Hi Etsy Mainers! I’m Robyn, owner of SirkusVintage & SirkusSupplies and I’ll be bringing you all the local etsy love you can handle every Tuesday. By way of introduction, I live in wonderful South Portland, where I spend as much time as possible at Willard Beach and pick up New England’s best bagels every day at Scratch Bakery. I started selling on etsy in September 2007 with my friend Tonya, owner of the HappyDashery, and instantly fell in love with the site.
I recently got the chance to further expand my etsy horizons by attending the April 12 Etsy Maine meetup in Lewiston. The meeting was an excellent opportunity to brainstorm and connect with other artists and sellers from the area. It also gave me the chance to exchange some items with Kristina from Kreatus, a Lewiston-based pottery seller whose shop is currently stocked with funky and colorful bowls, spoons and ornaments. I also got to check out some beautiful pieces from Portland’s Dirtgirlpottery, run by team leader Becky Wheeler. Check out some of their lovely items below, as well as work by other local mud slingers, Endless Whimsy, Indigo Twin, izziLizzi and Lynne Forrest.
In other news, I thought I would share a couple of links that may be of interest…
EtsyWiki, the wikepedia-style website where members can share tips and suggestions about how to buy and sell successfully on etsy.
EtsyNews, which is chock-full of useful news and information for etsy sellers, including news on billing changes, site bugs, category updates and new features etsy has coming. The folks that run this useful site may be the only people you’ll find that are more obsessed with etsy than you are!
BestySearch, which uses google-powered tools to search etsy. This website allows you to search for items that have already sold on etsy- and see the prices they sold for! That’s something you can’t do internally on etsy.com. It also allows you to search forums, favorites, shops by location, international sellers by country…and more! Totally worth checking out!
The U.S. Postal Service has issued a new, larger flat-rate box- good news for those of us that ship big, heavy things! The box measures 12” x 12” x 5-1/2” and can be used to ship Domestic Priority Mail for $12.95 and International Priority Mail ($29.95 to Canada and Mexico; $49.95 to all other countries). Also, keep your eye out for the new increased shipping rates that U.S.P.S. has scheduled to go into effect on May 12th.
