ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS About Etsy and Wreath Making! How to get more sales/ shipping/ burnout 

Jeffrey Locke Lemert Nice! Congrats on your new shop! And I’m so glad this was helpful 😊. Thanks for watching!

Absolutely! He is the reason for everything in my life! Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a sweet and encouraging comment 💗. And thanks for watching!

Ohmygoodness that’s amazing!! I’m so excited for you! Thank you for sharing that with me 😊

Thank you so much!! I’m so glad this was helpful. And thanks for watching 😊

Perfect! Then you’re in the right place! 😊

Yes!! I’m so glad fall has finally arrived here 🙌🏼🧡. Don’t you just love dreary fall days??

@@JennysWreathBoutique yes!! Hopefully it helps with the smoke!

@@misschris4395 for real

Happy to share! So glad this was helpful :)

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching ♥️

I’m so glad this was helpful! Thanks for watching 😊

Thanks for watching, and thanks for the feedback! 🧡

Thank you so much! ❤️ And I’m so glad this video was helpful too 😊

👍🏻

So glad it was helpful!

So glad it’s been helpful!

Thanks for subscribing! So glad this was helpful!

Thanks for the feedback! I’ll add that to my list 👍🏻

I completely understand. That can be hard, especially when sales are slow. But if you think it looks good, most other people probably do too ❤️

So nice of you. Thanks for watching!

You’re so welcome! Thank you so much for watching. The link for the scale should be right under my links for hot glue, wire cutters, and my hot glue gun. I accidentally added it late, so maybe it wasn’t there when you checked. It should be there now. If not, let me know and I’ll add it again.

Ok, I will see if I can do that 👍🏻

I’m definitely not an expert on Pinterest, but there are some simple things I do that have helped my Etsy traffic. I’ll try and make a video about it soon. 😊

Thank you! Of course! I’m glad this was helpful! 😊

Thanks for the feedback. 😊👍🏻

Hey Clare! I’m not really sure. I was wondering the same thing recently because I have some best seller badges, but they’re not necessarily on items that are my personal best sellers. Although they sell well, they’re not the absolute top sellers in my shop. So it makes me wonder if the category the item is in is a factor. Great question though!

@@JennysWreathBoutique yeah I suppose that's why I've been getting mixed information on this because it's only awarded by Etsy and they can give it on whatever terms! 🤣 I suppose I might actually email this question to one of their reps. I'll keep you posted on what I hear! Thanks, as always!

I completely understand that it can be intimidating and overwhelming at first! You will know you have an order when you have a number in your orders section. (Or if you have the app on your phone, you’ll hear a cha-Ching! It’s the best sound). Just click on your open orders section and it will show you your open order with all the info you need. Then you can purchase your shipping label straight from Etsy. Just click on purchase label, enter the box dimensions and weight and select shipping carrier. You can select either USPS or FedEx through Etsy. You can also set up shipping profiles that will enter this all in automatically. Then you just purchase your shipping label and print it. I’m hesitant to do a video doing all of that because there is so much private info including my address and customer’s address. I worry I would have to blur out most of the screen. So I hope that helps!

Thank you! 😊

You can only put a listing into one category, unfortunately. I’m assuming you mean shop section, right? You should have the option with each listing to either put that listing into an existing section or make a new one. If you want to change the category on an existing listing, just click “shop sections” and click a different one. You can also creat a new section from there.

I would do it both ways. Offer them separately and and a bundle.

Of course! Thanks so much for watching!

That’s great! Thanks for watching 😊

Yes, you can make a coupon code to take off the shipping cost.

Thank you! It was a gift from my husband awhile ago, and I can’t remember where he bought it from 😬

Aw, well it’s beautiful. I’ve seen similar styles on Etsy, so I might treat myself 😂. x

Hi! Thanks so much for watching! I’m so glad you found it helpful! I don’t think it’s necessary to do random things just so Etsy sees you as “active.” Just selling a wreath and having it renew automatically is activity enough. The activity Etsy likes the most is making sales (obviously 😆) and the items renewing themselves, shipping them out on time, and getting good reviews. Don’t do “activity” for the sake of just doing something. I don’t really think that helps. 😊

I don’t do anything special except make sure they’re in a covered area when hung outside. You can use a UV spray (I personally haven’t tried that) and there is also a faux floral spray that helps with dust. I haven’t personally tried that either.

My larger ones cost about $23 to ship from Idaho to the East coast. Depending on the size of the box that can change a little.

