Tag Archives: Business

WTF is POD? On dropshipping, reselling, and POD

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Greetings, Curiosi!

It’s only a guess, but I’m pretty sure that the average shopper hasn’t any idea of the difference between dropshipping, POD, and other manufacturing methods. Which is as it should be, I suppose, because if you’re not in “the business” there’s really not many ways to find that out. But with everything going on with Etsy and how it was invaded by people obviously either reselling or dropshipping, I thought it might be time for me to address this myself. Especially as I use POD myself, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m one of those evil dropshippers!

There’s two different methods of invasion used by resellers. Some of them will actually buy products from AliExpress or even AliBaba (the difference being that the latter is a business-to business seller, while Express is more like Temu), warehouse them, and mail them out to buyers themselves.

There’s no tariff to worry about that way that would expose the seller easily as to what they’re about, so that’s a bit insidious.

This is printed on a mousepad; there’s no way I’d do this at home!

The second way is, of course dropshipping. I think most of us are familiar with the phrase, but for those of you who might not exactly and perfectly understand the term…

Dropshipping is more likely a deal between a seller and another vendor, most likely in China. It’s not always AliBaba, there are other sources. In fact, there are platforms dedicated purely to finding manufacturers and suppliers to contract for dropshipping. In this case, you can order it from anywhere in the US, UK, wherever, but it’s most likely going to be posted from China, India, Mexico, etc.

The hardest part about dropshipping is that the Chinese resellers in particular have a habit of stealing both the idea of a product and the photos from a legitimate maker on Etsy. China has much different trademark laws, so it’s actually possible that some are doing this without even knowing it’s against the law in most other countries. China, although a country with a Communist government, has a more unfettered and more unrestricted capitalist market than we do. Food for thought, that. 

A full size blanket would be outrageously expensive to buy in bulk

The best way to figure out if an Etsy seller is a reseller or THE artist who created the item in the first place is to use a Google reverse image search and see if it pops up on one of the Chinese marketplaces; AliExpress, Temu, Shein, or Wish. Look at the specifications if it comes up on one of them. All their t-shirts will be polyester, on Etsy they’re likely to be cotton or a blend. Often, items will be made of resin or plastic instead of ceramic. There are definitely ways to tell. Also, look at the other items that the Etsy seller has in their store. If all their other items are similar and look like they were made by the same people, if they have pictures of the items being made, you’re probably safe. If not, you might want to keep looking.

Now, there’s a hybrid that can *look* like it’s dropshipping, but it’s technically not. That’s known as “white labeling.” If there’s an artist who has such amazing sales that they can’t keep up with demand on their own, they might either hire people for their own production company OR they might give the design elements to another manufacturer to create it for them. It’s still out of the artists’ head, but in order to keep up they just can’t make it themselves. Etsy still considers this “handmade,” although its most likely someone else’s hands making them. 😉

52 cards, front and back? I think I’d rather have someone else print them, it would take me FOREVER

White labeling is made from a huge array of products, including an awful lot of beauty and self-care products. If you follow any of that, the Urban Decay setting spray is a perfect example of this; they had a contract with a different company to make that product under their own name brand, and recently broke that contract and began making their own formula. It sort of caused a stink. 😆In fact, many beauty brands use out-of-the country manufacturing, some even using the same ones.

Otherwise known as “Print-on-Demand,” POD involves using a printer or several printers to create the products that the artist has created. It’s the easiest method for artists whether it’s their physical art, digital art, or AI-assisted art. The design is sent to the printer digitally, they place it on the product and ship it. POD relieves the artist from the drudge work and a LOT of expenses. I couldn’t *possibly* buy all the equipment needed for all the various methods of print on the different range of products available. It also relives us of having to have warehouse space, and putting out outrageous amounts of money buying products to be printed at wholesale prices and quantity. (YIKES!)

Most of us smaller sellers could never afford what it would take to print everything ourselves.

Print on demand is the ultimate compromise. It’s still being made by hand (much like white labeling), just not the artists’ hands. The vast majority of printers I work with are in the US, but because I use a company that is another platform/marketplace, I have access to printers all over the place. The t-shirts in my shop, as an example, are printed in nearly every delivery zone; US, UK, EU, AUS, and CAN. I can have them printed at the location closest to the buyer which means a lot less postage time, a lost less postage cost, and no worries about tariffs. It’s a huge advantage.

