#to do Either of them; idk if that etsy sale I saw for that one shop is still going and I can't wait until the last minute- | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chasing-rabbits · 2 years

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Update:

Hi guys so moving is becoming ever more expensive and at some point I had always planned to try and find a print on demand seller to integrate with Etsy or Shopify. I am eventually going to have one store for everything I make myself and another for my print on demand products this allows me to take some of the pressure off myself by outsourcing but it also allows for me to cover more niches in terms of designs. I can’t have one store with thousands of different designs it just doesn’t really work when I’m selling multiple product types too. It would make the site too busy with too many options in too many different niches/categories. And I cannot of course fulfil multiple stores myself because I am only one person I cannot be sat there printing and making lots of different items (of course this is me assuming I’ll actually run a profitable business but gotta have a positive outlook right!). So I’ve just received one of my sample orders for a sticker this is for their small sticker now it is slightly larger than it should’ve been and by that I mean I made my design a little bit larger than it was meant to and this has meant a little bit of the black outline on the design was cut off it’s so marginal you wouldn’t even notice it if not for the fact it only happened on one side of the sticker and the other has a smaller white border. Now I don’t think this is majorly important and going forward it’s an easy fix of just making my image a little bit smaller. It’s taken me awhile to find a print on demand provider that I actually trust and will use that is UK based (or predominantly UK based) with good shipping times, good price points and isn’t getting a lot of returns due to errors (an issue I saw with Printful in the private groups which is a site I was using/trying out for a bit last year). I just wanted opinions on 1. What do you think of the quality of the sticker and 2. How much would you pay for it? I’m thinking of pricing it around £3 for a single sticker with £1 shipping but if 5 or more stickers are bought it’d be free shipping and then look at doing even larger discounts for people buying idk like 10 or more stickers. I’ve looked at Etsy and prices vary wildly between stickers but a lot of small independent sellers seem to be selling stickers around this size at about a £3 price point some are a bit lower and some are a bit higher. I’ve seen some sellers sell stickers for such a low amount that even if I was making them myself at home (which would have a lower base cost) I’d still be struggling to make a profit so I‘m not entirely sure who they are doing it unless they are lying and selling mass produced stickers bought in bulk from china or somewhere which is violating Etsy’s TOS. Or maybe they are able to afford to get there sticker designs produced in large enough quantities by print producers that the costs are minimal (I do know of a local Leeds based printing service who do make good quality stickers where in if I had the storage to buy these stickers in bulk and the money it would make the costs very low but you’d have to be buying in massive quantities so idk). Anyways I’m going to make another post with the sticker in because this one has gotten rather long. And hopefully very soon I’ll have some products up and running for sale probably on Shopify as I’m not sure if I could keep the price at £3 if doing it via Etsy as the fees are going to cause issues I’d either have to up shipping or the cost of the product. Currently £1 shipping isn’t what it costs me it actually costs me £2 to ship but that’s far too much to charge the end customer so I’ve integrated the £1 hit into my price point which is why if I then had to add on even just the Etsy listing fee let alone the 5% or so they take which I don’t have to worry about with shopify it could lead to me struggling with making any profit or something as low as 15p a sticker which is not viable given the time it’d take to manually process the orders and upload designs etc etc

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tswatch · 7 years

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so um...one of my friends unfortunately has no access to mental health resources professionalwise, and im not sure how to help them because im in no way liscensed and theyre v suicidal a lot and im always worried about them. idk what to do -spook

Hi love, thanks for messaging us!

I want to start off by saying that your friend is very lucky to have someone like you in their life. You obviously care about them a lot. The fact that you’re messaging us on advice on how to help someone makes you an awesome, amazing friend. Friends like you can be hard to come by

Now, how can you help your friend? When it comes to someone you care about being depressed and suicidal, it can all seem super overwhelming and hopeless. But there are things you can do and try to help your friend get through this difficult time.

One of the worst things you can do is not say anything at all. Just the simple act of asking if your friends wants to talk about how their feeling will show that you care. And that means everything in the world, trust me. Tell your friend that you love them and care about them and want to help them. Be honest and tell them that you’re not quite sure what to say or do to help, but that you want to help.

