Feeling a little down about Etsy

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Hello everyone! Today I'm feeling just a bit blue about my Etsy shop. Well there are a few things that are bothering me at the moment. First of all, I bought this cute (albeit very cheap) owl necklace (antique) from this vendor in Hong Kong, and she hasn't yet answered my email as to why she hasn't shipped my necklace yet! I sent her a PayPal payment at the same time as another purchase from another Etsy shop, and the other shop sent my package yesterday, and today I'm still waiting!!! I don't want to start getting on his/her case about the slowness of the whole thing, but come on!!! If they take forever, I might be forced to give them a negative feedback. Luckily the whole thing didn't cost me more than $6.52 but the principle is the point! I mean if you're going to run a shop, you have to be on the ball about responding, because negative feedback from slow responses can really affect someone. PLUS, I've checked, but my item doesn't say it's sold, even though the quantity is just 1!!! WTF?

Another beef I have is with a different vendor, but I think her problem is flood related. She was late sending out my package, and as a sorry, sent me a cotton hemp hand printed fat quarter, but I didn't get the 10 fat quarters I originally paid for. I mean I did, but the hand painted one was supposed to be the extra, which should have been 11 in total. I've also been trying to communicate with this woman about this error, but she's been MIA for weeks! I didn't give her a positive feedback either. Not negative, but neutral.

Oh sorry for rambling on and bitching, but it had to be done!

So my last beef is with the lack of sales. I've noticed people who sell other monsters have been on Etsy less time than me, and they're selling more. I don't want it to, but it's sort of squishing my confidence about my product. Honestly, I think it's cause I don't have a 'look'. All my monsters look totally different, and I'm sure that not one person knows that this monster and that monster are made by the same seller. So my plan is to make a new kind of 'monster'... more of a plushy really. I can't say what it's going to look like, because I believe I may have found a niche on Etsy, and this would be it. I can say that it'll combine art and plushies.

I know everyone says selling takes time, months even, but even with a 25% OFF sale right now on all my more expensive monsters, I haven't received ONE request!! You'd think this would get them excited!! A whole quarter off the price?? Yes please!

I must be strong, and confident... and take better pictures. :)  The last one I took of my last creation didn't come out so well. This is the best shot:

Felicia the black cat - she's for sale, but she's not yet on Etsy due to bad photography

The worst part about this is that I didn't make it properly, the box isn't big enough, and the back drop has to be slightly curved (think model photography on a white background) to avoid the corner shadows that I'm getting.

Soon I'll find a bigger box and I'll be able take better photos. :)