Gosh thats a tough one. Maybe its just a good time of year to consider it a vacation week. Plan ahead and hope for the best. Its such a dog eat dog world.
I’ve purchased from you a few times. Your pretty little dishes sit in my bathroom for rings, clips, etc. They are absolutely lovely and they make me so happy every time I see them. They were absolutely worth the price I paid. 🌻
I bump into this with my small Etsy shop too. I had the added issue of entering my first full year with my shop in a Christmas/holiday niche market. I was worried about running a sale without big enough margins or really any clue what I was doing. But because Etsy made it seem like a necessity I ran a small Cyber Week sale. The number of orders had already started to pick up steam from about Halloween and continued steadily through the whole season, so it looked like a Black Friday sale didn’t really make much difference. Then cut to the Fall of 2023 and I had built up the shop beyond holiday/seasonal listings, plus no big spike to speak of the year before, so I decided to skip a sale. The decision went about the same as you describe during those peak shopping days - crickets. In fact, there were no orders whatsoever during a weekend that should have been deep into making custom stockings at least. Total speculation, but it was almost as if my shop had been suppressed in searches in that moment. Maybe there are other contributing factors. I didn’t give it a ton of reflection because my goal of building an even flow of effort throughout all 12 months was working well by then. Still undecided about where that leaves me this year, but I guess I could look at it like offering a Cyber Week sale at least didn’t HARM my bottom line that first year, but it possibly did stall my shop’s traffic flow when I did not jump on the bandwagon in year 2. I may offer a small sale again, cross my fingers and hopefully learn enough to have a solid plan going forward Just want to say that you’re smart, focused and definitely seem like you’re “doing it” right as an artist trying to earn a living. If I can go by your posts to generalize, it seems like the hard work you’re putting in will pay off whether you run a sale or not. I appreciate your transparency with these videos so I decided to chime in with my very limited example. Thanks for the inspiring content!
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective! Glad to hear someone else was experiencing the same thing when they opted out of the sale. It sounds like you do have a solid plan for your business. I hope it's an amazing year for you. Thanks for watching and if I do run a sale this November I'll make another video with actual numbers and views.
One of the dirty little secrets of retail and sales is that many retailers will increase their prices so that they can put them on sale. It seems disingenuous, people want to feel like they are "saving" something, even when they are not. I wonder if you could make some trinkets, like spoon rests, magnets, etc., and offer them free with purchases to be able to participate in the black Friday events. Not sure if Etsy would see that as a "sale" if you say, "free XXX with each purchase" but it's a thought.
Yeah, Etsy definitely wants you to fall in line with what they want to advertise their sale to be. I think people would love a free gift around the holidays. The thing that generally stops me is the added shipping weight. Sometimes a few ounces one way or another is a $3 loss for me.
I have an Etsy shop but I don't use it, so I don't see trends like that. Ya, personally, I wouldn't up prices to compensate for participating in the sale, but I certainly wouldn't judge you for doing it. Everyone's life circumstances are different. What I know about you from RUclips is that you are trustworthy and kind. If your life circumstances require more sales during Cyber week, then do what you gotta do. Thanks again for the heads up about Etsy.
First of all, I really enjoy your videos! I’m a potter who has recently returned to the craft after years away from it. I also have an Etsy shop that I’ve been putting my work in. So far no sales yet but I think summer may be slow? Anyway, if you’re like me and a lot of other potters, you might have a stash of “seconds” maybe you could use that stuff for the Black Friday sale? Just a thought!😊
I think the summer has definitely been slow. Lots of people have been talking about it. I should save up some seconds, people would love that! Good luck with your Etsy shop!
I think that is hard, like you said before. At what price do you still sell your pottery and when is it fair to the people. I think if it does not affect your income, and you are fine with it, I would just leave it. In the Netherlands the prices are so much lower then in the States, so I know I should ask more, but then people won’t buy it. I think that is always hard to decide what to do
Yes, agreed. I am still not sure what I will try this holiday season. I think it's possible I might be able to drive my own sales through social media so that I won't be so affected by the Etsy shenanigans. This is my first year starting to promote my pottery outside of Etsy, so I have some hope there.
@@threelittlepotters I do hope that will work for you beside of Etsy. I do not like it when they decide who is on top or not when you talk about sales and algoritmes. It keeps me away from Etsy and I am trying different ways to make money for now
Also, if your profit margin is only 30%, consider raising your prices regardless. Your items are handmade and require a lot of skill and knowledge to create. You deserve to be compensated fairly for your work.
You're right. I need to run a new cost analysis on my pots. So many of the materials have gone up in price, it's hard to know exactly what my mark up should be.
