My First Year as an Etsy Seller: Shop Policies

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

screenshot of The Bird and The Beard store – Custom Invitations

Getting back to recounting my first year selling on Etsy, I would like to share with you an important aspect of selling your wares, regardless of if it’s on Etsy, your personal website, or at a craft show: policies. Before you start selling your product, you should consider, types of payment accepted, return policies, shipping policies (if applicable), custom order policies, wholesale, and licensing.

If that seems overwhelming, or perhaps you truly don’t have a clue where to start, start by doing some research. Before I began writing my Shop Policies section on my Etsy page, I read the policies of shops that I admired. Most of them were shops from which I had bought in the past and that I had admired their customer service, the smoothness of the transaction, or just felt they had a very professional appearance and air. I also researched some shops that Etsy had featured on their blog. This gave me an idea of the topics I would need to cover in my own policies, and what a good way might be to handle any problems that could arise.

The next step in my research was scouting out shops who sold products similar to mine: wedding invitations, custom letterhead, and single greeting cards. Once I found a couple shops whose policies page seemed comprehensive and professional, I used that as the road map to drafting my policies.

Here’s where I started:

• Payment is due at the time of purchase.
• We accept credit cards and Etsy Gift Cards through Direct Checkout.
• We also accept payment through PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, you can use your credit or debit card without signing up for an account.
• PA customers will be charged 7% sales tax.
• See listing for ship time. All items ship via USPS First Class or Priority Mail.
• We want our customers to be completely satisfied with their purchases; please contact us if you are not satisfied.
• If you would like to return a stock item for any reason please contact us to make arrangements. Buyer pays return shipping and we will refund the purchase price when we receive the item.
• Returns on custom items are on a case by case basis.
• Our custom items take anywhere from 1-6 weeks to create. Please see original listing for turn around time range on custom orders.

Thankfully, my customer issues have been few and far between, but any time any snag would arise, I would use it as an opportunity to update my policies. Frequent shipping questions, especially with single greeting cards, led to me ship everything (domestic) with tracking information included. As I got more comfortable with shipping regulations, I began to offer international shipping. And, to curb last minute changes to custom orders, which was resulting in last minute reprints (and loss of profits), I added a reprint fee to changes to custom orders.

Here’s a list of updates I have added to my Policies Page over the course of my first year:

• Orders may not be cancelled once marked as shipped. Please note, most of our greeting cards ship within 24 hours.
• Personalized orders and custom orders may not be cancelled once a proof has been approved.
• Stock items ship within 1-3 business days.
• All items ship via USPS First Class or Priority Mail. Tracking numbers are provided on all items shipping within the United States.
• International orders are shipped via USPS First Class mail. Unfortunately, we are unable to track or confirm delivery on international orders. Due to customs, international packages can take up to 30 days to arrive. If you have not received your order 30 days after it shipped, please contact us.
• If you need your item sooner than the estimated time range, we may be able to accommodate a Rush Order. Rush Orders are subject to a 10% surcharge, or $10.00 fee, whichever is greater.
• If you need to make a change to a custom order, once a proof has been approved and printing has begun, any alterations will be subject to a reprint fee.
• Due to numerous requests, we have wholesale pricing available for bulk greeting card purchases of quantities of 50 of more. For wholesale inquiries, please convo us through Etsy or email us at theBirdandtheBeard @gmail.com.

I can already see a few more revisions I would like to make, including elaborating on my wholesale information, as I now have much more experience than when this was written. The biggest question that I have ever been asked also still needs to be addressed: Do I offer print releases? But that’s a question for another day and perhaps a discussion for another post.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.