Should I open a new shop?

[HolidayCreations4U]

I currently have a Christmas craft shop. I want to expand to sell table toppers for all holidays, and wine totes for all holidays. As I build my inventory, should I put some out on my current shop in a category called Holiday Table Runners and Holiday Totes? Or should I wait until I have several of each item and open a new shop? I wanted to get your thoughts on this, and if you might have any other ideas on what would be a good way to proceed. Thanks in advance for your comments :)
Martha

[RainnRoseArt]

Hi Martha,
You have lovely items! I have thought about opening a new shop for my bath and body items ( I am working on making enough items to sell on etsy before i make my final decision) My advice to you ( and a bit of a warning) is that two shops equal twice the work. My suggestion would be to make a few of the items that you have in mind and make a new section on your shop and if the items sell quite well than you could think about opening a new shop. I wouldn't open a new shop until you have at least sold 3 or 4 of the items you are planning on making - Just to be safe. I plan on selling a few of the items i have in mind to make on etsy, wait and see how well they do in sales before I jump into making a new shop, that way I know if they don't sell very well I can just deleted the items and give them a way as gifts to friends and family.

I think your ideas in mind are great ideas and I hope they sell like hot cakes. But I wouldn't jump into making another shop until you have people interested in your items.

hope this helps,

- Devon

[Former_Member]

Running two successful shops is a huuuuuge amount of work. I would just put all your Christmas items into one category, and start adding your new things to your existing shop. Possibly change the name of your store to just "MarthasCrafts"? In my opinion, promoting and keeping up with one shop is hard enough, I can't imagine trying to run two!

[HolidayCreations4U]

Thanks to both of you, Devon and Angie.
You make valid observations on the extra work a second store would be. I will seriously consider a change to the shop's name to be more generic.
And add new sections to cover Holidays, and Christmas.
Martha

[xoxocrocheted]

I would suggest making a new section for new items, maybe changing your name/theme, and keeping it all one store! Not only can two stores be a huge amount of work, one store with lots of listings always sells more items. A buyer might be looking for one thing, and see another that she can't live without! This creates more ways for you to be discovered. Hope this helps!