Is running 2 shops difficult?

[PurelyChicDesigns]

I am considering branching off and starting an additional shop that features learning tools and games for children that are Montessori based. Right now I have a few things in my shop that would be moved to the new shop, but not many are listed. What are the pros and cons to this?

People are finding this item and I have sold 3 since I listed it 2 weeks ago, which I feel is pretty decent.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/243315448/montessori-matching-game-laminated?ref=shop_home_feat_4

Customers know my shop, they know the quality, and of course all of my reviews are linked to my current shop. I am very hesitant to start all over with a brand new shop and would love to know what I would be getting myself into if I were running 2 shops.

[LeedsRadio]

Since running one shop well is difficult, I would expect running two to be twice as difficult.

[MariasWorkshop]

You have a very nice shop. I love your bookmarks.

I have three shops. Two of them (jewelry) are on vacation at the moment because I am in the process of reconsidering change of name, reorganizing, overhauling, etc. One of my shops sells miscellaneous vintage items and other items and it is my best seller. The other two sell jewelry - a very competitive field. I started with one jewelry shop, but decided to open a second one to target specific markets. My shops were never too busy, so maybe that makes a huge difference regarding having more than one shop.

If we would be allowed more sections, perhaps I would suggest you keep only one shop.

In my case, having more than one shop seemed daunting at first, but soon I got used to it. For me, the only drawback is having to log out of one shop and log into the other to check stats, etc. However, with time, that exercise has become second nature.

Below are some links that may be of interest to you.

Etsy on opening a second shop:
https://www.etsy.com/help/article/132

Here are a few comments from the Etsy Forums, with pros and cons:
https://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/discussions/discuss/16356645/

https://www.etsy.com/teams/7718/questions/discuss/16491113/page/2

Good luck.

[IvoryCatCreations]

Actually, I think books and games would fit in quite well with what you have.
As far as running two shops, usually one is busier than the other. Just spend the morning in one and the afternoon in the other with listing etc. The only real problem would be is if you were shipping lots of orders on a daily basis...I wish!

[PurelyChicDesigns]

Thank you all so much! Fortunately I am steady but not normally overwhelmed with business. I will admit that I do sort of let my shop run itself and I could do a lot more to advertise and promote. I really wish there were a way to have a parent shop and sub shops, that way you could see the sales and stats from both simultaneously, but that does not look to be the case. I guess I will ponder it for a bit more!

[CurlicueCreations]

I've just opened a second shop myself. I am wondering if I can actually keep up with promoting and managing two shops, but I really did not want to mix the items all into one shop. Crossing my fingers and waiting to see if shop #2 works out!

[PamsPawsJewelry]

Hi all,

I was wondering this myself since a lot of people seem to do it.

I find the time would be hard to promote another shop.

I have both handmade jewelry which is why I started in the first place, and vintage items.

I added the vintage items to get more of a variety in my shop and hopefully get seen with more tags and titles for the search engines.

However, I hardly ever sell anything, last month it was 2 sales!

I am wondering how other people sell a lot because my tags and titles are all good and diversified, my photos are clear and I am creative with them, and now I have more than 200 items which people said mattered, and I am always promoting on a lot of teams, on Pinterest, Wanelo, Twitter, and still this seems hopeless!

I want to get this to a point where I sell something every day or at least a few items per week like a real business.

I was thinking that if you separate items into 2 or more shops that then you would not be seen because the shops would only have one kind of craft or item.

Any more thoughts on this are welcome....

Thanks!

Pam

[PurelyChicDesigns]

Jennifer, good luck! I hope both are able to grow for you!

Pam, that is the question, huh? Is more variety a good thing or a bad thing? When I opened my shop it was with magnetic bookmarks, but then I did children's books too. They were laminated and books, bookmarks, reading, literacy, childhood literacy....it made sense for them to be together. even the matching game is not toooooo big of an off-shoot, but I also have some wooden clothespin games I want to add, which don't match at all. I have never said/stated in my shop that I only sell one thing, but it is obvious that the bookmarks are the predominant thing. They sell well, but at a low enough cost that I have to sell a great many of them to make a decent monthly income. I am trying to bolster my income and offer products I believe in at the same time.

[PamsPawsJewelry]

Hi Lisa,

Yup, I guess that is the question LOL!

Is variety good for being seen or is having only 1 or 2 things in your shop good?

Bookmarks are kind of a niche item and so when people look for them they probably find you.

Jewelry, which I started with, has a lot of competition so it's hard to get noticed.

That is why I now have all kinds of Vintage items.

I also sell things I like to make with good quality and vintage items I like and that are in very good to excellent condition, so I also try to sell things I believe in.

Hopefully, some more great advice will be on here!

This is a nice thread, thanks.

Thanks to all the people who are trying to help teamies!

Hugs,

Pam♥

[PamsPawsJewelry]

BTW, Lisa, your shop is cute and I love your bookmarks and other items!

Happy Sales!

[PurelyChicDesigns]

Thank you very much Pam! I appreciate that!

[BrushStrokeOrnaments]

Several thoughts... I have two shops - one for hand painted ornaments and the other for hand drawn art, supplies, coloring pages. Since I don't really promote either shop in any way (and both are successful, one VERY successful), it's not that much more work to have two shops instead on one. I thought that my products were dissimilar enough to warrant two shops (and I needed as many shop SECTIONS as I could get...hence 2 shops). As a previous commenter indicated, it is a bit of a pain to log in/out of one shop to get to the other, but it's not terrible.

I think that you, however, might consider staying with 1 shop. You are selling what I perceive to be somewhat related paper products (even other type of games is not that much of a stretch). In order to reduce the number of bookmark listings to make more room for finding your new products (should you feel that is warranted), you can always make several options in one listing for a bookmark - so you still retain the variety. With one shop, you get cross looking - a customer arrives at your shop looking at bookmarks but then goes on to look at your other material.

Your decision may also depend upon how many items you have to list in a new store. I feel that unless you have well over 50 items, your shop will not get much notice. My second shop didn't really get rolling til I had over 80 listings... Do you have that number of new products to list?

Good luck.

[hopeandjoyhome]

I have a vintage shop, a handmade shop (hopeandjoystudios) and help my husband with his shop which is different from my 2. It is WORK having more than 1 but I did not want my handmade and vintage in the same shop and my husband started his shop later. It is constant juggling. Obviously some things are the same, you have to take the same pix and list as if it was one shop, but if you are advertising, your budget and its effectiveness will be split. Plus signing in and out 50 times a day! In your case since the items all pertain to children and babies, I'd keep one shop and divide it up via categories. It is easier to promote ONE shop than 2-3!

[WilliamsGiftshop]

Two shops is twice the amount of work of one shop (if you want them both to be successful).