Overseas printers makes my life so much easier!

Also, POD handles all the tariff laws. The US isn’t the only country that has them, it’s just the one that implemented them in the worst way possible. There’s also laws like the GPSR in the EU which requires an artist to have someone in the EU who will essentially testify to the quality and safety of the product. Using a print provider, I don’t have to worry about that; if I were printing from home, likely I’d be unable to sell overseas at all, at least to the EU. Many handmade artists had to stop selling to the EU when that law passed there.

Annnnnd…I’m over 1000 words again! It’s amazing how long I can wax poetic about the mundane, isn’t it? To finish this off, my creations are still my creations. They come out of my head. But POD makes bringing them into reality a heckuva lot easier. I’d never be able to do this business if it weren’t for them.

~*~Camylleon~*~

It’s Just Business?

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Can I tell you how much I detest that phrase? I’ve never had any use for it, and some of the worst people in my life have used that as an excuse for all sorts of horrid actions. It’s never been just business to me.

But then, I think I’ve vented about that before. I am me. I’ve worked very hard, and I’m still working very hard, to be me. I will not divide myself into bite-sized chunks for easy digestion. It just doesn’t work that way. My religion, witchcraft, crafts, arts, politics, humor, disabilities, and neuro-spiciness can’t be parsed out.

When I was searching my brain for a business name, for a brand, as they call it, I wanted something all-encompassing. Like this blog, it was going to be my home, so I needed to be comfortable in it, and feel it expressed all those facets of me-ness. I’ve had a few bad business names in my life, and I’ve seethed with jealousy at friends who just had the best, most creative, most interesting business names. No one seemed to be able to help me with that, though. I don’t know why but all those friends with brilliant business names weren’t able to help me come up with one for mine.

I was on my own.

The breakthrough came when I managed to get an email address with no numbers or extra letters for the name of one of my all-time favorite movies; “High Spirits.”

It’s an older movie, so I expect almost no one has seen it, and of the few who have, I suspect you might not remember it. Without exaggeration, this is one of the most accurate movies about Spirits I have ever seen.

Yes, it is a comedy. I mean, with Peter O’Toole and Steve Guttenberg I doubt there was any doubt in your minds about that. And still, a very realistic portrayal of Spirits. They are, for me at least, very much as they were in life. I don’t see them, so I don’t see the disintegration of the body so much as depicted in this movie, although I’ve hears some psychics who claim to see them this way. I have the feeling for the movie, it was more of a costume decision than an attempt at realism, though.

Obviously, that’s about all my business has in common with this movie. But it was definitely the inspiration. I could see that some would assume it was “high” as in certain recreational and medicinal substances “high,” but that wasn’t part of my inspiration for the business at the time. It is one of my me-ness facets, though, as I do use that substance medicinally as I have peripheral neuropathy. It’s one of the few substances I have found that actually works for nerve pain and is an excellent substitute for the prescription medicine that would otherwise be my only other choice.

Not that kind of “high spirits”!

There is a play on words here, though. Because in Spiritism I learned that praying for the Spirits enlightens them. A word play that absolutely works better in English. As a polytheistic Spiritist, as opposed to the normal Catholic flavor, I don’t necessarily see prayer as the connection here, but I do believe that communicating, working with them, and caring for them does “raise” them in a way. It’s not as much a matter of getting into heaven as it is improving the life of their incarnation present with me in this time frame but also gives them something of an edge on the other side. The details are still a bit unclear, but it’s what I’ve been hearing lately.

Naturally, the exact name of “High Spirits” was not available on Etsy. Which is fine. I don’t think I’d want it to be exact as then there could be potential conflict with the movie. As much as it is an inspiration for my business name, I did like the idea of setting myself apart. The obvious choice for me was to add “Divine.” More word play for the win!

Divine because for most of us, at least, the Spirits I am creating for are considered “Gods.” Whatever that is. 😉Gods are, no matter their characteristics, the definition of “Divine.” A word play needs two different meanings at least, so let’s throw on there that I also use divination to determine what to do for whom. Well, often I do at least. Sometimes it’s more of a known factor, and sometimes I have to whip out my pendulum and ask. I’m slowly becoming less dependent on the pendulum which is a big “YAY”. For a third part to this fun little word play, divine with a lower-case d, as in my designs are “divine.” Beautiful, or at least I like to think so.

