Experience the Xmas rush!

[madeit]

Hi All,

Our sales are very healthy at the moment and have been for the last month. We are getting more and more buyers due to our Christmas advertising and things are looking great for the Xmas period.

Yesterday we made record sales, yes our highest day of sales ever and I estimate that this will be broken a number of times before the Christmas rush is finished.

Case Study - One of our sellers received 150 orders in one day after advertising in our newsletter! This seller was promoting a percentage off sale and a lot of buyers took up the offer.

Are your sales increasing as well?
If not, then maybe there is a few things to think about.

• Do you promote your madeit store on Facebook or Twitter?
I see a lot of sellers only promote a similar store to madeit on Facebook or Twitter. While we do a lot of promotion ourselves you also have to do some of the promotion yourself, just like you would if you had your own website.

• Have you been featured on the madeit front page or newsletter?
If you do get featured on the front page or newsletter, why not help promote the front page or newsletter on Facebook & Twitter. Promoting such features doesn't go unnoticed and we always like to promote those sellers who help promote madeit.

• Do you regularly list items?
By listing regularly you keep in the front of category, on the new items page and in the running to be picked for our Monday New Items newsletter.

• Does your store have a point of different?
It's hard to compete if you are doing the same as other stores that's why having a point of different is very important when selling online.

• Have a sale?
Why not have a Christmas sale and promote it to your customers on Facebook & Twitter, you can also add it to the madeit Facebook page (http://facebook.com/madeit.com.au) - remember we have over 19,000 likers. Your sale will also appear on the madeit sales page (http://www.madeit.com.au/saleitems.asp).

These are just a few things to think about in regards to your sales. I want everyone on madeit to experience the Xmas rush but I do believe it's a team effort.

One of our sellers Crafty Mummy recently published an article about Madeit Store Tips read here (http://thecraftymummy.com/2011/11/madeit-store-tips/).

I'm more than happy to answer any of your questions.

[lulu's]

wholey moley 150 plus sales that is incredible! I'm guessing it was izle so a massive congrats and good luck with all the packing and posting LOL

[RainbowLollies]

Thank you Bec for useful article and also the link to Crafty Mummy's blog post. It is always good to be reminded of these tips regardless whether you are an experienced or new seller.
For example, I never knew that if you have a sale in your Madeit shop, you are allowed to post the sale on Madeit's FB page. Do you mean sellers can post it on the Madeit wall directly or do we tag our posting with "Madeit" and then Admin will post it on the wall?

I do need some advice and hope that you (or anyone else) can help. I had some issues in the past where a buyer purchases items from my shop but did not make payment immediately (I can understand that some people pay after a day or two). What I have done was sent them a thank you e-mail plus invoice within the same day and hinted to them that payment is appreciated within 2-3 days. A few days has passed and no response from the buyer. Usually by that time I sensed that the buyer had changed his/her mind and do not wish to continue with the transaction. I will then e-mail Madeit Support to cancel the transaction and re-list my item.

What I will like to know is that is there another better way "to chase for payment" so to speak? I don't want to seem like I am a pushy seller but some of the items are one-offs and it does hurt to lose a few days (sometimes up to a week) not listed in my shop in case there are other people interested in buying. Is it rude to send another e-mail a few days later to remind the buyer to pay?

I know that you cannot force people to pay but I just wish that if they had change their mind, they will let me know (I won't bite :))

I try my best to promote the front page or newsletter whenever I am featured so thank you to Madeit for noticing those who do that.

Cheers
Cassie

[RainbowLollies]

wholey moley 150 plus sales that is incredible! I'm guessing it was izle so a massive congrats and good luck with all the packing and posting LOL

I pretty much guessed that it was Iszle too. Congratulations to them! I hope to one day be as successful

:)

[ladytt]

Hi Cassie,

You can absolutely post on the madeit facebook page if you are having a sale, or want to share any special news with us or the 19000+ likers, as long as you are not spamming us, which we know you would never do!! and it is a madeit store you are posting about, we don't mind.

Chasing payment, I always make my payment at the time of purchase, assuming that i am paying by paypal. So I think that if they have elected to pay by paypal and you havent recieved anything in 24 hours, ask them if everything is ok, and they got the details, if they dont reply in another 24 hours I think its fair to start assuming they arent a serious buyer. If it is direct deposit, a little bit extra time may need to be given, especially because you have to wait for it to appear. Some people wait weeks for a buyer to pay, i am off the opinion that if they havent made payment in say 3 days, and you relist, if it was the case that their computer was stolen that night and they had no access, a) they would understand why you cancelled the sale and b)they can always re-buy the item, provided they arent a problem "fake" buyer that we have restricted, and in that case you are better off without them.

