Combine Shops?

[Former_Member]

Hi Etsy friends,
I was hoping to get some advice on potentially combining my husband's shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/wabisabiwolverine) with my own (www.etsy.com/shop/mountainmamahandmade). Here's why we're thinking about it:
-My husband has a full-time day job, so while it's his artwork, basically all of the Etsy aspects of his shop need to be managed by me. It feels disingenuous for me to be on there making treasuries and participating in teams on his behalf, when it's really me behind most of it. Because of this, I put a lot less time into his shop and the promotion of it. Plus, juggling two different profiles and two sets of teams, etc, just gets to be too much.
-My shop has been fairly successful, because, in part, I put more time into it. Every treasury and interaction that comes from my shop feels more genuine, because it's me speaking for myself.
So, my thought is if we combined our shops, it could come across as more of a team effort thing. I would still be the spokesperson and Etsy connoisseur, but my husband's items would also benefit from my hard work. I would move his items over to my shop (since I have more sales and feedback), and I would change my shop name to something more general that would suit both of our lines-- something like Tabernash Mercantile, Tabernash Trading Post, etc (since we're located in the tiny mountain town of Tabernash).
I have a few concerns, though:
-How much would changing our shop names confuse our customers? Do we sacrifice something in giving up a brand name we've worked so hard to promote?
-Would a combined shop come across as too hodge podge? I would definitely divide our things into distinct shop sections, but would this be enough?
-Are there any ramifications I'm not considering?
Any advice would be appreciated-- especially from any of you who have dealt with combining two shops (or maybe even splitting one into two?)...
Cheers,
MM

[Former_Member]

bumping... any thoughts or advice would be very appreciated!

[Former_Member]

When in doubt, my vote is always to combine. Aside from all the great reasons to do so that you've mentioned, more items in a shop means more people driven to the shop. I don't think it's an issue at all that you're selling two different things--the styles of your items actually could go very cohesively together, especially with the clean white backgrounds that you've been using for both shops.

As to losing customers and giving up a brand name, that's a call that you'd have to make for yourself. Do you have a lot of repeat buyers? Do people search for your shop name often, and that's how you get found? (If yes for either of those questions, maybe it'd be worth just sticking with *your* shop name rather than changing it, so that customer at least have one familiar name. It seems like you're doing all the grunt work anyway; I don't think your husband would mind.)

[Former_Member]

Thanks so much, Amanda Jo! That gives me some things to mull over. :)

Anyone else?...

[Former_Member]

I have two shops and am constantly reconsidering joining them together for exactly the same reasons you've stated. It's very difficult to spend time and energy maintaining and promoting 2 shops...my vintage shop is far outperforming my jewellery shop, and I now have a tendency to favor it while neglecting the other.

I agree with Amanda, both of your shops have a very compatible aesthetic and should blend together very nicely. I don't think it would confuse your buyers to change the name. Check the seller handbook, I believe any searches for your original shop name will automatically display your new shop name in the results, and the shop link icon will (for a while) show both old and new names.

Here are some other suggestions
- Tag each of your respective items with your original shop names, so they are found in search.
- Perhaps put a short note about the name change in each listing.
- Turn it into an exciting event and promote a grand re-opening or launch. Give both of your buyers a reason to come back and look at the new improved shop.

I think I'm suddenly formulating a new years resolution after having both read and written all of the above :)

Best of luck

[Former_Member]

Thanks so much, Tasha! I think I've got a new resolution, too. ;) It'll be a bit of work to get things merged and do the appropriate promoting, but I feel like it'll make things easier (and hopefully more profitable?) in the end...
Good luck to you if you decide to go ahead with your merger. :)

[Former_Member]

Anyone have any input on what to name the new shop? I was thinking a general-sounding, place-based name... Something along the lines of:
Tabernash Trading Post
Never Summer Mercantile
Caribou Pass Trading Company
Mt Jasper Mercantile
Jasper Mountain Art Cooperative
Wild Mountain Handmade
Wolverine Mountain Studio...

[Former_Member]

No takers? I'll give it a try....

I personally like shorter names that don't get cut off under each listing (that's just me). I think many Etsy shops have the words 'wild' and 'mountain' in them, so that might be something to consider. The words above that really stand out to me are 'Caribou' and 'Jasper'....Never Summer sounds great too (like never never land?) I like the choices of organizations.
Caribou Trading Co
Caribou Studio
Jasper Art Coop

???
Go with your gut, I had to see all my shop name options in writing before I found the right one.

Take care :)

[Former_Member]

Thanks, Tasha! I like your suggestions... I am going to make a big long list and mull it over for a while. :)

[Former_Member]

I started with one site and then branched out after I got better at it. This site does great now, and I log in just to check my stats and answer convos, etc. I alos post about once a week. My other sites (I have 3 now!) are also all digital, but they have different products, so I decided to take them off House on Cherry Hill and give them their own homes so they can have their own shop for their look/use/personality- one is digital scrapbooking(Cherry Hill Living), the other is printable parties (Cherry Blossom Avenue). It's going to take a while to get these two running at full speed, but I know I can do it. Personally, I only use my other shops for posting at particular designer teams and not for all my teams. Mush less confussing! Once you get the hang of Etsy it gets a lot easier to manage seperate shops. I try to log in everyday and check, but I only get really 'involved' with posting, etc every 3 days, that way each shop gets 'me' the entire day. Just something to think about!

[Former_Member]

Thank you for the insights, Nicolette! I know a lot of people successfully manage multiple shops, and your method seems like one good way to do it... :)

[Former_Member]

Looking at both your shops, I agree that they would combine well and you have identified the advantages in promotion and admin that you would gain. Tash has good points about the length of the name - so you have lots to think about! The idea of a little mountain town in the Rockies is very romantic to me (here in UK) so names like Tabernash Trading or Caribou Creations are evocative.
Good luck with your decision. It chimes with me as I, too, can only run one shop but have different design styles, vintage and ephemera that I worry about including in one shop.
I'll look forward to seeing what you decide :-)

[Former_Member]

Thanks, Catherine! I definitely do have some things to think about, but I am pretty set on merging the shops. Thanks for your input regarding my shop name-- I agree that it'll be nice to evoke the little mountain town feel, and that a shorter name would be better. All my ideas are pretty long though! But, right now my favorite is Mt Jasper Arts, which is shorter than some of the others...
I'll check back here as things progress and let you know how it's going. :)

[HappyBungalow]

don't combine - keep your brands separate

[Former_Member]

Thanks for your input, Don. Can you tell my why you think we should keep them separate? I'm really trying to weigh both sides before I jump into this, and would love to hear your insights...

[Former_Member]

I wanted to update those of you who have already given me advice and wanted to hear what I decide... I have our shops closed for the holidays now, but when we return to business, I'm going to try moving my husband's things over to my shop without changing my name (at least at first). I think I can integrate his brand name and bio in various places, including in the about section, without making (what feels to me like) the big leap to a name change. I'll let you all know how it goes... Thanks again for the input, everyone!