Advantages of Etsy Tools: Sold Orders, Private Notes

Yippee - I just noticed something else I could have been doing the past few years with a feature on the Sold Orders page. I blogged last night about that page. I shared ideas on how to use the various Etsy tools for that feature.

Today, processing an order for my beverage cozies, I discovered something I have been overlooking - the Private Note feature. On each order, there is a place to add a "private note." I never used that feature.

For the past few years, I have added a free gift with every order. If I know the buyer to be a person of faith, it might be one of the cross items in my shop. It could be specially designed bookmarks on cardstock for avid readers. Or a wee crocheted angel.

I never tracked these well. Sometimes I made a note on a duplicate of the order receipt printout which I enclose with each order. Sometimes I forget to make myself any note at all as to what I sent as a free gift.

Today, however, I made a note of what I included with the order. This is a repeat customer. In the future, I can call up that buyer's name and see what I've enclosed as a gift in the past. I will never fear duplicating a freebie ever again. Of course, there are all those earlier gifts that I may not have noted (sigh).

I'm sure there will be other ways I can use that feature, like recording a buyer's preferences. Until now, that usually meant that I had to go into my messy Convo's and read all of the ones related to a specific buyer. Now I can make it easier on myself.

What I regret is the past few years of NOT doing this (sigh). Still, doing it from now on will make my Etsy life easier.