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Etsy’s simple tips for filming listing videos

Kika Angelic

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As you know, the e-commerce platform Etsy, which focuses on crafty sellers of handmade items recently introduced the option to include videos in listings.

Video can be a compelling format to help your products come to life for shoppers, from pre-empting common questions to highlighting usability and showcasing creative details that will stick in shoppers’ minds as they browse. And thanks to smartphones, capturing high-quality product videos to complement your listing photos doesn’t have to be complicated. Etsy covered the basics of filming and uploading listing videos in this short guide:

1. Set the stage

Shoot on uncluttered backdrops that make your items pop, keeping shoppers who might be viewing your items on smaller phone screens in mind. Solid colours like white or grey often work well. For listing video inspiration and examples from other Etsy sellers, check out 3 Types of Listing Videos That Online Shoppers Love.

2. Prep your phone

Before you begin filming, charge your phone completely. Check to see that you have at least two gigabytes of storage space so you can capture as much footage as needed. You may need to remove some files (such as videos or photos) to make room on your phone.

3. Light your scene

Choose a spot to film with plenty of indirect natural light. Allowing light to softly fall on your subject from the side will have an illuminating effect. Avoid harsh, direct light from behind or in front of your subject since your subject will end up looking silhouetted.

4. Stabilise the Camera

Keeping your camera steady is one of the best ways to make a video look more professional. You don’t necessarily need to buy a tripod or a clip-on stand, though they can be helpful tools for stability and control over your shot. You can make your own stand by stacking sturdy materials to create a level surface, like a stack of books. 

5. Frame your shot

Resolution: Many smartphones have two cameras: one on the front and one on the back. When possible, use the camera on the back, since it captures higher-quality video. Make sure the resolution settings is set to 1080p HD at 30 frames per second (FPS). From an iPhone, you can go to Settings > Camera > Record video to select this option. 

Aspect ratio: To keep the listing experience cohesive for shoppers, you’ll want the aspect ratio (a ratio of width to height) of your listing video to reflect the same orientation as your primary listing photo. (For many phones, shooting in the default portrait mode can result in a 9:16 video that’s difficult to view on some screens.)

To update the aspect ratio of your video on an iPhone: 

  1. Open the video you’d like to edit in your photo library
  2. Tap Edit in the upper right corner of the screen
  3. Select the Crop function on the lower right corner of the bottom menu
  4. Tap the Aspect ratio options in the upper right corner
  5. Select the appropriate aspect ratio from the bottom menu (includes 8:10, 5:7, square, etc). Please note: Videos cropped to square on iPhone are compressed to a low resolution quality when uploaded via phone, resulting in an upload error. If you prefer to use a square aspect ratio on your videos, you can upload the cropped videos via desktop to avoid compression. 

Focus and exposure: Focus the shot by tapping on the most important subject in the frame. If your phone has a feature that auto-locks for focus and exposure (most iPhones do), hold your finger on that spot until the camera indicates the AE/AF lock is activated. This will ensure that your subject will stay focused and well-lit.

Once you have everything set up, take some test videos to make sure everything looks the way you want. Change things around until you’re happy. Once you’re ready, just press record!

6. Add the finishing touches

Use the trim function on your phone to cut off any extra footage at the beginning and the end of your favourite clips – each finished listing video should be between 5-15 seconds long. Avoid adding filters or altering the colour saturation on your listing videos to provide an accurate depiction of your products. And remember, the videos you upload to your listings on Etsy will not play audio, so don’t worry about removing any background noise or narration. 

When you’re ready, you can easily upload your video by editing the selected listing in the Listing Manager. You’ll find the option to upload your listing video below the listing photos section. Just select the file from your computer or phone, wait for it to upload, and hit publish. Videos longer than 15 seconds will be clipped.