@@threelittlepotters I sell my art in person and I've done some experiments to get some feedback in real time. I find that if someone is willing to pay $15, they will pay $20. When they happily pay $20, you can push to $25. When a lot of people tell you your work is cheap, it's a sign you're undervaluing your work. When you consider that raising the price of your items by $5 means you need to sell less to make the same amount, it helps compensate for losing a few sales as well. In my case, I can change the price of my painting by $100, sometimes hundreds depending on the size, and if someone truly wants it, they would pay it. It's just a matter of finding the right collector.
Is it possible to deactivate your margin sensitive products and add items made specifically for the sale such as handled mugs or tea pots? In this way, you introduce new products for the holiday with pricing that accounts for the discount. This gives you an opportunity to stretch your artistic wings.
Yes, that's one of the options I am considering this holiday season. I think I've decided to opt in to the sale at least on some level to see how it changes my numbers.
Im not a business owner of any kind, but I wonder if you could just have a coupon you tout everywhere so that you can markup a few items, put the code in your shop description or the listing description, send it to people who have the item in your shop, so they don't think they're being ripped off? Then you can mark down the item for BF/CM and invalidate the coupon at the same time? (so no one is getting a doubling of the discount)
Yes, I have some coupons like that, or coupons that I will give to an individual person. Unfortunately it's not enough to qualify as opting into a specific Etsy sale.
Weeks before the Black Friday sale I check the prices of anything I might want to buy, just to see if it's an "actual" sale on Black Friday or just inflated prices being reduced back to normal. But yeah, I hear ya, raising prices seems to be what EVERYONE is doing.
@@threelittlepotters It's mostly just for the algorithm, it will boost you in the search results for complying with their sale and people who don't follow you will see your pieces :)
Etsy acts unfairly! I don’t know what you could do, and I really don’t like the raising of prices before (I check on Pricerunner the price on an item the last three months), but I think that you absolutely should have your income. So you have to raise the prices on some of the items beforehand. Why not the angels you showed us earlier? And make some larger unique bowls, teapots that you price really high. In Sweden, where I live, it is illegal to raise the price to later have a sale. But this isn’t the case where you live? Isn’t there another platform that doesn’t do like this? ❤
@@helenascheele5922 That's so interesting that it isn't allowed in Sweden. Yes, here many businesses do this all the time. It's nice to hear that some places also feel that it's a shady practice. For the angels specifically, they take so long to make that I sell whatever I make. Which is possibly a sign that I need to raise my prices a little regardless of the sale situation. I share so openly about what I make and my process because I can't keep up with demand. I love making, but I don't want to feel like I've created my own never ending factory.
first yes absolutely think of yourself first you are the maker on sale is on sale there is no requirement that its 30% and you are looking at the wrong sale type though, goto marketing click ENCOURAGE BIGGER ORDERS for the discount amount choose "custom" and "order total" put in 5% off of $100.00 or put in 5% off on $1000.00 choose your dates and create discount yes ive seen someone have a sale 5% off if someone spends 1000.00 or more it doesnt have to be realistic to please the algorithm as i said a sale is a sale. or you could have custom 5% off of the number of items they buy which you can set at any number you want so for example 5% off 3 items or more remember a sale is a sale technically the sale is not a financial hit on you set it up the way i say to your benefit. dont fall for the pop up that says You’ll see more of a boost in orders with a discount that’s at least 20% in no way is that percentage a REQUIREMENT. hope this helps
That does help. Will running a sale in that way still allow me to show up as taking part in the official cyber week sale? I did think from the marketing that they were requiring you to offer at least 20% off. Perhaps I can opt in with less and still benefit from the advertising they do.
@@threelittlepotters where does it say they were requiring you to offer at least 20%, it says You’ll see more of a boost in orders with a discount that’s at least 20%. well yea sure obviously and if you offer 75% off you will also obviously see even more of a sales boost NOT REQUIRED THOUGH i just tested it 5% off of $100.00 immediately on my listing it says Save 5% when you spend $100+ at this shop thats a sale
@@threelittlepotters why not try it now to do a test 5% off 2 items or 3 items for 1 month refresh your page and look at the listing it will have a little sale tag. there will also be stats of how many emails of your sale that etsy sent out. it looks quite interesting if you are a numbers nerd
Gosh thats a tough one. Maybe its just a good time of year to consider it a vacation week. Plan ahead and hope for the best. Its such a dog eat dog world.
Yes, that's a good idea. Just enjoy getting ready for the holidays and not look at Etsy at all that week.
I’ve purchased from you a few times. Your pretty little dishes sit in my bathroom for rings, clips, etc. They are absolutely lovely and they make me so happy every time I see them. They were absolutely worth the price I paid. 🌻
Thanks for coming to find me over here! I also have a video on how I make those little dishes. So glad to hear they are working out for you!
