Decide what to sell
The first thing you want to do is decide what Christmas items you’re going to be selling this season. If you want to get your Etsy shop ready for Christmas you’re going to need some Christmas items, right? I have some items that I sell every year and I keep those items up for sale year round. I also introduce new items each season. Start brainstorming for these items in September or October at the latest!
Do a little research and see what is on trend for the upcoming Christmas season and think about what you can make that fits into that trend. Here lately buffalo plaid and rustic themed items have been all the rage and I’m definitely including a lot of rustic and buffalo plaid in my Christmas selection this year.
Make your inventory
Christmas is so crazy busy on Etsy and you’re going to want to have “ready to ship” inventory on hand. It’s best to start making that inventory during the summer (a good idea to keep busy during that dreaded summer slump). Make a few of each item you’re planning to sell so you have it on hand when you get flooded with orders and find that you’re running out of time to make them. You also want to have “ready to ship” inventory for those last minute shoppers. And trust me there are a TON of them.
If you’re selling customized items or personalized items, get them started. Some of my best selling items are glass Christmas ornaments. I give a choice of 4 colors for the ornament and 4 colors for the design on the ornament. To get my Etsy shop ready for Christmas I make 10 ornaments of each color and I make 10 designs of each color ahead of time. This way, when someone places an order all I have to do is put the right color design on the right color ornament and it’s ready to go. I don’t have to make each ornament one at a time because I’ve got my inventory all ready.
Take photos and create your listings
One of the big parts of getting your Etsy shop ready for Christmas is taking all the photos and creating listings. I know, this is probably your least favorite part but its super important! Since you’re creating Christmas items you can have a little fun with the photos. Use Christmas props and create styled photos for your items. I really love getting my photo light box all set up for Christmas and taking my Christmas listing photos.
Once you get the photos taken make sure to write up really good listings for each item. Do a little keyword research and make sure you’re getting the best keywords and SEO in your listing description. For more info on keywords and SEO, check out this post. Save the listings as drafts until you’re ready to start posting your Christmas items for sale. A good time to start marketing your Christmas items is right around Halloween.
Make your Christmas banner
In this post I talked about how to make an Etsy shop banner for free using Canva. You’ll want to make a special Christmas banner for your Etsy shop. If you have taken advantage of one of the new subscriptions Etsy offers then you have some choices for your banner. Get the most of all those great features and promote some of your Christmas items. Make 2 or 3 different banners promoting your Christmas items, sales if you’re having any, free shipping, gift wrap and anything else you want to get the word out that you have some pretty great Christmas items in your Etsy shop. Save all of the banners in Canva so they’re ready when you need to use them.
Free shipping and gift wrap
Part of getting your Etsy shop ready for Christmas is deciding if you want to offer free shipping and gift wrap. Let me just answer that question for you…YES YOU DO! Christmas is a fast paced super busy time and almost every Etsy shop gets in on it. You need to set yourself apart from all the other shops by offering free shipping and gift wrap. Check out this post on how to offer free shipping in your Etsy shop. I would require a minimum purchase amount before you offer free shipping.
When it comes to gift wrap, keep it simple. Get one type of paper and a couple different ribbons. Make the paper and ribbons gender neutral and stick to solid colors if you can. You want to make sure you can wrap the box the item is in and still fit it into another box for shipping so I would avoid any kind of fancy bow that may get smooshed in shipping. Also, consider the cost of the extra box when you’re pricing your gift wrap for customers.
Now go get started
So that’s it. Decide what you’re going to make. Make your inventory. Take new photos and create new listings. Make new Etsy shop banners and decided on gift wrap and free shipping options. Get started on all of this ASAP. I mean like start in August or September so you’re ready to go by Halloween. Once you’ve set your Etsy shop up for Christmas success, sit back and enjoy the holiday season rush!
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