#But the tail came from a seller on etsy

[canines-crown]

My new tail arrived ⋆˙⟡♡

I love it so much aaaa😭💖

[roguesriot]

A buying tails PSA by franniesflowers on youtube !!! 

Putting my buying tails PSA into written form too‼️

(Please share to help spread this information!)

There is a growing problem in the alterhuman community with many people, but especially younger kids, buying tails from cruel fur farms.

     Amazon, SHEIN, AliExpress, and Temu are the three biggest sites that people purchase tails from. Every tail sold on these websites is sourced from cruel fur farms where foxes and other animals are subjected to horrific ab*se.

     The tails sold on these websites may say “fake” or “faux fur”. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS!!! Policies in China (where all of these shops are based) allow sellers to label real and unethical tails as faux fur or ethically sourced. The only tails safe to buy from these sites are POLYESTER STUFFED FURSUIT TAILS that look nothing like the tails you see many therians wearing.

The safest way to buy a tail that looks like the kind of tails you see many therians wearing is Etsy. There are three main options that I recommend.

1. Yarn tails, you can buy them from Etsy or watch a tutorial to make your own with yarn. They’re fluffy and they’ve got a nice weight that makes them feel real.

2. Faux fur or Mohair tails are also available on Etsy, you can commission them from sellers like TalesofMischief. Mohair tails look almost exactly like real ones, and Mohair is made from the hair of the Angora goat. It is not cruel because it’s just sheared from the goats.

3. Real tails, you can find many ethical ones on Etsy, but DO YOUR RESEARCH!! To find sellers and check if they’re ethical or not, you can search “fox tail taxidermy” on Etsy and click on the description of the individual sellers. Look for “wild foxes” and “foraged taxidermy”. Avoid any shops that say “farm raised”. The seller should find the foxes already d3@d, without k*lling them for the tail. 

Here’s my top ethical taxidermists on Etsy!

•EvasFeathers

•RabidLlamaCreations

•SterlingFoxTaxidermy

*if you have already purchased a tail from Amazon, Shein, AliExpress, or Temu, it’s ok because you didn’t know and there’s a lot of misinformation. Please donate to a foundation like saveafox.org and treat your tail with a lot of respect and mindfulness for how it came into your hands. It’s also good to watch a documentary about these cruel fur farms, but they are triggering and not for younger kids because of the graphic ab*se they show*

Thank you for reading this! Again, please share if you can <3

Very sorry if you didn’t want to be tagged, just trying to spread awareness

[lucky-leafeon]

I FINALLY FINISHED MY PLUSHIE!

Meet Cinderheart, everyone!

This little lady has taken almost exactly a year to make! She's my very first plushie, and I'm SO pleased with how she turned out. I was inspired by the absolute unfettered ugliness of the official plushies-- they made me so upset that I spent the next 12 months making something better. Funny thing is, this Cinderheart plush was supposed to just be a warm-up for making Hollyleaf, but this one took so long that I kiiiinda don't wanna go through all that again. Plus Holly's long fur will make her a pain in the neck to sew, so that project'll have to take a rain check for the foreseeable future.

So a little backstory about Cinderheart's design! Some elements were taken from my absolute favorite AMV, namely the striped tail and the tan markings at her neck. However, I'm super proud of how the back stripes turned out, as they were my own design! I was planning on having them just go straight across her back, but she ended up looking like Bumblestripe. So I changed up the design so that when the two halves of the body came together, it would look like her stripes made heart shapes across her back! I also really like that it ends up looking like she has little pixie wings from the side.

She's made mostly of minky, with her eyes being made of felt. I used a LOT of satin stitch to make details like her eye sparkles, eyeliner, eyebrows, and paw pads. She's sewn entirely by hand, which is a BIG part of why she took so long!

The plushie pattern that I used was bought from this lovely etsy seller, which was wonderfully clear and easy to follow. I had to make a couple modifications to it to fit in her body and leg stripes, but it all turned out well!

This was a lot of fun to make, and I learned so much! Let me know what you think, or if you have any questions about how I made it!

[marleemutt]

heres a look into Kubo's suit by Stingraysuits ! 💙

for anyone considering commissioning stingray for a suit!

and because im mentally ill and i wanna talk about my fursuit

so first of all kubo is actually not complete yet! he still has feetpaws, arm sleeves, eyelids and a spiked collar coming soon! this mini partial was the most Spice could give me before Furrydelphia, and im so greatful that he could do all of this in the time he had!

this was the original sketch i gave to Spice for kubo! we struggled a bit with finding fur colors that matched his ref, particularly the second brown tone. we ended up choosing fur colors that were maybe not exactly like like the ref but still cohesive! and honestly, irl he looks more pink, but in pictures the colors are practically spot on to the ref!

(Kubo's knit beanie was not by Stingray btw, it was by this etsy seller)

Kubo is a "kemono" style suit, characterized by the plastic domes over his eyes! the eyes themselves are thick white plastic and painted mesh so i can see through them! the plastic doesnt hinder the vision of the suit but it does prevent air circulation through the eyes which can make the head especially hot, so its important to consider this when getting a kemono suit from anyone!

His paws are 5 fingered per my request which makes them way more accessible and easy to wear for me! theyre also lined with this adorable heart arrow pattern :*) Spice knows im a big lovecore fan so he included a lot of heart details with this suit, its so sweet ❤️

his tail is hugeee and very well made! its actually filled with foam peanuts instead of stuffing which allows for easy cleaning of the fur!

this was the goodie bag of extras he came with! pictured are a bandana with a magnetic clasp (that might be made by Spice i think?) a magnetic bowtie, heart kandi cuff, and two love core stingray plushies/keychain!

ill see if i can post more pics in a reblog since i hit my limit rn but this is practically everything to Kubo!! if anyone has any questions about his suit please lmk !! and i can't recommend commissioning Spice enough! 💙

[wxlfbites]

TheGreenWolf Review

As promised, this is my official review on the coyote tail I purchased from thegreenwolf (Lupa) on Etsy. Firstly, I'd like to rewrite my original review and then elaborate and add photos of the tails flaws so that others can see firsthand what I mean. Deeper review and photos below the cut.

In my honest opinion, thegreenwolf (Lupa) is way too overpriced for the quality of her work. The tail I bought came up to $46.44, making it the most expensive tail I've ever bought (and all my tails have come from Etsy shops) and it's the worst quality tail I have. There's a giant bald spot on one side that can't be covered, the sides of the tail are flattened in a way that makes it look like a sideways beaver tail no matter how much I fluff it and shake it out both rightside up and upside down, the hide where the loop (for tying or attaching a clip) is completely exposed a good inch or two and the loop itself is literally just stapled on. I paid $27 for Cash (my other coyote) and even though I was slightly disappointed in his size when he arrived, even he's better quality than this one. Obviously when it comes to taxidermy, there are things that are unavoidable, like the bald spot, but that also means you need to price accordingly to the flaws. I paid $65 for my entire gray fox pelt (paw pads and whiskers still intact) at a renaissance festival. If I'm paying almost $10 less than that for just a tail, it better be the best quality money can buy. So. In my opinion, she's price gouging the shit out of scrap quality taxidermy and only able to get away with it because of her claims of spiritualism.

After being called "petty and rude" and getting accused of doxxing Lupa (??????) for simply having a negative review and opinion, I just wanted to say a couple of things to kinda of clarify things?

