Just starting out and I’ve got some Christmas baubles I’d like to list but can also make them to order. I’ve seen in the topic posts that people have quoted it in the title as well as the description but just wondered how well it works for everyone? Would anyone mind looking at my shop and give me some feedback as I’m unsure about postage costs etc too. Thanks
@arcanafeltstudio
Hi Joanne, lovely work. For myself if I list a made to order I would add it to the title at the end and include the timescale in the first line of the description so that people don’t miss it. You could just add it as a listing and use the options to feature for the details.
I can’t comment on prices as it’s not my area of work, but I would just make sure that your first photo is square as I notice that on the shop view some of your work is cut off as Folksy uses square pictures.
Good luck with your shop ![]()
Hi Joanne @arcanafeltstudio Welcome to Folksy and the Forum.
I do a lot of made to order items, including some that are variations of ready made items. This can range from easy tweaks like my kids aprons that can be made up in a variety of fabrics, all the way through to truly bespoke patchwork quilts or playmats that are designed to the buyer’s specification.
Yes it’s good to include “Made to order” in title as well as description, and I like Max’s suggestion about putting it in the first line of the description, as that will be seen in Google search and thumbnails when you share on social media as well as being “above the fold” in the listing. I try and vary the words and phrases used throughout the listing - that helps with search terms - so I also use “custom order” or “bespoke order”.
One listing or multiple? If it is just a minor tweak (colour, fabric choice etc) AND you can make and send them out within the same timescale as the ready made items, you can include them as variations in the same listing for the ready made item. You can include higher costs in the variation. This can be an advantage for non-Plus sellers who are looking to keep listing costs down. But, it may be benefcial to separate the listings - the customer will quickly see that you have both ready made and a made to order products (and more listings means more chance of the items being seen in search).
If the made to order items are more different than a tweak of ready made, and crucially if it will take longer to make so the dispatch time is longer, you must have separate listings. You can use the photos of the ready made items, just make it clear in the description that these are example photos, and include any photos that will help the customer understand the options available.
Postage costs - your listings are in broadly in line with Royal Mail prices for Large Letter (flat decorations) and Small Parcel (light ornaments and pictures), so seem fair. I am assuming you have factored the costs of packaging, paper and printing ink, and processing time into the item price, and the shipping cost is purely postage.
Just to note though that you have set your listings so customers are charged the postage multiple times if they buy more than 1 item - leaving the additional items field blank does this.
Using the shipping costs for your felted figurine ornaments mean shipping will be £9 for 2 items. Adding one of your thin decorations to the basket would increase shipping by £3.50. This may be your intent (I don’t know how you ship your items), but it could mean that customers are put off ordering a few things at the same time.
Generally speaking, people expect that multiple item shipping will be at an adjusted rate. If you want to do this, you need to put a figure in the additional items box for each listing. Then the customer will be charged the postage price of one item (the one with the highest shipping cost) plus the additional amounts for the rest.
You can put in any amount that’s lower than the full shipping cost - for example £0.75 or £1.25. And each listing can have a different additional cost value - Folksy works it all out.
You can test out your shipping cost combinations by adding your own items to basket - Folksy won’t let you buy them, but you can see what the total cost with shipping will be.
It’s difficult to be precise about how much to charge for additional items, as every multiiple item parcel will be different size/weight, and not all will be bumped into the next price bracket. But you can try and work out what the most likely scenarios - over time, it should average out.
Don’t forget that multiple order means you are saving on the packaging and processing costs I mentioned above, which can offset some of the extra shipping costs. And you can always increase your item price slightly if you feel postage cost wobbles will affect your profit.
With that last point in mind, you can even put a 0 (zero) which means customers aren’t charged any extra postage no matter how many items they buy from you (flat rate shipping).
Sorry for the long response, hope some of it is useful to you - and other newbies.
Thanks for your feedback & I noticed the photos being cropped too so I will redo those. I’m mainly concerned about the price of posting as I’ve seen posts about Royal Mail prices going up but I presume they’re used by most people.
Thanks so much & I really appreciate all the information as there’s so much to consider!! As it’s been a couple of years since I sold on Etsy everything’s changed since and I need to figure out the packing etc. I wasn’t expecting anyone to buy more than one thing so I’ll look at that too. ![]()
Multiple orders aren’t common, but they can happen especially if you have lower cost items like your Xmas decorations that are tempting to add to basket if someone is buying a higher cost item.
I used to make all of my items to order, this worked well for me at the time. Now my hands are much worse with arthritis I only list ready made items. This now works well apart from having storage room to keep items until they sell.