😄🧡

Thanks so much for watching! I make most of my wreaths to order. If I get a chance, I may make some ahead of time, but that usually doesn’t happen.

Thanks for watching! 😁

Yes! Those are ranunculus from Joanns I got last year. Aren’t they pretty?! Love that color

@@JennysWreathBoutique Thank you! I'll check if they still have it.

Thank you! Have you watched my video about where I get my wreath making supplies? I talk all about it there. The only thing in that video that is out of date is Darcie is no longer in business.

So glad you’re loving my videos! I appreciate you watching 😊. Sometimes I pick the ribbon first and sometimes I pick the ribbon after I’ve made the wreath. If I pick the ribbon first, I make sure the materials I use have that color in them. And visa versa. I hope that makes sense! The size of the bow depends on the size of the grapevine and the rest of the wreath. I try and keep it proportional to the size of the wreath and elements in the wreath.

I don’t. I just use a regular old printer 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes, I make the one and then just try and keep my supplies stocked and make them to order. I don’t ever stock 50 at a time because I don’t have the capability to make that much or store have that much supplies in hand for every wreath. But over time, as I sell the same wreath over and over, I restock my supplies as needed. I hope that makes sense and helps.

Noted! 👍🏻😊

That’s definitely tricky. I’ve only ever had that happen for double wreath orders that are shipped separately. One would arrive and the other didn’t, and both trackings said delivered to the front porch. In those cases, the second wreath did arrive a few days later thankfully. I have also had them say delivered, but then they were waiting for pickup at the post office. I have no idea why. But they they would arrive about a week later. I always tell the customer to first check with their neighbors to see if it was accidentally delivered to them. Then call their local post office to see if they can help. Then I will also call the main post office line (such a huge hassle 🙈). That’s all I’ve ever had to to, and the package has always turned up. Now that I’ve said that, I’m sure one will get lost 🤦🏻‍♀️. Absolute worst case scenario, you could give them a refund or send them a replacement. I have never had to do that on a package that was marked “delivered”, but I did for a package that never showed up. It was marked as “out for delivery” but then never arrived. In that was I was refunded by the post office (after about 2 months) and I sent a replacement to the customer. That was my first year in business and it hasn’t happened since. I hope that helps!

@@JennysWreathBoutique when you say the post office refunded you on that one particular occasion, I take it you filed a claim, right? This is what I'm thinking I'll have to do. When you did the replacement (if you can recall) did you wait a certain number of days or did you make the replacement right away? And then when you shipped the second time did you use an alternate carrier? Could lightening strike two times!? 🤪

Michaels has 40% Off Fall stuff!

My biggest wreath making struggle was not having enough greenery. When I was making and selling (on my own, not etsy) I was new and didn't have much money for materials. At the time I was primarily making one of a kind wreaths. Another struggle was buying materials at an affordable/off season price. I bought materials during the season, which can be pricey depending on what it is. It was part of the learning curve. I've taken a break for now from making wreaths, but I am looking forward to making some in the future (probably next year). I don't have a current struggle, but your videos are very informative. Thank you!

@@jennifersedo8241 thanks for your insight. So glad you’re enjoying these videos too 😊.

My biggest wreath making struggle is getting new customers. I've sold 8 wreaths to friends and family but have yet to sell to the elusive ~stranger~. I'm ramping up my marketing to outside sources though, so fingers are crossed for some new sales! Thank you for making these videos and sharing your journey! I've found a new love in wreath making and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you!

@@degengembarowski9792 thanks for the feedback! And I’m so glad you’ve been newly inspired in your wreath making! That makes my day 🙌🏼. Thank you so much for watching ❤️

Hi! I made a Halloween wreath in my VIP group, but don’t think I’ll be making a new one on RU-vid this year. There will definitely be new Christmas wreath videos coming out though! Excited for those!

I count it all as materials and supplies 😊. My CPA saves me so many headaches dealing with that kind of stuff.

You set up your page from your personal FB profile. I can’t remember the exact steps but I remember it being really simple. I’m sure a quick google search could help you there more than I could. As for a payment program, I’m not aware of any free ones that you can plug in. I guess you could use Venmo to start, which is free up to a point. Eventually you might want to look into using PayPal or Square. As for shipping, I would either set up a business account with your preferred shipping carrier so you can still get the savings Etsy shipping offers. Or use something like pirateship or ship station. I hope that helps!