In no way was my review meant to elicit hate or harassment toward Lupa. While I am aware of some controversial things regarding her views on nonhumanity, the intention of my review was simply to warn the nonhuman and vulture culture communities that this seller is, in my opinion, pricing items much higher than they are worth and doing so simply because she claims them to be more spiritually charged based on her spiritual practice and beliefs.

I have bought tails from Etsy shops since 2012, not only have I never encountered a taxidermy tail that wasn't altered (meaning: not sewn together with other tails to make them longer) for more than $25, I've never purchased a tail that I felt needed to be reviewed poorly; let along a tail that was purchased from a seller who very proudly and confidently talks about her decades of work with taxidermy and her skills in the field. I guess I just expected more from her based on the "experience" and "skill" she says she has. I've also personally started to work with taxidermy myself, though I'm not nearly as skilled as many in the field, and I really only end up working with bones after I let the animals I find naturally decompose. I did try my hand at preserving a rabbits foot, which I am happy with, but even so... I am far from "skilled". Even if I were, I wouldn't be selling my work for more than I believe it's worth. If I sold my rabbits foot right now, I'd only want $15 max (including shipping) for him which includes the leather wrap around the top, money spent on Borax, the overall time I spent working on him (severing the foot, cleaning, waiting for preservation, cleaning again, wrapping the leather) and then the shipping costs if I had to ship him. From what Lupa says in her listings, her tails are secondhand, to quote her:

"" The majority of what I work with is secondhand or reclaimed in some manner, whether its old fur and leather coats, [...]

meaning she doesn't even actually tan/preserve them, they come to her already tanned and she just adds the loop and spiritual ritual. If she were working with these tails from the death stage, doing her own taxidermy, then maybe I could understand the price. The fact that she's basically charging for a stapled on leather loop and a spiritual ritual that not everyone subscribes to is frankly asinine. I've seen taxidermists who tan their own hides charge way less than Lupa is. So yeah, I definitely think people are getting ripped off.

Now for the photos. (some of the flaws I talked about don't translate well through a camera so totally feel free to use your own discretion when it comes to whether or not you think I'm over exaggerating or just bullshitting. This post isn't meant to be an "evidence of". Explanations of what the photos are depicting will be given in the alt text.

And there ya have it, folks. My review on Lupa Greenwolf. Feel free to take it or leave it. I’m not here to tell you not to buy from her. I’m just here telling you that I personally don’t think her stuff is worth what she charges and that you can definitely find better. While I’m disappointed in what I spent my money on, I won’t be returning my tail simply because for one, I’d have to pay return shipping so I’d still be wasting money even if I got a refund, and secondly, in the grand scheme of things, spiritually speaking, the way a tail looks is unimportant to me. None of the flaws I’ve mentioned make me love or respect the tail as a once living being any less. It’s just the principle of price gouging and inflated ego’s that I have an issue with.

[sammyspammyspacy]

I forgot to share this as soon as it came in! I bought this at the beginning of February from an Etsy seller and couldn't be happier with it. You know me, the color blue is just one of my happy colors alongside the colors white and yellow that signifies the sky, clouds, stars, and moon. I have an outfit that I bought also to go with this back in February but it hasn't shipped yet, so hopefully, when it does, I can start sharing photos soon!🥳✨️🎉💙

☁️❤️🧡💛💚💙💜☁️

✨️

✨️

✨️

Credits: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1266350761/blue-and-white-puppy-ear-and-tail-and

Photo edits done by me!~🌟

[pinky-the-elephant-room]

Eldritch Love

▣ AN: This is a bit of an unique fic I wrote inspired by my Dungeons and Dragons group where the wonderful @drabbles-blurbs-words who is my Dungeon Master, made it so that my patron is All Might. And so I wrote a reader fic with my DnD character meeting her patron for the first time who she is obsessed with. The pic above is my actual D20 one of my friend who is also in the group bought for me. Unfortunately, the Etsy seller doesn't seem to sell it anymore otherwise I would have linked it.

▣ Warnings: God All Might x Warlock High Elf Fem Reader. Contains explicit sex, vaginal fingering, references to DnD, and DnD dice. Read at your own discretion.

▣ References:

A warlock is a magic-using class that makes a pact with their god and obtains their power in DnD

A D20 is a type of dice used frequently in DnD (like the picture above)

A tiefling is a type of playable race in DnD. They have horns and tails and usually are sort of outcasts? Depending on the story.

▣  ▣ ▣  ▣

You were standing on a plain that was bright as if the sun itself was upon you. There was nothing nearby. Not even any of your companions that you have traveled with. Not a single breeze nor sound. It was eerily quiet. You heard the sound of your own breathing magnified just by the fact there was nothing else. 

You don’t see any type of vegetation or greenery. You were certain you had fallen asleep in a forest making your journey to the next town. You looked down at your hand, the unfamiliar black spider symbol etched at the beginning of your journey now replaced with an M. 

His name. He was branding you. You should be angry. You’re the type of person who made everyone aware of yourself and exactly who you are. No one owned you. No one can ever tell you what to do. You followed your whims and nothing else.

Yet, the mark doesn’t make you angry. It turned to gold as if the mark was imbued with his magic and came alive. The mark makes you proud. He acknowledged you. He awarded your effort with his regard.

You left your home of Greyhawk where all the other high elves resided in search of answers. You hadn’t known what you were getting into when you had taken his patronage. An old god. A god that no one has ever heard of. You, an accomplished scholar, were frankly appalled that the esteemed Greyhawk tutelage had nothing on him — the Great Old One: All Might. 

You weren’t sure at first what he wanted from you. So you started gathering followers in his name. Because that was what gods wanted, right? Especially those who were lost to time itself (how wrong you were). But as you went deeper down the warlock hole. You found yourself having curious dreams and visions kind of like the one you’re having now.

He showed himself to you. Probably the first of his followers in millennia. He was magnificent. It was no secret to anyone who knew you. You were in love with your God and patron of magic. You had begun a fruitless journey in his name. You were obsessed. But seeing him in the flesh. In front of your very eyes. It was the recognition you needed.

His image was awe-inspiring and the kind of motivation you wanted on your nights alone.

“Did you enjoy my present, little one?” his voice mused from behind you.

The mark on your wrist tingled and a shudder of pleasure rushed through you.

Startled, you were about to turn around and face him when he grabbed your hips to stay.

“What’s the rush? Relax,” he breathed as if his voice traveled along with the wind.

You did so, knowing there was nothing to worry about. He won’t hurt you. 

“Where are we?”

“You’re safe. Any other information is unneeded.”

You were about to reply but stopped short when you felt a fit arm wrap around your waist and pull you close. 

Your back felt warm as if someone had just shot a firebolt spell to your back and you seem to just melt against the heat source. 

He exhaled shakingly and you felt the rumble of his chest. He was laughing in a way that sounded like he hadn’t in years. As if he was unused to chuckling and he was learning how to do so all over again. 

“Why did you ask me to stop recruiting people for your worship?”

“I don't need anyone else. Just you. You amuse me.”  The last bit was followed by a squeeze to your hips and his hands crept down to your behind instead.

You don’t stop him as his hand lingered from your bottom to the front of your black robes. The good thing about wearing mage robes was the easy accessibility. Many of your peers back in Greyhawk would have gossip to share about a quick romp against the books in the library. But you bet a D20 that none of them had fucked in a vision.

He parted your robes and fondled your clothed center for a second before peeling your underwear downwards with his thumb and rubbed his fingers back and forth along your slit. He hadn’t inserted anything just yet but you felt anticipation grow from wanting his thick fingers inside you. 

