What do you do in your spare time?

I talk about work a lot. How to do this, that or the other. I rarely talk about what i do in my spare time. That is probably because I have very little spare time to do anything other than work. So, I thought today maybe we could all talk about what we like to do when we are not working on art or photography or junking, etc.

I like to restore old cars. Currently I have a 1966 Ford Fairlane and a 1951 Nash Ambassador. Both are in need of my time. I am hoping g this winter and spring I can dedicate some time to them both. I also like to go fishing. I guess I do not have a lot of other hobbies. Those two could easily take up all of my time.

Tell me about what you like to do in your spare time.

Etsy Christmas Tip: Gift Boxes

Assorted Jewelry Boxes on by displaydiva Etsy

I thought I would mention gift wrapping again. When you wrap a gift it does not have to be boxed and papered and taped. When I gift wrap items I put them in a nice small box and tie a hemp or jute string around it. That gives it the old time look from years gone by. Of course this can become very expensive depending on the boxes you use.

I came across the above pictured boxes on Etsy recently. There are 100 boxes for $25.50. That makes it affordable enough for putting every item in. Of course these are smaller jewelry size boxes. If you search around on Etsy and eBay for "paper gift boxes" you'll find plenty of boxes in every size and shape. You really don't have to spend a lot of money to go the extra mile.

That is it for today. I have to keep my tips short this week because I am swamped with orders. Hopefully I will be swamped for the rest of the year! I will do my best to keep the tips coming. Though I never seem to run out of ideas it would be great if you would send suggestions for future blog posts to me. Just email me at marketmyshop@blogspot.com

Christmas Tip: Free Gift Wrapping

One great way to encourage people to buy your items is to offer to wrap it for them. This will make it easier for your client. It does not cost much for you to wrap a present. I wrap all of mine in plain brown paper with a hemp string. This gives it an old time look. It takes me maybe an extra 2 or 3 minutes. I put a tag on it for them to fill out or offer to fill it out for them. If you plan to wrap a present with a bit more expensive look you can offer to wrap their purchase for an additional cost.

On Etsy it is against their Terms Of Service to charge for something contingent on the purchase of another item. So, in other words you are not allowed to sell Christmas wrapping as a separate listing. The same thing applies to shipping upgrades. You can however, in your listing, offer to upgrade shipping or charge for wrapping by saying that you will create a custom listing just for them.

I prefer to offer gift wrapping free of charge because people love to get something for free. It is probably a good idea to add a picture to your listing that shows how the gift will look. It isn't necessary unless you are offering multiple types of wrapping paper.

That is the tip of the day. Come back tomorrow for more.

Etsy Christmas Tips

The closer we get to Christmas the more items will be listed on Etsy for Christmas. So, the question arises, how do you make sure that your item is seen? The answer isn't a simple one. There is no guarantee that you can put your item in front of the right people. There are a few things that can help. One thing is to make sure that your items will get into a lot of treasuries.

Let's look at the above picture of a chainmail covered blue glass ornament. Notice how the title reads "Blue Christmas Ornament......" A lot of people have already started doing treasuries titled "Blue Christmas" and I have already been in four of them. Why? Because the item is optimized for "Blue Christmas."

Try to think ahead and optimize your items for popular Christmas themes. Be careful though. Do not use copyrighted or trademarked phrases or characters. For example it would probably be okay to optimize for "nightmare Christmas" but not for "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

In other words, try to optimize your items for popular themes but be vague enough that you won't have a lawsuit on your hands. Also, make sure whatever you use is to describe your item is accurate. Don't tag or title your item "Twelve Days Of Christmas Wrapping Paper Handmade" if your wrapping paper has nothing but evergreens on it.  Now if it depicts aspects of the twelve days of Christmas song by all means do it.

That is it for today. I will have more tomorrow. Feel free to leave some tips in the comments. BTW- today is my birthday. I don't really celebrate it. In fact I just realized it. That goes to show how busy I have been lately.