Etsy Shop Policies! What’s It All About?

Something that many sellers overlook when setting up their Etsy shop is filling in their shop policies. This is a great way to connect to your existing and potential customers and let them know what to expect from you. Include information about your shipping policies, your returns, exchanges and payment policies to name a few. If you haven’t filled in your shop policies, this is costing you sales. Customers look at your store policies and make a judgement of what kind of customer service you offer and what to expect if they purchase from you.

To edit or complete your shop policies;

ON DESKTOP: Go to your shop and click edit shop. Scroll down to your shop policies and add or update there.

ON MOBILE: In the seller app, click on More bottom right and then settings. You can add or update in Shop Settings.

Here are some things to consider when adding or updating your shop policies.

About

This is a great place to tell the world about you and what you do. This is your time to shine, convey and share your passion for what you do and adds that personal touch to your shop.

Around The Web

Take this opportunity to add the links to your social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

Shipping

• Add information about processing times.
• Include shipping estimate times for your country of origin and different regions around the world as this varies dramatically. Etsy have made this easy as you can add individual countries with your own estimates.
• Do you ship Internationally?
• If you do International shipping include information on customs and import taxes which varies for different regions around the world. I simply say “Buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may apply. I am not responsible for delays due to customs”.
• Add information about how your items are packaged and if you offer gift wrapping.
• Let your customers know what shipping company you use and the options you have made available with regards to insurance or faster shipping.

Payment Options

• State what methods of payment you will take (PayPal, cheque etc).
• If you offer PayPal as a method of payment, add a brief description of how to pay with PayPal. Lots of people don’t realise they can use this method to pay with their credit or debit card without having to sign up for a PayPal account. It helps to explain how they can do this.
• State that you will not send packages until payments have cleared.
• Encourage buyers to contact you if they are having any problems with making their payment.

Refunds and Exchanges

• If you don’t want to do refunds and exchanges then put it politely. Something like “I’m sorry but at this time [insert shop name here] I cannot accept refunds or exchanges, please purchase carefully” comes across a lot better than “No exchanges or refunds accepted”.
• If you are going to offer refunds and/or exchanges then put your terms and conditions here. How long after receiving an item can people ask you for an exchange or refund? Will you refund only the cost of the item or the shipping as well? If a buyer returns an item to you who is responsible for the return postal costs?
• Etsy have set up some information you can click and turn on easily in this section and customise it to suit your terms.

Privacy Policy

As a business owner that collects personal information on name, address, email etc we are obligated to keep their information protected. If you want to find out more about a privacy policy and how to write one and include it in your shop policies then this is a good article to read How to Write On-Point Privacy Policies

Frequently Asked Questions

Etsy have provided some extra available space to add frequently asked questions that may apply specifically to your shop and the type of items you sell. If you find yourself being asked the same questions over and over again think about adding this to your FAQ section. Some things you could add are:

• The process you take to complete custom orders.
• An estimate of how long orders may take.
• For custom orders when do you require payment, do you need payment up front or is a 50% deposit the green light to begin work.
• Do you provide gift wrapping and what is included.
• Special discounts you might have running at the moment.
• What happens if my item is damaged in transit.

I hope this information has been helpful to you. I think it is best to have something in your shop policies then not at all so make a start on it, you can always add to it as time goes on and new ideas or issues arise that you can address in your policies.

As I am an Etsy Seller, most of my posts are geared to Etsy Success although any of my guides and tutorials will be useful for if you use other platforms to sell your products. You can visit my Etsy Store at Rhinestone Mumma

If you are interested, here are some additional guides and tutorials worth a read.

Instagram Product Tagging! What’s It All About?

Pinterest! What’s It All About?

Etsy SEO! What’s It All About?

How To Get More Etsy Sales

Etsy Hyperlinks! What’s It All About?

If you want to join our community on Facebook Etsy Sellers Promote & Help we would love to have you on board. We are always discussing ways to improve our Etsy experience and grow our sales.

Have a great day 🙂

 

 

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Etsy Hyperlinks! What’s It All About?

So what’s a hyperlink, what does it have to do with me an how can I use it to get more sales? A hyperlink is basically text with a link that a reader can activate by directly clicking on a highlighted word, phrase or image which sends them to another location.

If you don’t have links in your product descriptions, you are missing out on an opportunity for longer customer engagement. It’s a no brainer and such an easy thing to implement into our Etsy product descriptions.

So what are the benefits?

• A customer is engaged and keeps them in your shop for longer.
• Encourages them to look at products they may not have normally searched for.
• Answers their questions without them even knowing that had any questions they needed an answer to.
• Directs them to other items in your shop that are part of a set or collection.

