Etsy Continues Gifting Focus With New Gift Teaser Sneak Peek Feature For Buyers
Etsy's efforts to be the "go to" site for all your gifting needs continues with new Gift Teaser feature that allows buyers to send gift recipients a sneak peek message.
Last minute shoppers seem to be the prime target for this feature with Etsy touting you can instantly send a digital preview of the gift directly to the recipient or schedule their teaser to be sent when the item ships so they know something special is on the way.
Gift teasers include a personalized message from the buyer and tracking info, with the option to let the receiver reveal a photo from the listing or keep the gift a surprise.
How it works
When shoppers are buying a gift on Etsy, they can mark the order as a gift and include a gift message. That gift message can now be used in two ways:
- Personalized message: If an order is marked as a gift and the buyer includes a gift message, that personalized note is included on the gift packing slip—all you need to do is print it out and include it in your package.
- Gift teaser: Buyers also have the option to create a gift teaser to send directly to the gift recipient—there’s nothing you need to do.
It's important to note that shoppers won’t see the option to send a gift teaser when purchasing a digital item.
If the buyer creates a gift teaser, there will be a gift message badge on the order in Shop Manager and if sellers don’t have gift messages enabled in their shops, the buyer will only be able to add a note to their gift teaser.
That last part appears to be causing some confusion among the seller community, some of whom are starting to see gift messages on orders when they had that option disabled.
So I just got an order and the customer was able to choose "include gift message". I have this option disabled and has been disabled since they started it. Anyone else get this today? I don't want to offer it. I ship 35 to 40 orders a day and this would slow me down considerably.
Another seller contacted support and was told it is safe to ignore these messages if you have the gift message option disabled.
Yes, it's ok to ignore. I just chatted with Etsy and they said: "If you don’t have gift messages enabled in your shop, the buyer will only be able to add a message to their gift teaser. There’s no action required on your end. If the buyer creates a gift teaser, you’ll see the gift message badge on the order in your Shop Manager."
So the teaser is an email where the gift message is included, you're just seeing it within their order.
The Gift Teaser is just the latest in Etsy's attempts to keep the site top of mind for consumers looking for gifting ideas for all occasions throughout the year, on top of a Super Bowl debut, celebrity collaborations and AI-powered recommendations from Etsy Gift Mode.
Liz Morton
What do you think of Etsy Gift Mode and Gift Teaser? Let us know in the comments below!
much too complicated now for a few pounds a year in sales
They just "killed the golden goose". I imported my 1500+ eBay items to there since it was free. Turned out just to be a lot of work for (maybe) 3 sales a month.
The total fees were higher there before this new $20 a month cost structure, even though they claimed otherwise. When one factors in the 3.49% + 49 cent PayPal processing fees so one can get paid, there went a good chunk of profit.
Now they have boosted their commission to 11%, and still claim that the cost to sell there is less than eBay's. And remember that this does not include payment processing. WHY?? Makes no sense at all.
On eBay, for $27.95 a month, I sell over 100 items there every 30-31 days. Makes ZERO SENSE to pay a site $20 to make just a couple of sales. Since they now allow 50 "free listings", I have trimmed my offerings back to just below that amount. Also had to raise all my prices accordingly to absorb the extra selling costs.
The people who run the show here obviously didn't realize that eBay sellers who imported their listings gave the site a great depth of product, which would attract more buyers. Now that will be gone, because NO ONE will pay them $20 monthly for little to no sales.
The site also has technical issues that they refuse to fix. It was a decent resource to enable the occasional sale, but they will soon be stacked onto the eCommerce trash heap of companies that THOUGHT they could compete with Amazon and eBay. Etsy may also suffer the same fate soon, as many sellers are also leaving their site due to high fees, website issues, and poor management.
Basic eComm rule here: When you do not carry any inventory, and sellers are solely responsible for supplying your site with the goods offered, DON'T BITE THE HAND WHICH FEEDS YOU!!!