@@threelittlepotters I’m making a cappuccino and I’ll settle in for a watch. ☕😍
I bump into this with my small Etsy shop too. I had the added issue of entering my first full year with my shop in a Christmas/holiday niche market. I was worried about running a sale without big enough margins or really any clue what I was doing. But because Etsy made it seem like a necessity I ran a small Cyber Week sale. The number of orders had already started to pick up steam from about Halloween and continued steadily through the whole season, so it looked like a Black Friday sale didn’t really make much difference. Then cut to the Fall of 2023 and I had built up the shop beyond holiday/seasonal listings, plus no big spike to speak of the year before, so I decided to skip a sale. The decision went about the same as you describe during those peak shopping days - crickets. In fact, there were no orders whatsoever during a weekend that should have been deep into making custom stockings at least. Total speculation, but it was almost as if my shop had been suppressed in searches in that moment. Maybe there are other contributing factors. I didn’t give it a ton of reflection because my goal of building an even flow of effort throughout all 12 months was working well by then. Still undecided about where that leaves me this year, but I guess I could look at it like offering a Cyber Week sale at least didn’t HARM my bottom line that first year, but it possibly did stall my shop’s traffic flow when I did not jump on the bandwagon in year 2. I may offer a small sale again, cross my fingers and hopefully learn enough to have a solid plan going forward
Just want to say that you’re smart, focused and definitely seem like you’re “doing it” right as an artist trying to earn a living. If I can go by your posts to generalize, it seems like the hard work you’re putting in will pay off whether you run a sale or not. I appreciate your transparency with these videos so I decided to chime in with my very limited example. Thanks for the inspiring content!
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective! Glad to hear someone else was experiencing the same thing when they opted out of the sale. It sounds like you do have a solid plan for your business. I hope it's an amazing year for you. Thanks for watching and if I do run a sale this November I'll make another video with actual numbers and views.
One of the dirty little secrets of retail and sales is that many retailers will increase their prices so that they can put them on sale. It seems disingenuous, people want to feel like they are "saving" something, even when they are not. I wonder if you could make some trinkets, like spoon rests, magnets, etc., and offer them free with purchases to be able to participate in the black Friday events. Not sure if Etsy would see that as a "sale" if you say, "free XXX with each purchase" but it's a thought.
Yeah, Etsy definitely wants you to fall in line with what they want to advertise their sale to be. I think people would love a free gift around the holidays. The thing that generally stops me is the added shipping weight. Sometimes a few ounces one way or another is a $3 loss for me.
THAT is so interesting. I didn't realize that happens to small batch creators listing products on Etsy. Thanks for the education!
I have an Etsy shop but I don't use it, so I don't see trends like that. Ya, personally, I wouldn't up prices to compensate for participating in the sale, but I certainly wouldn't judge you for doing it. Everyone's life circumstances are different. What I know about you from RUclips is that you are trustworthy and kind. If your life circumstances require more sales during Cyber week, then do what you gotta do. Thanks again for the heads up about Etsy.
@@AudreyLynnStudios Thanks for your perspective and for watching! I don't know what I'll do yet.
First of all, I really enjoy your videos! I’m a potter who has recently returned to the craft after years away from it. I also have an Etsy shop that I’ve been putting my work in. So far no sales yet but I think summer may be slow? Anyway, if you’re like me and a lot of other potters, you might have a stash of “seconds” maybe you could use that stuff for the Black Friday sale? Just a thought!😊
I think the summer has definitely been slow. Lots of people have been talking about it. I should save up some seconds, people would love that! Good luck with your Etsy shop!
I think that is hard, like you said before. At what price do you still sell your pottery and when is it fair to the people. I think if it does not affect your income, and you are fine with it, I would just leave it.
In the Netherlands the prices are so much lower then in the States, so I know I should ask more, but then people won’t buy it.
I think that is always hard to decide what to do
Yes, agreed. I am still not sure what I will try this holiday season. I think it's possible I might be able to drive my own sales through social media so that I won't be so affected by the Etsy shenanigans. This is my first year starting to promote my pottery outside of Etsy, so I have some hope there.
@@threelittlepotters I do hope that will work for you beside of Etsy. I do not like it when they decide who is on top or not when you talk about sales and algoritmes. It keeps me away from Etsy and I am trying different ways to make money for now
Also, if your profit margin is only 30%, consider raising your prices regardless. Your items are handmade and require a lot of skill and knowledge to create. You deserve to be compensated fairly for your work.
You're right. I need to run a new cost analysis on my pots. So many of the materials have gone up in price, it's hard to know exactly what my mark up should be.
