Made to Order vs Ready to Ship

[Former_Member]

Just wondering which you all do?

I was thinking I may start making all my stuff "Made to Order"


What do you do if you have a made to order item then when a customer orders it and you go and get the supply to make it and they are sold out? For example I use a specific yarn for my infinity scarves, if I make these "Made to Order" and someone orders a purple one, if the store is out of purple yarn then I'm screwed. Or do you always have supply on hand? Just trying to figure out what's best for me.
Any tips appreciated

[BrushStrokeOrnaments]

I think that while offering "made to order" can be a nice option for some, most people want what they want NOW! Personally I would not want to wait around for a scarf to be made when all I have to do is search on etsy for another one. But maybe that's just me. I don't suppose there's anything wrong with advertising made-to-order items. You can see if it generates more business. I think, however, if someone really wants a custom order, they'll just drop you a note and request something.

I would also never list something (even if it is made to order) without having the supplies on hand. A trip to the store just means extra time and effort...and, as you indicate, if the store is out of your needed supply, that makes for an awkward convo with the customer.

[Former_Member]

I'm starting to offer a bit of both. My headbands will remain made to order due to size and color options. But I am trying to get my scarves as ready to ship.

When a ready to ship item gets purchased I do put it back up as "made to order" just until I can get a new one made. I have one of my shop sections as "ready to ship" so it is easy for my customers to find those items.

[WilliamsGiftshop]

I prefer ready to ship items.
I make what I love to make, when I want to make it, list it and (hopefully) sell it. I am in full control and that is what I like.

When doing custom orders, my customers decide what I make and when I make it. That means I give a large part of control over my shop to my customers.
I have chronic health issues that make it even harder to work on a schedule.

But I offer both in my shop.
And I think for most shops that is the best solution: a mixture of ready to ship and custom orders.

[InspiredByMocha]

Almost all my sweaters are custom made. If they're out of a color, I pick something close or give a couple of other options and send a photo. Most people are pretty flexible and if not, we just cancel the order.

[HelenMPhotography]

For me, my photographic prints are printed on demand, although I do carry inventory. But there is very little risk that my professional lab will not be able to print my prints for me, kwim? I would think that carrying some inventory might be helpful in your case, although I can see made to order as attractive.

I see made to order in a lot of photography prop stores and I don't think its an issue there. The lead times may be 2-3 weeks at times, but I think photographers are used to this timing now.

[Former_Member]

I started offering made to order items several months ago and I love it! At first I ran out of yarn a couple of times, but both of those customers were very patient and waited for me to get the yarn in stock. Now I make sure that I have all the yarns I need for any potential made to order items. I order them online so it's best for me to just have them on hand, since my local yarn stores don't carry organic cotton anymore.

[Former_Member]

Mine are all made-to-order (since wedding invitations are unique to each couple). However, I am trying to branch out into more ready-to-ship items such as greeting cards, journals, notebooks, etc.

I find the made-to-order stuff pretty stressful sometimes. I can't keep everything in stock and so I just order my supplies when needed. But like you said, if someone places an order for 150 invitations and my supplier is out of the color cardstock they want or the lace, I have to scramble around to to find more to order from elsewhere. That adds on extra shipping costs (as well stress) which comes out of my profit. Or if my printer decides to die on me in the midst of a large order than needs to ship out immediately. These kinds of thing seem to happen more than I would like :)

I think it would just be so much easier to have a reasonable amount of ready-to-ship items in stock and replenish them as needed. And just be able to grab them when someone orders and ship them out.

[Former_Member]

I have both in my shop. However, ready to ship is much easier as a seller and I think buyers prefer something that will be in the mail ASAP (thank you Amazon Prime :).

[Former_Member]

I do both, both do really well too. People enjoy getting their items shipped with days but, people also love made to order because then they can change things if they need too, get the color and size too.

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

I have both types of items in my shop. I offer made to order die cuts and blank tags (big seller with brides). It doesn't make sense for me to have 200 blank tags sitting around waiting for someone to buy them. I only list a quantity available based on what I have for supplies. I don't want any surprises if someone orders 200 tags but I only have enough cardstock to make 50. If they want a different color than what I have listed, they can contact me and I'll let them know if I have (or can get) the paper needed to fill the order. I've done a few custom orders that were a different color than what's shown in the listing. I've even had a buyer send me cardstock for a set of custom die cuts so it matched the invitations she was making.

Most of my made to order listings take 1-3 days to process. Some of my single cards and mini note cards aren't listed as made to order even though they are. It's usually because I sold my sample but can easily make more. My schedule is pretty flexible so it doesn't take me long to create a duplicate card.

