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Plum Cottage BearsHello everybody!
One of my New Year's resolutions was to re-open my Etsy store. I have enough bears finished to stock the store, as well as those bears that I placed in the two shops I posted about earlier. In the process of working on the Etsy store, I am concerned not only about photographing the bears, but also about calculating shipping costs.
As to photography, I do not have a smartphone, but I have a point-and-shoot camera that I bought used on Ebay, a Kodak EasyShare CX7430 model. Do I need to set up a light box, or are there other suggestions about photographing teddies? When I sold bearmaking supplies, I took pictures and/or scanned images of the merchandise to go on the company website, but I no longer have the equipment that I used then. I also photographed my bears against seamless white paper, which I still have. Although I have sold bears on Ebay, I have decided to go with Etsy and perhaps Bearpile, due to the high cost of selling on Ebay.
As to calculating shipping costs, I am prepared to ship internationally, but I am considering charging actual shipping costs rather than a flat rate for shipping. When I sold bearmaking supplies, we shipped internationally as well as in the USA. We used DHL for USA shipping, but we used the post office (USPS) for international shipments. Can I indicate on Etsy that I will calculate actual shipping costs and advise the customer of the costs? Are there any other things that I should take into consideration when selling bears on Etsy? I already have a Paypal account.
I hope this posting sparks some discussion, as I am looking for ideas and advice.
Hugs and thanks,
Gail
Boechout, AntwerpHi Gail,
Good luck with your Etsy shop, I will certainly come and pay a visit. 
As far as photography is concerned, I know many artists like to use a light box (which is quite easy to make yourself). However if you have a spot where there is plenty of natural light, that works well too. You best avoid direct sunlight, because that is generally too harsh to bring out the details of the fur. It's also best to use a neutral background, because a noisy background distracts the attention from your bears.
As far as international shipping is concerned, most of the bears that I adopted from the USA (e.g. from Becky) were sent by USPS and so far -fingers crossed- I have never encountered any problems. I do advise you to mention clearly that your shipping costs DO NOT INCLUDE the extra costs that the buyer might incur like custom duties, taxes, import duties, .... I think it's always best to warn people beforehand, because these costs can be huge. 
Good luck! 
Plum Cottage BearsPeter, thank you for your comments. I would like to learn how to make a light box. Where can I find out how to do that?
Gail, just try a Google search - something like "how to make a light box.
I think that it's necessary to specify the shipping cost on Etsy, but it's possible to include many different countries. You could also ask people to contact you if their country isn't listed.
Good luck with the new venture!
Becky
Boechout, AntwerpGail,
There is also some information about making a light box in our LIBRARY -> PHOTO/IMAGE EDITING. 
desertmountainbearI never use a light box to photograph. Living in California I don't know that you will need to either. I take my picture in front of a north facing sliding glass door, which for me is more that sufficient light. I use Windows Live Photo Gallery to correct lighting if the picture is not light enough, but usually it is fine. There should be an adjustment on your camera to let you go up and down on the amount of light. I have a light box, and lights, I use the lights sometimes, but not the box.
As far as shipping, you should be able to print shipping labels directly from Paypal if you choose to use the postal service. The only downfall is that you cannot insure shipments going out of the country. You need to go directly to the USPS website to do that.
You could calculate the price yourself for each item before listing and then advise them to contact you for a combined shipping invoice before completing their sale if ordering multiple items.
Because I live in an area where it is quite dull light in the winter I need to use a light box as the daylight is never enough and yellow electric light seems to distort colour.
I bought a light box which was not at all expensive and you can get different sizes. I then have two lamps with daylight bulbs fitted. When I take the photos I have a lamp on each side of the box to stop shadow forming and make sure there is lots of light.
I know its a bit Heath Robinson but I fashion my 'light box' out of a clothes hoarse and a white sheet on the kitchen table. I looked in to buying a light box but thought it would be too small for bigger bears (btw how do others manage the bigger bear shoots?) but for the same reason as Jenbee I did invest in some good lights. Joanne your so lucky having all that natural daylight and I am loving the work in progress shots.
Just another thing on postage - be careful of the 'with another item' as I stupidly just added a bit of extra reasoning that two bears going together would be cheaper and also a way of offering a bit of a discount for some one buying two. The thing is if someone buys a mini with say £10 postage first and then adds another item a big bear who could be as much as £50 to post that's where you can come unstuck but if it was the other way round the mini could easily go in with the big bear for free. I suppose it depends on if your bears are roughly the same size or not. I really like having an etsy shop but I think you have to put a lot of marketing in to get the best out of it which I am planning to work on this year.
Looking forward to your shop opening Gail let us all know when and I will pop in for some support
michelle
Germany Good luck!
