Etsy and the Hot Pink Glaze. Part 2.

I was writing about selling on Etsy yesterday and wanted to continue with a little bit of that.

First, I’d like to just say, I’m not one of the naysayers of Etsy. So if you’re reading in the hopes of another sob story about the platform, my apologies, that is not happening here. I love selling there and while I’m not a “top seller” I enjoy some comfort in selling regularly. I have shipped to many countries outside of the United States and that’s a privilege I wouldn’t have had without Etsy. And I absolutely ADORE my customers.

Before you read on, please understand that there’s a huge difference between MY customer and the people I’m about to tell you about.

My customers are actually purchasing, have purchased, or are going to be purchasing my products. These people have not and will not. Some days it can be exhausting. Like when people absolutely refuse to read the detailed descriptions I’ve worked so hard writing for each of my over 100 listings. Chosing instead to message me at 1:00 am to ask, are these dishwasher safe? Or, are these lead free? I always answer politely, professionally but it’s everywhere in my shop. Food, dishwasher, and microwave safe. Lead free!

I rarely ever hear anything back from those people and I just assume they’re not my customer and just accidentally fell into my shop and decided today was the day to test someone, anyone. Haha! It’s all good. I learned years ago to turn off my phone at 9:30 pm for my sanity. Am I losing potential customers by answering their 3 am inquiry at 4:30 am? I hope their notifications are off too.

The best (sarcasm warning) ones are “serious” inquiries that take several days or even weeks of discussion back and forth. I quote, I’m ordering tomorrow! Literally at 3 in the morning. To date, that was over five weeks ago? I’ve joked that maybe there should be an increase in my pricing for each additional day of conversation. Because you need to know, these are actually full blown conversations.

People literally tell me about their cats, how they got them, their breed, how old they are, their diets. I have so many photos of other people’s cats and dogs, I really want to do a video on YouTube for them. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love this. But I am running a business and if you’re just lonely, I think there are probably better ways to meet people than choose an Etsy seller selling cat bowls? I absolutely love learning my customers’ stories and I am thrilled to be a part of their every day solutions.

See, I make a special cat food bowl. It’s designed specifically for cats who suffer from whisker fatigue. Since I have these cats and run a pottery, it used to be called A Cat’s Life Pottery. Because they rule my life. I realized at some point that I was only making things with cats. Or at least mostly. So my wife and I set out to come up with the perfect branding that would open up my creative process and allow me to make whatever I want. Now. Since changing to Method Pottery, I need you to also know. I’ve never made so many cat food bowls!!!! Haha! Some irony in there somewhere. Again, life is getting in the way of blogging. So an update on the search for hot pink. Two of the red glazes came in today. The other red came in before this plan was considered because a friend wants me to make him a red butter dish. I’ve never made one so that process might get a cameo here soon as well. It’ll be FUN!

The photos are of the red underglazes, a few of the cats. Ashwagandha (ginger ale kitty, he has his own story that I’ll have to fit in here somewhere.) Sylvanas (the calico model,) and maybe Lily Grace, the little black dwarf kitty on the bed? A few cat bowls I made and a happy shiny mug. My next post will continue with how I actually started making regular sales on Etsy and what drove me to the point where I had enough of the methods initially encouraged. I’ll give you a little hint. I started out in an “elite” Facebook group that bled over to Twitter and Pinterest. If you made it this far, you’re a hero and deserve the world. 💜 Angela

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Etsy and the Hot Pink Glaze: Part 1.

I sell on Etsy. Along with a whole lot of other sellers. Sellers of pottery, stamps, stickers, jewelry, paintings, prints. You name it. It can just about be found on Etsy. It can definitely be pretty difficult to be found because there are so many sellers.

At some point during this little, let’s call it a mini series, I’d like to address that but for now, how I began. I set up my shop to help maintain inventory for in person sales. I got my first actual sale just a couple of days later.

That was exciting. The cha ching from the Etsy app scared the crap out of me. So. I embraced the experience. Took my pieces to the post office and packed up the box right there. Then my customer messaged me a few days later with photos of the total destruction inside that box. He was relatively local and asked if him and his wife could come shop in my studio for new gifts for his daughters and I said of course. He brought me packing peanuts too. He was a great guy who was so sweet and amazing and supportive. He was my first order and my 100th, 1000th, and my 2000th. Unfortunately, he passed away this year but I’ll carry his kindness with me forever.

That day though, I was so upset that my first sold pieces were destroyed. At first I was angry with the post office. Then , not really knowing Bob then, angry at him. Did he do this intentionally?! Ridiculous to think of now but then I was very inexperienced and had no clue how to pack up an order.

Take responsibility? Whaaaaa? Ok. So eventually I got there. It was completely my fault. I went to YouTube and researched how to pack up orders. I still had a few things break here and there but I learned a lot. I have also been scammed since. Using a technique I refer to as “shock and awe” tactics. They’ll leave a 1 star review, WORST SELLER EVER.

Again, what?!! They never contacted me. Just left that as a review. Turns out, it was a gift order to replace something they broke and they just didn’t want to pay for it. In hindsight, I would handle that differently. Then I immediately refunded it and asked them to change their review. Eventually I had to straight up let them know that I knew they were scamming me and if they didn’t change the review immediately, I was going to comment with portions of their part of the conversation we’d had in the last two days that showed they were outright scamming.

In hindsight, I’d have insisted on sending a replacement to their friends with a new message about it being fully refunded and I hope this one made it safely and intact.

Hey. I’m an Aries. Etsy seller yes. But also. A human being. Apparently life still must go on regardless of whether I want to blog or not. So the hot pink part of this post. Hot pink isn’t exactly in my glaze wheelhouse but I’ve had a request for hot pink on a similar bowl to the one in my photo. So I have ordered several reds and over the next couple of weeks will be mixing and testing to see if I can coax hot pink into being for two cat food bowls. I’ll be posting the progress on that along the way.

I’ll continue my Etsy story in my next post. Thank you for reading this far! I hope your day is magical.

💜 Angela

Kiln opening!

Yesterday was a kiln opening. Always a super exciting event. And exhausting. Because then everything has to be photographed and listed on Etsy. This firing was exceptionally colorful, inspired by the play of light and color integration. As well as some of my regular designs, like the little red mushrooms cat food bowl. It sold within minutes of being listed so that’s fun. It was a good day with 30 new, very bright and shiny pieces added to the Etsy shop. Today I’ll pack up orders and then tackle my 13 custom orders for the next firing. I hope if you’ve gotten this far that you have an amazing Monday! 💜 Angela

So dry….

I started writing this on Saturday morning, early, even before the sun rises in the sleepy hills of Kentucky. The kiln is firing and the cats are being wild. Aside from the occasional hiss or growl though, the only sounds are the water fountains and the click click of the kiln elements heating up. I find I’m struck with a profound sadness, reading an article where William Shatner went to space and speaks of the death of our planet. I know it to be true and the inability to do anything outside of the little things that seem to not even be relevant, recycling, not being wasteful, cautiously spending, as well as cautiously and thoughtfully creating… Is frustrating at best. Irony in someone creating ceramics to sell online and shipping worldwide saying these things? Perhaps. In a consumer driven society, groceries still have to be purchased, cat food and bills still have to be provided and paid for. I tell myself, at least ceramic products are sustainable and reusable. They serve a purpose. It’s also something I’m passionate about, so that helps the justification. I’m not here to sell anything to you. I’m just having a conversation with myself essentially. The overwhelming sadness was just so much and I needed to voice it. A friend sent me the image and quote a few days ago and it’s relevant in my mind. I’ll try to be more upbeat in my next post.