You gasped when you felt his enormous palm cup your sex before parting the lips with his pointer finger and thumb. You felt him test your wetness with his fingers and perhaps he didn’t think you were wet enough as he instead decided to press your nub in gentle circles.

“What is it about me exactly that amuses you?” you blurted out.

His thumb stilled its torturous pace but eventually, he continued.

“I’ve never seen someone of your kind be so lively.”

You know what he meant. High elves were snooty, rarely interacting with the outside world. Secluded and only concerned with those they considered their own. But you had the capacity to care. Even of those who weren’t like you. You could be snooty, you tried to be like that amongst the strangers that you were straddled with at first. But day by day those friends of yours had chipped away at all the defenses that you propped up. Now you consider a dwarf, a human, and even a tiefling to be your friends. 

You licked your lips, “Is that a bad thing?”

“No, it makes me want you even more. Even when I could walk amongst you. None of your kind would willingly approach. But you, you willful little thing.” As if to punish you he inserted a finger inside of you roughly.

“In all my waiting I didn’t think.”  You heard a groan behind you and felt his moist lips on your neck.

You let out a keen gasp when he started to roughly thrust his finger in and out. Slowly yet aggressive as if he didn’t want to part from you but wanted to leave a mark behind.

You heard wet sounds as his finger rammed inside your cunt, amplified by the silence surrounding you – nothing except the harsh breathing between the two of you to break it up.

His unoccupied hand dug into your hip as he pressed up against you. You bit your lip, feeling the hardness press against you. You were sort of glad that this was all a dream, you couldn’t imagine fighting off anothics and dragons while being so sore.

Your neediness knew no bounds as you stood on your toes, trying to angle for something impatiently. You pushed yourself back as he finally added another finger and they began to work together in tandem. 

You shook with impatience, “I beg, please!”

“You’re quite good at that, aren’t you? Always calling and asking me for help.” His voice held none of the humor it had earlier. In fact, he sounded just as wrecked as you were. 

“Cum then, Y/N. Let me hear you scream.”

He placed his thumb back on your clit and his two fingers expertly prodded and rubbed as if he could read your mind exactly to know what you needed. It was embarrassing how quickly you buckled to the pleasure and if it wasn’t for his other hand steadying you, you would have toppled over in your pleasure. Just like he wanted, you let out a crescendo of loud moans; unable to help yourself. 

When the shudders finally subsided that was when he finally withdrew his soaked fingers. You felt a shiver go through your body and then it became taut as he pulled your head back by your hair. 

You stared at him as his heated gaze dissected your wrecked image and then he smirked. Not breaking eye contact he noisily slurped those two same soaked fingers into his mouth. 

“You taste like you’re mine,” he murmured before kissing you. 

As soon as his lips made contact with yours, the vision started breaking. The plain started peeling away and All Might appeared farther and farther away as if he never existed. If it wasn’t for his presence imbued in your magic, you would have thought you imagined it all. Finally, you jolted and you saw chaos surrounding you as your companions battled in the same castle you were in before your impromptu vision.

“Y/N, do something!” a small red-headed dwarf called out.

You immediately called upon your magic and you felt his presence permeate the air as his golden grimoire materialized.   “Eldritch blast!” you gritted out. Dark green eldritch energy swirled round and round until finally, it became compact into a ball. You saw golden sparks whirling around in the same energy ball and seemingly mixed into the energy. Finally, you released the emerald with golden streaks of energy towards the doppelganger.  The doppelganger let out an inhuman screech as it surrendered to the eldritch energy and stumbled back, hurt.

[poisonarium]

Day 1-2: Light-weight vivarium build

The basic summary: Standard 29g tank, flipped vertically. I will use a conversion kit to put a door on the side of it. False bottom, light substrate, and light background. Hopefully bioactive. This will be a home for my adult crested gecko, Sunny. If you’re completely unfamiliar with how I tend to build vivariums, here’s a more detailed post from a different build.

Day 1

I had a weekend fully available for a change, so I built the false bottom yesterday and started on the background today. Here’s how it’s been going-

1.) Got some crappy, flimsy “““egg crate”““ for cheap. It is not remotely similar to the rigid stuff that gets used in fluorescent light fixtures, so I’m going to need to reinforce it quite a lot. First, I zip-tied several pieces of it together in the centers. Zip-tie ... ties... are intentionally on the underside of the material, because those little ‘ties’ are really sharp after  you cut them. This would be particularly important to do if you had a burrowing animal.

2.) More zip-tying, this time in the form of plastic craft mesh going on the top side of the egg crate to add rigidity. Flipped upside down, here’s what it looks like before I cut the tails off the ties.

3.) Silicone’d risers to the bottom of the tank. These are 2″ pieces of plastic tubing, usually used in plumbing. They were pre-sized, so I didn’t need to cut them or anything. Since I’m not putting a whole filtered water feature in this tank, and just using the false bottom for drainage, I can keep it relatively shallow (especially since stuff evaporates quickly in my climate). You really don’t want a lot of standing water anyway- bad stuff grows in that when you don’t filter it- so there’s no point in making it super deep in my use case. 2″ should be fine.

4.) Flipped the egg-crate false bottom upright, set it on top of the risers, and then put window mesh on top of it. This is for two reasons- first, because my false bottom isn’t completely flush with the walls of my aquarium, this will keep stuff from falling through the gap around it. Secondly, I was looking at the holes on the craft mesh, and thought they looked a little big, considering I intend to have isopods breeding in there. If the little baby isopods fell through, they would just die down there. So with the window mesh and craft mesh together, this should prevent that (I hope). Then I siliconed the edges of the window mesh down on to the glass so that it couldn’t be accidentally pulled up.

Day 2

5.) I let the false bottom’s silicone dry overnight, and then I took the vivarium out in to the garage this morning to resume working on it. Here it is flipped on to its side so that I can work on the background, showing how the false bottom came together. Everything stays in place even when the tank is upside-down, which is perfect. It’s very light, but perfectly sturdy at this point. My gecko barely weighs anything anyway, and I don’t plan on putting anything heavy on top of it regardless.

6.) I only have one can of spray foam right now, and obviously I don’t want to go out shopping since it’s a pandemic out there, so I asked everyone I knew to give me any packing foam that they got from deliveries over the last few weeks. Always better to reuse existing materials, anyway. Using this, combined with a huge package of cork bark that I got off an Etsy seller, I can basically arrange everything like Tetris pieces on to the background, silicone them down, and then just use the spray foam to fill in any large gaps. I didn’t remember to take any pictures of everything laid out, though. I broke up the foam in to pieces of varying sizes and shapes so that there will be varying depths and cracks and such in the background. Helps it look more natural once it’s done.

7.) Anyway, after I got the layout in mind, I then removed everything and started to work on the edges first. The edges will be the hardest to get looking right and to get fully sealed, and I prefer to always get the hard stuff done first when I’m working on something. Here’s the bottom edge- I started there, then worked my way around clockwise. I had to be very careful here, because I can’t easily see the edges as I’m working on them due to all the weird angles. I also know if I can see an unfinished edge or something once it’s done, it’ll drive me nuts. The edges happen to be the closest part to the viewer’s eye, too, so it’s extra important to do it right.

8.) Here it is with the image flipped at about the angle I’ll be viewing it from once it’s done. (The tank itself is still laying on its back. I don’t want all that coconut coir and dirt and such falling in to my false bottom.) I accidentally got some silicone on the glass despite taping it, but that’s fine, because I can just scrape it away with a razor blade later. I packed the edges as well as I could with the materials I had on hand, laying the silicone first and then pressing moss and coconut fiber in to it. Now it’s drying; once it’s dried, I’ll use a shop vac to get all the loose materials out and reuse them later as I continue. Next step will be to fill in the center with bark, foam pieces, and some plastic plant pots that I’ll be recessing in to the background.

