Really need advice...

[Former_Member]

I've posted a few other threads but didn't get many responses. I am considering their advice, but I need a lot of opinions before I make any definite decisions so I can be sure I'm making the right choices.
I also need to resolve all of this quickly, as I'm days away from moving out of my house and starting in the Illustration program at Lyme Academy, and when I'm in college I won't have time to sort this out. It's also a really expensive school and when I get out I'll have a huge debt to pay back, so I REALLY need to save up as much money as I can.
First, the general shop. I've gotten advice about splitting it up into different shops because I sell clothes, jewelry, housewares, plushes, and accessories, but I'm really afraid of starting from scratch. Will the smaller number of listings hurt the smaller shops? Will starting from scratch as far as favorites and views hurt? Or should I just have separate sections for all my different products?
Most important: prices, particularly these two listings:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/103419011/giant-hanging-japanese-origami-kusudama
https://www.etsy.com/listing/97411608/pokemon-plush-toy-giant-latios-plush

The Kusudama turns a decent profit when only looking at material costs, but it takes HOURS of very tedious work to complete. $25 for 4-5 hours of work was fine during the summer when I had nothing better to do, but I'm not going to have as much time when I'm working my butt off at Lyme, and if it's going to be worth my time when I already have a bunch of other assignments to work on, I'm going to have to make more money. What would you pay for one of these? I want to charge more but not so much more that nobody wants to buy them.
The Latios Plush presents the same problem, only much worse. The Latios plush costs roughly $90 in materials alone. It takes a RIDICULOUS amount of work, I mean setting aside days where I do nothing but sew this and eat (although I usually end up skipping meals.) Also, I can't take my sewing machine with me so I would have to drive back up to my parents house to work on it. But It's hard enough to find someone with $180 to spend on a pokemon plush, I'm afraid that if I raise my price nobody will be willing to pay for it.

[Former_Member]

About splitting up your shop - I wouldn't at this time. More shops means more work promoting, etc., and it doesn't sound like you have time for that.

As for the pokemon plush, I personally don't think you should even be selling it due to copyright infringement....

[Former_Member]

Just my opinions, based on my own experiences and a lot of helpful assistance from the etsy success team:

- DON"T make a second shop; that's so much extra marketing, and you lose the following you currently have. It's been to make you current shop look more cohesive through the way you take photographs. Also, rearrange your shop listings to make them a little more coherent, and yes, just separate the different things into sections.

- DEFINITELY raise the price of your Origami decoration; if you take great photos and explain why it's so awesome and how much time it took you to make it, people will pay for it. There's a great video on pricing fairly floating somewhere on etsy here, I'd recommend looking it up.

- I really hate to say this, but if the pokemon doll takes that darn long, and costs that much to make, you might be better to not include it.....

Best of luck to you!

[WilliamsGiftshop]

Hailey, I think it is okay to keep all of your items in the same shop. Especially since you are going to have so little time and two shops means twice as much work.

As long as you make good use of your shop sections and give your shop a cohesive look (same style of photo's), you can sell pretty much anything in the same shop.
And, like you said, this shop is already known. You would have to start from scratch with the second one. And you might not have enough time for that.

I think the price for that large (and beautiful) origami decoration is fair.

The price for the pokemon plush is probably okay too, if you present it as a collector's item rather then a toy.
Are you sure there are no copyright issues?

Wishing you many sales!

[Former_Member]

I'd try working on photos and improving SEO first before doing anything else.

You have some titles that are short and some that aren't super searchable. The japanese hanging flowers... yeah i'm not going to take the time to type in: Giant Hanging Japanese Origami Kusudama Decoration in Pastel

So maybe add something about them being paper flower bouquets, or ornaments.

Also, almost every item type in your shop has a different picture. People who have multi-type boutiques generally can get away with it if the photography style is the same. right now i feel like everything was done super quick to get it in your shop. find a background that flatters ALL of your items and take your pictures on that.

Try to figure out how to streamline your processes so you can maximize on your price while minimizing your cost. Maybe you can get the fabric/paper wholesale? Maybe you can try to make a bunch of parts at one time before putting it together, assembly style. Maybe you can make smaller pieces. Are you using a serger to finish your fabric pieces?

Your descriptions are SO long. I'd put the important details (size, color, materials) near the top in list form. There's no way I'm going to read through it and then discover you take custom color orders. You've generally got 20 seconds to snag a buyer before they move on to something else.

I'd think about changing your shop name to something fun and memorable. Most people aren't going to remember ANY shop name with numbers in it. And Hailey's Boutique isn't unique enough to match your awesome paper sculptures.

Lastly, I'd think about getting your shop where you want it to be by October before even thinking about opening another shop. There are people Christmas shopping now and if your first shop isn't ready for the holidays, I think it's very unlikely you can get two ready by then.

