An idea for line sheet viewability/hiding

[HouseOfMoss]

I had an idea today while thinking over my "holiday rush" experience with Etsy Wholesale.

In December, I decided to deactivate all the listings in my wholesale line sheet because too many shops were making last-minute HUGE orders that they needed with just a few days' turnaround time, and I was completely frazzled trying to complete them all at once.

I still got inquiries via email from some of my most loyal shops, and I was able to help them out in time. However, I felt that I could not leave my line sheet up, because I knew I wouldn't be able to accommodate much more than those few orders, and I didn't want to have to say "no" to new shops, leaving them feeling like I had led them on by keeping my shop open if the items weren't actually available.

So, I would reactivate just the listings they mentioned in their inquiries, and hope no one else purchased them during the window of time they were open.

This led me to two ideas:

1. Is there a way that Etsy Wholesale could be programmed with the option to only leave the line sheet viewable to previous customers, or to selected previous customers? So my current stockists could view and purchase, but to everyone else, the shop would not appear?

2. Are there plans to create "caps" for the amount one shop can order? (Not the total number of each item in stock.) Either by number of each item available per order, or by order total price? I think this would ward against an unexpected barrage of overwhelming orders during busy times, while allowing me to manage my workflow to meet deadlines. I would probably only use this during overwhelming busy seasons. I always find it strange to write my turnaround times in my shop policies, because if someone were to order 1 million acorns (for an extreme example), there is no way I could stay within my stated lead time– while, by contrast, I also have slower seasons when I can fill an average-sized wholesale order within 1 day.

Just some ideas. :) Thanks!

[Former_Member]

Hi Alison,

Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback. Unfortunately, we do not have an option to selectively share your linesheet.

We don't have plans for an order cap but this is something that has been requested in the past and I'll be adding your feedback to our log. Other sellers have added a line to their item descriptions that clearly states their maximum unit order. As for your policies, I would suggest that you enter an approximate production time and include the number of units it is based on. It's likely you know how much you can produce in X amount of time in a busy season, so mention that in your policies and note that larger orders will take longer to produce. Retailers choose Etsy Wholesale for the handmade factor, so if you receive a PO that you know requires more time, don't shy away from reaching out to your buyer and letting them know your estimated production time and the factors that may contribute to any delays. Communication is key here, if you need more time or can't handle an order let your buyer know!

Hope this helps.

If any other sellers want to contribute to this thread, please do so! I'm anxious to hear how you all handle issues like this!

[HouseOfMoss]

Thanks for the response, Michelle!

[janeeroberti]

this is a really good idea! I've had to hide my linesheet every holiday season because too many want to order too much too late, and I have a seemingly "long" lead time of 4 weeks. .

[TheGnomeMakers]

I actually 'deactivated' my wholesale listings too but now I have a previous retail customer who has contacted me stating she wants to place an order for wholesale. How do I send her an invoice for the items she wants without activating the wholesale listing?

[ShopIdeable]

Sharon...you can either create a listing for that buyer to purchase on EW (that contains all of the items they woukd like), or you can create a wholesale listing on the retail side.

[shopMeghanMcCrary]

I have also considered hiding my entire linesheet during busy seasons, but I've found that it's really confusing for buyers. I hid my linesheet when I went on vacation one summer, and I received a bunch of emails asking me if I was out of business. I ended up turning my linesheet back on, and telling customers as they ordered that I was on vacation and production times were longer than normal. I still worry that some customers thought I went out of business and never came back to check. It would be great if there was a way to put your wholesale shop on vacation - like the retail side. If it suddenly disappears one day, customers think I'm out of business. During the hoilday rush, I ended up deactivating a few listings for products with longer production times instead of hiding my linesheet. Has anyone else had this problem when hiding their linesheet?

[absolutelyevo]

I agree, hiding the linesheet is really problematic for my repeat customers. As Meghan said I don't want them to think I've totally disappeared. I REALLY wish, if nothing else, we could put up a "vacation" message like the retail side. Just so you still exist, and can tell buyers you are taking a short break, will be taking orders again after Christmas, starting in January, etc etc.

I am actually on the tail end of fixing a major crisis with one of my suppliers, and it majorly affects what I can offer. Combined with it being the holiday rush, I was forced to just hide the whole linesheet, and I had to field messages from my repeat buyers as well. I think an announcement section would be very helpful for us to be able to communicate critical info to the buyers (such as, taking a break until X, or- X is out of stock until such and such date, or even to say new line launching on X date, or things like that)

Mostly though, I think we need an option to be on "vacation" instead of being forced to disappear altogether.

[Former_Member]

https://www.etsy.com/listing/486615791/macrame-necklacejasper-bumble-bee?ref=shop_home_active_24