Last Minute Etsy Christmas Prep

With Christmas coming up fast, my post on how to get your Etsy shop ready for Christmas has been receiving a ton of traffic and questions lately. This post goes over how to start prepping your Etsy shop in the summer so you’re ready for the Christmas rush.  Well, it’s currently November, so starting in the summer is out of the question right now.  The main question I’m getting is “I didn’t start on this back in the summer, is it too late to start on my Etsy Christmas prep?” And the answer is absolutely NOT! It is not too late at all. I want to share a few tips you can start on right now to make this holiday season run smoother and be less stress. I will say, if you haven’t already started prepping your shop for Christmas, START NOW…RIGHT NOW! Things will get crazy and you need to be prepared.

Deciding what to sell

It’s a bit late at this point to create new Christmas items for your shop so just take what you already have and put a Christmas spin on it. Change up the title and tags to appeal to Christmas shoppers. If you have charm bracelets add some tags like “kids Christmas, Stocking Stuffers” and update the title with something like “little girls Christmas gift or Special gift for girls”.  You can do this with literally any kind of item.  Handbags, shoes, home décor…I mean anything. Just think about the type of person that would buy your item and then put tags around gift giving for that person (Christmas Gifts for Her, Millennial Christmas Gifts, Gifts for Dad).  If you do have Christmas themed items already in your shop, great! Your Etsy Christmas prep has a head start.

Inventory

You want to get your inventory ready to go.  If you can, purchase your entire inventory now and updated all your listing to reflect your current stock. When you sell out, don’t try to restock. Trying to restock during the hectic holiday season is difficult and may end up with you not getting items out in time. Pre-make ANYTHING you can. There are so many last-minute shoppers and having items ready to ship is ultra appealing during the holidays.

This is the part of your Etsy Christmas prep where you’ll also want to consider coupons, sales, free shipping and gift wrap options. Free shipping is really a game changer recently and Etsy has announced that shops who offer free or reduced priced shipping WILL BE PRIORITIZED.  Simply put, if you’re not offering free or reduced shipping, your listings will not rank as high as those that do offer free and reduced priced shipping.  Check out this post on how to offer free shipping in your Etsy shop.
Just a side note on gift wrap: I DO offer gift wrap in my shop but I’ve only had 3 people add it to their purchase…ever! So just some food for thought there if you’re considering this.

Shop banner

You need to update your shop banner with a Christmas theme. This step is super important and a lot of people skip it when doing their Etsy Christmas prep. When someone clicks into your shop it just seals the deal if you have a Christmas banner.  Shoppers know right then and there that you DO have Christmas items and they need to take a look at what you’ve got. When people are browsing around Etsy for Christmas gifts they are usually indecisive. Showing that Christmas banner right up front helps them picture your items as gifts rather than just pretty items. Check out this post on how to create your Etsy shop banner for free using Canva.

Photography

We all know just how important good photography is when selling on Etsy. Well, if you’re waiting until November to start your Etsy Christmas prep, you don’t have time to get all new “Christmas” photos for your items. I have the perfect hack for you. Use banners or badges and add them to your existing photos. You can create these for free in Canva. I’ve taken one of my best-selling items and just added a little badge and banner. Now its Christmas ready. I don’t recommend going this route if you’re starting your Christmas prep during the summer and have time to take new themed photos, but in a pinch, it works great!

Go get started on this today. Getting your Etsy shop ready for Christmas is a big task and it takes some time. Use these last-minute tips for this year and next year you can start in the summer. Merry Christmas everyone!

 

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