Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

If you love to quilt and don’t have enough time, maybe this How To is for you!

Firstly, this “how to” is meant to explain some the of mystery of shopping on Etsy. Secondly, I hope it saves you time, to boot!

If you are like me, sometimes you’d like to wear a button: “I’d rather be quilting”.

Obviously, if you are a quilter, you already know that quilting is time-consuming. Personally, I don’t consider myself productive when I’m doing something like laundry, housework, or even computer-work! Obviously, I know that these are necessary things to do and are valuable. But the way my mind works, do things other than creating beautiful quilts is kind of like buying tires. I just don’t want to do it!

Shopping online can be annoying and even scary.

So, I get it when quilters who aren’t familiar or comfortable shopping on-line get frustrated. Not only does it take time, it takes time away from what we’d all rather be doing!

Hopefully, this little How To guide to Etsy can save a quilter some time while introducing some fun quilting options.

To keep things simple, I’ll use my own shop for some how-to examples.

Five things to know about how to use Etsy:

  • Etsy is an online global marketplace for all kinds of unique goods. It features handmade items, supplies,  or vintage goods from little shops from all around the world
  • Etsy is easy to use. Simply type the name of the item or shop you are looking for in the search bar at the top of the website. If you don’t get a result you are looking for, try a “key word”, like “quilt patterns”, “bee” or “seahorse quilt pattern.
  • When you find something you like, click on the heart and it becomes one of your Favorites. All of your favorite items and shops are accessible through the simple “Favorites” button.
  • Also, you can to browse a feed that Etsy provides based on your searches and your favorites.
  • *Purchasing on Etsy is easy and safe. The Etsy company handles the monetary transaction completely, so the shop-owner never gets your payment information. For example, when someone places an order in my shop, I only get that person’s name and shipping address so that I can fill their order. That makes Etsy a place where you can shop online at many different boutiques while only providing your payment information to one company.

Etsy reviews and ratings are different!

Like many companies, the Etsy review system is based on stars. You can rate one, two, three, four, or five stars. Moreover, most people still consider three stars to be good or average; a four is even better; and five is perfect. However, on Etsy, any star rating below a FIVE hurts that shop. Keep that in mind when you are giving reviews on Etsy!

How to consider the content instead of the stars.

You can also easily read reviews to see how other customers like a shop and the goods they’ve received. This is highly motivating for shop owners since they only want top ratings and reviews. You are sure to get good service! In the same fashion, consider that a 4-star rating (which Etsy considers bad) by I customers who states, “I LOVE IT!” is likely a fantastic review by someone who simply doesn’t ever give 5-star reviews.

What can you find on Etsy?

Quilters can shop for all things quilt related. Besides patterns and fabric, look for notions, fusible web, tools and rulers and even Featherweight machines!

Hope you’ve learned how to have fun on Etsy!

Want to learn more? Click here to learn how to use both beautiful sides of fabric!

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Enjoy YOUR quilting journey!