It’s a new year, and with a new year comes change and the opportunity to start afresh or try new things. I’m embracing this idea fully and one of the new ideas I am trying out is incorporating product reviews.
I’d love to hear your feedback on this new addition to the site, that’s the best and most effective way for me to know if you find this beneficial in any way… So please, talk to me 🙂
- Do you like reading reviews of other Etsy shop owners’ products?
- Would YOU like to have your product(s) reviewed?
- Anything else?
Oh and by the way, if you do like the idea of having your product reviewed I just have one caveat right now… I will personally buy the products that I review. I really want to have the freedom to give an honest review and I would feel guilty if I was given a gift and had to say something less-than-flattering about it 🙁
Okay? Deal! Now on to the product review.
Etsy shop: Sid Kassidy
Craft: Jewelry-making
Item being reviewed: Sterling silver heart-shaped necklace (click each photo to enlarge it for more detail)
Shipping & presentation: This item shipped from Canada and I live in California. I was away on vacation at the time it arrived but it got to me in a timely manner and was very well packaged. It arrived in a bubble envelope which protected the contents of the package. There were no signs of damage to the outer packaging.
Inside the envelope the necklace was wrapped in tissue and packed in a nice brown box with a cotton padding. The tissue did not appear to have been “recycled” from a gift or anything like that (I should know, I am the queen of reusing gift tissue I receive to repackage gifts I give), so this was a plus.
Buying experience: One of the things I enjoyed about shopping at Sid Kassidy was that I could select the price range of item (or gift) I was looking and filter the items that way, as in they were tagged as “Gifts under 30” and “Gifts under 50”; so in addition to using the built in Etsy filter this gave me an additional way to narrow down the items.
Actual product: I got to pick the finish of the pendant (buyers have three options for finishing) and I selected the hammered finish because I wanted the necklace to have somewhat of a distressed look. I am happy with the finish of the heart-shaped pendant, it is exactly as I expected it would be.
The chain itself seemed a bit light so I gently tugged at it just to test for strength. It withstood that but I don’t normally yank my necklaces anyway so that shouldn’t be a problem.
The clasp took some getting used (see photographs). I am used to necklace clasps where you wither pull a lever open or press down to open but in this caseI had to slide one loop into the other. it was easy enough to open when I first put it on but taking it off the first time I struggled a bit and eventually had to bring the clasp to the front and look in a mirror to figure out how to unlatch. To be clear, the latch is secure, it was just a new mechanism for me.
Customer service: Excellent in every way. I was notified of when the item shipped and communication was easy and seamless… even though I was tardy in leaving feedback. 🙂 She also does a good job of branding by including a little card in the package that directs you to her website (though I was unable to find the site when I searched for it online) and Facebook page.
PS: If you’ve enjoyed reading this product review and you’d like to have me review one of your own handmade products and spotlight your Etsy shop in this Product Reviews section, please use the contact form and send me a message (don’t forget to tell me what the name of your Etsy shop is) and I will buy something from your shop and review it! 🙂