There’s part of the Origin Story for High Spirits Divine Jewelry & Sundries 🙂. There’s more, of course, and I’ll get to it one of these days. In the meantime, I have some Dionysus products that I need to get out and some edits on Brigid I’m working on!

Honestly, these two are having a great time being difficult!

Do yourself a favor. If you haven’t watched High Spirits, give it a whirl. It’s on YouTube for free.

Business Anxiety Relief

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I have the best customers in the world.

There are a lot of companies, businesses, and people out there who might say that, but I actually mean it. I was really scared about customers when I first started with Etsy. I know, I know, I shouldn’t have been. But you hear things, you know? Horror stories of people trying to return things and claiming they’re broken or lost or whatever, just to get their money back.

That kind of thing can really hurt a small business. As a business of one, my business is about as small as it can get. I’m probably even more paranoid because I’ve already closed one business. That hurt. A lot. It was frightening going back into the deep end. Hell, it took me about 13-14 years to recover enough to think about it. So yeah, I was scared.

When I started in on POD, I was even scared-er. It’s a new world. I have no control, really, on quality control, something I’ve always been extremely proud of with my jewelry and other beaded pieces. I have to trust that the company I’ve chosen is going to take care of my customers. YIKES. BIG YIKES!

As the holiday season began, and I actually had sales, I started to encounter problems. Not big ones, but still, problems. I was nervous and freaking out. A lot. My printers ran out of the mousepads I’m printing my pendulum pads on, the round ones, and of course I got an order for one. PANIC! I had no idea if they had simply run out of them, or if they were discontinuing them.

This just wouldn’t look the same if it were square!

Nervous beyond necessity, I messaged the printers first to try and find out if I was even going to be able to carry these things any more. Then, before it would be humanly possible for anyone to answer that question, I messaged the customer. I told them the situation, and a whole list of possible options. I could have it printed on a square mousepad, or we could upgrade it to either the wooden board or the leather one, but I couldn’t even get a preview of the leather one yet, so I had no IDEA what it would look like. Or we could wait, and see what the printers said.

My goodness, they were amazing. SO understanding, patient, and almost nonchalant about what seemed like a life-or-death situation to me! 🙂To say I was relieved was an understatement.

That story, of course, ended exactly as you probably thought it would. They had simply run short, in a couple of days they had refilled the supply, and it was printed and speedily on the way to that WONDERFUL human. Phew.

I’ve mentioned I have anxiety, right?

There was a “horrible” misprint of a Hekate journal that another customer ended up with. By horrible, I mean it was mildly wrinkled on a corner, and part of the cover wasn’t properly printed all the way to the edge. That can happen. But, naturally, I freaked out again. Another wonderful customer, though! They happily provided me with the photographic evidence I needed for the printer and BAM! Just like that it’s reprinted and flying on the way to them. Handled.

There was just a small, squished dent in one corner, but it was devastating to me!

WHY do I always panic?

Then, there are the customers who don’t know how wonderful, warm and fuzzy they’ve made me feel.

Every time one of the “patriarchy” variations sells, my heart sings. Every time I sell one overseas, even though the postage is outrageous, I feel absolutely loved. The latest was a customer who was not only overseas, but bought a shirt in a multiple X size. As a person of extra girth myself, it was really important to me to find sizes that go as high as I could possibly get, so I’ve chosen a printer who, at least in most styles, offers up to 5x. I’m irritated as hell that they charge me so much more for the larger sizes, but if I start selling more and can spread out the loss, I won’t pass that on to the customer anymore. If. I hope to. 💜 Knowing that someone purchased it, and appreciated it’s availability even though I had to charge more? Priceless.

Maybe someday I’ll stop panicking every time I run into a speedbump. With customers like this, I’m sure to. That and continuing my therapy!

I am My Own Worst Enemy. Again.

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Last August, I started a store on Etsy. I’ve been making jewelry and other beaded crafts forever, and I thought, “why not?” I’d started making jewelry again, just for myself after a very long break. I was burned out. Not from the store, but from the additional drama and stupid emotional decisions I’d made while there.

Like I said in the title, again.

Having learned all those lessons and more, and having started my therapy jewelry, I started to believe I was healthy enough to at least wear my artwork. And I am. But selling it?

