Help with Christmas card order quantities!

[Budgerigardener]

I may as well have given this the title 'how long is a piece of string?' !
I know Christmas is by far the busiest period on Etsy but as a new seller have no idea how much more.. so I'm struggling to know how many Christmas cards to order. Plan is to order a smallish quantity to test the waters in October then reorder - but of course I could save money by printing in bulk from the start.
Can anyone offer any guidance? ie would you expect to sell twice as much at Christmas? 5 x? 10 x? !
And are people more likely to buy individual items or in a pack? I have four designs.

Thanks!

[ManicMinotaur]

Hi Mandy,

Hmm, that is rather tricky to answer.

I always get too many, but then you always know they will keep for the following year.

I've found that people generally buy one at a time on Etsy but have more customers buy multiples at craft fairs.

You could offer a deal on a multi-pack.

I think different sellers will have different experiences.

Good luck!

Scott

[Budgerigardener]

Thanks Scott - I guess I'd rather have slightly too many than too few - would hate to miss sales! Even if I sell a few in October it's so hard to know how much more demand there will be in November.

I'll see if I can find some industry statistics and percentages, then really go for it (but be prepared to still have some stock in 2017!

It's not as if robins go out of fashion 🙂

[Budgerigardener]

(I meant to say 2027!)