After I gave birth I messaged a madeit seller about making thankyou cards, i sent her a couple photo options for the baby but she quite honestly said they were no good, and to find something else. She didnt hear from me in weeks, and then sent me another message asking me if I had a decent photo yet. So she was far from pushy, but she was persistent i suppose, and got the sale. And might I say, they were the most beautiful thankyou cards ever!!

[RainbowLollies]

LOL! Tian, your reply made me laughed!

I love your reason on why a buyer may not pay because "computer was stolen that night". Either that or their cat ate the "mouse".

I did have a buyer last night who chose the Paypal option but did not make payment straightaway. I sent her an e-mail with the invoice so here's hoping that she will pay. Sad to have the "sales high" and then only to feel the "low" when things did not turn out.

As for posting on Madeit's FB wall, is posting photos of decadent chocolate mud cake or luscious summer berries gelato be considered as spam? :D (ok my mouth is watering just thinking about it)

[madeit]

Hi Cassie, thanks for your post.

Facebook - at any time you can post directly on our Facebook page as long as you link to your madeit store or items. If you also tag madeit on your page it will also appear on our madeit Facebook page.

Non-payers - Yes sometime buyer don't pay straight away so sending them a reminder email is the correct procedure. We also include instruction on how to pay in their buyers email notice. If they still don't pay after 3 days then I would suggest you relist the item and yes if they come back later and they do want the item they can simply buy it again.

Promoting your madeit features - Thanks for promoting madeit we really do appreciate it and yes we notice!

[CraftyMummy]

Thanks so much for mentioning my blog post here in the forum! I appreciate the support. Still wishing I had 150 sales in a day - but then I'd have no stock left! I am finding though that even the on-site ads are bring in extra sales. Thanks!

[CERIosities]

Facebook - If you also tag madeit on your page it will also appear on our madeit Facebook page.

hi tian!

that is how i understood it to work as well but i haven't seen any evidence of it actually working, have you?

i just scrolled through madeit's wall and there are no @mentions on there, yet i'm sure on my fb page's newsfeed i see pages that i have liked tagging @madeit... i did a test unintentionally, about 16 mins ago i made a post on my fb page with a @madeit.com.au tag, so we'll see if it turns up on madeit's fb page's wall.

i know there have been issues with some tags not working but this one was definitely active so we'll wait and see.....

ceri :-)

ps. crafty mummy's blog post has heaps of useful tips...

[madeit]

We only show the madeit post on our Facebook page however if you click the Everyone (Most recent) link you can see the sellers who have tagged or add post to our wall.

A lot of post end up in the hidden post area but I regularly check this and un-spam our sellers post.

Hope this clears it up.

[CERIosities]

omg! am i ever going to the hang of fb... ha ha ha

the 'everyone [most recent]' is so obvious now, how did i miss that. just think of all the posts i have been missing out on....! as for the 'hidden posts', never checked mine... ha!

thanks a million for that fb lesson tian.... :-)

ceri

ps. i'm going to drown my embarrassment in a cup of tea, my fb challenges can be kept between just you and me can't they.... ;-)

[CraftyMummy]

Don't be embarrassed, Ceri! Facebook make it so hard to get the hang of because they change things all the time. Or there seem to be glitches that stop things working quite right.

[kanga creative]

wow 150 sales in one day! And here I am excited that I have made 4 sales this week! I have a long way to go lol...

[Julie Smith]

You definately need to be listing every day to get views. I have been busy with life the last week and have not had the time to list and have noticed my views have just about dropped down to , oo maybe 5 per day. A bit sad.

[CERIosities]

Don't be embarrassed, Ceri! Facebook make it so hard to get the hang of because they change things all the time. Or there seem to be glitches that stop things working quite right.

thx crafty mummy, that makes me feel better... :o

[CERIosities]

wow 150 sales in one day! And here I am excited that I have made 4 sales this week! I have a long way to go lol...

hey bec! be excited, that is great! celebrate all your successes.....

[CERIosities]

You definately need to be listing every day to get views. I have been busy with life the last week and have not had the time to list and have noticed my views have just about dropped down to , oo maybe 5 per day. A bit sad.

hi julie! thx for that insight...

ps. i have your orange felted wool scarf in my favs - it is gorgeous....

[Merry-Go-Round Handmade]

I've noticed sales pick up recently - I'm certainly very pleased with that & the support from the 'Madeit' team. Thank You.
I think the Madeit Advertising & recent Madeit website changes have made a big difference to redirecting sales to the Madit website & its' sellers.
Many buyers have been new (they had no previous purchases/feedback).
I hope the next 2-3 weeks will be just as good!
I have left a message (in the appropriate section) about wanting to be on the list for a bit of 'newsletter love' - pretty please ;)
Thanks & regards Nicole
www.madeit.com.au/merry-go-round
www.facebook.com/MerryGoRoundHandMade2
http://merry-go-roundhandmade.blogspot.com/