Sometimes actions speak louder than words. Sometimes there is nothing you can say that will make things better, but simply being supportive can make all the difference in the world. A lot of people feel the need to say something in order to feel helpful, but sometimes the act of listening is more effective than any words could ever be. Just the simple fact that you are even there to talk to them and support them matters more than you realize.

The best thing you can do is encourage them to get help herself, whether that be professional help or even simply telling a family member how their feeling (both would be best!). Keep in mind that sometimes people need to hear things over and over again before they start to sink in. You might have to literally beg them to get help, which I know can be frustrating, but please don’t give up! Encourage them to talk to other people about what’s going on, especially an adult or professional. Maybe go with them to the school counselor, or even go with them to a doctor, for moral and emotional support? (I’m not sure if you live near them or not).

I would say something like, “I love you, and I’m worried about you. It would mean a lot to me if you saw a doctor or professional. I’ll even go with you. Please, I care about you so much and I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

Now I know you mentioned that this friend doesn’t have any access to mental health resources... is that because they can’t afford it, or is there something else preventing them from getting professional help? If it’s because they can’t afford it, maybe you could organize a fundraiser to raise some money for your friend, like a bake sale. Or maybe you can start selling your artwork on Etsy for some extra cash to help them out if you’re an artist, or help them brainstorm ideas they can get extra money themselves.

Here are some links which give suggestions on what to do if you can’t afford health insurance / therapy / medication. Maybe you can show these to your friend and they can help them in some way?

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/12/04/what-to-do-when-you-cant-afford-therapy/

http://greatist.com/grow/resources-when-you-can-not-afford-therapy

Do you have any mutual friends that can help you convince this friend to get help? There’s strength in numbers, and if they are hearing it from multiple people, it might sink in more! Please don’t try to support them on your own. That’s too much for one person to deal with by themselves. You’ll be much more successful in helping them if you have other people on your side helping you!

With that being said, please don’t hesitate to get their family involved if you are afraid they are an immediate risk for hurting herself. They’re probably going to be very mad at first, but it’s so important that their family knows what is going on so they can help keep them safe and get them the help they needs! It’s better to have them alive and mad than dead. So if you’ve tried everything possible to get them to get help and they refuses, and they’re in danger of hurting herself, I’d contact their family.

Another thing that you could try is helping them come up with what I call an “escape plan.” Think about it this way: every business has a fire escape plan, right? They figure out what is the best exit in a fire and the best way to get there. They even practice it a few times with fire drills. They do all of this before there is ever a fire, because if they waited until there was a fire, there would be mass chaos and people would get injured. It’s the same with suicidal thoughts. You have to have a plan before you find yourself in that crisis. So maybe you can help them come up with an escape plan. Brainstorm some things they can do if they have the urge to act on his thoughts. Make a list of activities they can do to distract himself, people they can call, or places they can go. Have them keep this list somewhere so that they can take it out in an emergency and go through the things one by one. Keep a copy of the list with you so that you can help them go through the list if need be. If you need ideas for things they can do to distract themselves, check out this page here: http://tswatch.tumblr.com/selfharmhelp and http://tswatch.tumblr.com/distraction

You could also help them make a list of reasons not to hurt / kill themselves, or reasons they should keep living. Either you can help them come up with one, or you can write one for them. If you help them come up with one, have them write down all the people they care about, their dreams and goals, their favorite things, their hobbies, places they want to visit, things they want to do, their favorite music, concerts they want to attend, etc. You could find some ideas here: http://tswatch.tumblr.com/reasons

One of the most helpful techniques for helping someone overcome depression / protecting someone from themselves is to get them out of the house. If you stay in the house alone in your room, you’re more likely to stay stuck in your depressive rut. So maybe part of their plan can be to come to your house when their feeling down, or for you to go over there and watch a movie, or for them to meet you at a park to go for a walk, or something like that! That way you can physically be there with their to help keep them safe. Again, this only really applies if you live near them or not.

There’s also a lot of great resources on the internet that have good ideas on how to help someone struggling with mental illness / depression / suicidal thoughts. The more research and reading you do, the better you can help you friend!

Hope this helps,

#support #jen #Anonymous

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