Returns, Exchanges, Custom Orders, Classes and More: You Need to Have Policies

Before you start selling online or at shows, it's important to decide on your official business policies such as Returns/Exchanges, Custom Orders, and Classes. Here are some great tips for writing your policies and for getting them out to the masses on your social media platforms:

1. Research. Visit similar artist and maker's websites. Read their policies. Think about the policies we agree to when we shop with big box retailers. What do you like? What do you not like? What are you not wiling to compromise on? All of these are essential brainstorming questions. 

2. Get it all in writing. Once you have written your policy, have several people proofread for you. The human brain automatically autocorrects, so it's important to get more eyes on your writing. You are being represented by the words you share and there is no such thing as a real deletion on the internet. Once it's out there, it's out there for good. Check your grammar. Check your spelling. Always, always put your best forward for the world to see--just like you do with your handmade goods. 

3. K.I.S.S. Keep it simple!!! If you write policies the likes of Facebook and Twitter, you will lose your customers and you will lose sales. People don't have time to read lengthy policies. They want it simple, plain, and straightforward. 

4. Share it. Once you have everything finalized, be sure you share it on your social media platforms. Pin it on your FB page. If you send out customer emails, it might be worth a special email. Include your policies as Note posts on Facebook and in your business description.  And repost them now and again to keep the information fresh for your customers.  Get the word out!!

5. Don't recreate the wheel. You don't have to come up with a new way to handle returns or exchanges. Find the policy that fits you best and use it. Work smarter, not harder.

6. Be consistent. If you constantly make exceptions to your policy or if you are changing it all the time, you lose integrity. And your reputation is everything in this world. You have a policy. STICK TO IT. That means for friends, family, and strangers. Period. If you want to be respected, you have to act like a "real" business.

7. No Guilt. You are a small business owner. You are a talented artist and maker. And you are no less valuable than the big box store that makes our movement important. Repeat after me: "I matter!" And when you doubt yourself and your policies, remember that you are a consumer and as a consumer, you are bound by retail policies too. You're not doing anything that every other business isn't doing.