I’m in the middle of it now, so there’s no easy way of going back. 🙃

I didn’t go into this Etsy thing blind. I started, as most people do these days I suppose, with YouTube. I found a variety of Etsy “coaches,” each one having their own view on how to do Etsy “right.” Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of HORRIBLE “coaches” on YouTube. Especially post-pandemic. During the pandemic, you could throw almost anything up on Etsy and it would magically sell. Many self-appointed gurus took that and ran with it, making more money off of telling people how to make 100,000 a year off of Print-on-Demand.

Ummm…no. No, thanks.

Luckily, I wasn’t looking for a get-rich-quick scheme, so I avoided the worst of them. But I did find three potentially good coaches right away, and several I was keeping an eye on because they were still very “young” in YouTube terms. Good, but unproven. The coach I finally settled on had so much free content that I was flabbergasted. I learned so much just watching her free how-to videos. Not only that, but as I’m not Christian, she was obviously more accepting and understanding of the niche I’d intended to go into.

Somewhere between absorbing everything I could from her free content, and finally taking the dive into taking her course, I went from thinking I had the gist of SEO and believing I was awful at it, it was no good, and I sucked.

Self-esteem is one of my worst problems. Sigh

In that same space, I started to understand the POD world. I had started a Canva account because it was recommended by the Coaches, to use for the Etsy banner, and social media posts. I had begun getting arthritis in my fingers, and this was a different kind of creation that I could do and use different parts of my hands, at least.

  • One of the newer POD items; my very own Hekate design on a pendulum mat (mouse pad, lol). I’m pretty proud of this one!

I also started learning the fine art of resin pouring. 😉When I get some decent photos of those pieces, I’ll share them here first!

I also took a photo course through another coach who is AMAZING, that I learned of from my Etsy Coaches. Extra bonus points!

But…

There I was, about two months before my second Q4 go around. The first go round, I made…0. Nada. Zilch. I was hopeful that this Q4 would be better. And it was. Probably not as good as it could have been if I hadn’t absolutely given up on my SEO and just not added any at all. On 254 listings. Ouch.

If you don’t know what SEO is, it stands for Search Engine Optimization. My best explanation of it is that those are the sweet little words that people looking for what I’ve got use to search for it. If I have the same words the customers are using, then it’s a match and you’ll probably find me. If not, well, the chances anyone will find me are slim and none. Right.

Panic stricken, I started to add SEO and wouldn’t you know it? The same SEO I was using before landed my listings on the “front page” according to Erank. In other words, I was using the right SEO and didn’t know it. I had stopped adding SEO for no apparently good reason at all. I just didn’t have faith in myself.

I was still in panic mode, though. I had not only SEO for 254 listings to do but also had to create photos for 254 listings. At least 5 per listing. 254 times 5…

1270 photos.

Needless to say, I did not get it all done by the start of Q4. In fact, it’s still not all done. I’m finally okay with that. I let it go.

I did have better sales this year than last year, which isn’t surprising at all. I’m sure I could have done even better with SEO on everything, and I will get there. I don’t yet rely on this income, so I have some time. With the economy as it is now, I wasn’t even really expecting much. There’s nothing I make currently that would be necessary for anyone’s existence. Some of us are walking that line, and I get that.

The other contributing problem I encountered was my programming from Corporate America. Let’s face it, we’re trained from early on to work harder and faster, harder and faster, with less and less. This is my business. I’m the boss and the only employee. It’s not about doing things fast and getting them done “good enough.” It’s about doing it well, making things people will love that I can be proud of, and taking my time doing it right, not fast.

The SEO will get done when the SEO gets done. I’m committed to doing one or two, maybe even three listings a day, at a minimum. That’s enough. The rest of the time I can then commit to things like making new things, marketing, taking the best pictures I can, and customer service which means a LOT to me. 😎 I can honestly say that so far I’ve got the best customers on earth, EVER.

Oh, and I can finally get around to starting that email list I keep meaning to get to!

Therapy is working. I’m an old dog, but I’m learning some new tricks. I’m onto myself, too. When I approach something and feel like I just can’t do it right, I need to stop and think. Is it all in my head, or is there something to it? I really need to make friends with myself. I think that’s one of my major lessons to conquer in therapy.