Time to Start Selling! {Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving}

{Vintage Turkey – The Dancing Wren}

Time to Start Selling! {Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving}

Tim here. (Kim’s husband and on-again, off-again blogger at Etsypreneur.com}

Kim can’t talk right now… she’s bouncing around the kitchen in some sort of frenzied culinary blur that, had I never experienced it before, would be quite concerning to me.

But since this is not my first rodeo, I wasn’t surprised when she crawled out of bed at an unholy hour that should be spent sleeping or driving on a Red Bull infused road trip, and nothing else.  Nor was I surprised when I was later forced awake by the dog, whose nose alerted him to some major action in the kitchen.  He was crying, relentlessly, at the bedroom door.  The fact that he’s completely blind seemed to have no impact on his sense of direction today.

When I finally stumbled into the kitchen myself, still half asleep, I found the counters covered in casserole dishes filled with a seemingly endless assortment of the side dishes which had to be prepared before the enormous turkey could claim the oven space it will occupy for the next six hours.

Kim makes a wicked awesome Thanksgiving dinner. Booya!

We’re so very blessed and thankful beyond words to be able to enjoy it with family and we hope you have a wonderful day as well.

{Vintage Cash Register Flags – The Old Time Junk Shop}

Tomorrow, The Selling Starts

Actually, it already has started.  Etsy sales are picking up steam and starting tomorrow, as the dust settles from today’s big event in the US, things will really get rolling.

This will be our fourth (or fifth?) year selling on Etsy for the holidays so we go into it knowing what to expect:

You’re going to sell more than you think you will.

It happens every year.  People start buying around mid-November and it just keeps on ramping-up.  It goes on longer than you would expect.  The last-minute shoppers are heavy online so our sales usually stop when, and only when, we put-up the virtual "Closed for the Holidays" sign.

So if you really want to get some sales on Etsy this season but don’t feel like you got your shop ready in-time, take heart.  There is still time.

Oh, and you know what else happens at Holiday time?  People shop faster.  They don’t seem to pay as much attention to things that might make a difference the rest of the year.  If you don’t have many sales or as many items in your shop as you might like, don’t let that stop you.  People will buy anyway.

You’re part of the Etsy community; the Etsy brand in a way.  So get that shop stocked, putting strong focus on the quality of your pictures and the wording of your descriptions.  Make sure you’re clear on shipping timing and methods too.

Opportunity knocks, so here’s to a great Thanksgiving followed by a shopping season that blows away all previous records for Etsy and the handmade/vintage community as a whole!

Go Etsy!

What about you? Have you experienced this same thing in the past? Been surprised by how late in the season people still buy? Or surprised by selling more than you thought you would? We’d love to hear your experience in the comments!