Happy New Year, everyone! Thanks for sharing your fantastic LongMill projects with us.
We are happy to announce that Stephanie Black, Darcy Boyer, @JSBcarver, Daisy Manning, Ethan Johnson, and Ken Lundrigan are the winners of the LongMill projects contest. A prize is on its way!
Share your sold projects made with the LongMill for a chance to win cool prizes! Whether it’s a custom sign, gift, or any other item, post it with a business tip for bonus points. We’ll pick our favorites to reward our talented makers.
Visit our blog for more information on our Weekly Themed Contest:
Weekly Themed Contest Rules and Guidelines:
Have ideas for themes? Let us know by commenting below!
It’s been quite a ride with this project that I would like to enter. The board is made from walnut with maple for the inlay and I originally sold it on Etsy for $85 US with shipping paid by me. The buyer wanted to return it because he felt that the magnets were too small to do the job of holding the two halves together. So I refunded the full amount and the buyer paid the shipping back. So basically we both lost because we paid to ship from New Hampshire to Oregon and back.
So here is my business tip although I don’t really think I’m qualified to give business tips If I had it to do over I would have discussed the option to give a partial refund and let the buyer keep the board. If I had done that and the buyer had agreed maybe we both could have had a small win instead of a loss.
So anyways, after I got the board back I just put it on a shelf and didn’t relist it. And there is sat for almost a year until my sister asked me if I still had it. Her boss was interested in it as a Christmas gift for her husband. I sent some pics and sold it for $50 US. I haven’t heard what her husband thought but my sisters boss thought it was really nice.
@_Michael What a beautiful cribbage board! The idea of a partial refund isn’t all bad. My question for you is did you have to pay the Etsy store fees even though the item was returned? I have heard good and bad from folks selling on Etsy, personally I have not sold anything that way. My selling has been mostly word of mouth, although I did do a direct mailing to 99 law enforcement agencies with a photo card of my badges that I make. I sold 1 badge from that mailing. Wasn’t my finest idea, but did cover the cost of the mailings with that one sale. Anyhow, very nice work my friend!
I was pretty sure that I didn’t have to pay the Esty cut but I looked it up to be sure and found this from Etsy.
Will Etsy refund my seller fees?
If you refund a buyer through your Shop Manager, your Etsy transaction and processing fees for the refunded transactions are automatically refunded to your Payment account. If you also canceled the transaction, your listing fees are automatically credited to your account.
Thank you for the compliment on the board. I’m glad that that adventure is over
EDIT: Just wanted to comment on my Etsy experience. So far I have not sold many items but I haven’t lost money. The place is pretty saturated but it only cost 20 cents to list an item for three months and you get a discount on shipping if you get the shipping label from them. I have only sold in the US so far mainly because shipping stuff is new to me etc.
Sorry to hear about that. I had a relatively successful business on Etsy prior to selling that and moving on. The customers were what killed it for me. I had sold over 200 units, over 150 on Etsy alone, but the 5 that I had issues with were the ones that really got to me. A lot of really challenging people to work with. I feel amazon has given people the mentality that if theres one thing I don’t like, they can just return no questions asked or get it for free. Keep on it though and provide good quality stuff and it’ll come, whether its Etsy or another source!
Thanks @fljdave! Yes, the track and the score area was done as a single v-carve inlay. I think that the v-carve method is great for doing inlays, I have almost always had successful inlays that way, even when I was just starting with them.
Beautiful board. I’ve tried selling on Etsy, but I’ve only sold a couple of things. I think my prices are too high, especially for Etsy. People have unrealistic expectations these days, primarily due to Amazon prices and free shipping. It’s hard to know how to price stuff. I would think this board would sell for $100+, but then again what do I know
If I had it to do over I would have discussed the option to give a partial refund and let the buyer keep the board. If I had done that and the buyer had agreed maybe we both could have had a small win instead of a loss.