➡️ If you are an Amazon Seller who needs help with any Amazon-related issues such as suspensions, listing blocks or is looking for professional assistance, please don’t hesitate to subscribe to my new OnlyFans page at: www.onlyfans.com/kikaangelic

My name is Kristina Hajdukova, but I am known as Kika Angelic. I used to be the most prolific and reputable contributor on the Amazon Seller Forum until being removed and defamed. Here you can learn more about my story: My GoFundMe page seeking help from Amazon – feel free to support me! Eventually, I became the first person in the world to succeed in a defamation lawsuit against Amazon and the company had to prominently publish me an apology and pin it to the top of the whole Amazon Seller Forum, click here to see it! Regarding Amazon Seller Performance, you can always participate in my Amazon Seller Performance – Friendly Advice – Worldwide group, where you will be very welcome. If you are an Amazon Seller who needs help with any Amazon-related issues such as suspensions, listing blocks or is looking for professional assistance, please don’t hesitate to subscribe to my new OnlyFans page at: www.onlyfans.com/kikaangelic

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OnBuy shares latest news

Kika Angelic

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In their latest marketplace newsletter, OnBuy shared what they have new.

Unlike Amazon, OnBuy strives to never compete with independent retailers, according to their statement:

“We’re determined to change the way consumers view online marketplaces, and that starts with our fair approach and commitment to you, our retailers. We vow never to compete with you but to treat you as equal partners and provide the best environment for you to grow.”

They were also working on VAT compliance.

“If this change is applicable to you, you’ll notice this reflected in the ‘VAT collected’ column on the orders page and also in reports on the VAT collected for orders.”

OnBuy further shared the list of their upcoming events:

Garden & Outdoors is a big focus over the coming months, covering everything from gardening and furniture to camping and outdoor sports. 

Searches for all things garden started climbing in March, with high demand for garden storage, gardening products and garden furniture expected in late April – May.

We’ve also got promotional pushes planned around Father’s Day (from w/c 16th May), the Queen’s Jubilee (from w/c 9th May), summer bedding (from w/c 30th May) and travel/holidays (from June). 

Here you can view the whole OnBuy newsletter:

I hope you found this article helpful. Many Amazon sellers recently started trading stocks and crypto currencies, hoping to diversify their income, which is a very good idea with all the uncertainty which comes with the platform. For this reason, we launched a new Facebook group, Crypto Arbitrage Income (Bitcoin, Crypto, Altcoins, Blockchain, Trading) – feel free to join us and forget about the troubles of selling on Amazon for a moment!

Regarding Amazon Seller Performance, you can always participate in our Amazon Seller Performance – Friendly Advice – Worldwide group, where you will be very welcome.

If you are an Amazon Seller who needs help with any Amazon-related issues such as suspensions, listing blocks or is looking for professional assistance, please don’t hesitate to subscribe to my new OnlyFans page at: www.onlyfans.com/kikaangelic

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Etsy increases their selling fees

Kika Angelic

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This week, Etsy announced an increase of their transaction fees from 5% to 6.5%. Similarly to Amazon, they have done so in a form of a ”feel-good” positive announcement titled “Investing in Etsy’s growth: A message from CEO Josh Silverman”.

The whole notice starts with celebration of success of Etsy sellers and a mention of recorded increase of sales by 23%. It then proceeds to mention that selling fees are getting increased.

Etsy justifies the increase by saying that they invested into marketing, enforcing bad actors and improving customer support.

Here is a copy of the full announcement:

Dear Seller Community,

At Etsy, we’re focused on building a marketplace that allows sellers like you to turn your creativity and passions into real, money-making businesses. Last year, active sellers increased their sales by 23% on average compared to 2019, and in 2021 alone, we showed more than 90 million active buyers worldwide that there’s an alternative to big-box, automated shopping.

Together, we’ve made Etsy the global marketplace for unique and creative goods.

