Heartsy Exposure: Is It Worth It?

Have you crunched your Heartsy numbers?
An offer which can be too good to be true can be just that. Featured Heartsy shops have said that their views have increased enormously on the day of their feature. But for the practical minded, we ask, will you be making any profit from the Heartsy feature? Or is the Heartsy deal a loss leader but what you get in advertising will be enough for your time. If you don’t crunch your shop's real numbers, there is actual money that will be need to be spent at the end of your Heartsy feature which may end up coming out of your own pocket.

Here is an example:
Your Heartsy Deal is $18 for $45 = 60%

Average Sale Price for Items Sold in Your Shop is $40 (the current Etsy average)

Heartsy Deals You Commit To Sell is 50 Vouchers

Calculations for Example Above:
Pay Out by Heartsy
A. $18.00 x 50 vouchers = $900.00

Paypal Fees for being paid by Heartsy
B. $26.40 (A x 2.9% +.30 = B)

Items Shown Sold on Etsy (if no one buys over the voucher amount)
C. $45.00 x 50 vouchers = $2,250.00


Etsy Fees
D. $2,250.00 x .035 % = $78.75 ( C x .035% = D)

Shipping Fees
E. $5.00 (average cost to ship item sold) x 50 = $250.00

Cost To Make Items
F. $45.00/3 = $15.00 (for this example, I am using a seller who multiplies their cost of materials by 3 to get their Etsy retail cost)

Cost to Replace Items Sold
G. $15.00 x 50 vouchers = $750.00 (F x 50 = G)

Put it all together:
Money Made from Heartsy Feature
$18.00 x 50 vouchers = $900.00 Heartsy Pay Out

Money Spent for Heartsy Feature
B = $26.40 Paypal Fee
D = $78.75 Etsy Fee
E = $250.00 Shipping Fee
G = $750.00 Cost to Replace Items Sold
$1105.15 Total Monies Spent

Heartsy Profit Versus Monies to Payout
$900.00 - $1105.15 = -$205.15 Loss from Heartsy Deal
This means for a day's worth of advertising, you need to pay $205.15 out of pocket.

A More Positive Outlook
That is some rough math! It is indeed a grim scenario. So, let's be a little more positive and figure in a more successful Heartsy day. Let's say each person who purchased a voucher spent an average of $5.00 over the voucher amount.

Customers Spend $5 over Voucher
H. $5.00 x 50 vouchers = $250.00

Paypal Fees for $5 over the deal multiplied by 50 vouchers
I. $7.55 (H x 2.9% +.30 = I)

Put it all together (again):
Money Made from Heartsy Feature (initial voucher pay out plus overage amount)
$900.00 + $250.00 = $1150.00

Subtract All Fees Above Including Paypal Fees for Vouchers Going Over
B = $26.40 Paypal Fee
D = $78.75 Etsy Fee
E = $250.00 Shipping Fee
G = $750.00 Cost to Replace Items Sold
I = $7.55 Pay Pal Fees for Voucher Overage
$1112.70 Total Monies Spent

Heartsy Profit Versus Monies To Payout
$1150.00 - $1112.50 = +$37.50 Gain from Heartsy Deal
This means for a day's worth of advertising, you gained $37.50. However, you also just sold 50 items for a profit of .75 cents per item.

Conclusion:
So in conclusion, plug in your own shop's numbers. You need to figure out which is the best "voucher amount" to offer in order to entice your possible clients to purchase over the voucher amount. Also, what is the absolute highest discount can you afford. Lastly, you need to know your shipping costs and your cost to replace materials. Then, you will see if the one day Hearty feature is worth your time.

Last Suggestion:
For a successful Heartsy feature what you need is to fully understand your business inside and out. This means you should be able to answer the questions below without hesitation or "ball parking" it. Here are some helpful questions to ask yourself.

1. What is the average selling price of items in my shop
2. What is the average return rate of customers who have purchased from my shop
3. What is my cost to make my items and will this change if I have to replace 50 or more items in my shop
4. How will I cope with increased activity for one week with packaging, answering questions, and keeping up to date with regular clients, shop activity and life in general.
5. If I spent the amount of money I spent on Heartsy for other advertising venues, will the profits be the same, higher or lower.

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