Limits on quantity

[SwishAndWag]

I looked into this but I could not find the answer so I decided to ask for a help here. I sell custom pet portraits. While I love getting repeat customers, I sometimes get overloaded with orders during the busy time of the year because of the repeat customers added in with new customers. I am talking about custom paintings here so sometimes a large order or two could take a lot of time. I don't want to miss a chance to reach new customers while I'm filling orders for repeat customers. Is there a way to limit a quantity that a particular (repeat) buyer can purchase? I do not want to lose my repeat customers either but sometimes they come back and place a huge order. I was hoping to find a button for "limit the number of items a buyer can purchase over the course of one year" or something to click on, but I could not find anything. What do you guys do in this case? Thank you for your help in advance.

[Former_Member]

i don´t think you can limit buyers in the quantities they buy.
Have you thought about raising your prices on custom orders??? why do you want to limit your loyal repeat customers in the quantity they can buy? sure it´s nice to reach new audience but an order is an order and i don´t think you should "discriminate" your loyal customers by limiting them. if someone new comes along and your turnaround time is let´s say 2 weeks they will wait if they really want it and there is no way in telling for them if there are 2 orders from repeat customers ahead of them in line or 2 from other new buyers.
all the best

[Former_Member]

During your peak times, I would suggest extending your turnaround time. Right now you have a ship time of 3-5 days, and if that is too short of a time, then extend your time to 2 weeks. People would rather have quality than a quickly done project because you are "under the gun" so to speak, to ship their product. Most poeple know that custom work takes time, so extending the time shouldn't be an issue. Also, repeat customers are gold in a digital venue like this; it means that they REALLY like you stuff and want more! Don't discourage them by limiting how much they can buy! If anything, I would convo them and ask nicely if they don;t mind giving you some additional time to finish their custom work as you have a backlog of customers. I wouldn;t menthion that THEY are being put on the back burner because they are repeats, just ask nicely if they can wait a few days or a week.

[StuckOnSilver]

Raise prices and extend shipping time. Great problem to have!

[weekendjewelry1]

I'm totally with Bev (and the others). A true story: a bead artist I knew yrs back, who did detailed wonderful work, was very busy but working 80 hour weeks. She asked a mentor for any advice he could give her that would help her manage better.

He said, double your prices. She said, oh I can't do that, I'd lose half my customers!

Yes. And she would make the same money. For half the work.

(She did it - she raised her prices to almost double. She still had a months-long waiting list sometimes.)

Raise your prices! And definitely change your turnaround time. Don't kill yourself!

[SwishAndWag]

Alright, it sounds like everyone agrees. It looks like I have to learn to be flexible so I won't get discouraged by bgettng swamped. It's true I like repeat customers. It was just that I was worried asking someone to give me more time would make Etsy think I can't handle it and then they won't promote more sales to the new buyer. I guess it will be alright. Other sellers did it before and they could still be successful. So I might have to try that. Thank you to everybody for the great advice!!