taking shape

Troykitty is licking the watermelon juice out of my bowl-- his white chin fur is now pink. Ripkitty is curled up by my side, with his head on my left wrist, but out of my lap and I'm starting my second  cup of coffee.

I finished my ArtFire shop at an ungodly hour this morning. I did two things-- priority one was making sure that all of my inventory was there, priority two was risk reduction.

I spoke to a friend recently who mentioned how nerve-wracking your first few online purchases can be. I'm a child of the computer age. I remember when we got our first computer. I remember when we got the internet. I remember my first email account. I don't remember my first online purchase.

It was probably a natural extension of my preference for catalog shopping aka not leaving the house for anything less urgent than a tornado, shopping in your pjs, taking two weeks to decided whether you really want that skirt or not and many other things besides. I pay my bills online. Plan trips online. Entertain myself, educate myself and more.

Anyway-- I consider thebeadedlily a pretty cool place to shop. Clear pictures, measurements, colors and materials, shipping info-- it's all there in the listing. I'm quick to answer questions and complete custom orders. So how to make the experience even less stressful-- perhaps to someone new to online craft venues?

I have something similar in my ArtFire listings and this is the Etsy version of what I came up with:

"New to Etsy? Nervous about buying art online? Don't be!
I'm only a message away and I'll answer you. Try me. I'd love to help you out.
Checkout is super easy! Here's a guide to help:
http://www.etsy.com/help_guide_checkout.php

I take checks and money orders so you don't have to be shy about processing payment online.
If you want to use a credit card you can check out with one via PayPal.
You don't have to have a PayPal account to do that-- though setting one up is super easy if you want one.

Lastly, everything at thebeadedlily is covered by my Pure Pleasure Promise. If your purchase is anything less than a pure pleasure to receive, pop it back in the mail and get a complete refund. Promise."


I get a fair amount of business from folks that are brand new to Etsy (everyone's brand new to ArtFire and 1000Markets) and aren't that familiar with Paypal-- so maybe this will help them.

I didn't change any policies-- I just wrote them out for my listings. We'll see how it goes!

Now I'm editing each of my Etsy listings. *yawn*

A few other things are stirring in my mind. The end of June-- midyear. It would be really great if I could get all my tax info for the 1st of the year ready. (Any bets on if it will actually get done?)

A website for thebeadedlily. It just seems like a good idea.

iCraft just lowered their subscription fees. I've got a free account, but now I'm considering upgrading. I liked it just fine and I made a couple small sales there. But Etsy is fairly steady and ArtFire seems to be taking off well and I'm on 1KM too-- and I just don't know.

And I'm thinking that maybe in December or January I'll jump on the Endicia bandwagon. Going postal is a cliche for a reason, right?

No pictures today, but it doesn't mean I don't love you!