Hi! Yes, that’s exactly what I do. I sell that one first and the rest are made to order. I really don’t have that many wreaths hanging around. Just lots of supplies!

Great, thank you Jenny! I’m hoping to get into the vip group:)

Oh good! Hope to see you in there! Just a couple more weeks!! 😄😄😄

Unfortunately yes, or you can’t sell them. That will actually get your shop shut down. I know a lot of people do it because they haven’t gotten caught yet, but I wouldn’t risk it if I were you. You would need to get a license to sell them, and I believe it’s pretty expensive.

Hi! So glad you found me, welcome! I would recommend having a business license. Every state is different with their rules on this, though, so check with your state. I know what you mean about it being daunting. I ended up getting a CPA for this very reason. It saves me so many headaches during tax season.

@@JennysWreathBoutique thank you so much! I so appreciate your advice and look forward to more videos in the future ☺️

I’m not sure I understand your question. Each time you sell an item from one listing, it counts as a sale from that listing. If you have different variations, like color in your example, as options on the same listing it all counts as sales on that listing. I have different size options on my listings and it doesn’t matter what size is picked. It all counts. If you have your different colors listed as individual listings, then it only counts as a sale on that one listing. I’m not sure if that answers your question or not.

@@JennysWreathBoutique That is the exact answer I was looking for, thank you dear :-)

Unfortunately that’s just how it is. I feel your pain! It has happened to me so many times! So I will save it as a draft every now and then just in case.

That’s what I thought! Ugh! 😵‍💫

Oops, thank you.

Hey Clare! I definitely think it’s worth it to renew your Halloween door hanger. If I have the materials, I will keep selling up until right before the holiday. I won’t go out of my way to restock seasonal items that close to a holiday, if I’m sold out. But I’m your case when you can always make it, yes I would renew it. I hope that helps!

@@JennysWreathBoutique YES! That DOES help! Hearing advice from a seasoned Etsy-preneur (👈like what I did there 🤣) is very comforting and reassuring when this newbie has doubts. Thanks, as always, Jenny! 👍👍

@@clarenorris3083 haha love it. And of course! Happy to help when I can 😊

@@JennysWreathBoutique Hi again, Jenny! Another question for you! When you initially list an item, how many do you try to have in stock? Does it just depend on how much of certain materials you can get your hands on? Follow up question, when buying materials (especially seasonal items) roughly how much do you aim to get at one time? Enough to make 12 of one wreath design or more??? Thanks for answering all these questions!!!

@@clarenorris3083 It really depends on each wreath and how well I think it will do, or how well it has done in the past. A lot of my wreaths sell out pretty quickly so I stock as much supplies as I can fit in my house 😂. That kind of limits me to the amount of supplies I keep in hand, and depending on how busy it gets, I have to restock every week or two. Ideally I’d like to just restock once a season, but I just don’t have the space. Also, I use a lot of the same greenery is many different wreaths, so I get as much as I can. For seasonal items, I will buy as much as I can fit or what I think I will sell. But I typically don’t list more than 10 at a time just because I don’t want to have more orders than what I can keep up with. I have a fast processing time, and don’t want to wake up to more orders than I can handle 😂. For brand new designs, I will list around 5 just because I don’t know if that will be a popular item or not. If it sells well, I’ll restock as much as I can. Of course each shop is different. If you don’t have a lot of sales yet, do this on a much smaller scale. I hope that helps!

G&R Design It’s a business coaching group 😊

@@JennysWreathBoutique thank you

I made one! Here it is 👉🏼 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-x1_Rt1ssDJY.html

Oh, also, can you do a video or maybe explain in short some of the legal stuff?? So, did you get a license or things trademarked? If so, do you think it's best to get those things once you actually pick up some momentum? Any information in that category would be highly appreciated! Thanks so much :)

Yes absolutely!

@@JennysWreathBoutique How soon did you invest in a PO Box? Don't want to invest more money if things wont be picking up soon. Then again, privacy is important. Also, not sure if this is a state by state thing, I just always thought that to get a license or trademark, those are for shops that have been up and running for a while but not so much online but more so a physical location. I feel like there isnt too much information on this? But a video would be great. Not to sure if the absolutely was for the idea of the video or that was the answer to every thing hahaha

@@ninjaturtle365 I’m definitely not qualified to talk about any legal stuff 😬

@@ninjaturtle365 I got a PO Box about a year or two into my business, but I wish I would have done it from the beginning for privacy reasons. It’s nice having the return address on shipping labels be to a PO Box instead of your personal address.