Contents

Day 1-2: Steps 1-8 (here)

Day 3: Steps 9-10

Days ???: Steps 11-15

[duskkodesh]

Hey! My second ordered creature came in so again doing a review and tagging it ‘art doll’ in case you followed me because I rant over a certain fictional vampire. 

So this little guy is a GaiToys imp, the seller/artist is on Etsy and I highly recommend! The only reason I can’t leave a review there is because of mail issue. P.S. kiddos. If you order ANYTHING from Russia right now buy EMS shipping. He was lost in transit for two months, during which I was refunded for him. Then he arrived about ten days ago, no tracking update, customs opened and searched the box (Don’t worry, I PMed the artist and re-paid her). Seriously. EMS shipping is a thing I should have bought but I purchased him April 8th and the world had only slightly gone to heck so I was cocky. The artist was a sweetheart through all the issues as well, fantastic service, never failed to answer a PM. 

So anyways Imp here is a wireframe doll with a firmly packed soff body. The head is more of a faceplate. The limbs are bendable and the ears are connected through on wire and can be positioned. He balances well, made extra stable by a firm floofy tail. 

His hands, face, and feet are hand sculpted and airbrushed nicely. He’s also a good size at 10 inches give or take a bit for fluff and how his legs are bent. This is him next to a 20oz soda bottle. 

It doesn’t look even but it helps scale. He has about an inch of height over the bottle. The hand feel of him is lovely! The sculpting is great!He was definitely made with care and GaiToys selection is just amazing for the price, she even does customs, go check her out.

[kittyskuriosities]

Ordering the Top Cat Tails Surprise Kitten Set

Although it’s a mystery set, there are a few options for customization. I thought this was very cool because buying mystery items always comes with the risk of wasted money on a product that doesn’t fit you. The customization this product offers helps to minimize, if not completely eradicate, that risk. The downside is that I am so indecisive!

For a few extra dollars, you can add a tail tip. I love tipped tails!

You also have two different ear styles to choose from. There is no information showing or describing the difference between Ear Style A and Ear Style B, but from looking at other products I found that Style B is fluffier. I decided to go with A even though I usually prefer longer fur because it looked more realistic to me in the images.

You can choose from Natural, Pastel, and Bright styles. Again, there is no picture or description to show the difference between the three styles, but I feel this one is pretty self explanatory. The shop does have two fur charts if you’d like to check out their collection. One chart shows their Realistic Faux Fur and the other shows off their Pastels and Bright options. Note that the mystery set will come in long pile luxury fur, regardless of your style selection, according to the product description. I chose the Pastel style.

Purchasers are encouraged to let the shop know if there are colors you do NOT want your set to include within the purchase comment. I was a little bratty and offered a list of my favorite colors, because it’s easier for me to describe things I like versus things I don’t.

You can choose black or silver for your headband color in the purchase comment. If you do not specify, they will choose for you. I let mine be a surprise.

There are additional add ons you can request, including a princess chain, tail squeaker, bows, and studs. Some have a product listing that you purchase in addition to the product, while others require you to ask them directly in the purchase comment. It is not clear if those cost extra, but I tend to assume so. I did not request any add ons with my purchase.

Other features this product advertises include:

Rubber ends on the metal headbands, to prevent the headband from digging in. I’m always skeptical of this, so we’ll see how well it works!

Tails are lightly stuffed, for extra movement.

Discreet packaging. Items are in a waterproof bag, inside a box.

Product will be tracked and require a signature, for added security and peace of mind.

Let’s go! I am super stoked!

Shipping

The product is labeled as ready to ship in 1 to 2 weeks from the UK. The charge was $18.30, which I was not thrilled about. I don’t blame the seller for that though. International shipping is always rough.

My product shipped exactly on the 2 week mark. I received it 9 days later, which was earlier than I expected! Though tracking and signing were advertised, the “Track Package” button that usually pops up on my Etsy orders never appeared, and I was not required to sign. Still, I was very pleased by the quick arrival!

Unboxing

Okay. I should have done a video of this, but I was too excited. The package arrived in a plain box labeled for customs as “costume accessories”. There was a tracking label, so I assume tracking information could have been provided if I had contacted the seller directly, but it honestly wasn’t that important to me.

Inside the box was perfect! The ears and tail were inside of a pastel pink plastic bag, and then each was further wrapped in clear plastic with little white polka dots. It looked very professional! The bottom of the box was lined in orange tissue paper. In addition to my items, the box contained my order receipt, a business card, a magnet business card, a small thank you card with a handwritten message, some stickers, a notice of various product warnings (small parts, keep away from fire, etc), and a mini goody bag with candy, a few hair accessories, and some other tiny shiny things.

Some of their adorable graphics were stretched or squashed, so they could potentially benefit from working with a graphic designer, but overall I was impressed and delighted by the product packaging.

The Product

The set I received is pastel purple and blue and I freaking love it. It’s perfect!

The ears are wired onto a silver metal headband with removal rubber tips. The tips keep the metal from digging in, but the headband itself is on the small side and may cause discomfort long term if you’re sensitive to that (I am). The ears can be bent and posed and they are able to slide up and down on the headband. Despite this, they stay firmly in place. They do not feel loose or fragile. There are a few stitching imperfections and rough areas, but they aren’t easily noticed, especially when you’re wearing them. They look fantastic, and are easily my new favorite ears.

The tail is a little stiffer than I was expecting based on the description, but the fur is incredibly soft and luxurious. I’m pretty sure it’s the softest tail I own. It came with a sewn in loop and matching blue ribbon as well as a large safety pin. The loop is not elastic, so I can’t fit it onto the belt I usually wear, but that’s okay. I can tie it on with the ribbon (and make a big dramatic bow!), or loop it onto my other belt. The safety pin has a red end, so I probably won’t use it, but I like that it came with the option. The transition between the purple fur and the blue tip is flawless.

Ultimately, the set looks and feels great. It arrived quickly and was packaged well. The items were everything I was led to expect from the product page, and I have a new favorite kitten set! Thanks a bunch, Top Cat Tails!

To get one of your products reviewed on our site, click here.

The full image set is available exclusively at AyliKatt.Com.

[handmadehazefromtheheart]

(The following can also be read on our WIP website here.)

I’ve opened requests since our last big update. That page is mainly dedicated to recreating embroidery art that I’ve made in the past. I don’t make them specifically for selling, with some exception, so you’ll have to talk to me directly if you want one. The reason I put it up in the first place was actually because a friend I met while visiting my girlfriend saw this little mouse and simply had to have one of her own.

She provided our first testimonial!

I also joined The Artisans Cooperative on Discord, a co-op that seeks to “create a co-op alternative to Etsy: a better handmade shopping experience online.” I was recently included on their blog in a listical for pet-loving holiday shoppers this year, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 😊

Oh yeah, speaking of, three of the five sales we’ve made (or four of the six, if you’re counting items and not customers) were from this next listing.

More mice! These were inspired by the mouse embroidery, and then I gave one to our cats and someone suggested I put catnip in them. One person commissioned me a pink one for decoration, but according to our two customers who got the catnip ones, they are also very effective cat toys.

(Can you see the mouse under all that fur?)

