how to start a blog" but this is also how to start your own website! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DIKJ6Oc7ztw.html :)
Wow! You are GREAT at this! Your information is amazing for a relatively short video. First time I’ve actually picked up pen & paper to take notes! Thanks so much. Be well & God Bless
So sorry you lost your Etsy listing!! Thanks so so so much for sharing these tips, honestly youre probably going to save so many of us just starting out! I love your IG and videos. Keep em coming girl, you’re AMAZING
My dog is called Cookie and I am thinking of making a RU-vid channel for her very similar to Cookie makes that” ( thanks for the inspiration ). The idea came to me one day when she got locked inside the house and she left a big mess on the carpet in the lounge room. Thanks again for your advice. 😃
