Comments on: Jewelry Booth Inventory vs. Online Inventory

By: Cheryl Feyen

Cheryl Feyen — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 22:10:01 +0000

Etsy just came out with a new app where you can sell your item at a show and ring up the sale on Etsy and it immediately comes out of your inventory. Even better if you have the Etsy card reader and take a credit card it is automatic. Just pick the item from your inventory on Etsy and ring up the sale.

I just started listing on Etsy and haven’t sold anything yet. Does Etsy charge a final value fee like eBay does when something sells? Will they charge the final value fee even if it isn’t sold through the website? Need to do some more research.

By: Tina

Tina — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 17:17:50 +0000

If she can easily remake the item and has time to do so, and get it to the customer, leave it up. If not, take it down.

I am getting a pad and I love the advise Catherine @ Shadow Dog Designs gave.

Good luck on your sales !

By: zoraida

zoraida — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 13:36:14 +0000

I’m currently on Artfire (perhaps not for much longer). Whenever I do a show I just bring all of my jewelry with me, no separate listing. Since I don’t sell something everyday, the chances of selling something already in my online shop on one particular day are slim. I do, however, write down every sold item and immediately remove them from my shop after the show. I then list them in the gallery section of my shop under sold items. I’m sure there are better ways to handle this, but it works for me.

By: Catherine @ Shadow Dog Designs

Catherine @ Shadow Dog Designs — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 01:04:29 +0000

I do a LOT of arts festivals and take all of my inventory with me, listed in my ArtFire studio or not. My handy iPad is open to my shop. Each piece listed in my AF studio has an inventory number included at the end of the listing which corresponds to the number on the piece’s hang tag. When something sells that is listed, I type in the inventory number on my iPad and deactivate the piece of jewelry immediately. I also check constantly for any online sales. So far, I’ve never had a problem with double selling after many years doing shows.

By: Paulette Ross

Paulette Ross — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 04:08:44 +0000

Great ideas…for me, I set up all summer, Saturday and Sunday at 2 different venues. I bring most of my inventory with me. The Etsy items I mark with a star, so I know if I’m selling an item from my online store. The star gets the question, “Why is there a star on some of your items?” My answer, “She is a star, her picture is in my online shop!” I take a picture of my stars when I package them up and remove them from my online shop as soon as I can. It works for me!

By: carrie

carrie — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 17:14:42 +0000

I try to sell online mostly things that I can make multiple times or have a limited run. The few things that are ooak and listed online I deactivate before the show but I keep them separate and use them as backstock if I run low on items.

By: Nancy Bailey

Nancy Bailey — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 17:07:16 +0000

Hi Kristina,
We maintain 2 inventories. One for the gallery we are in, and the other one for our Etsy Shop and when we do Gem and Mineral Shows. It seems to work well for us. When we do a show, we just close our Etsy shop for a few days which has not been a problem as far as bringing our views back up.
Good luck!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 16:44:28 +0000

I agree with Cheryl about managing the inventory quickly. If I am taking some of my one of a kind items to a show and know I won’t have time to remove them as sales are happening, then I deactivate those listings beforehand, that way I don’t have to worry. You can reactivate when you get home after taking inventory.

When you have many items listed in your new shop, it might be fun to bring a few items that represent your brand or style, but are exclusively sold at your shows to entice people to seek you out the next time to see what goodies you have in person.
From a lesson I learned – Even if you don’t plan on displaying it at the show, bring it, if possible, that way if someone has been looking at it online but waiting to see it in person before buying, you will have it when they ask to see it.
Wishing you lots of success!

By: Cheryl Feyen

Cheryl Feyen — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 14:15:37 +0000

If you have a single inventory you have to be really diligent about taking down the items that sold as soon as you get back from the show. I sell way more at shows than online so for me it makes sense to keep one inventory. If by some crazy chance an item that you sold at the show also sells the same weekend online you can let the person know that it has been sold and refund their money immediately. A quick response is imperative. The couple of times I had to do that they immediately turned around and bought something else.

Although with the advent of smart phones you can easily take it down during the show. Just delete the picture or mark it sold whatever is the easiest to do on the fly with your online presence. I eventually move my items to a Sold Gallery.

By: Pam

Pam — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 13:42:22 +0000

In my case, I’m doing jewelry only part-time, so it makes better sense for me to maintain just one inventory set. I currently avoid double-selling by putting my Etsy shops on “vacation” mode the night before local shows, and then reopening after ensuring that items sold at the show have been removed from my Etsy listings. I post a notice to customers, explaining the closure with an upbeat announcement of the show I’m attending, (Locals might see this and stop by to see my display in person!) I also include a reopening date in my post, with invitation to stop back then.

For me, local/show sales far outweigh Etsy sales, so this works very well in my situation – a few “shop closed” days in the year don’t hurt me. Keeping a second inventory would tie up too much supply capital, not to mention tax ramifications at year end for the extra pieces on hand.

Having said that, if my Etsy shop were very active, with good cash flow and inventory moving briskly, and if I could sell that inventory down by year-end, then I would definitely opt to have a second inventory set for my Etsy shops. In that scenario, it would absolutely simplify the process!

By: Barbara

Barbara — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 12:53:37 +0000

Definitely, absolutely — somehow — and particularly if your items are one of a kind, you must keep Etsy listings separate from what you sell at shows or stores or markets or wherever. Since you never know when something will sell on Etsy, you absolutely need to have it handy and ready to ship for when eventually it does, not sitting 30 miles away in a store (and possibly unbeknownst to you already sold), or you just sold that item at a show and you’re now out of those particular beads with no way to get more. Been there, done that, so I no longer list on Etsy (although I realise I should have at least a few examples of what I do there). When I post pictures of whatever I’m working on on my blog it’s always with the caveat that people email me first for availability because I cannot afford to not take every opportunity to sell at shows and markets and I rarely remake anything exactly.

Barbara

By: Anita Campbell

Anita Campbell — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 14:56:09 +0000

Hi Kristina – you will probably get a 50-50 response to your question. I personally list about 90% of my items on Etsy. The 10% I don’t are usually my “charm earrings” which I sell for $10 and some of my $5 and under items because it just isn’t worth the 20 cents posting charge for each item. If you do decide to list everything, and you have a smart phone, get the “Sell on Etsy” app – that will help you deactivate immediately any item that you sell at the show so you don’t have to put your shop on “vacation” which I have read is not a good practice (again I’ve read that you lose your visibility to potential Etsy customers).

By: Mary Morris

Mary Morris — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 14:17:01 +0000

Hi Kristina –
When I started I used a large portion my inventory for both Etsy and shows. Now I keep it separate. It is a good idea to list your items on your Etsy site so that customers can find you when you hand out business cards. Take your photos and, at least, get draft listings created so they are ready to go after your show, You can list items and deactivate them when they go to the show. I hope that helps. Mary