GoImagine

[BadBob]

I have had three orders so far on Goimagine. Processing is a pain compared to Etsy. I gave up on Shipo and am buying my labels from Pirate Ship, which I prefer.

Using Stripe works, but as far as I can tell, there is no way to do a partial refund. I had someone pay almost double the shipping. It was my fault because I messed up on the weight when I created the listing.

 

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, BadBob said:

I have had three orders so far on Goimagine. Processing is a pain compared to Etsy. I gave up on Shipo and am buying my labels from Pirate Ship, which I prefer.

Using Stripe works, but as far as I can tell, there is no way to do a partial refund. I had someone pay almost double the shipping. It was my fault because I messed up on the weight when I created the listing.

 

I have used Shippo a couple times to print labels besides the goimagine order.. when i had my sale I didn't get enough for shipping but today I mailed a package to family and I noticed that by default my shippo had added insurance for the packages.. Now.. I'm not certain if packages are insured as they normally are for etsy and Amazon or not.. every other site shipping is a part of the mail class you choose which I think is standard USPS insurance included.. but maybe I'm wrong.. I'm thinking shippos included insurance is "added insurance" rather than if you want the package insured or not.. It was a bit confusing.. but my GI order shipping cost almost $2 more than anywhere else I get labels from.. now I'm thinking maybe I paid extra for insurance.. Most my packages I don't insure.. First Class didn't used to be insured.. now the Ground Advantage is.. at least most places it is.. they got me for added insurance I think.. Anyway it's something to look out for next time. LOL

Shopify has ALOT of nice features.. though pricey.. sometimes the expense is worth it. I think I'm going to continue on Shopify and kinda just promote GI site as it is.. even promoting it ( the mosaic ) with the provided domain still brings traffic to that site even if I point the domain to it at a later date. 

Speaking of promoting.. I read the other day about doing pinterest pins for your Etsy listings benefits etsy and not your shop... however they said if you pin a item and then make the link in pinterest go to your shops category where the listing is.. then it benefits your shop and not so much for etsy. I don't know if that is true or not.. just read it and was going to investigate to see why they said that.

[BadBob]

1 hour ago, kmmcrafts said:

Speaking of promoting.. I read the other day about doing pinterest pins for your Etsy listings benefits etsy and not your shop... however they said if you pin a item and then make the link in pinterest go to your shops category where the listing is.. then it benefits your shop and not so much for etsy. I don't know if that is true or not.. just read it and was going to investigate to see why they said that.

I have been doing this for a couple of years. I started linking to categories and searches because Pinterest showed my listings as unavailable if they sold out and never changed the pin when I restocked.  So now, if I pin a dinosaur, I go to my shop and search for the dinosaur. Anyone using that link will see all of my dinosaurs. I learned the hard way to test this and ensure the search showed them what I wanted. In the stats, these show up as "Total Views," which is page views.

Edited December 15, 2023 by BadBob

[kmmcrafts]

Good to know, I haven't promoted anything on etsy in probably close to 3-4 years maybe.. I may have slipped one in now and then but I don't go out of my way to really push for customers on there anymore.. Never promoted Amazon really either..  

It's good to pin or promote items from "all" sales places however I don't do it very much for Etsy or Amazon and put more focus on the dot com site.. I have posted a couple things from GI on my FB page but that was all as well. I think after a break from these holiday sales I'll start working more on getting listings up on Amazon, Shopify and GI sites.. I also really want to edit my photos of my ornaments to have them all have the black backer placed on top of the cotton in my gift boxes.. Plus I want to get more photos where I have a ruler in the photos too.. Over the years I've progressed with better photos and list descriptions and my older listings really need updated..  

[BadBob]

I discovered that if you cancel an order in Goimagine, it does not update the stock levels. I reported it to Goimagine support.

I have tried a lot of different rulers in my photos,  but I like my wood folding rule best.

I have started reciently holding the items in my hand for one of the photos. Several people have mentioned that they liked that.

I would like to sell in some more places. However, I need to get a handle on Goimagin.

