Heartsy- The Good, The Bad, The Narwhal

So I did it. I jumped on the Heartsy bandwagon. In the middle of a new year slump, working part time, and looking for more ways to promote the shop Heartsy just seemed like something I ought to try.
For those of you who do not know what Heartsy it, it's a Groupon-type site for Etsy. Crafters offer vouchers for their shops for deep discounts to a limited number of customers. If you are a member of the site you get first pick of the daily deals. You can find Heartsy at www.heartsy.me
It was easy to get approved for a deal and get the whole thing set up. I was mildly worried that my deals might languish on the Heartsy store shelves like day old bread. But I was in for a big shock! All 15 of my vouchers were snatched up in four minutes! My little shop was hardly ready for the traffic I received, either. I had over 700 visitors to the shop that day (according to Google Analytics). I was thrilled at the response, and got many kind emails from people saying they had been waiting and watching for my shop to show up on Heartsy.
So the downside? Aside from the fact that I was selling $49 felties for $17- a cut I was willing to make in exchange for the advertising and exposure on the site- most of the people with vouchers didn't want things I already had in stock. They wanted custom orders. I ended up with 12 custom orders for everything from an squid to a honey badger. Most were completely understanding that my custom orders take time and I was taking them in the order in which they were received, but a couple didn't seem to grasp the concept and had to be moved to the front of the line as they were writing me multiple harassing emails asking how soon they would be getting their such and such.
Already feeling a bit overwhelmed, I got pneumonia. Raging, antibiotic resistant, debilitating pneumonia. I was out for over three weeks. Again, most of my customers were wonderful and understanding, but there were a couple who just didn't understand. Plus, it wasn't like they were asking for a fox, which I could felt out in my sleep, all these orders were for new and strange things. Especially that squid. Let me tell you, that squid was difficult.
So all in all, would I do another Heartsy deal? Yes. But I would build up my shop stock first and limit my orders to what I had on hand. That way it wouldn't end up being an albatross around my neck for months. I am just now finishing up my last two Heartsy orders, a narwhal and a honey badger, for a lovely lady who was very sweet about being last on the list. I met some great people, got some great exposure for the shop, got woefully overwhelmed, pulled it together at last, and made the whole thing into a success. And nothing feels so great as to watch those vouchers disappear when the Heartsy shop opens in the morning. So, if you're willing to take the plunge, and ready to be overrun with orders for a while, and work really hard, and take a cut in your profits in exchange for some great advertising give Heartsy a second look.