@@threelittlepotters I sell my art in person and I've done some experiments to get some feedback in real time. I find that if someone is willing to pay $15, they will pay $20. When they happily pay $20, you can push to $25. When a lot of people tell you your work is cheap, it's a sign you're undervaluing your work. When you consider that raising the price of your items by $5 means you need to sell less to make the same amount, it helps compensate for losing a few sales as well.
In my case, I can change the price of my painting by $100, sometimes hundreds depending on the size, and if someone truly wants it, they would pay it. It's just a matter of finding the right collector.
Is it possible to deactivate your margin sensitive products and add items made specifically for the sale such as handled mugs or tea pots?
In this way, you introduce new products for the holiday with pricing that accounts for the discount. This gives you an opportunity to stretch your artistic wings.
Yes, that's one of the options I am considering this holiday season. I think I've decided to opt in to the sale at least on some level to see how it changes my numbers.
@@threelittlepotters maybe, after the holidays, you can create a vid explaining your choices, the effect on sales, and learnings for next year
@@richardruckert7954 Yes, that's definitely the plan!
Im not a business owner of any kind, but I wonder if you could just have a coupon you tout everywhere so that you can markup a few items, put the code in your shop description or the listing description, send it to people who have the item in your shop, so they don't think they're being ripped off? Then you can mark down the item for BF/CM and invalidate the coupon at the same time? (so no one is getting a doubling of the discount)
Yes, I have some coupons like that, or coupons that I will give to an individual person. Unfortunately it's not enough to qualify as opting into a specific Etsy sale.
Raise prices by 30%, put the sale for 30%. That's what many, if not most businesses do these days.
Weeks before the Black Friday sale I check the prices of anything I might want to buy, just to see if it's an "actual" sale on Black Friday or just inflated prices being reduced back to normal. But yeah, I hear ya, raising prices seems to be what EVERYONE is doing.
@@threelittlepotters It's mostly just for the algorithm, it will boost you in the search results for complying with their sale and people who don't follow you will see your pieces :)
Etsy acts unfairly! I don’t know what you could do, and I really don’t like the raising of prices
before (I check on Pricerunner the price on an item the last three months), but I think that you absolutely should have your income. So you have to raise the prices on some of the items beforehand.
Why not the angels you showed us earlier? And make some larger unique bowls, teapots that you price really high.
In Sweden, where I live, it is illegal to raise the price to later have a sale. But this isn’t the case where you live?
Isn’t there another platform that doesn’t do like this?
❤
@@helenascheele5922 That's so interesting that it isn't allowed in Sweden. Yes, here many businesses do this all the time. It's nice to hear that some places also feel that it's a shady practice. For the angels specifically, they take so long to make that I sell whatever I make. Which is possibly a sign that I need to raise my prices a little regardless of the sale situation. I share so openly about what I make and my process because I can't keep up with demand. I love making, but I don't want to feel like I've created my own never ending factory.
first yes absolutely think of yourself first you are the maker
on sale is on sale there is no requirement that its 30% and you are looking at the wrong sale type though,
goto marketing click ENCOURAGE BIGGER ORDERS for the discount amount choose "custom" and "order total" put in 5% off of $100.00 or put in 5% off on $1000.00 choose your dates and create discount yes ive seen someone have a sale 5% off if someone spends 1000.00 or more it doesnt have to be realistic to please the algorithm as i said a sale is a sale.
or you could have custom 5% off of the number of items they buy which you can set at any number you want
so for example 5% off 3 items or more remember a sale is a sale
technically the sale is not a financial hit on you set it up the way i say to your benefit.
dont fall for the pop up that says You’ll see more of a boost in orders with a discount that’s at least 20% in no way is that percentage a REQUIREMENT.
hope this helps
That does help. Will running a sale in that way still allow me to show up as taking part in the official cyber week sale? I did think from the marketing that they were requiring you to offer at least 20% off. Perhaps I can opt in with less and still benefit from the advertising they do.
@@threelittlepotters where does it say they were requiring you to offer at least 20%, it says You’ll see more of a boost in orders with a discount that’s at least 20%. well yea sure obviously and if you offer 75% off you will also obviously see even more of a sales boost NOT REQUIRED THOUGH
i just tested it 5% off of $100.00 immediately on my listing it says Save 5% when you spend $100+ at this shop
thats a sale
@@mikemike775 I'll try it this year for the cyber week sale and do a video about the results.
@@threelittlepotters why not try it now to do a test 5% off 2 items or 3 items for 1 month refresh your page and look at the listing it will have a little sale tag. there will also be stats of how many emails of your sale that etsy sent out. it looks quite interesting if you are a numbers nerd
@@threelittlepotters oh yea you sell one of a kind items so you wont have buy 2, so try a percentage off of a dollar mount that benefits you.