So I’ve noticed a lot of crafters talking about Christmas & just wanted to ask opinions from some of the more established sellers…
I started up at the end of October last year, so whilst I have already ‘done’ one Christmas, it was all a bit chaotic. Now as a customer, I don’t start thinking about Christmas until at least the middle of November, but I appreciate that other people are more organised / excited about it & may have started buying already?
I’m trying to be more organised this year & want to get making decorations pretty soon so I can have a bit more stock in…I’m just not sure when to start listing. When do you actually start seeing sales of Christmas items? Or is it happening already?!
I started making Christmas gifts and cards in January, for me always busy selling at the end of the year. Know people that have started to buy now then do not have a hit in one go. For me to list would be beginning of November.
My US friends start making in July, hence Christmas in July.
Do what is right for you and what you are comfortable with.
I can only speak for my sales, but generally I start to sell Christmas cards and tags from mid October onwards. Last year I actually sold more after Christmas than before.
Jewellery is a popular Christmas gift/stocking filler and your items are gorgeous so you’ll probably have plenty of sales. If you have particular stock you want in your shop for Christmas, I would say any time from early September onward would be fine and the listings will run until after Christmas without needing to be relisted.
I know what you mean about not thinking about it until the middle of November. I’m the same, but only because I have a lot of family birthdays at the beginning of November, so I don’t start much Christmas shopping until they are out of the way. However, I think some people, especially if money is tight, start early and buy a few things every month rather than leaving it all to the last minute.
Hope that helps
Alison
I sold a couple of things the other day which someone said were for their Christmas shopping, making an early start.
I normally close my shop here for the month of September as we go away in our motorhome when the weather is perfect for us and the campsite out of season rates apply.
(This year we are going nowhere as Bob is recovering from a heart bypass less than 4 weeks ago, getting much better but definitely not allowed to motorhome round Europe for a month or two )
I always reopen my shop the day before we leave France and invariably have an order in by the time we’re on the M20 homeward bound the next day. From that point onwards I expect to be busy and then hopefully super busy some days. So as far as I can tell a lot of people start their shopping by the end of September (maybe sooner but as I’m usually closed i can’t tell !)
xx
This is the first year that I have had Christmas stock in my shop all year round and it has sold steadily throughout the year. The beginning of August was a bumper few weeks for selling Christmas decorations.
I don’t usually launch my new Christmas range until September.
I start preparing straight after each Christmas as for me Christmas decorations are one of my major sellers from Sept - December.
As a buyer, I look all year round for gifts (and bargains) so that I can spread the cost.
Ahh thanks everyone, you’re all so helpful! I’m amazed that people seem to be buying all year round, but then I have a relatively small group to buy for & most of my friends & family aren’t too bothered about Christmas, so I can get away with leaving it all til December
I’m definitely going to get designing my decorations ready to list sometime in September then, but just maybe not push it too much on social media. I know it’s because I follow so many crafters on social, but I’m already starting to get sick of Christmas!
Thanks for your advice all. @FluffStuffCrafts thank you for your lovely comments about my jewellery Alison, yes hopefully my earrings in particular would be good stocking fillers! @JOYSofGLASS - hope Bob is recovering well x
I keep my Christmas decorations in my shop all year round. People seem to buy at such random times. I had a customer buy 5 of my Christmas heart decorations in June and another customer bought one in July.
We used to leave them 'til October but last year, for the first time, we put some out on our stall after the August bank holiday. So pleased that we did because we sold loads. Will be repeating that move next week. Yes it’s the late bank holiday next week end Yikes it’ll soon be Christmas:laughing:.
So this year our Christmas decorations will be on Folksy this September.
Thank you Bob is recovering well. Hard to believe it’s less than 4 weeks since his very major op. He just arranged with a friend for him to come round tomorrow evening so they can go to the local pub. He will be driven there and will drink tonic water but it really is excellent progress.
I’ve now handed him back one of his chores… washing up (except he is banned from lifting heavy pans so I do those).
I normally aim for September/October, and last year I sold some Christmas cards in September so I think early was a good idea.
Personally I’m more of a last minute shopper and don’t tend to buy until December, and hate seeing so much Christmassy stuff early in the year… but I understand there are some very organised people out there so it’s good for my shop to have something for them or I might miss out on sales.
Also if you’re selling internationally or offering custom orders then you have to add in time to make/send those (as international post can really slow coming up to Christmas). I normally like those sorted by the beginning of December.
We also have 4 months on our listings, so I think September is the perfect time because it means the listings will be up all the way until Christmas (if they don’t sell before), but not too many months after.
So because of all of that, I’ll probably start listing Christmas items around the beginning of September but not promoting them. I’ll probably promote my custom work and give my Christmas deadlines in October, and only start promoting Christmas items in November.
I’ve sold a Christmas card this week (last years design), I tend to keep them in my shop all year, just in case! I’m not envisaging coming up with a new Christmas card until I come back from my holiday at the end of September. (I can’t bear to think about it until then.) Apart from a couple of Christmas themed cards I don’t do anything special, it’s pretty much business as usual.
Thanks all. I am definitely one of those that can’t bear thinking about it til nearer the time! Not that I’m a grinch - I do actually enjoy Christmas, I just don’t like the way everybody gets so stressed out about it. I have to keep reminding myself to put business hat on & remember that not every customer is like me!
I’ve been thinking about upgrading to the plus account, so I might do that in September & start sneaking in some extra listings (on top of what I put on the daily listing thread), but just not promote until nearer the time. I think the daily listing means that I’ll have a well stocked shop for gifts anyway - I do love that thread - it’s such a good motivator!!
I normally start listing Christmas stuff in September, though not all at once. However, I was talking to some ladies at a fair in July who already knew they were working over Christmas. They were planning to buy presents and cook/freeze meals a little each month to make things easier in December.
Well that is an interesting thread. Thank you all! I normally do Bath Christmas market which ran for 17 days,which I had been for the last 12 years so I tended to not focus on internet sales as I was too busy preparing for that event. I didn’t get in this year so my focus for Christmas ‘sales’ is different. I shall be popping them up for September then! I also feel the same though @OrukiDesign - cannot bear Christmas too early - especially when adverts start popping up earlier each year.
I am a last minute Christmas shopper but I keep some Christmas items listed in my shop all year round for those who prefer to shop early for Christmas. I’ve had several orders for mince pies in the last few weeks
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