Important to mention is that, due to getting these sales, I’ve been able to become a verified seller member of the @indiesellersguild! 🎉 I’m attending meetings and everything. You can now find me in their (our!) directory with a cozy little shop description, and a new logo aesthetic I’m very happy with.

I’ve been helping to catch up with the backlog of membership applications, and just recently opted to create some ISG merch to sell in my own shop, and then donate the profits to the guild itself. The way that works is, I get the usual labor value, and then I add another 10% (the amount of my choosing) to return to ISG funds.

Oh, oh, and I’ve started making pride merch. Yes, finally, the beginning of it all!

The trans* flag is only three colors, so it’s a good one to start with. Do you like the white being a heart? 💗💙🤍💙💗

...

Is there anything else I should add..? My goal of making back the money for my name change filing has reached 36%. I’ve found a market nearby that I may be able to apply to as a vendor; there’s a list of projects I need to do before I can commit to that. I got the latest COVID booster, so I’m protected against omicron now. I learned how to play Picross.

Yeah… it’s been a lot. It’s been a long two months. I’ve had a lot of ups and a lot of downs.

I’m doing everything I can right now to get myself back to my partner in stable condition. This? Handmade Hearts, the ISG, the Coop, the increased social media presence? That is everything I can do right now. It’s been a lot to accept and acknowledge, to be able to say, “I’m disabled, and I should let people know that my crafts are all I feel capable of. I should talk about it. I should ask for help.”

I’m proud of myself for how much I’ve accomplished, and if you’re reading this, then I’m grateful to you for being here and seeing me.

I’d like to close this out with a shout-out to another small business, Bibi Pins, or BibiCosplays on Twitter, because the compression wrist braces I bought from them have made writing this out not terrible for my wrists. Very happy to have found them. Support small and local businesses. Support disabled artists.

It's been two months...

It’s been two months since I came back to the USA after the year I spent with my partner in Germany. I very much enjoy my new workspace, and I’ve had the chance to get quite a bit done since then. I’ve made my first (and second, and third, and fourth, and fifth!) sale. I got a haircut! I’ve had an eye exam recently, which I certainly needed, and am set to have a new pair of glasses soon. I think I’ll change my Ko-Fi avatar to match my subsequent new face, and maybe I’ll be holding up a more recent craft.

I do miss her, though.

(The rest of this blog post will be in the next reblog because it includes links. The tags are relevant to the whole of it, I promise!)

[worldclasshooker]

I was so excited to finally have appropriate weather for wearing my favorite hand knit slouch hat today!!! But warning: I'm about to get a little salty. You know, I like to showcase my handknit items on social media, and share my finished work with friends but I NEVER, single out people to push any of my products on them. I let interested potential customers come to me and plenty do with their requests and inquiries because hand made things ARE actually a growing trend that I hope sticks around for quite some time. Thank heavens there are still people out there who appreciate the labor of love and fine hand Knits. But still...about once per year, THIS happens: I'm standing in line at the checkout and the cashier says, "OMG I love your hat!" When this happens, I respond humbly with "thank you." To which she replies, "Where did you get it?" I continue to reserve my entrepreneurial demeanor. "Why, I made it myself. 😊" The cashier, then states "You should sell those online!" followed my answer, "I do actually." Her: "How much do you charge?" (Mind you, this is an extra large, super slouch hand knit in low-pilling quality fiber.) I answered, "These ones usually go for around $40." "Oh, never mind hahahahahaha. I'll buy mine on wish.com You should check it out. Wish.com". I smiled. I wanted to slap her in her face for being so rude. Do people not think before they speak? Because she kept pushing Wish.com on me, I chose to give her my one and only experience with the website which heavily advertises regularly around Christmas time on Facebook, selling cheaply made products from overseas that are probably manufactured through child labor and extortion. I once ordered a coat from there. Came to me with the belt missing, a giant hole in the lining and was so disappointingly cheap and thin, I sent that shit right back and never returned with my business. But she claimed, "oh I've only ever had good luck with the site!" Well good for you honey. You go buy your machine-made hat for $5 on Wish.com. Yo go buy your machine-knit mermaid tail blanket for $12. These websites constantly take business away from hand crocheters and knitters after WE were the original producers of these awesome products. Like I mentioned. I'm so happy that there are still people out there who admire and appreciate high end handmade products. When you support a hand knitter or hand crocheter, often times you are directly putting food on families' tables and diapers on their kids asses. You are giving some career-minded, educated woman or man a sense of purpose and productivity when they chose to leave their careers to stay home and raise their children. You are also receiving something that hours, days, and often weeks of hand-labored, around the clock, night and day work went into. And as wth many cases...sometimes something truly unique, one-of-a-kind, and totally custom. Now...let's break down the hand-knitter's worth: As in the case of my $40 slouchy beanie: Approximately 2 skeins of high quality yarn went into it, costing me roughly $12 in materials. My knitting needles are $20, but seeing as that's a one-time investment, let's exclude those. As these are oversized hats for the style, hand-knitting one of these takes me around 8 hours of work which is often split over 2 days to work on other projects, take care of my kid, clean house, ship orders out and post products to my online store and market them. $40-$12 (materials) = $28 Then there are Etsy seller fees and ad placement. But let's not include those for the moment. Let's just take $28/8 hrs work. My cut for labor BEFORE Etsy fees is $3.50 an hour. And ONLY when I actually SELL an item. That woman makes triple what I do to be checking at the check stand. To top things off, she was loaded with jewelry and I wouldn't doubt that she wouldn't hesitate to unload over $100 at the mall on a designer hand bag that was put together by children in Indonesia for a fraction of the cost. I'm so tired of having this argument and having to break down for people the worth of a laborer here in the US. We are so used to cheap and immediate and don't wait or pay extra for something that a whole lot of love and dedication and personal investment went into. We would rather turn a blind eye to child labor in other countries from where we import daily so that we can get something cheap whilst giving our American dollars to the budding economies of the likes of China, Tawain, Japan, Indonesia, etc. But we don't complain until it's OUR job on the line due to outsourcing. It's not the price of things that need to change. It's the general American attitude. We need to start supporting small business owners and invest in our OWN economy. Creating jobs doesn't start with the president or government spending. It starts with OUR conscious attitude.

[kaijudyke]

i got some accessories in the mail the other day that i'd ordered on etsy, and since they were from russia i remarked to mom when i opened it that it was strange to know that in the place this came from it would be illegal for me to openly be myself. so i opened the package and tried my new stuff on, and there was this ring in the shape of a glittery shooting star with a tricolored tail, and my mom said "there are a lot of rainbow colors, is this person... gay...?" and anyway my mom asking me if this etsy seller is gay because their jewelry has multiple colors on it is probably one of the funniest things that's ever happened to me

[ambitiouslyamanda-blog]

20 THINGS TO SELL FOR SOME QUICK CASH — 05.19.2017

As Spring is on it’s tail end, it’s finally time to do some Spring cleaning; cleaning the gutters, throwing out things you don’t need, and tending to the garden — but instead of the usual ritual of throwing things to the side of the road, let’s try to sell them for some extra, easy cash. Not only will this declutter your place, but also make you some good money to save or spend on something you’ve always wanted. Not sure what to sell? Read on for a list of 20 Things to Sell for Some Quick Cash…

1.       Last year’s textbooks

Have textbooks you no longer need for the present school year? Don’t let those suckers collect dust — sell them to younger students in your program for some quick, easy money. Join textbook selling groups on Facebook, advertise on Kijiji or Craigslist, or post on your social media pages to get the job done.

