Thinking of splitting my shop into three ...

[Former_Member]

OK, so I started on Etsy making purses from vintage textiles. Back when I began in 2012, I sold quite a few. I named my shop Clever Ruthie and you can see the avatar is a person sewing.

Then I took a hiatus, and when I restarted last year, the world had lost interest in fabric purses, apparently. I've only sold one since I reopened last May. My 22-year-old daughter tells me everyone wants leather, and I may try that eventually. I'm also trying to sell decorative pillows using vintage fabrics or vintage ties, but have only sold a couple of those in 8 months. So for now the Clever Ruthie brand is a dud.

Meanwhile, I've always sold vintage stuff just because it's fun. I used to do it on eBay under the name Kitchen Sinque, which I loved as a brand name. It's certainly more relevant to selling vintage/antiques than Clever Ruthie. So in the interest of shop cohesiveness, I'm thinking of opening Kitchen Sinque just for my vintage.

Finally, while buying ties for my non-selling pillows, I got into men's ties in a big way -- started selling actual ties in my "Vintage to Wear" section, and they're doing rather well. I also have tons of vintage designer scarves that sell occasionally. Both scarves and ties are abundant here where I live. SO, again for shop & brand cohesiveness, I'm thinking of opening up a shop for just men's ties and women's scarves.

Oh, and I have a section for my hubby's woodworking, which is just getting off the ground, and one of these days he needs to open his own shop -- but I'll probably end up managing that for him, too.

Will 3-4 shops be WAY too much work? I do have a day job. :-)

Once I SEO everything, I do little marketing otherwise, mostly because I haven't yet glommed onto a good forum that sends views my way. Social media so far is more work than it's worth. So anyway I don't spend much time on that -- I just renew, occasionally polish my SEO, and add new items.I won't be listing any items that I wouldn't list just into Clever Ruthie, so that's not any more time-consuming.

At this rate, I might even let Clever Ruthie gather dust or even close it for awhile. Then I'd just have two shops plus my hubby's.

What do you think? Too much work? All opinions welcome. If I do decide to open the vintage scarf/tie shop, y'all get to weigh in on names. :-)

[Former_Member]

Wow, and I thought sales were slow! :-/

[Former_Member]

IF you wanting to refocus, and have a new start at it all... that might not be such a bad idea.
But to split just to split doesnt sound like a good idea to me... tossing it out there and doing no marketing isnt going to help. Likely just have three shops to sit on here. :/

[Former_Member]

I agree with Breanna - if you are looking for a fresh change and are looking to focus on something different it makes sense to have a different shop. Sounds like you're thinking about branding, etc. and want the theme of your shop and the items you sell to be cohesive.

Personally the idea of having 3-4 shops sounds exhausting. lol But if you've been on Etsy awhile you might have the hang of creating listings, product photography, SEO, etc.

Do you think a shop with vintage items and the scarves and ties wouldn't make a cohesive store? Do you have enough of each type to fill their own stores? Just something to think about. :D

[FluffyFlowers]

It is a lot of work to run multiple shops. Years ago I had three etsy shops and a day job. A different log in for each shop, different emails to constantly check, constant fear that I would miss something such as a customer request. Eventually I closed my vintage and supply shops and kept my handmade shop. But I love vintage also, so decided to sell vintage toys along with my handmade monsters in one shop. This toy theme makes sense for me and it's a whole lot easier to manage.

Have you considered dropping the product lines you no longer what to make? How about rebranding your shop with a new avatar, banner, etc. It would be a shame to start over when you have a positive sales history. That kind of think matters to shoppers in most cases. Best of luck!

[Former_Member]

Ah, points to ponder. Thanks for the input.

The reason I was thinking about the tie-scarf only shop is that I've been watching a tie shop making massive sales, all without any marketing or SEO, and all at prices that are double what mine are. The only thing I can see that he's doing differently is his focus/branding.

But yeah, I could just do a vintage-only-shop and keep the ties & scarves there. I sell just fine with that stuff. I just think that the Clever Ruthie name is less relevant than my old vintage name from eBay.

Thanks for the input! Stuff to think about. :-)

[UrbanCoutureJewelry]

I do not have a 9-5 but I am a single mother of 2 homeschooled kids and now doing this full time. I opened a second shop 2.5 months ago and a third shop sounds overwhelming. You can do a trial run and open a second shop and go from there. I think it's a good idea to keep certain items separate and cohesive but in order to have 3 or more shops that are successful I think you will need to quit your day job.

[Former_Member]

This sounds like an exciting branding challenge (my favorite kind)!

I've come across a few shops that bring together vintage and handmade in interesting and cohesive ways. (This is what I try to do in my own shop. And Anthropologie comes to mind as a retailer that does this.) I think the key is curating vintage items that fall within a certain aesthetic so you look like a brand and not a flea market. Also, make handmade items (like your lovely pillows or that awesome pallet wood console) to complement the vintage pieces in terms of style, era, color, texture, etc. This way, you might establish a customer base that comes to you for a certain *look* rather than just discrete items.

To get an idea of what I mean, here are two shops that I think bring vintage and handmade together in a cohesive way to create a strong brand:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ohalbatross?ref=shop_sugg

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DearOldSouls?ref=search_shop_redirect

I also love the name "Kitchen Sinque" because it communicates an eclectic brand. A shop name like that with a sharp looking logo & shop header and a compelling shop story might give you some room to play. Whichever way you decide, good luck!

[Former_Member]

Wow Erica, I never thought of it that way. It is indeed a branding challenge, and since marketing is my day job, of course I love the challenge too! I've clearly gotta study this some more and yes, I could definitely define myself better with both vintage and handmade.

Feeling excited ... <3

[Former_Member]

That's pretty exciting, Mary, that you'd get to use the skills from your day job to further your passion. (Wish I could say the same for my day job which has zilch to do with my passion ;)