I have been considering the Facebook marketplace.
 

[kmmcrafts]

As many FB accounts get hacked and all the way they handle privacy issues etc. I'm not a big fan of FB.. Have thought about deleting it many times.. I know it probably happens just as much on other sites but I happen to hear about all the FB account hacking all the time. I only have a couple hundred friends on my personal account and every week there is at least 2 of them sending out a notice they was hacked and not to join the new page or not to open any messages etc from them.. Back when FB first offered small business shops.. I started to sign up but they wanted more info about me and my personal business than I really felt comfortable giving them.. Same goes for how you can sign up to sell on Instagram and Pinterest too now... TikTok as well.. I have a business account with all of these but I don't have it set up to where they can purchase through those sites.. 

Looking for a new place that might take off.. Michael's craft stores has a new handmade site venue to sell on.. I've heard some folks on the laser sites saying they've done quite well with the new store..  I've considered looking into it to see what all is involved with doing a store there.. 

 

 

[Wichman]

Most of the FB accounts are not hacked, they're cloned ( it's a whole new account ) super easy to do and FB won't close them ( how many duplicate names do you know of, aka John Smith, I'm one of the very few with no duplicates ).

 

[BadBob]

I think most of the "hacked" accounts are bad passwords. Only a few people use good passwords. My passwords everywhere look like xU0%i7&$1nAtRI, and no two sites have the same password. Note that this is not a password for any of my accounts. I never use a centralized password like the ones you see where they want you to log in with Google. If you do that and you Google account gets cracked they own you. Although I know it is a pain in the butt, every account I have that involves money in any way has two-part authentication enabled. I have been on the internet since before it was open to the public and text only. I have never been hacked.

I have relatives who click on anything that pops up in a message and forget their passwords. Instead of going through the reset procedure, they open a new account. These are the same people who get "hacked." The truth is that they don't know what a hack is.

I could write a book on techtards.

[kmmcrafts]

8 hours ago, Wichman said:

Most of the FB accounts are not hacked, they're cloned ( it's a whole new account ) super easy to do and FB won't close them ( how many duplicate names do you know of, aka John Smith, I'm one of the very few with no duplicates ).

 

A lot of the ones I see are actually hacked and the account holder is kicked out.. ie the hacker gain access to the account and change's password so account holder cannot get in to their own account.. Then they start selling under their name.. I have a FB friend that is currently going through this.. and another friend thought it was actually her that was selling the Taylor Swift tickets and scammed her for $650.. so what I'm seeing is both what you mention plus actual hacking of the accounts.. On a personal level it's bad but get a business account and run your name in the ground because of some stupid hacker isn't a avenue I would like to take.. 

[kmmcrafts]

2 minutes ago, BadBob said:

I think most of the "hacked" accounts are bad passwords. Only a few people use good passwords. My passwords everywhere look like xU0%i7&$1nAtRI, and no two sites have the same password. Note that this is not a password for any of my accounts. I never use a centralized password like the ones you see where they want you to log in with Google. If you do that and you Google account gets cracked they own you. Although I know it is a pain in the butt, every account I have that involves money in any way has two-part authentication enabled. I have been on the internet since before it was open to the public and text only. I have never been hacked.

I have relatives who click on anything that pops up in a message and forget their passwords. Instead of going through the reset procedure, they open a new account. These are the same people who get "hacked." The truth is that they don't know what a hack is.

I could write a book on techtards.

You are right on this.. I see the same things.. and I agree it is probably poor passwords.. I also agree that passwords should be a jumbo of letter salad so to speak.. Lots of people don't even secure the wifi in their homes.. My youngest son still living here and has some sort of security system in place that everything has to go through a filter computer that is specifically set up for this. But he did cyber security and was in the top 100 in the world including the military during the competitions and his computer went down about a third of the way in on the competition so he had to reboot and start over so he could have been ranked higher, LOL.. I wish I was that good with computers.. LOL.. Back in the 90's I knew my computers inside and out ( or at least I thought I did LOL ) but so much advancement and now days I'm mostly lost but at least have some common knowledge..  That all said, I still didn't like and don't like FB all that much even without the hackers.. LOL