We plan to make significant investments in marketing, seller tools, and creating a world-class customer experience so we can continue this tremendous growth. To support this goal, on April 11 we will increase our current 5% transaction fee to 6.5%

This change will allow us to make improvements in three key areas: Bringing more buyers to Etsy: Last year, we spent nearly $600 million on marketing. This year we’ll be investing even more, including on TV commercials, influencers and tastemakers, billboards, podcast advertising, and email marketing that bring new buyers to Etsy. 

The support you need: We’ll grow our support team by more than 20% this year so you can get help more quickly and easily, including faster email responses, expanded access to live chat, and prioritization of your most urgent requests. 

Keeping Etsy unique: We’ll build on last year’s roughly $40 million investment in the teams and technology that help make our marketplace a safe and secure destination for handmade, vintage, and special items. This year we’ll expand our efforts to remove listings that don’t meet our policies and help you resolve issues with buyers. 

These are some of the great things we’ll invest in to keep Etsy a beloved, trusted, and thriving marketplace. We don’t take fee changes lightly, and we believe that these investments will enable Etsy, and our seller community, to continue to grow.

Thank you for making Etsy a one-of-a-kind marketplace. 

There is also a banner with the announcement published at the top of Etsy’s home page:

I hope you found this article helpful. Many Amazon sellers recently started trading stocks and crypto currencies, hoping to diversify their income, which is a very good idea with all the uncertainty which comes with the platform. For this reason, we launched a new Facebook group, Crypto Arbitrage Income (Bitcoin, Crypto, Altcoins, Blockchain, Trading) – feel free to join us and forget about the troubles of selling on Amazon for a moment!

Regarding Amazon Seller Performance, you can always participate in our Amazon Seller Performance – Friendly Advice – Worldwide group, where you will be very welcome.

If you are an Amazon Seller who needs help with any Amazon-related issues such as suspensions, listing blocks or is looking for professional assistance, please don’t hesitate to subscribe to my new OnlyFans page at: www.onlyfans.com/kikaangelic

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Etsy apologizes for erroneously issued refunds

Kika Angelic

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Today, Etsy informed their sellers by e-mail that numerous refunds were erroneously issued to buyers as a part of a site-wide technical difficulty.

Affected sellers were provided with specific orders, for which refunds were issued and advised not to take any action, because Etsy is addressing the matter with buyers and the company is covering all refunds out of their own funds.

Orders, for which full refunds were mistakenly issued are still showing as paid in Orders & Shipping dashboard.

Here is a copy of the e-mail wording from Etsy:

Hello there,

We’re getting in touch to share an update about one of your recent orders. Earlier this week, we discovered that a small number of Etsy buyers unintentionally received a refund. This includes the customer who placed this order with you: 7689803251

Please note that the funds you received for that order, €17.5, are still visible in your financial activity as well as added to your balance like any other sale. Etsy is covering the cost of this order. If you’re still working on the order, you should fulfill it as planned. If you already shipped the order, there’s nothing to worry about—the funds you received are yours to keep.

If your customer reaches out about the accidental refund, you can reassure them that we’re aware of the issue and that they’ll receive an email from Etsy with more details soon.

Thanks for being part of the Etsy community!

Here is a screenshot of the e-mail:

I hope you found this article helpful. Many Amazon sellers recently started trading stocks and crypto currencies, hoping to diversify their income, which is a very good idea with all the uncertainty which comes with the platform. For this reason, we launched a new Facebook group, Crypto Arbitrage Income (Bitcoin, Crypto, Altcoins, Blockchain, Trading) – feel free to join us and forget about the troubles of selling on Amazon for a moment!

Regarding Amazon Seller Performance, you can always participate in our Amazon Seller Performance – Friendly Advice – Worldwide group, where you will be very welcome.

If you are an Amazon Seller who needs help with any Amazon-related issues such as suspensions, listing blocks or is looking for professional assistance, please don’t hesitate to subscribe to my new OnlyFans page at: www.onlyfans.com/kikaangelic

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