I make most of my sales on Etsy. I think it's a great platform, but unless you dig through a shop's entire Policies, Announcements and more, then you're likely to miss out on some of what they offer. We artists all do things a little differently - it's integral to being creative - so a buyer may not realize that you do offer customized or Made to Order items.
So, today I'm launching a select range of my signature beads as Made to Order. I created a new section dedicated to just these items and tagged the listings appropriately to make searching easier. Want to see?
The range is a little limited at the moment, but as soon as I stock up on my go-to colors and supplies, there will be many more. So far, we have Rustic Roses in a choice of black, brown or golden details, and my Love Birds with either black or brown accents. I'm still keeping the options in these listings fairly limited and staying open to custom orders. I don't want to end up overwhelming people!
How it works for the customer: Having Made to Order listings ready in the shop makes things easier for me and the customer. These are items I can make fairly quickly because I keep extra supplies in stock. All the customer needs to do is choose the quantity and finish color, and their beads are ready within a set time limit. There's no digging through pages of sold items to find out what I can make and you don't miss out entirely if my shop updates sell out.
It does initially take me a little extra time to get listings ready and organized for Made to Order items. I thought about what a customer might search for, color options, and the best way to display and photograph the beads so they look good as a constant item in my shop. In the end, I save a lot of time in the future because I don't have to rephotograph and list them over and over.
And how is it working out so far? These went live this morning, and I've already had orders from new customers! People I didn't even know were looking at my shop. That's put a smile on my face and let me know a little change like this can make a huge difference for people looking for my supplies and art.
