Saturday, October 23, 2010

Navigating an Etsy Shop

Tried shopping on Etsy yet? (It's pronounced like "Betsy," without the "B!") Etsy is THE PLACE to buy handcrafted online! You can also find supplies for your artwork, as well as vintage articles there. Check it out! Etsy has something for everyone. Navigating, well, they have been working on making it easy. Maybe it is not so intuitive, and you could use a few tips on finding what you want! Let's take a look at some of my shops and I will point out some things on getting around.

This is what a shop looks like. You can click on any of these photos to make them larger.


Scrolling down to the bottom of the page, you might notice there is alot of stuff for sale in this shop....28 pages as of this writing, to be exact, which converts to over 600 items!
Oh my goodness, how do you look at it all? There are a few ways to zero in on what you are looking for. Try checking the shop's sections first. Sections are on the upper left side of the shop. Most people want to know what is on sale first. You can click on the "sale section" link, and it will bring up the sale items.

You can also choose from two different views to look at the list...either the thumbnail view, which gives you relatively large pictures and just a little text, like this:

Or the List view, which gives you smaller photos, but all the title.

To switch between views, use these little symbols on the right side of the page, near the top

Still have too many things to sift through? Try sorting by price. On any page, you can show the lowest priced items first, by clicking on this little sorter.

There are more ways to sort through a shop. Say you have some great aqua thread, and want to make a basket with it, but need a base. You can search my shop for "aqua." Go to the top of the page, and type "aqua" in the search box. You MUST be on the front page of the shop or "shop home."
Type "aqua" in the search box, and make sure the dropdown menu on the left has "this shop" selected. Then hit "go" or just your enter key. The resultant search gives you everything labeled "aqua" in the shop! (You can then sort for lowest price, as I showed you before, also!)
If you want to find bases with cat motifs, or dragonflies, you can sort for them the same way!

To buy on etsy, you will need to register (but it is really easy.) Once you have registered and started buying things, you will want to learn to leave feedback. Feedback is your way of telling how your experience has been with each seller. It is very important to sellers to have positive feedback. To leave feedback, choose "your etsy" from the top of any page.

The left side of "your etsy" is where you find record of your Purchases, feedback, favorite, where you can enter a profile about yourself and upload an avatar, stuff like that.If you choose "Feedback," you will be able to enter feedback about others with whom you have transacted, and see the feedback they have left about you.


I hope this makes it a little easier to find what you want on etsy. Let me know!

I have four shops on etsy.
My bazketmakr shops carries finished baskets and my art cards.
PurpleToedGypsy has woven wearables - like horsehair charms on necklaces.
MakeABasket is a basket supply shop, featuring ceramic bases for coiling and kits.
LizardSkins is a destash shop, it has mostly blank white clothing for dye/paint and vintage items. Visit soon!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Happy Autumn!


The Fall Season has been here for a few weeks now. Are you weaving Autumn baskets?

Wild Mushroom baskets
Wild Mushroom Basket bases and beads (for coiled baskets)


Fall vine baskets for decorating and weddings.






Fall foliage basket bases for coiled baskets

Forest Floor Basketry Bases for Coiled Baskets


Make your own great cornucopia basket from vines, or let me do it for you!



Happy Autumn!