Notes on selling
How to sell from a link in your bio: photographs, pricing, delivery and the small decisions that turn a follower into an order.
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13 min read
Shipping fragile things
Double-box it, drop it on your own floor before a courier does, and photograph the sealed parcel. The method that turns a breakage rate into a rounding error.
11 min read
Shipping internationally for the first time
The forms, the duty your buyer gets billed for at the door, and how to word your listing so a customs charge does not turn into a refund request a week later.
11 min read
Should you offer free delivery
Free delivery is a discount you pay out of margin. Here is the sum that tells you if a threshold earns its keep, and when baking it into the price is better.
12 min read
Splitting payment across two methods
Half by transfer, half to the rider. How to take part payment for an order without ending up with one parcel gone and two payments you cannot match.
15 min read
How to sell candles online without losing a summer of stock
Wax is about a dollar a jar. Cure time, wick testing and a delivery van sitting in July heat are what really decide whether this business works.
12 min read
How to sell skincare online as a small business
What you can legally say about a cream, why patch testing matters, batch codes, and the real cost of a 500-unit minimum. Start smaller than you think.
13 min read
How to start a thrift flipping business
Sourcing hours are the real cost, not the six dollar jacket. What a thrift flip actually pays per hour once listing, laundry and dead stock are counted.
11 min read
How to stop people sharing your digital downloads
You cannot stop it. You can make it inconvenient, and you can make the paid copy the one worth having. Download limits and expiry are the real tools.
13 min read
Taking a deposit before you start
How much to ask for, when to ask for it, and how to say a deposit is non-refundable in one plain sentence a customer will accept before they pay.
13 min read
Taking orders in the comments and the DMs at the same time
The same order arrives twice, once under the post and once in your inbox. Here is how to give it one identity and reconcile the two before Sunday.
12 min read
Taking product photos with just a phone
Your phone is not the problem. Three settings are, and they are on by default. What to switch off, where to stand, and which edits cause refunds.
11 min read
How to test a product before you make it
A poll is not evidence and neither is a friend saying they love it. The only test that counts is somebody paying money before the thing exists.