1000 Markets: I'm In!!

So I waited anxiously all day yesterday to see if I was approved for 1000 Markets and I finally found out that I was in. Please check out my shop here. Now I just have to figure out how to get some attention. Every site has its own system to be learned.

First let me explain the process to get in. I had to do the regular registration thing and confirming my e-mail. Then you have to download all the pictures you want to use. You can be downloading multiple pics at the same time which is nice. They all go into the same place and then you choose which pic you want to use for each listing or for your banner, etc. Setting up a listing was a piece of cake compared to Etsy. It's all on one page, you can choose from a list of tags that are commonly used and the pics are all right there, super easy. You can then save it as a draft or make it active.

You have to set up your shop policies and a short profile. Be sure that you don't just cut and paste from your Etsy shop because there are a lot of differences between the 2 venues. For one 1000 Markets just uses Amazon Checkout so any reference to Paypal needs to be removed. And they don't even notify you of a sale until the buyer has gone through the checkout and the money is in your account so you don't have to say anything about non-payment. They insist that you have a written return policy so be sure you give some thought to that. I used my standard you have 7 days if it is in unworn, unwashed condition and buyer pays shipping both ways.

The biggest pain actually was setting up my Amazon business account, which had nothing to do with my market shop. Amazon is very particular about your answers and I spent 30 minutes trying to get everything correct before I finally went to the FAQ's to see what the heck I was doing wrong.

I ended up not using my banner or avatar from Etsy. For one thing they are sized wrong and they would have come out totally pixaled and I'm going to be using different inventory for the Market shop so I figured I'd just use a product shot for now. I like how the cashmere blend scarflette shot above came out so I used it for the banner. They let you put text over the top of the pic and then they size it for you. I will probably play with it as I get more comfortable with the setup.

Once you have everything looking the way you want it to you just submit your shop for review. They say it takes less than 48 hours to hear from them. It took me around 2 hours, not counting the Amazon annoyance to get it all set up. And I heard back from them about being approved to go live with my shop within a day. Pretty smooth process in my opinion.

From what I can gather you get noticed by joining different markets. There are markets for sellers from a certain region, or type of product, or there are ones for like minded people. The one I'm most drawn to initially is the Bohemia Espirit which says it's A Place for the artistic...bohemian soul... Sounds like home to me!

And I think I will either apply for Wear It Out, which is Clothing & Accessories for the Modern World, or Art You Can Wear. You have to apply and be approved to each individual market by the curator of that market. But then you are on that market's home page which appears to be how most people shop on the site. I haven't figured out how the search function operates yet. I don't think that it is based solely on listing date like Etsy but I'm not sure what it uses.

They also have their own blog system. I'm debating on how I want to use it. I don't know if I will just cut and paste from here or do separate postings specifically for that site. That sounds like too much work but since it is right there on your shop page I want it to be appropriate to the site.

Someone asked me about the wall on my shop page. This is a place where anyone can leave a comment on your shop. At this time they seem to have no feedback system in place. I'm feeling a bit unloved so if you would like to leave me a note it would make my day!

I'll let you know how it goes in my new home! So far I really like feeling like I'm a part of something new and exciting.