SUNDAY... Coffee and Cake

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...

GRABBING A TREASURY I figured that today might be a good day to offer a new tutorial. I've had a busy week looking at the Newer artists of Etsy within the forums, mostly peering into queries in the help forum just to give myself an idea of what it is that most newbies on Etsy seem to struggle with to start off. There were various things ranging from questions about how to get themselves noticed more, to actual Etsy related questions regarding how to do various things. I didn't answer many queries but the one that I found myself over the past couple of days talking about the most was how on earth to beat everyone at grabbing a treasury. I'm amazed at the number of people that have been on Etsy for a while that seem to find it difficult, asking the same question again and again. "Does the treasury EVER go under 333?" Of course the answer is yes, but you need to be bloomin fast when it does. And the best way to MAKE it work for you is to be prepared. So I thought I would offer my own technique of grabbing a Treasury which pretty much works every time for me. The only time it doesn't is if I get distracted! So for those of you that could do with some tips that work for me, read on! It's quite simple really so I'll break it down into a few points :)


#1 : Visit the Etsy Treasuries and set your Treasury view (the blue links beneath the page numbers at the top of the page) from "Hot" to "Expiration", clicking expiration twice so you see the treasuries ending soonest on page 1. OR Visit "craftopolis.com" and check out the Treasury Clock so you can see if the treasury is about to open. Ideally I'd do both. Why? Well to maximise your chances of seeing that "create a Treasury" box which is located at the BOTTOM of the Treasuries list! Being able to see the expiring treasuries countdown will give you an EXACT idea of how long you have left to chance grabbing your own, but you always want to keep an eye on the bottom of the Treasuries list because that's where your create button will appear!

#2 : If you reckon you have the time to jump in on the treasury wagon and have maybe 5, 10+ minutes to spare, USE THE TIME to get your Treasury ready. The most important part to have ready is your TREASURY TITLE and you want to copy it by right clicking with your mouse, so you are ready to paste the title into the box when it pops up. This is important because unless you can type fast you may find the Treasuries close before you finish writing. Whereas copying and pasting saves you from facing that risk.

#3 : Keep an eye on the expiring Treasuries. You need to be at the ready when the Treasury is at about 335-337 because sometimes unexpectedly, even if you think you have minutes to spare, the darned thing opens and you can miss your opportunity. Why? Well some sellers that want to get in on another when they already have one, may close their treasury early to get in with a chance. Even if that's not the reason for everyone, people delete their Treasuries all the time, and it can happen dramatically in the last 30 mins or so, particularly less than 30mins. So just be ready to paste your title and don't browse other pages!

#4 : Just for the record it doesn't open at 333, and sometimes it seems to take longer to open than it states that the last treasury will expire. Don't be tempted to scroll away from the bottom of the screen. Just wait... it'll reach 332 when it opens... and obviously when it does, PASTE!!!! Click create, and BREATHE! :)

Now once you have got this far, you can start looking around Etsy to see what items you'd like to include in your treasury. Be creative! Your treasury will help your chosen sellers immensily, and if you are extremely creative with your chosen items you could even make the front page if you're lucky! The Treasury requires item numbers to grab the picture and item info that you want to display, so its a case of copying and pasting into the boxes when you're ready. If you're very organised, have your items pre-chosen and complete your treasury quickly by having your items ready in advance. The point to the treasuries in my POV is to help one another as a community. So whatever your reasons, just give it a go and have some fun whilst you're at it. Someone asked in the forums the other day if treasuries are done by sellers expecting something in return for featuring others. I'm sure that for most it's not that way at all. I love it when I am featured in a treasury, but I never expect my chosen sellers to go out of their way to put me into any of theirs. It's communal, fun, creative and a great way to explore new works of art around the world! It doesn't need to be a selfish thing at all so don't let it worry you when you create one! Make it, enjoy it and let your sellers know they're in there!

moonangelnay x