Time flies and caught me nearly unawares, but nevertheless, here it is, the National Preparedness Month for the United States of America.
Since I am very preparedness minded, I am advertising here that I’m running a Survival September 2026 sale in my Etsy shop, in ‘This Month Only’ section, for United States of America, with some items 25% off (not cumulative with other offers), other listings only available for just this month for a regular price.
For a lovely bag with lichen design like in this mockup image, click the picture for a link to this specific listing, or the shop link here https://planktonpunktdesigns.etsy.com for the whole shop.
Edit: I have now added a Survival September 2026 Collection in my Printify pop-up store, and since there is no option to discount individual items, the whole store is running a 20% off (excluding taxes and shipping) for USA for the September 2026.
Many things have been keeping me busy, not the least of which is pivoting my Etsy strategy – I have decided to take expand my market area to EU and the rest of the world.
But only with Etsy. Because Etsy takes care of most of the bureaucracy, whereas with my other channels I would need to immerse myself to the regulations and tax codes of a couple of hundred jurisdictions. Plus the ever changing tariff conditions. Which all would be too much for lil’ PlanktonPunkt.
Originally, I tried to change the product descriptions and shipping profiles to (hopefully) EU compliant (I am copying the info provided by the production partner) by the end of this month, but now I am more modest in my ambitions and aiming to have done it during August. 2026, that is.
After that, Hello World!
Meanwhile, I heard one consultant on YouTube advertising that current trends in Etsy are back to school, feral, and cute bugs. So I thought I could try feral cute snail. On a mug that could work nicely for a college student.
Mug left side: Today, I’m feeling feral. Mug right side: Absolutely feral. Mockups show 11oz and 15oz variants. Clicking any of the images in the gallery leads to my cheaper but USA only pop-up store.
Clicking this link will take to the mug in Etsy, which hopefully, sometime during August 2026, will be available around the world.
Been busy with PlanktonPunkt Designs, trying to optimize my tags for Etsy (and Amazon) SEOs. That is surprisingly heavy work with uncertain results, but obviously my previous tags did not work since almost nobody visited my listings.
While searching for words people might be interested in, I noticed eucalyptus having sufficient number of fans to show up in searches. Also, insulated coffee mugs. So I made eucalyptus art. And recycled my design onto multiple items, including insulated coffee mugs.
While working on that, my print provider advertised a multi-item listing for themed items and of course I had to try it. Long story short, I now have a 5-item listing of desk mats (three sizes), a spiral notebook, mobile phone stand, a black ceramic mug (two sizes) and a black insulated mug, all with maximalist eclectic Summer Eucalyptus art based on a photo of an eucalyptus blooming in California summer. At least I hope it qualifies as maximalist and eclectic, but I could not define the style any better. At least I like the image, so there is that.
I have posted the multi-item listing on Etsy, and it is now available for US customers. I don’t dare to even contemplate Amazon, and I have not yet explored the multi-item option (if any) for Printify pop-up store.
Mockup of Summer Eucalyptus Desk mat, 16″ x 32″ version, 3mm thick neoprene
Some subset of my print on demand items are now on sale also in Amazon USA (sorry, still no overseas selling.) My Amazon listings mainly limited to enamel mugs and ruled-line notebooks, but there are a couple of other items like mobile phone stands.
Since there is no shop as such and I don’t know how to search PlanktonPunkt Designs on Amazon (and therefore suspect that no one else even bothers to try), I’ll be posting every now and then links to individual products. Technically, those should be searchable, but I think their commercial presence will be drowned like a mosquito whine on hurricane. Nevertheless, I’ll try not to bore you too much with crass commercialism but to keep it light among my postings.
Full Speed Snail! Enamel Camping Cup, 12oz capacity, stainless steel with enamel coating, $13.90 + taxes + shipping (within USA) – click on a picture for an Amazon link
And a Full Speed Snail! Mobile Display Stand for hands-free browsing of mobile phone videos, while enjoying coffee from Full Speed Snail! coffee mug. The stand has two piece construction, so it carries easily in handbag or back bag and be disassembled and assembled on a desk or coffee shop table or a horizontal surface on airport as needed. $10.00 + taxes + shipping within USA. Click the photo to see the product in Amazon.