[BadBob]

The filter computer is probably a Firewall. I have several. Every computer in my home has some form of Linux installed. All business is done on ethernet-wired computers with firewalls between them and the wireless network. The Linux boxes have internal firewalls that let things out but do not let anything in. I have one device that has Windows 10 installed. It is used for only two purposes. Updating GPS and running an R/C Flight simulator. Linux is installed on a second drive in this system, and it is encrypted, so nothing in Windows can access it. I don't run any Microsoft software anywhere.

I only used Windows in a lab environment when I was working, never on my desktop. OS/2, Linux, and Solaris were what I used. I drove the desktop support people crazy. I could see them, but they could not see me.

Passwords are incredibly important. I worked in desktop support for a couple of years. I could usually guess or locate people's passwords. Not only were most of them simple, but many times, they were written down on a postit note and stuck somewhere. On the bottom of their keyboard was a popular spot. I have found the list of passwords stuck on a monitor.

For many years, I ran a Linux box outside the company firewall. I could sit and watch them try to break in. All day every day 24/7. There were so many attacks I had to turn the alerts off. I was getting hundreds and, on some days, thousands of emails.

 

[kmmcrafts]

Yeah that is what my son runs is systems on is Linux.. and yeah it's a firewall and doesn't let anything into our computers but allows things to go out.. Has ads all blocked from it too so we don't see the ads. etc..  

[BadBob]

I used to use a proxy server to block ads, but the browser add-ons work so well that I stopped doing it.

[BadBob]

After fighting with a Goimagine discount code that has not worked since yesterday morning, we finally figured out what was wrong. I had to send them a detailed list of every step I was taking to test before they figured it out. If you add listings to a discount code by search and select, and they have options, only the first option will work. If you add these one at a time, you can choose which options the discounts apply to: one, Two, Three ... all.

 

[kmmcrafts]

My first order had issues with GI connecting to shippo.. that was 5 weeks ago and according to the FB group it was on Shippos end and Shippo knew about it.. Processing another order today and it's still not working.. Maybe they should look into a company that is going to work on things.. seems like they should know the problem after 5 weeks but I guess I'm not a computer wizard and maybe they really are working hard at it, LOL.. Also as I mentioned before I think Shippo is expensive because they had the "additional " insurance box checked by default.. so today I pay attention and sure enough.. they had it checked and additional $125 insurance added to my $16 order, LOL.. Unchecked the box and then it shows that the ground advantage is insured to $100.. so they have my $16 order insured for $225..

I feel like Shippo is probably not a top level company.. from some of what I've read and seen about it.. I may look into something else but it'd sure be nice if GI would look into a secondary option for integration of shipping.. Manually entering addresses ( I know it can be copied and pasted ) is just extra time processing orders that shouldn't have to be that way with today's technology..  

[BadBob]

I like Pirate Ship. When you start typing the street address, it brings up a list of matching street addresses, and you pick yours. I then fill in all the info for that address. By default, they show you the lowest-cost shipping and let you choose from all the available shipping.

Even before ground advantage, I didn't buy insurance except for international shipping, which I stopped doing because it became way too complicated.

 

[BadBob]

So far, it looks like Goimagine consistently overcharges for shipping, and there is no way to do a partial refund. So, my solution is to go through all my listings, adjust prices, and set everything to free shipping. Else, take their money. I don't like either solution.

Edited December 16, 2023 by BadBob

[kmmcrafts]

Yeah Shippo does the autofill like that too. I don't dislike shippo really and if they can get the integration thing working like it should I feel like it'll be a okay set up.. I just feel like they are not really concerned about fixing the issue.. I don't want to open up another account for other shipping services if there isn't going to be any integration offered for that service. 