Good luck! I'm a huge Pokemon fan---I'd buy your Pokemon plush if my husband would let me :)

Brittany

[Former_Member]

I think I'm paying myself for two hours of work as far as the kusudama goes, and it takes 4-5 hours. Would $45 to $50 still be a fair price?
As far as the Latios goes, I'm not really sure about copyrights. I did do a thorough search before listing it, and I couldn't find anything like it that was still for sale- all the latios or latias plushes I could find were much smaller and discontinued so I'm not stealing business from anyone, I don't know if that makes a difference or not.
I'm working on the pictures, I hope to get those done before I leave.

[Former_Member]

honestly, you need permission from Nintendo to even use the likeness and name.

[Former_Member]

Hailey - it doesn't matter that they aren't selling it anymore. It's still copyright infringement because you are using a character that Nintendo created, not you. Is selling it honestly worth risking getting sued over?

[Former_Member]

Your kusudama is beautiful, but you need to give the dimensions of it in your listing. Just saying 'giant' doesn't really give a prospective buyer a definite idea of size.

I wouldn't open a second shop just because the more items in a shop, the longer people will look and the better your chances of selling.

I would also take away the 'printed book' backgrounds on your pictures. It detracts from the items. At first I didn't know what I was supposed to be looking at.

I hope I'm not too ccritical, but I'm really trying to help.

[QuirkyUniverse]

I think you should raise the prices of the balls. Also on the necklaces, those are so cool and beautiful. If it was me I would put them on a little bit nicer chain, you should list what the metal is made out of because people have allergies, and raise the price on those some. They look like they should be worth more than $20.00.

[Former_Member]

I think you should keep one shop, but make your background the same, or more similar. Also, if you organize your shop by row, on the first page, people could see the different types of items you offer. In my shop, I have 158 items, and organize by row (a row of pincushions, a row of hats, a row of supplies, etc...).

[NewBrideCo]

Hi!
In my opinion splitting your shop will be more work, and making items that cost you to much time to make and little profit does not seem to work either; I would sell what I have my inventory, and design other products that are profitable and less time consuming, its time to put your creativity on work mode:)

Please don't stress, it is not fun to complicate your life, make it simple and enjoyable; perhaps you can buy a small sewing machine that is more portable:)

All the best,
Sandra, NewBrideCo.

[Former_Member]

Agree with other on the copyright issue with the Pokemon. And even if that weren't an issue, not having a sewing machine handy to actually make it would mean, for me, that I would deactivate the listing.

As to the giant kusudama, $25 is way, way too low. I think $75 is a much better price...better to sell less of them and actually pay yourself a decent wage for the hours of labour. You and your time are precious and valuable.

[WintergreenDesign]

I agree that with a cohesiveness of a background you could sell just about anything in your shop...

I would worry about copyright infringment with your pokemon creation... it sounds like it's more trouble for you to make anyway...

As for the Kusudama (I make those myself though I don't sell them on Etsy) they could stand to be raised in price and still keep you competitively priced with all the other many sellers here that make them. However you should work on your descriptions more... sizes etc.. and I would also research the shipping as that seems outrageously high (especially internationally)... Hope that helps and good luck with your studies this year.

[Former_Member]

I really like the rows idea, since I don't have enough listings yet to dedicate entire pages to different sections and haven't been sure how to arrange them in a cohesive way. I am working on the backgrounds, hopefully soon every background will look like the Kusudama one. My camera kinda sucks so I can't get a bright white background without the actual product looking over-exposed and bleached out, so I'm going through all my images and removing the background in a photo editing program.
I think I've decided on $45 for the Kusudamas, or should I go higher?
I'll revise the shipping costs soon.
I love making the stuffed animal (It's a lot of work but I do love it) but you guys are right, I really should delete the listing.
I'm hesitant, though, because while I haven't sold any Latios plushes, I have gotten an awesome custom order from someone who saw that listing and asked me to make something else for her, and I do want customers to know I can make plushes and accept custom orders. Should I keep the listing until I make a smaller, easier, not-copyrighted plush to replace it with, or is it super urgent that I delete it now? Either way it will be gone when I have something to replace it with.

[Former_Member]

I wouldn't keep *any* listing that could be a copyrighted issue, make something else to replace it, something easier to make, it's a great item, but Nintendo has no issues going after small sellers like us.

[Beaderbeads]

I wouldn't split it up. Your shop looks nice. Has a nice flow. Just keep different sections. It's a lot of work having 2 or more shops. Good luck with school.

[Former_Member]

I just checked the UPS shipping cost calculator, and it says shipping would cost $25. The address I entered in was a nearby town. The Kusudama is only one pound, so that seems kind of outrageous. It is a 17 inch diameter, though, so is that why the cost is so high? Or did I just enter stuff in wrong? I'm confused, I was told my shipping prices looked too high at $10 and now the calculator is telling me I'm actually way too low...