#Indie sellers

[handmadehazefromtheheart]

The Tranimals are finally here!

(Video ID under the cut.)

The pouch has been emptied, the tranimals unleashed. If you're located in the US or Canada, you can get your very own on my Artisans Cooperative storefront. Elsewhere, and you can pick them up over on Ko-Fi.

Support a disabled queer crafter so I can continue to craft every day!

Photography and video recording + editing provided by my wife, @ablondpanda.

[Vid ID: Several tiny crocheted animals being removed one by one from a purple pouch, placed center screen, and then pushed to the side into a growing pile. There are turtles, snails, cats, whales, mice, octopi, a frog, a chicken, and a snake. They're all made with the same bright blue, pink, and white cotton yarn. Some of them have black beads for eyes. Background music is "It's Showtime!" from Undertale, and matching animal sounds accompanies each one as it's placed on the desk. /end ID]

[indiesellersguild]

We're gearing up for the ISG Virtual Convention

Indie sellers deserve an internet where it's possible to earn a fair living wage for creative work.

Shoppers deserve an internet where it's possible to support the makers, creators, and small businesses that you love, without so much of your payment being gobbled up by big tech platforms.

Together, we can build that internet.

Learn more at the first annual Indie Sellers Guild Virtual Convention, scheduled for April 13-14, 2024, entitled—

Support Small Sellers: Freedom from Etsy and other Big Tech

See what we have planned through the link below, and register to attend for only 1 USD.

We hope to see you there!

[fortitudesouth]

So I was just going to hate the initial post but it disappeared so here it is. Yes, this applies to buyers too. The time to opt out is drawing to a close.

TLDR- Send an email to: arbitrationoptout@etsy.com with: your name, account email, username, and shop name if applicable. State that you wish to opt out of arbitration. Hit send. Done.

[schlady]

Some points to ponder on supporting small businesses, just in time for the holiday shopping season and Small Business Saturday! ✨ Feel free to download & share these images.

When money's tighter than ever and there are plenty of big corporations to boycott, please consider your local & favorite small businesses if you can spend. 💞

[somethingmissingthiswaycomes]

The @indiesellersguild has printed merch now and ✨I want a tote bag ✨

I can maybe do that for myself after Christmas, idk.

[recoversuggestions]

i've vaguely mentioned this here before but i'm part of the indie sellers guild, a union-type organization for all online indie sellers.

we're currently doing a survey on what sellers' ideal online marketplaces are. if you're an indie sellers on etsy or your own website or anywhere else on the internet, it'd be great if you could fill it out here:

depaul.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e8KlZKOzvXzyMLk

[strawberrum]

thinking about how I had a few folks at my last market suggest to me (kindly and with good intentions) that I make and sell some versions of the hand knit cardigan I was wearing because people would "totally pay $300 for that!"

I appreciated the sentiment, but people don't understand what goes into handmade clothes! I don't use a knitting machine. Every stitch in that garment is created by hand on needles, and the sleeves were brioche. Even using inexpensive acrylic yarn for the whole project, and accounting for the HUGE sleeve stitches (saving me time making the sleeves)—the material cost was $55 and the labor was well beyond that.

Let's conservatively estimate the cardigan took me 30 hours to create. Currently, when pressed to put a dollar amount to my time, I use the living wage as a baseline and then go up from there $1/hour for every year I have been actively practicing that particular skill. In the case of knitting that would be 11 years, and the current living wage in my area is approximately $23/hour. Setting aside the fact that this is calculated based on a 40 hour work week and I don't believe that is ethical or sustainable, we'll just leave it at $34/hour. That would make labor alone $1,020.

This brings the "production cost" to $1,075.

Items are not sold at production cost because that would leave your profit margin at 0%. This is not sustainable because it costs money to run a business (think things like paying for computer repairs, buying tools, the tablecloth you use at markets, paying for a website, etc.). Realistically to cover business costs and still come out with a 7% "net" profit margin, which is just a number pulled from averages in the clothing retail business...

... I'd have to sell that cardigan for $1,350.

So yeah! Something to think about when you see the price of clothes that are handmade. :o)

[corruptedgem]

On this week's Steamed Veggies: More like the cult of committing to the bit. 🪱

You can read more comics on my website or support the comic directly via Patreon or Ko-Fi.

[starheartworkshops]

My Billie Bust Up kandi section on my Etsy has expanded! Intoducing a certain amphibious father's alliterative title: An Aristotle the Axolotle bracelet, complete with little axolotl charms!

For $10 USD, you can get just his name, for $24, you get the whole set!

Every US order $35 has free shipping, I ship internationally, my inbox is always open if you have questions, and boosts are appreciated!

[nickmedoroart]

HEY! I'm back from my vacation and i got new STICKERS! Check out my Esty shop if you want these Yubel stickers (or any other fun stuff I have for sale)!

[handmadehazefromtheheart]

I've put a note on my Coop shop announcing the 20€ transitional sale starting September 1st . I'ma be working on the li'l tranimals until the sale is complete, then those will go up as the first listing of the new inventory. :3

If you're in the US or Canada and you'd like an exceptionally cheap handmade stuffed animal, bag, or a trans pride hat for this winter, make a note for yourself! This is one of very few instances where the low price is the decision of the worker whose labor created the goods. 🧶

(Tags reflect the items available.)

[indiesellersguild]

Etsy is using Payment Reserves to stiff their handmade sellers - refusing to pay most of what they're owed until after they create and ship their orders.

Our petition is online, please sign and share!

Etsy: Pay your makers NOW!

In the example (an actual order from a seller on reserve), the buyer paid $33.87, but the seller only received $2.72. It didn't even cover shipping costs.

[schlady]

Still true even in the new year, when buying for birthdays, spring holidays, summer occasions, etc. 💞

Some points to ponder on supporting small businesses, just in time for the holiday shopping season and Small Business Saturday! ✨ Feel free to download & share these images.

When money's tighter than ever and there are plenty of big corporations to boycott, please consider your local & favorite small businesses if you can spend. 💞

[toriawiktoria]

You can find the entire cosmos lurking in its least remarkable objects.

Wisława Szymborska

[tamaharu]

HICCUP AND TOOTHLESS WILL BE REAL IN .5 SECONDS!!!!!!!!!!!

[soaps-mohawk]

(Tmi ask warning? I think?)

The latest chapter had me wondering from the tidbit of Kyle nervous about taking John's knot, but can betas technically fit a knot in them?

I'd imagine with enough prep it would be a yes. It'd probably be a common kink in this universe given that we probably have toys like that irl 😭 (not 100 on that because not my thing really but I'd imagine it exists lmao)

Lmao it takes a lot to make me TMI darling.

But yeah, betas can take knots, but it would take a lot of prep and lube since it's a lot and their bodies aren't quite built for it like omegas are.

I can imagine it is a kink lol. There's probably alphas and betas out there that like being knotted 😂 there's probably knotting toys in that universe (and yes they do exist in this one). The market is probably made up of more alphas and betas for those than omegas 😂