The copy and paste isn't bad i suppose once I learn the system.. and how it all works, I was quite frustrated this morning because I had a couple orders from Etsy that was overnight, my local USPS is only open for 2 hours on Saturday mornings and I was just trying to hurry to get done before they closed.. when I seen the GI order I figured I'd do that one up real quick too but blowing 25 minutes trying to figure out where to print a packing slip because GI doesn't have it in the dropdown menu or anywhere until you click the stupid little gear thing.. I didn't figure that out until after I already printed the label and had it packaged.. so it's just part of a learning curve.. and just frustrating that I signed up for Shippo only for the reason of the integration and that don't work.. even though they been on it for 5+ weeks? really?

As for the shipping, All the places I sell on overcharge by a small amount.. usually less than a dollar and sometimes slightly over a dollar.. The reason it is overcharged is because your getting a discounted shipping label.. the venues don't know your not going to the USPS directly to get the labels so they charge that cost and then when you print it you get a discount. That's what I'm guessing your overcharge is anyway.. unless its a crazy high amount.. Most times for me it's less than $2.. Not sure if you notice on Etsy when printing the label it shows the calculated cost and then it shows the price at the counter crossed out, but it then shows that if you process the order through Etsy then it's a discounted rate.. The discounted rate is to help cover cost of the label and printer ink or wear and tear of the printer.. this cost the post office to do this so they pay you for those labels by giving the discount.  

[BadBob]

On Etsy, if the shipping is more than a dollar, I refund it. I always check. I figured out how to fix Etsy overcharging for small items. I set the weight to one ounce and the package size to 1x1x1. Then did the math and increased the price by $0.40. No more overcharging on shipping, and adding multiples only adds 1 oz each to the shipping cost. Since they weigh less than 1 oz each, multiples never get overcharged. This works great for things with low weights.

[kmmcrafts]

Had another sale last night on GI.. I'm curious if you other sellers send any messages to the buyers or do you just print the label and indicated order completed? Back in the day selling on Artfire and Zibbet, I sent out a thank you message and when they should expect it to be delivered and any questions or concerns they should message me.. however many sites now have automated messages and send tracking numbers etc.. I used to do this on etsy too but I stopped when i had customers asking why so many messages for the orders.. because etsy send it then I send it then I also would sent tracking numbers etc.. I don't want to spam messages to them or waist time doing it if GI is already sending messages..

Anyway, what are you other sellers doing?

[BadBob]

I haven't yet. It sounds like something I should look into.

[kmmcrafts]

18 minutes ago, BadBob said:

I haven't yet. It sounds like something I should look into.

I think GI sends a message with tracking info.. just not sure about any acknowledgement of order being placed.. I also have not done anything.. Just something back in the day the sites didn't do but I think it's pretty standard now.. but was wondering with GI being small and not a lot of integration etc.. I don't know. 

[BadBob]

443 listing posted in Goimagine. Most are made to order. 

[kmmcrafts]

You've been busy! 

I've just started working on adding more things again now that the busy holidays is over and I got my bookkeeping caught up on. 

Speaking of listings.. several years ago I read that if you have several products you should spread out the listings over several weeks, or months and only do a couple listings per day rather than bulk uploads.. I seen a YouTube video last week that mentioned this too and his theory on it was something along the lines of daily activity on the site picks up google's attention and it helps you rank.. they said bulk upload and then no activity just sinks the ranking down the drain, LOL.. I don't know enough about it to know if that's true or not.. sounds kinda logical but I have no idea. I always wondered if that's kinda what got Etsy off the ground so well.. when someone purchases it renews the listing and brings it back to the front page so it's shown as activity happening... Sound legit but is it or not.. no clue, LOL... On the other hand if you have products to offer but they aren't listed they can't sell either, LOL  

[BadBob]

I don't know about search engines, but Etsy says you get a little boost in Etsy search when a new item is listed or an older one is renewed.

I did not do the bulk upload to Goimagine. I tried it, and it was a total bust. I had them delete all my listings and posted them one at a time. Two or three and sometimes 4 or 5 a day until I got it done. All of my Etsy listings have been added, but I still have a lot in the queue that needs photos. When I am done completely the only things I leave active on Etsy are things that have sold before or get lots of views.