[kidsstore]

I do both, but most of my sales have always been custom orders. I enjoy working with the customer, but always keep control of the items I make. If I felt that the customers item design or fabric choice wouldn't work, I would let the customer know why I felt that way. If the customer was insistent, then I might suggest the customer would possibly be happier with another seller. I haven't refused many orders, but have done so with a few.

As for running out of materials, if I run out of fabric for an item I deactivate the listing for that item until I get more of the fabric. That way I don't have to completely re-list it. If the fabric is unavailable, then I delete that listing.

[Chanchala]

I'm do a little of both. I make sure I have all of the supplies before listing/re-listing the item. I think though that readily available items sell faster.

[Former_Member]

I have most of my stuff made to order as i can get requests that want the material to be used in a different way. however when i have an item made and ready to ship , it is so easy and nice to just reduce the list of open orders.

[KimArt]

If i offer anything as "made to order" i absolutely make sure I have the supplies on hand for it :) sometimes offering made to order items will help you appear to have more items to choose from and attract more buyers :)

[Former_Member]

I do both for different reasons.
For custom made-to-order
1. Because I do not have room for inventory that may not sell for months, years or never
2. I sell childrens hats(lots of childrens hats) Mom or Grandma want to custom order the hat to match this season's coat. Not very many people want a turquise, purple, hot pink & lime green hat but I've made one and listed pics so others can see the variety the can order in.
3. Supplies, I only use yarn I can get locally or within 45 minutes of my house. I do limit the colors I will make things in. I will not go searching for 6 different shades of purple(yes a customer asked me to do that) but I do promise the colors will go well together in the item I make) I also will not take pics of all the yarn I have available, over 300 skeins (Yes, a customer asked me to do that just this morning) I post in my listings yarns &/or buttons will vary.
4. Custom orders are great because they have a long enough making time that I can take several orders at once. I dont say it will be 10 days to ship because it will take me 10 days to make I say that so if I get orders for 10 hats I can get them all made in that time frame.

Ready-to-ship
1. Great because someone buys, I package it up and in the mail it goes
2. Makes customers who are in a hurry happy because they can get their items right now
3. I only do ready-to-ship in newborn items because that is what photographers want. Could you imagine what my house would look like if I made every hat I sell in every size & color I carry. Iy yi yi! DH would divorce me and the kids would turn me into the horders show. :)

[TheSalvagedEdge]

I don't list it for made to order unless I have the supplies at hand. Quite a bit of what I do is made to order. It's easier for me than holding onto stock for months or years.

[Former_Member]

All our items are made-to-order due to the nature of our products. We make custom motorcycle accessories. All my items, except wristbands, are listed with word "sample". We do not make them for our stock. We get orders from our local customers, discuss all aspects of the design and make one-of-a kind accessories. So I posted samples of our work for others to see what could be done for their bikes. I know that this method is probably not very popular, and Etsy is not the best place to look for motorcycle accessories, but I hope that people who come across our shop may spread a word about us. As for the wristbands, we aim to make the exact size for the customer, therefore we prefer to make-to-order method. I hope this will work for us.

[Former_Member]

I think it Really depends upon what your selling and what the item is.

I offer both in my shop and listings for the more common custom orders.

Stuff like icicles are made to order but carry a lotta OOAKs too.

[Former_Member]

Made to order.

Of course, I mostly sell rings, so I guess it has to be that way. . . :)

[NancyBags4U]

I have both in my shop. Since baby hats need to be so many sizes, I make these "made to order", but turnaround time is only 1-2 days.

For the made to order items, I make these items from current yarn colors from stores that I know will restock often. Items that come from more unusual yarns are the one of a kind-ready to ship.

[Former_Member]

Definitely don't list an item if you don't have the supplies to make that exact item in stock. That way, it can still be Made To Order and you don't have the fear of your suppliers being out of stock, or having to wait for more materials.

[Former_Member]

I do 95% made to order, because I never know what will be popular any given week. It goes in waves. Of course, it's a very personal decision for everyone, many people find it stressful.

I do always have yarn for at least 2-3 items at home.

As a knitter/Crocheter you really should not rely on buying yarn from craft stores, since their prices will eat into your profits. There are great online yarn marketplaces that sell yarn for much friendlier prices. You have to order in bulk, of course, due to shipping costs, but it really pays off. In addition, they also have WAYYY bigger selection of yarns and colors anyway.

[MaddieMakesThings]

I do both, small things a ready to ship but t-shirts and vests and obviously custom invites a made to order. I get more notebook orders than anything else don't know if that says anything but some people want it straight away unless it's custom.