We need to start thinking about our Etsy shops as virtual shop fronts where buyers can come and go, explore, buy and visit again. The longer a customer stays in your shop, the more likely they are to make a purchase. It’s all about making suggestions, giving them a direction and making them feel comfortable in making a purchase.

Here are just a few creative ways you can use a hyperlink in your product description.

1. SHOP SECTIONS

Add a hyperlink at the end of your description showing the other shop categories in your store;

“For Bracelets, click here __________________”

“For Crochet Patterns, click here__________________”

“For T-Shirts, click here__________________”

“For Earrings, click here__________________”

You can also use a hyperlink to direct buyers to other like products. If they are already looking at an item and liking what they see, they may also like other similar items in your store;

“For more Bracelets, click here __________________”

“For more Crochet Patterns, click here__________________”

“For more T-Shirts, click here__________________”

“For more Earrings, click here__________________”

2. RELATED PRODUCTS

If you have products that are related or a part of a set or collection, let your buyer know.

“If you like these earrings, here is the matching necklace__________________”

“If you like these invitations, don’t forget to purchase the matching thank you cards__________________”

“If you like this cushion cover, you might like other cushion covers in the same collection__________________”

3. UNRELATED PRODUCTS

If you have a shop that sells different types of products, you could create interest with a buyer and suggest they have a look around;

“If you like my bracelets, I have a wide range of handmade crochet bags in my shop as well__________________”

4. SHOP HOMEPAGE

I have this hyperlink in all my item descriptions. It encourages a buyer to go to your home page where they can get an overall feel for your brand and all the products you sell. They can also Favourite your shop so they will see future products listed and shop updates;

“To see the full range of products in my shop, click here__________________”

5. FEEDBACK PAGE

If you are proud of your customer feedback, then let a potential customer know how much past customers value your products and services by sharing your review page;

“See what other customers are saying about their purchases__________________”

6. MORE THAN ONE SHOP

Let your customers know about other shops you manage on Etsy.

“I also sell craft supplies at my other shop__________________. I would be more than happy to ship purchases from both shops together.”

7. SHOP POLICIES

Most buyers will not automatically read through your detailed shop policies. You can make sure they read through your policies before they make a purchase if this is important to you. This will hopefully solve potential problems that may arise or give them customer important information when purchasing from you.

“Please read through the policies before purchasing this item__________________”

8. SOCIAL MEDIA

There are already links to the more popular social media platforms provided by Etsy on all your listings if you have set up the links. You could also provide additional links to your Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Blog, Newsletter directly in your description as well.

“Let’s get social. Follow me on__________________”

“Sign up for my newsletter to receive future coupons and promotions__________________”

So how do I create a Hyperlink?

You can copy URL’s (the web address that appears in the search bar at the top of a web page) for any link you want to create. If you want to create a link to your Etsy Home Page, go to your Etsy Store and copy the URL which you can paste into your description.

If you want to copy a particular item, follow the same process by going to the specific item you want to create a link for.

If you want to create a link to a store category, once again, follow the same process by going to your Etsy Store, selecting the category you want to create a link for, like a customer would when searching, and copy the URL.

The same process can be applied to social media platforms, blogs and newsletters. If you can search for it, you can copy the URL and paste it wherever you want in your detailed descriptions.

But don’t just stop there. You have probably noticed that some links when copied are long and unsightly and take up a lot of space. But never fear, there is a free website Bitly.com where you can copy the long URL and it will give you a shortened version which you can copy and paste into your description giving your descriptions an air of professionalism and neatness.

Now, let’s not get too carried away!

I have given you some great ideas on how you can use hyperlinks in your descriptions to create engagement and interest. But just remember, too many links may only confuse and overwhelm a buyer and you may actually lose them altogether. Choose the hyperlinks that would best enhance the shopping experience for your customer and are more likely to convert sales. You could ask yourself, is there a question you get asked over and over by customers or is there a section, product or upgrade that you want a potential customer to see?

And Finally

I hope I have given you some new inspiration to adding some additional resources to your descriptions and maximising your sales potential by capturing a customers attention and keeping them engaged.

As I am an Etsy Seller, most of my posts are geared to Etsy Success although any of my guides and tutorials will be useful for if you use other platforms to sell your products. You can visit my Etsy Store at Rhinestone Mumma

If you are interested, here are some additional guides and tutorials worth a read.

Here are some of my recent blog posts you might be interested in;

Psst…these are hyperlinks!

How To Get More Etsy Sales

Etsy SEO! What’s It All About?

Pinterest! What’s It All About?

Instagram Product Tagging! What’s It All About?

Etsy Shop Policies! What’s It All About?

If you want to join our community on Facebook Etsy Sellers Promote & Help we would love to have you on board. We are always discussing ways to improve our Etsy experience and grow our sales.

Have a great day 🙂