2.       Scrap materials.

In my post, Fifteen Ways To Make Money This Summer Without a Part Time Job, I stated that I had made $50 selling old bike frames and a skateboard. People everywhere are looking for scrap materials to make their own items, whether it’s bike tires or sheets of metal. Advertise your junk on Kijiji before you throw it out and let the surprise encompass you when you have some offers on your trash.

3.       Formal wear, like suits and prom dresses.

Let’s be honest — are you ever going to wear your prom dress again? If the answer was no, feel free to list it in your local buy and sell groups to get some easy cash.

4.       Video games.

Have a bunch of PS1 games you’re never going to play? Sell them. Gamers everywhere are looking for games to buy for cheap, new or old; so if you have something you haven’t played in a while, get over your nostalgia and sell it.

5.       Video game systems.

Speaking of video games, the consoles in your basement collecting dust aren’t doing much for you either. Some people shell out big cash for old systems like the NES and certain editions of the N64, so if you’re not playing them, get rid of them.

6.       Sporting goods.

If you have lightly used sporting goods that haven’t been touched in ages, list them on Kijiji for some decent cash.

7.       Vintage clothing.

Go thrifting and find some good name brands like Levis, Wrangler, Gucci, etc — and sell those items on Depop for a profit. Just make sure you know how to ship them out without getting shilled for your money.

8.       DVDs, CDs, Records, Cassettes, and VHS tapes

Collectors are everywhere, and some are scrambling to find certain CDs, VHS tapes, or records to complete their collections. Advertise these items in a collection for a quick, straightforward way to get rid of all your unused medias — or list one by one to make a bigger profit. If you have old Disney VHS tapes, search them online — some of them are worth a fortune. Always do your research!

9.       Handmade items.

If you have a penchant for creating things, why not turn your hobby into profit? Selling at local farmer’s markets, on Etsy, or local buy and sell groups can garner you a pretty penny from interested customers. Make jewellery, clothing, cool computer hard drives — whatever! Someone will probably love what you’re selling.

10.   Old computers or computer materials.

Lots of people are now into making their own motherboards by using different drives and materials than what their original computers came with. Some people are even working from the ground up and making computers from scratch! List these products on Craigslist to reach lots of people and allow the money to pour in for something you weren’t going to use anyway.

11.   Comic books!

Another collectors item, comic books are a popular sell on local sites like LetGo and Kijiji. Go through your old collection and sell the most valuable issues for some quick coin.

12.   Musical instruments.

Have a guitar in the corner of your room just gathering dust? Sell it. If you haven’t learned it after all this time, you’re probably not going to pick it up again, so you might as well sell it to someone who will actually use it.

13.   Cars or car related things.

Have a bunch of spare tires? Or an old hunk of junk car you’re never going to fix or drive again? Sell these items for a reasonable price and I’m sure someone will be more than happy to take it off your hands.

14.   Old electronics, like cell phones, DVD players, and stereos.

People are often enamoured with the past — especially past technology — so don’t be afraid to list these items in fear of no one buying them. Someone will take interest.

15.   Baby stuff, like clothing, strollers, and toys.

I don’t think any parent wants to pay full price for a shirt their kid is going to grow out of in a month — so don’t be wary of putting lightly used baby items online! Strollers, toys, car seats, shoes, and bottles can all sell for a decent price, garnering some extra cash in your pocket.

16.   Furniture.

If you’ve recently purchased a new couch or dining room table, sell the old one! If they’re in good condition, I’ve noticed these are the kind of things that sell quickly online and for fantastic prices. You can also thrift furniture pieces for cheap and sell them for a higher profit, if you don’t have any of your own furniture to spare.

17.   Power tools or building equipment.

Tools like hammers, saws, and drills are also big sellers on Kijiji and Craigslist. If you’re not in need of these items or have extras, sell them and use the money you make for things you’ll will use instead.

18.   Books.

Have books you’ve read a million times or some you’ll never read again? Sell them in a yard sale or online for some quick cash. Children’s books sell especially well.

19.   Sell your clothes!

Before you run off and donate them to your local thrift store, you can always try to sell them on apps like LetGo, Depop, and Etsy. What once was your favorite shirt may just be someone’s dream tee — so at least try to sell your clothes before running off to the Salvation Army to get rid of them.

20.   Glassware, dishes, picture frames, and other household things.

If you’re like my mom and have way too many dishes, sell them! The same goes for picture frames, vases, pots, pans, and glasses.

Excited to start making money this summer? Let me know down below what you’re planning on selling in the comments, and as always, thank you for reading.

Ambitiously,

Amanda

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[remukan]

The Man-Witch, the Modern and the Death of a Microwave

“Eye of toad, heart of newt, now stir the mixture like a brute. The eyelashes of a goat, the tail feathers of a pigeon, gather the dust from an old relic, put just a pinch in. Now that you’ve come to toil, heat the milk of a llama, and bring it to a boil.”

“A BOIL?! I THOUGHT THIS WAS AN INSTANT POTION BOOK! BOILING IS CERTAINLY NOT INSTANT,” he yelled, insulting the book as if it would listen to his scolding. Alas, it just sat there and looked at him dumbly, ignoring the scathing comments he muttered under his breath as he turned his back and grabbed the carton of llama’s milk from the fridge. He started to head over to the oven to turn it on, but stopped mid step, eyes caught on the angrily glaring time of the microwave. The microwave. Nabbing a coffee mug from the shelf, he poured the milk into the cup, topping it up to the brim. He carefully carried it over, hands twitching just enough for it to start to leak down the sides of the black, old mug that’d seen it’s fair share of weird substances. Setting it carefully in the microwave, he closed the door and turned the timer to five minutes. It started with a blugghp and began heating up the milk, angrily groaning as it turned the cup counterclockwise to even out the heat distribution.

“Five minutes should pretty much bring it to a boil, right?”

As suspicious popping noises started erupting from the ‘boiling’ llama milk, the male turned and hopped over to the book again, scanning the page for any further instructions on his concoction. He hadn’t made this one before, and thought it’d be a nice addition to his store full of acne-ridding, confidence-boosting, eye-colour-changing elixirs. He actually had gotten a few requests for a voice altering potion on his etsy store and was short on cash so he couldn’t really turn the money away. It had, however, been difficult to find a book that had this potion in it, without it being expensive or far too high a level for him to do. Luckily for him, there was websites devoted to this and he found the book, trading the seller his oldest elderberry wine for it. Hopefully it was worth it, he thought, as his eyes flickered to the last line of the page.

“Let it sit for three days before consuming. Lasts up to six months. Store in a cool, dry pla-.”

Just as he muttered the last word under his breath, BOOM! Glass shattered as a horrific screaming noise tore through the air and the roar of fire burst to life. Amber optics widened as the man turned around slowly, eyes immediately caught on the, now doorless, burning microwave. He stood there for a second, dazed as the flames licked the ceramic edges of the battered old mug, which was, miraculously, still standing. Snapping back to the danger before him, he scuttled over to the fiery gates of hell, which once was a kitchen appliance, and immediately felt frost in his fingertips. Muttering a few words hurriedly under his breath, the ice reached out to the microwave and smothered the flames in a frosty blue magic. As the ice crackled, snuffing out the flames’ growl, he let out a long winded sigh of relief and peeked in to see the remains of his llama milk. It quietly bubbled, thick, off-white liquid parting slowly as air fought for release from the sticky, chunky milk.

“Well that’s as boiled as it’s going to get,” he said with a sense of accomplishment. He knew his microwave was broken and he was going to have to pay in both money and time to get it fixed, but his plan had still worked right?

