Planning for summer....

[JoArtyJo]

I know it's only February but....

I opened my shop in July last year, and it took me a few months to start making regular sales. I remember reading TONS of posts from people saying how summer was sooooo slow and always is. Now I have no idea if summer was slow for me because I was new (my shop and products have come a long way since then!) or because of the summer effect!

If you have been around for a while, what do you think of summer being slow? And more importantly, how do you combat this? What sells well for you over the summer? Do you spend he quite tine planning and creating for christmas?!

What are your plans for this summer?

[studionubbo]

Looking forward to hearing about this!

[Former_Member]

I would love some more information on this, too! I am fairly new here. Thanks :)

[Former_Member]

In my experience, I find the summer slow. However spring and Christmas seem to be my seasons.

[autumnandindigo]

Great thread!! Definitely following this one. Sorry I can't add any input.. new here as well. :)

[RainbowMittens]

Ha- ha- I sell Gloves and Mittens - so Summer is Always slow for me! :D

[SantasSockCentral]

I'll spend the summer knitting the bottom part of Christmas stockings, to be able to make them faster before Christmas...

[Former_Member]

I created a small sampling of work (ornaments) to go with a "Christmas in July" theme I thought was worth a try...they were VERY well received. I began adding more winter/Christmas/gift type items and was truly busy for 6 months straight.

[JoArtyJo]

Christmas in July?! What's that about?!

[Former_Member]

@SnowBerryNeedleArts
Congrats! I'm glad that went so well!

Though I'm pretty much a newby too, I had all of my sales in the fall (from both of my shops). Other than that, nothing :-/

I'm hoping spring will bring some sales, though! Here's to being hopeful :)

[Former_Member]

I've been thinking about this a lot too, because most of my items are winter items (hats, scarves, earwarmers, etc). So I've been trying to come up with items that I can crochet that will be well received in the spring and summer. I've been working on a lot of baby items because I personally have a lot of friends who are expecting right now and I know that handmade items are very popular for baby shower gifts. Any other advice would be helpful for me as well!

[TowelsbyMouse]

It's funny, I didn't have that many sales for Christmas but got alot at the beginning of January. I try to do towels for every Holiday and some time they sell and some times they don't. I don't know if you guys use Facebook or Twitter, but every thing I post a new items out in my shop, I post on them on both of my accounts just to get people to come and look to see what I have and hoping they will pass my name along.

[JeannieGrayKnits]

I'm still relatively new & every month is slow for me, lol, but I expect summer to be slower because most of my items are for winter use. I'm hoping I can use the slower summer months to my benefit though & hopefully I'll be able to reach the 100 items goal. I also keep in mind that it may be summer here, but it's winter somewhere else. Which is another reminder that I need to work on my Everywhere Else shipping rates.

[JoArtyJo]

Thanks for all the replies! So I guess if it does get quiet we should busy ourselves making things for when it does get busy.

Oh and I agree- for this who crochet hats and mittens etc, definitely make baby stuff, as people have babies every day and no matter what the weather we all love to dress them in knitted / crocheted items!

Other ideas I have are crocheted iPhone/iPad sleeves, purses and bags, and I'm sure there's more!

[WintergreenDesign]

In the northern hemisphere some people throw parties during July that mimic Christmas celebrations, bringing the atmosphere of Christmas but with warmer temperatures. Parties may include Santa Claus, ice cream and other cold foods, and gifts.

In the southern hemisphere, where July falls in winter, Christmas in July events sometimes have a winter Christmas theme. These may be a standard Christmas style celebration, held at a cold time of year, as Christmas is in the northern hemisphere.

In some western countries, July has a minor number of marketing opportunities. In the United States and Canada, there are no national holidays between the first week of July (Canada Day on July 1 in Canada and the Fourth of July in the United States leaving two months with no holidays. The late July period provides relatively few opportunities for merchandising so to justify sales shops sometimes announce a "Christmas in July" sale. I believe that Etsy does promote this "holiday" with special tags and merchandising opportunities.

Hope that helps...

[Former_Member]

My shop is another new one, so I don't know how any of it is going to go.

[Former_Member]

As a knitter/crocheter I will struggle:(
I'm in the middle of developing ideas for the summer months.
Hand knitted/crocheted Baby gifts will apply all year round too

[Former_Member]

In the summer I add more non wearable items. Those still sell, not the extent my winter wearables do but it keeps my shop active and current and I dont lose steam.

[ShopGreyweather]

If summer is slow, I am toast!

[Former_Member]

WintergreenDesign...you described Christmas in July nicely! I personally shop year round for little holiday items because it creates less of an impact on the budget and it's nice to know that come November, I am pretty well ahead!

I don't recall if etsy did anything specific for "Christmas in July" in years past, but I do know when you type it in the search bar, you will get over 4500 listings...maybe just another tag to consider to get winter-type merchandise noticed in summer....

[Former_Member]

In the summer I make up for slow etsy sales by doing Craft shows and Festivals. :D

[JoArtyJo]

Wow thanks for that Christa! I had no idea! I am Lear I g lots about the world from etsy :-)
(tellin myself my addiction to etsy is okay!!........)

[Former_Member]

For your shop Jo, how about offering colouring in packs for car trips etc for kids? Have a couple of small prints of your doodles, a pack of pencils and a ziplock bag to put them in?

[MayhemHere]

I do a lot of art fairs and such during the summer and I find people are more willing to by whats right in front of them. I find my summers to be just as busy as the rest of the year. I think it all comes down to what your product is and how you promote ..

[Former_Member]

I think that I will just work on general projects and try to list them whenever they are ready.