Note Card Gift Box by InkSpot Workshop on Etsy

If you’re new to Etsy or even semi-new, the word shipping policy or shipping profile probably evokes feelings of stress inside you. I know it did for me. Why? Because I didn’t understand it. Now I’m sure there are some out there who are thinking, “What’s not to understand,” but in my opinion there’s a lot! Especially if you’re new to it.

First off, which service to use? Next, how to save yourself & your customer the most money on shipping while having safe, timely delivery? Not to mention, packaging, determining weights & pricing, expedited or rushed options, confirmation & insurance, holiday shipping, international shipping, etc.

So today I’m going to focus on what you need to include in your shipping policy to cover your behind & provide your customer with all the info they need. Plus, I’m going to include a link-list for you to look at on your own time. Now this link-list isn’t gonna have a ton of links on it. I’m giving you my top picks of most helpful & informative articles out there.

3 Things to include in your shipping policy:

1. Your Policies

IMO, the first thing to start out with is your policies – the way you do things.

Tell customers that you offer domestic & international shipping & that you’ll explain each in detail below.

Let customers know when you ship. This includes shipping times for in stock orders & shipping times for custom orders. Do you ship daily or only on Tuesdays & Thursdays? How long will it take before custom orders are shipped out?

Describe how you package your items. Do you ship in bubble mailers or in boxes? This matters to some customers because they may have a PO Box & can only receive certain size packages to that address. If their package is bigger than they can accept, let them know they need to provide you with an alternate address in the “Message to Seller” section of their order. Explain how your packaging will ensure the safety & care of their product. This is especially important if you’re shipping fragile products or food! You want to make your customer comfortable. BTW, if you’re shipping food or any kind of item that doesn’t tolerate certain weather conditions well, it’s a good idea to include that it’s the customer’s responsibility to make arrangements for their package.

And lastly – let customers know if you include delivery confirmation on your packages. Delivery confirmation is for you, not your customer. It’s to let you know that your package was delivered, but it’s included in the customer’s shipping costs so your customer should be aware that they’re being charged for it.

2. Domestic Shipping

Here’s where you tell your customer who you’re shipping with. Whether you use one, two, or three different carriers to ship your products doesn’t matter. You need to let the customer know who it is. Most carriers have different types of shipping that they provide so you also need to include the type you’re using & the shipping times for each type.

For example, I ship via USPS First Class which can take 1-3 days to ship. If I have a package that doesn’t fit into that weight class then I’d ship via USPS Priority Mail which also takes 1-3 days but is more expensive due to the weight.

If your carrier has a policy on lost or damaged goods, then this is the place to explain it to your customer. Most carriers are going to give you the option of insuring your packages to cover this. You need to let your customer know how to go about adding insurance to their order if they wish. Let them know if they need to contact you first so you can set up a reserved listing for them or if you’ll send them an invoice for the updated shipping costs instead.

Also let your customer know what other shipping options they have with your carrier{s}. How do they go about expediting or rushing their order, & how much will it cost? Most of the time this will vary depending on the weight of the package & the ship time. You can provide a link to your convo page or your email address for customers to inquire about faster shipping. Let them know you will get back to them about charges for increasing their shipping speed. You can also charge a set amount for this & let customers know that you will refund their money if the upgraded shipping costs less than you expected.

3. International Shipping

If you offer international shipping, you need to provide the same details that you did for the domestic shipping, except it should be tailored to international standards. Did you know that 1 in 3 orders on Etsy are international orders?

Are you using a different carrier for international shipments? If so, who is it, & how long will it take to ship the product?

What are customers to do about upgraded shipping or adding insurance to their package?

You must include custom forms for international orders, but it’s your job to let the customer know that they are responsible for any custom fees & taxes on the product they’ve ordered. It’s also a good idea to let them know that you are not responsible for holdups at customs. This isn’t something you can help or prevent. They just need to be aware of it. Make sure you check out the custom forms because some of them require phone numbers of the recipient. You can get free custom forms at USPS.com.

Again, everything is the same as domestic shipping except it’s tailored to international standards. Just make sure you provide answers to you customer’s questions before they ask.

Here are some great articles to help you with shipping. I’d suggest scheduling some time into your day within the next week or two to read these articles & revamp your shipping policy! Happy shipping!

Seller How-To: Shipping

Shipping How-To: The Final Frontier

Shipping How-To: Custom Forms, Duties, & Taxes

Chalkboard Label Stickers by Bradens Grace Wall Art on Etsy

Have you ever looked at someone’s shop & noticed how organized it was? What do you think when you look at your own shop? Is it organized? Are your products easy to find & easy to search through?

If you don’t think so, then head on over to the Team SASSY blog to read my latest guest post on creating sections in your shop that will sell your products. Click here for Sections that Sell!

Today, 3 Ways is changing to 4 Ways…via tagging.

I’m sure the list could go on & on, but a comment from a reader made me realize that there is another way to make it to Etsy’s Front-Page. Tagging. It’s so simple.

So, there are 2 ways to look at tagging…from a Treasury perspective & from a Product perspective.

Product Tags

First things first…when you list a new product, you know you need to tag it with descriptive keywords & search terms that are going to get it found within Etsy’s search results.

This is not only important for getting found in search results by customers looking to buy a product, but also because when someone is creating a treasury, they will be searching for products to fill their treasury with. When someone makes a treasury, they usually have a theme in mind & they will search for products via tags that fit that theme.

Not to mention bloggers that do this when looking for images to include in their posts {like I do!}.

So that’s pretty simple on your part. Tag your products well! It will help you with exposure.

Treasury Tags

Treasuries also need to be tagged. This helps for a couple of reasons.

1. Treasuries that make it to the front-page of Etsy are there for a reason. Maybe the treasury was about an upcoming holiday, or it featured the season’s in-style colors. If you don’t tag your treasury appropriately, then it’s not as easily found, therefore it won’t have as much of a chance at getting to the front-page.
2. People looking to buy something on Etsy can search treasuries to get a lot of great ideas all at once. I know I do this at times. If I’m looking to buy a birthday gift for someone & I want to get something that’s in the color of their birthstone, then I can search for that particular tag in treasuries & I’ll get results for all the treasuries using that tag. This way, I get a lot of gift ideas for exactly what I’m looking for.

So if you make treasuries & you’d like it to have a shot at the front-page, then you need to make it awesome. Follow the 3 tips from Pt. 1 of this series here when it comes to including products, tell everyone about your treasury to get some great comments & move it up on the popular treasury list when it’s finished, keep it updated, & tag it appropriately.

Your doing a great job helping to promote other handmade artists & we love you for it!

Finally…

It’s your job to tag your product effectively in order to be found & make it into a treasury in the first place, but it’s the treasury creators job to tag their treasury effectively in order to be found & make it to the front page.

Miss Part 1 & Part 2 of this Front-Page Treasury Series. Find them here…Part 1 & Part 2

Pineapple Wall Stencil by Alison Huber Jewett on Etsy

Todays guest post on the Team SASSY blog is about the 2 Must Have Things for Your Shop Announcement.

Click on the above link to read all about it, & to check out the very talented Dawn of Autumn & Boo on Etsy.

Image by Jim Legans Jr. on Flickr

Have you ever considered your shops policies & how professional & thorough they may or may not be?

This information isn’t just for Etsy shops either. Whether you sell your products through a handmade platform like Etsy or Artfire, or you offer your products on your own personal website…you need policies that work for you & your customers. They need to be simple, detailed, & understandable.

So here’s another guest post on the Team SASSY blog with some easy tips to writing a payment policy that works!

Easy Tips for Writing Your Payment Policy