Stepping over the shattered microwave door, he grabbed a pair of oven mitts, which were pink and covered in cupcakes, and picked up the boiling mug of milk, careful not to spill it. Teetering back over to the makeshift cauldron he had, he dumped the milk into the vat and set the empty mug down beside it, stirring the mixture with a long wooden spoon. This makeshift cauldron he had built was quite simply a big metal bucket, set into a metal rack above a gas fire pit. Currently the fire was out, but the remote to turn it on was somewhere…

After the mixture turned a satisfying milky yellow colour, he lifted the cauldron by the wire handle and dragged it into the kitchen where it crunched the shards of microwave door beneath it. He grabbed five large plastic Tupperware containers from the dishwasher and set them on the ground, lifting the heavy metal bucket with two hands as he carefully poured it’s contents into each. It was very much akin to pouring cake batter, the slow, viscous liquid inching out and into each container with no sense of urgency. Despite taking painstakingly long, he had filled all five vessels and popped the plastic lids on top, putting a piece of masking tape on each that explained the contents within it. Then, he shoved all five in the fridge, pushing aside other containers, some a sickly green, others a vibrant blue; it was incredibly full and couldn’t possibly fit much more than what was already crammed inside of it.

Shutting the fridge door he ignored both the dirty cauldron and the broken glass on the floor as he lept over the dangers of slicing his feet and fell onto his soggy brown sofa. Nabbing his phone, he opened up his online bank account and checked its contents. With the flashing signs of negative dollars, he quickly shut the app off and moving onto his browser. He needed to find a real job. Stat. He typed ‘Jobs for man-witches in my area’ and hit search, only praying-to a god that didn’t exist-that something would come up. As it loaded slowly, the tiny icon spinning to indicate it was thinking, he narrowed his golden eyes, his confidence in the answers already failing. Suddenly it changed screens, going from black to a big old empty, white page, labelled search results.

Of course, nothing.

Just as the man fell back into his old couch, a knock at the door rang through his apartment, startling him out of his self-pitying session. His mind flickered to all the potential bad outcomes that might happen if he opened that door, but this was counteracted by his logical brain seizing control and assuring him it was probably just the landlord. Still, that outcome was probably no better than the others he’d thought up.

The knock came again, this time more urgent and impatient. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” he called out to the invisible knocker, flexing his fingers instinctively at the thought of some stranger in his house. At least high school taught him self-defensive spells or else he’d be a pretty useless witch. His feet scuffed the dirty wooden floor as he tentatively made his way over to the door, filled with regret that he hadn’t gone to college. Had he gone maybe he wouldn’t be struggling to get by each month, and he wouldn’t be afraid to open his door.

And maybe he would know how to make llama milk boil instantly.

Cracking the flimsy wooden door open just enough for his large copper eyes to peek through, he evaluated the strangers who’d been banging on his door. They were… strange, that much was for sure. Four very pirate-esque men, along with two women, stood outside his door, standing a good five inches above his meek, fragile frame. Pushing large, clear rimmed glasses closer to his eyes, a self conscious tick, he tried to stand up a bit straighter, daring to stare the big, rough, tough looking strangers in the eyes. His stomach churned with anxiety, if only that potion had have been made sooner; he could’ve really used a loud, confident voice right about now.  

“A-a-ah yes hello. What...what is it you need?” he said, trying-and failing-to make his voice sound intimidating.

The pirates shuffled, all seemingly taken aback by his pitiful appearance. One of the women stepped forward, her wooden leg scratching along the floor with an irritating ripping noise. “We’re looking for someone to help us on our… travels. Your neighbour said you could help us,” she said, voice clearly impatient with the rest of her uneasy looking party.

His mind flashed to the picture of a tall, pale, willowy vampire he knew to be his neighbour, Elliott. They hadn’t talked much, but did make large orders of rather… unusual ingredients together to save on shipping, He didn’t know him that well, why would he be telling crazy pirates that his neighbour was perfect for their nefarious plans? Opening his mouth to tell the strangers that they were mistaken, the pirate lady spoke again.

“Let’s get to the chase, we need someone to help us navigate through a particularly nasty patch of sirens guarding an untouched island rumoured to have gems, and lot’s of them,” the women spoke briskly, tossing her wildly curly red hair over her shoulder.

Closing his mouth, he stood and pondered on that bit of information he’d been told, trying desperately to make some sort of connection between the two clauses. How was he related to helping them through a bunch of mermaids? He didn’t get it at all, why would they-Oh, Right. Sirens lure sailors to their deaths because their beauty drives men, and women, mad. Sirens wouldn’t affect him because... right. Oh yes. That was it.

Asexuality.

“Our apple stocks crashed and we need some money,” one of the smaller men piped in his black hair tied back into a braid. He was silenced by the other woman shooting a sharp glance in his direction, indicating that he had said too much. She turned, her cropped purple hair seeming to glisten in the afternoon sunlight, and spoke with growing irritability.

“So, mate, can you help us or what?”

He thought about his potions in the fridge, then, about his empty bank account. The witch flexed his hands, ice crackling as he popped each frosty, dirty knuckle in and out of their joint. His initial anxiety had faded to a dull gnawing, and as he glanced to his moth chewed cloak hanging on the rack beside the door, he sighed inwardly. He looked up once again to the odd party standing outside his door, small blackened fingertips adjusting his dirty glasses with finality.

“Well, I did need a job.”

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, May 2 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles I came across since the late April report, although some may be older than that. I will do my best to keep posting these at least once every 10 days if not sooner. 

Have any topics you would like to see me cover in more detail? Drop me a line here on Tumblr, or email me through my website. I’m also on Twitter and YouTube if you prefer social.  

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

If you sell on Etsy, this is your reminder that the Offsite Ads program kicks in on May 4, and people who make under $10K a year on Etsy can opt out if they want to avoid the additional fees. I have a summary here. 

Issues with mail delivery during the pandemic continue. Canada Post has suspended on time delivery guarantees and warns of December level volume.  USPS is not shipping to 113 countries, including many APO addresses. 

I am still interested in posting articles and lists of resources for small businesses and artists during the pandemic, so please pass on any good resources you know about. HubSpot did a page for Australia, and one for the United States.  See my previous edition for a longer list. 

ETSY NEWS 

Mask sales have created a huge boom for Etsy, but also some busts. “Suddenly millions of people were logging on to Etsy, searching for masks nine times every second, the company calculated.The site was not ready for the rush….There are now 50,000 sellers on Etsy who have each sold at least one mask; 10,000 have sold at least 100. Etsy staff spent time calling the most popular sellers to weed out scams, but also to ensure well-meaning sellers were not over-promising.” There have been many threads from sellers whose shops were de-indexed due to both bots and to Etsy wanting to limit their sales until they catch up on open orders, creating a lot of complaints at a time when their customer service response is hugely delayed. 

Some sellers report receiving listing credits for masks, although several who received money did not sell masks, and many others who did sell masks got nothing. 

Another Seller Handbook post on what people are looking for while they are under lockdown (TL;DR: home decor, activities, bath & beauty) , as well as suggestions for how you can pivot your shop. They include the top search terms for each area; some examples: washable paper towel, garden, birthday gift,  printable wall art, puzzle, board game, puzzle adult. “As shoppers transform their living spaces for multifunctional uses like working, exercising, and homeschooling, they’re looking for cozy comfort as well as fresh, on-season style updates that offer mood-boosting appeal….113% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for “home office...127% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for “indoor garden...“Face mask” was the top searched term for the last five weeks (as of April 23, 2020)” Finally, “In recent Etsy buyer research, one third of shoppers who anticipated purchasing on Etsy in the next three months reported planning to buy gifts.” [Although the article doesn’t mention this, I strongly recommend emphasizing somewhere in your shop that you can send the order directly to the gift recipient, if you sell giftable items but sales are down right now. I am getting a lot more requests for gift notes than usual, and more people are paying for tracking so they know when the gift arrives.]

