Scheduling And Selling On Etsy

I set a new goal for myself this week: post one item to Etsy every day until every product that I'm making from the Arctic Fox beam is listed. It seems simple enough, but whoa! it sure didn't feel simple yesterday.

Last week I did my annual database update to make sure I can track all of my time and get it paid for in the prices of my merchandise. I now track the time it takes to photograph, edit the photos, write copy, and post items for sale on Etsy. This information is linked to the individual product sets so the database will generate an accurate price for each item.

It gives me another design parameter for my stuff: things that will be difficult to capture in photographs will need to cost more. Translation: don't design inexpensive merchandise that cannot be shown with simple photographs.

As for Etsy, yesterday I took 6 shawls off the loom, stitched the edges, shrunk them, wove a ruana, (went to a Caretaker meeting), cut them apart, and took two sets of photos, (and went to a Communications Committee meeting). The weaving and photographing part of my day took about 7 hours, twice as much as I want to work in a day if I expect to stay sane and contribute meaningfully to the community here.

Before I can list a shawl today, I've got to wait for daylight, photograph three more "poses" for each of the shawls, edit the photos, and write the ad copy. After that, I'll be prepared for the next six days of listing. I think that will finally have me with a well-prepared pipeline. In the next six days I should have four ruanas and six shawls woven, finished and photographed.

Somewhere in there I'll design and weave a hoodless ruana, the most-requested item from potential customers. It's sad for me, but I can actually see the end of this 80-yard beam coming up in the next few weeks.