https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/how-do-you-navigate-etsy Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 04 Apr 2026 06:28:53 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/how-do-you-navigate-etsy#post-1208905 Sat, 29 Mar 2014 22:44:22 +0000 Em 1208905@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thank you for the tips and sharing your experience, Rabbit.</p> <p>I know the policies vary. I'll definitely never buy anything that's a final sale. To me that's a bad and unfair&nbsp;practice, even if it's a mainstream store. If you don't stand by your merchandise, something has to be wrong with your merchandise, at least in my book. It may look like a good deal, but if it happens to be worthless, it ends up being just a&nbsp;waste of money.&nbsp;</p> <p>If I ever work up the courage to try these sites, I'll probably start with smaller and inexpensive items that ship from the USA. I guess there are many overseas sellers who do have many good reviews, but you never know who writes the reviews... Also, I've had plenty of my own reviews censored on major sites and I don't even trust the reviews all that much anymore.&nbsp;I also think scarves and jewelry are easier to purchase, but on the other&nbsp;hand any junk can look good on a picture...</p> <p>Once I did have some problem with PayPal and they weren't helpful or easy to communicate with. I'd much rather use a credit card. It appears that quite a few&nbsp;sellers take PayPal only, though. Oh, well, I don't want anything so desperately as to potentially&nbsp;ruin my credit because of&nbsp;it... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/how-do-you-navigate-etsy#post-1208771 Sat, 29 Mar 2014 19:59:03 +0000 rabbit 1208771@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p><b>Em</b> - the return policies vary by shop (check out the detail tabs on the item you are looking at), and you can also PM the seller if you aren't sure before buying. &nbsp;I would probably use the most caution when ordering from far overseas, especially items that look mass-produced. (Not that the shop wouldn't be reliable, but that the item might be&nbsp;skirting the 'handcrafted/independently designed' idea.)&nbsp;&nbsp;The octopus skirt I bought I got the wrong size for me (I used their printed measurements, which were correct&nbsp;but I don't think I measured myself right, lol), and I mailed it back for a dollar or two in an envelope and they sent another of a size that worked.</p> <p>In general buying from small sellers I often use Paypal which has purchase and fraud protection, and will refund your money if the transaction doesn't work out for some reason. &nbsp;Also credit cards will offer this as well. &nbsp;</p> <p>The few times I've had problems with card number theft it's not been for online purchases, but handing my card to a cashier&nbsp;at a shop, using an ATM,&nbsp;or once at an Amtrak ticket window.</p> <p>So far I've bought items with simple tailoring that are hard to go wrong on, jewelry, t-shirts, scarves and like. &nbsp;Also, these are independent artisans, so I don't buy things that I need in a rush. &nbsp; (Then again, it's taken about two months for a microwave I ordered from Sears to arrive, so it's not like this is restricted to small retailers ). </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/how-do-you-navigate-etsy#post-1208740 Sat, 29 Mar 2014 19:31:42 +0000 deb 1208740@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have purchased several pieces of art and some scarves on etsy. I usually start by searching for what I am looking for. Then on the left side you can narrow the search down to certain categories.&nbsp; Then I&nbsp;sort by highest price to give me an idea what is out there. I found that if I sort by lowest price&nbsp;see a lot of crap first. Highest price shows better quality first (usually). </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/how-do-you-navigate-etsy#post-1208721 Sat, 29 Mar 2014 19:14:04 +0000 Kristin L 1208721@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I use the categories and search for phrases. I also limit it by area sometimes because there's a lot of different shops and items there. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/how-do-you-navigate-etsy#post-1208704 Sat, 29 Mar 2014 18:49:32 +0000 Em 1208704@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm interested in this topic as I've seen things I may like to have on this site, but I've never bought anything because I don't feel comfortable (same goes for eBay)... The returns are either extremely difficult or impossible, which pretty much rules clothes and shoes totally out. Even with the rest, you never know what the item will look like in reality...&nbsp;I guess I could try buying something from the USA, but ordering stuff from other (and particularly questionable) countries seems too risky for me. What have your experiences been?</p> <p>I hope my question is not considered highjacking this thread. I thought this was a somewhat general conversation and it'd be OK, instead of opening another thread. But yes, their search seems to work quite well. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/how-do-you-navigate-etsy#post-1208673 Sat, 29 Mar 2014 18:16:49 +0000 Golden 1208673@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>LOL, I have a shop on Etsy so I am mainly at my own!&nbsp; :)&nbsp; I think if you type in some keywords it will run a search.&nbsp; The more you use it the easier it becomes.&nbsp; I have purchased a few things from Etsy as well as sold, I like the idea of buying from Artisan's rather than big business.&nbsp; Have fun with it, there are a lot of great items! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/how-do-you-navigate-etsy#post-1208647 Sat, 29 Mar 2014 17:49:04 +0000 rabbit 1208647@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>There's two ways I do it, if I'm just snooping/browsing I can sometimes go in through the top nav buttons on the home page (like 'jewelry') and then just drill down. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>There are two categories 'vintage' and 'handmade' so sometimes I'll just select 'handmade' &nbsp;if I don't want to page through a lot of thrifted clothes.</p> <p>Otherwise I do what <b>rachey</b> does, and type in various search terms 'victorian tights' &nbsp;'silver necklace' &nbsp;'red flared coat' 'feather earrings'&nbsp;for example and go hunting. &nbsp;You can also type in a style descriptor, like 'steampunk', 'rockabilly', etc.&nbsp;&nbsp;I look at the number of reviews of a seller if I'm not sure, but I've had no problems with buying from new/small sellers so far either. &nbsp; It's worth double-checking returns, where the item is coming from, shipping costs, etc.</p> <p>Also items are sometimes made to order, which can take a little longer, but also means you can customize what you are getting somewhat.</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/how-do-you-navigate-etsy#post-1208643 Sat, 29 Mar 2014 17:42:28 +0000 April 1208643@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>The great thing about the vastness of Etsy is that you can make your search pretty specific. &nbsp;Sometimes I search things like "vintage industrial red metal container" and get five pages of hits. &nbsp;</p> <p>Also be sure to favorite everything you love, because it can be hard to find it again. &nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/how-do-you-navigate-etsy#post-1208634 Sat, 29 Mar 2014 17:32:58 +0000 Suzanne (ambergreen) 1208634@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Umm...very carefully? J/k.</p> <p>Yes...it can be time-consuming to dig through. It's just something I think you have to accept is going to take time. But once you do find something, their favoriting system works pretty well--you can fave either items or whole shops so that you can find them again. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/how-do-you-navigate-etsy#post-1208632 Sat, 29 Mar 2014 17:30:43 +0000 rachylou 1208632@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>By killing hours and hours? Hehe. I like to do etsy searches on themes, just for the heck of it. Yesterday was "powder blue" and "sugar skull" (my neighborhood's avatar). </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/how-do-you-navigate-etsy#post-1208628 Sat, 29 Mar 2014 17:27:43 +0000 Peri 1208628@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I've only bought one thing from Etsy...an iPad case...but I love the animal prints Rabbit posted and Ceit and Alaskagirl have both&nbsp;linked intriguing Etsy shops. There are just so many! How do you find shops you like? </p>