Holiday sales on Etsy can really make your year! There are a few things you can do to get your shop ready to make the most of the busy shopping season. Awesome sales don’t just happen on their own…you have to be prepared.
Creating a great shopping experience for your customers will do wonders for your shop! Here are a few things to get you started on the road to a fabulous and profitable holiday season…
Stock Your Shop!
Stock your shop! I can’t stress this one point enough…there isn’t a bold font bold enough! The more you have to offer, the better off you will be. Yes, I know adding lots of items is a bunch of work. Yes, I know it could cost you some money in listing fees. Yes, it does take work to prepare your shop…BUT, then you make more sales!
You need to picture your shop like a store in the mall. How would a store look with 10 items? Not so appealing, right? You might even turn right back around at the entrance. Stock your shop with lots of handmade or vintage items…try 100 or more!
One more reason to stock up…the more items you have, the more tags you have, and the more chances you have to reach the buyers from search traffic.
Bundle Up
Bundle up your items for more sales! You could sell one small item or increase your sales by bundling up a few items into a gift set that rocks! Gift sets that come packaged nicely with tags will get their attention.
Ready-to-ship or not?
The more you can have ready to ship out, the better! Some of you might only work in custom orders and you’ll need to be very clear on your shipping times. Try offering a discount for ordering early.
Having items ready to ship will save you from staying up late working on orders. When you can offer quick shipping you will get great feedback and more sales.
Something for Everyone
Many holiday shoppers have a budget in mind when they’re shopping for someone. Make sure you can offer a little something in lower price ranges for stocking stuffers.
A buyer could love your shop so much that they buy a few smaller gifts now and come back for more later. Then, they are sharing your items with a few others that will love their gift {of course} and visit your shop to see what else you have to offer. Think about it…that’s really how it can work. I love that!!!
Wrap It Up
Create a little wrapping/shipping station and be ready to wrap and send like the best wrapping ninja you can be. 🙂
Print tags and buy your shipping supplies early. There’s nothing more annoying than being ready to ship an item and needing a padded envelope with not a one in sight…just sayin’!
Offer to add a little note or special wrapping at no extra charge. This could be the little push they need to buy right now.
Last year I fell in love with Stamps.com during the busy season. It saved me sooooo many trips to the post office and actually ended up saving me time and money. You can read more about it in this post about shipping. I can’t say enough about it!
Being prepared for the holiday season can really increase your sales and make your holidays a bit more festive at the same time. Sales make me smile…what about you? I hope these quick tips will get you started and fuel your excitement for all those sales!
How do you get ready for the holidays?
~Kim
wow thank’s for all those tips! My shop is new, i’m doing this for fun and i would love to have a great holiday season sale! You’re so right about wrapping, always fun to received a gift even if you paid for it just more beautiful!
I do think receiving beautifully wrapped packages adds to the fun of buying handmade. 🙂 I hope you have an awesome holiday season with your new shop!
~Kim
Hi,
Thank you for the great tips. All of my Etsy business are custom pet portrait orders, so offering a discount for early orders is a nice idea.
~Jenny
Hi Jenny! Great shop!! I’m sure you have some past customers that might want to give a portrait as a gift…maybe an email or postcard? I know you’re going to have a busy season!! 🙂
~Kim
Thanks Kim,
I have found a great designer on Etsy Honeysuckledesigns, that is creating a nice banner, postcard, product card etc.. for my shop as we speak. I will send out postcards and emails. Thank you
Please visit my other shop http://www.asliceofthebeach.etsy.com
~Jenny
Thanks, as always Kim, for post and assisting ~ I really like the early orders idea, there’s always customers who get stuck for a gift at that last minute tho and the point about having items in stock is excellent for them (I know I’m one who’s running around on the eve of holidays!)
Stay lovely ~ Mary Eva
Thank you Kim. A great reminder to get my butt in gear!
Thanks for the great tips! This will be my first holiday season on Etsy, so these pointers are especially handy.
I’m definitely looking forward to the etsy holiday season, but it still feels funny to be making Christmas crafts in September 🙂 Now to get them finished and listed…..
This will be my 3rd holiday season selling on Etsy and its always SUPER busy! I am always looking for tips and tricks to make it easier the next time around! I’m going to take the advice of making as much ready to ship as I can because I’ve been known to stay up until the wee hours working on signs. 🙂 I struggle with the gift wrapping since the product I have is so large, though. Maybe I can offer to use a simple ribbon or something to at least add some “Christmas cheer”.