If you don’t like Amazon, the same products are available in my Printify Pop-up Store, and in addition, there are Full Speed! Snail Vinyl Bumper Stickers for the enjoyment of the driver behind you. Or to slap it onto your laptop or luggage to make it different among all the identical black, gray and white laptops and suitcases. Note: if you are putting the sticker on a work laptop, make sure your boss / corporation has a sense of humor or that you are already working for yourself.
7.5″ x 3.75″ (left) and 11″ x 3″ (right) variants available, vinyl stickers with UV-resistant plastic and weather tolerant glue. $8.44 or $9.16 + taxes + shipping within USA. Click on image for a link to the product in my Printify Pop-Up store
And if you feel like traveling at your leisurely pace but not marking your suitcase permanently, there is a Full Speed Snail! Acrylic Luggage Tag with Business Card Insert to announce that Gung Ho! (or not) attitude to the rest of the world (or airport lounge). Nobody else is likely to have the same tag, so your gray or black suitcase will be recognizable among the 112 others in the airport carousel, even when you are jet lagged. You can also write your name and address onto a business card on the back of the tag for the airline to hunt down your lost luggage and ship it to you a couple of months after the vacation or work trip.
2.4″ x 4″ with leather strap to tie it into your luggage, $16.00 + taxes and shipping within USA, click the image to get to PlanktonPunkt Pop-up Store , the tag can be used also outside the USA – Bon Voyage!
Time flies when you are busy, and I realized that the SIngles Day is just behind the corner and my online sales channels were totally unprepared. More importantly, tomorrow is Veterans Day in United States, so to celebrate the Veterans Day and to have a Singles Day sale, I have 11% off my listings on 11/11/2025, both in Printify and on Etsy (the sale on Printify might run to 12th, I was not sure about the settings.)
The links to my sales channels are above in the banner (sorry, still only selling within USA, to avoid bureaucratic entanglements…) 😦
Maple laptop sleeve, one of the many designs available online on my sales channels
I have removed my shop link to eBay from the header, because I do not have an active account in eBay any more.
I will need to find another eCommerce platform to support my sales, but meanwhile, my PlanktonPunkt Designs link to CreateJigsawPuzzles is still active for jigsaw puzzles, and Etsy and Printify shops are still open for other print on demand products.
Apologies to all who may have been planning on buying from PlanktonPunkt Designs from eBay.
I have now began Survival September 2025 sale in my print on demand shops.
My Etsy store is running for US customers a 20% off sale for all items I have uploaded so far until the end of this National Preparedness month in the USA.
I am currently updating the prices of my eBay items (those need to be updated manually each and some include shipping while others do not.)
After that I try to do something to my items in Amazon, and then to those in Printify pop-up store.
All the shops except my Amazon sales channel (which is still just in its beginnings) are listed in the banner, or you can click the highlighted links in the text.
I will be adding more items to my shops as the month progresses.
And while I am setting up the Survival September 2025 sales in this side of the Pacific, I am also uploading more jigsaw puzzle designs, especially for tube puzzles, onto my shop space in CreateJigsawPuzzles market place.
Be like a weed, dare to thrive. Also, be prepared.
The online gurus claim that a product sells more if there is a video attached.
Here I used a POD camping cup I had ordered for myself to show how to pack granola in it for travel and loaded the video into YouTube.
Why granola instead of mug of tea? I am currently trying to sell on theme Survival September 2025, and product lines on travel and meals on-the-go aspect of it (mugs, bento boxes, luggage, mobile phone stands, anything else that could be added to the design lines…) Packing an enamel camping cup with food for travel fits the theme, I hope. Though presented as a travel tip, this would be useful for planning a short term bugout bag, or for (emergency) travel under conditions when restaurants might not be open.
I made a critical mistake by publishing it on YouTube immediately after upload – this will bury the video with few views. Or so I am told. I have not published enough in YouTube to discover if this is true or if I am organically uninteresting.
I also loaded a lower resolution version of it into Etsy with the mug in the video. Maybe it will attract a buyer.
In any case, I am learning video editing, maybe the skill will be useful in the future.
P.S. This design is for sale in Printify, Etsy and eBay.
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