Thursday, October 14, 2010

Etsy On Sale (a tool you should know about)

Hey team!

I'm sure by now most of you have heard of EtsyOnSale.  I know some of you have tried it and others are waiting to hear more before you try it.  I tried it out two weekends in a row for "field research".


If you are wondering how to get it set up, it's actually pretty easy.  You sign in with your google account, and this application is approved by Etsy and will show up in "Applications" when you click on "Your Etsy".  If you're ready to try it out, click on "Sellers" at the top of EtsyOnSale.  Sign in with your google account, click on your shop banner, then click on "Sales Events".  Now you're ready to schedule a sale.  Click on "+New Sales Event" and you will be directed to this page:

You can then choose to run the sale over your entire shop or a certain section.  You also get to set up the sale to run on a timer.... You have say over when it starts and when it ends.  Then you get to choose a percentage off or a $ amount off.  Where it says "Listing Title Prefix" you want to enter something like WEEKEND SALE so it will show up in your listing titles that your items are on sale.  Click "Schedule Sales Event", and you're set up!

I have found that I have to click the green "play" button to get my sale started, even if the sale is in the future.  I'm not sure if I'm the only one who has had these results or not.  It takes awhile for all of your listings to update for the sale (as it will take them awhile to return to usual after the sale is over).


RESULTS

I had 6 sales the first weekend and 4 sales the next weekend.  I'm not sure if this is typical for users of the app.  I was impressed with this, however, there were some frightening side affects of using the app.

SIDE EFFECTS

The second time I used the app, several of my listings expired.  I renewed some of them and left others expired.  After the sale was over, it automatically renewed the ones I had not renewed.  I never approved this action.  Freaky.  Also, I relisted a couple of the sold items before the sale was over, and these listings were duplicated after the sale was over.  I also did not approve of this action.

GLITCHES/BUGS

If you renew an item that sells before the sale expires, it won't revert to normal after the sale expires.  Also, if you renew an expired listing in the middle of the sale, it won't automatically adjust for the sale.

IS IT WORTH IT?

Yes and no.  If you're desperate for something to adjust all of your listings at once, go for it.  You just have to be willing to risk phantom renewals and relistings after the sale expires.  You also have to keep a close eye on what does or does not adjust.  Craftopolis has something up their sleeve that I'm excited to learn more about.  It might be a safer way to update your listings for a sale.

I hope this review helped.  Feel free to discuss the app in the comments.  I'll try to answer any questions as best as I can!

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for the information! I've been hesitant to use it, but it seems to work well for some that have tried it.

    Seeing as I have so few items in my shop anyway I think I'll just stick with manually changing sale items through Etsy.

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  2. Thanks Ashli! The Craftopolis "Edit Express" feature is up. You can click a square at the top of your listings on their page to "select all", select only certain items, or select sections, and then apply a sale amount or percentage. The only thing you cannot do is schedule a starting and ending date.

    It will be interesting to see if the same issues you had with EtsyOnSale show up in Craftopolis too.

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  3. I did try the app and I was so glad I could say "30% off all original art in my shop" without having to add the dreaded "I will refund you the difference thru PayPal"

    I did have one original art sale during the promotion, and no glitches to report :)

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  4. I've run several sales through Etsy On Sale & been very pleased. It's easy, fast & works well. Had a few sales too! I love it!

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  5. Ashli..what would I do without you! Thank you for your research and sharing. Nothing like a young mind to clear things up. I'm going to try it. I tried Craftopolis and had a few glitches.

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  6. i jumped the gun before i read the side effects. meh! its just for fun anyways :D
    thanks!!

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