A study says that 30% of Etsy sellers do not save for emergencies, and 74% want Etsy to help them when emergencies arise. 

Two new features for users of Etsy’s USPS labels: free pick up requests, and easy customer return labels. 

Etsy launched an exclusive collection with Joseph Altuzarra. 

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Moz just came out with an excellent guide to keyword research that you all should at least bookmark to come back to later, even if you don’t do keyword research now. The introduction contains a good definition of long tail with a graph; “Only about 20% of the keywords people search for will be popular "head" terms. The majority of keyword phrases will be less-frequent, long-tail keywords.” There’s even a downloadable 2-page cheat sheet on the basics at the end. 

There may have been a Google search update around April 16, but I am mostly posting this article for the graphs showing search volatility in the past 1-2 months; those changes in the second half of March into early April seem to be mostly user-driven due to the pandemic, rather than algorithm changes. 

Backlinks are not all created equal, and time is sometimes one of the factors in weighting them. [text and video] 

This analysis of near 12 million Google search results turned up some interesting correlations with ranking. Not surprisingly, sites in first place have many more backlinks on average than the other sites on the same page. It was a bit surprising to learn that page loading speed didn’t correlate with ranking at all (that may change once everyone goes to mobile first indexing in the fall), nor did using the keyword in your title tag. “Pages in Google’s top 10 results contain 65% to 85% of the keywords that they’re ranking for in their title tag. However, we found very little (if any) correlation between keyword-optimized title tags and higher rankings on the first page.”

Google may delay its move to complete mobile-first indexing by September, depending on how sites are managing due to the recent disruptions.

Some businesses are moving the money they spent on advertising over to SEO, because there is a longer-term payoff vs. a short term impact from someone seeing an ad on a given day. Good SEO can get you ranking on many search engines for years, if you are lucky. 

(CONTENT) MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

Not surprisingly, the top times for social media traffic have changed during the pandemic; here’s an updated list. 

Thinking of starting a YouTube channel? Here’s a beginner’s manual including screenshots on how to set it up, as well as tips on YouTube SEO & other marketing tactics. 

Don’t know what to put in your email newsletters? HubSpot picked 17 examples they think are awesome. 

Facebook rapidly revamped & expanded its video chat option to compete with Zoom & Houseparty, called Messenger Rooms. Note that “Room calls are not end-to-end encrypted, but Facebook says it does not view or listen to calls.” The are also working on the ability to charge people to watch live streams. 

Twitter had a good first quarter but the stock still fell because it does not look like they are recovering from the pandemic effects very quickly. 

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS) 

As mentioned in my last edition, Google Shopping is now offering free listings on its US platform, and rolled out a bit early for some even though the start date was given as April 27. Your Etsy listings will not be shown in the free ads if you opt out of Etsy’s Offsite Ads program, and you are not allowed to add marketplace listings to GS yourself, but this may be something you are interested in for your website, if you sell to the US. Some tips on setting up Merchant accounts correctly for this here and here, and optimizing your listings here. If your standalone is on Shopify, they have instructions here. 

As ad prices are dropping for some items on some platforms, it has become easier for small businesses to start campaigns, especially experienced online sellers who can now take advantage of the ecommerce boom. [I agree with this for the right types of items or service, but I don’t think it is going to work for everything.]

New to online advertising, and don’t know where to start? HubSpot has a good introductory overview here, with details on the main options available. 

Google is offering ad credits to small & medium sized businesses as pandemic relief, starting in late May. Note that you need to have been running ads last year with Google to be eligible. . 

Google Ad users will soon need to submit proof of identity & location, starting with US users. The move is to help prevent scammers and increase transparency. Early response to the announcement is mixed. 

Facebook is no longer forcing advertisers to use its Campaign Budget Optimization, meaning businesses will continue to be able to set different budgets across all of their campaigns. 

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING 

If you have an ecommerce site built with Wordpress, here’s how to track your email newsletter clicks through Google Analytics. 

And for your ecommerce site, the best alerts to set up in GA. 

Bing Webmaster Tools has a great feature that tracks traffic to connected accounts other than your website or blog - but Twitter has been removed from this list. 

There are far more Instagram analytics apps than I thought. 

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

Many ecommerce platforms/website providers are being pressured to reduce the fake COVID-19 disinfectants on their sites, including eBay, Facebook, Shopify & Alibaba.

There is a new app that lets buyers shop with multiple businesses who run their sites through Shopify, called Shop. Among other things, it will feature businesses local to the user: “A recent survey of global consumers by Ernst & Young found that 34% of respondents are willing to pay more for local products amid the pandemic.”

Shopify’s stock is flying high right now, and it has become the second-most valuable company in Canada, in part due to the surge of sign ups after the start of the pandemic. 

Since page loading speed is important to buyer conversions as well as SEO, if you have a Shopify site, you will want to read about which themes are the fastest & slowest to load. A few are ridiculously slow, & you will want to consider your goals if you are thinking of using them. 

Jeff Bezos has moved back to managing Amazon operations due to the pandemic. “Bezos was also personally involved in Amazon’s decision to suspend third-party vendors from shipping non-essential items to Amazon’s warehouses, helping ease the load on workers so that they could more efficiently ship goods like baby products, groceries, pet supplies and personal care products.  He also signed off on Amazon’s move to halt tactics it normally uses “to encourage customers to put more items in their shopping carts”.

Meanwhile, Amazon VP states that Amazon has done a lot for sellers during the pandemic, including suspending “repayment of all Amazon Lending loans for sellers in the United States and the United Kingdom until April 30.” I guess that is why their profit fell to only $2.5 billion in the first quarter of 2020 despite their gross sales being up 29% due to the pandemic buying. 

Amazon’s pilot program for verifying new sellers by video calls is continuing; contrary to previous reports, they say they are not using facial-recognition technology, but they are checking photo ID against the video call. 

eBay has extended its suspension of most seller performance standard rules until June 19 for sellers in the UK. They are also extending their free listing offers, and after banning mask sales are now apparently envying Etsy’s sales and are encouraging sellers to make fabric masks.They are also planning a way to confirm sales that involve local pickups [podcast & transcript]. 

eBay had lower 1st quarter results than they & others had predicted, so the stock went down. Here is the call transcript for those interested. 

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

The pandemic sales trends have switched from hoarding essentials to food & home comfort items. “As spring eased toward summer, cooking at home also began to include gardening. "We see continued growth in gardening," said Ventry. ... Growing herbs, he said, played well with the home cooking trend, too. "We saw similar trends from 2008 to 2010, during the recession."

Ecommerce sales are way up, perhaps 50% up in the US right now, and some of these people will continue their increased online shopping, so it is a good time to launch many types of new campaigns. (warnings - some “not safe for work” language) 

HubSpot has been producing a weekly pandemic report on its customers core business stats, such as website traffic & sales rates. They speculate that we might be seeing a bit of an overall recovery as of last week. 

MISCELLANEOUS

There are still more good work-from-home articles coming out that can also be relevant for those of us who have been doing this for a while now. Using a schedule to be more productive is a common topic. As is managing to be productive with kids around.