I promised in my last post I would write more about the changes I made at my Etsy site between Christmas and New Years. When I decided to put Etsy on pause, I was tired, overwhelmed and out of supplies. Etsy had put in some changes, including advertising, that brought more business than I had anticipated. I needed to stop and get ready for Christmas with Hub.
I had a nice, relaxing time off with plenty of time to think and plan ahead. First, I took some time to look at other artists online, some of whom were with Etsy. I considered the quality of my materials as well as my art and decided to raise my prices a bit. My costs, including shipping were escalating and I felt it was necessary. So that was change number one.
I considered selling some of my originals after putting them in a portfolio and looking at how hard it would be to part with them. That was tough. It took a week, but one by one they are going online. Change two.
Change number three is the hardest decision of all, and I still go back and forth with it. The issue for me is when I produce a card and offer it for $7.00, I am not making a profit. By the time I consider my costs which are made up of quality card stock, 8 cartridges of ink, rigid mailer, postage, artist write up, cello sleeve, lux envelope, and more, my profit is lost. Additionally, the cards, once printed, are signed, scored, folded with an ivory press, assembled, and placed into a cello sleeve. For the stores they are then sticker priced. It takes up a lot of my time. After considering cost and labor, I felt I had to increase my card price to $10.00.
Before Christmas I had made up my mind to discontinue them all together. But as the days went by after the holidays, I realized that “With Love from Mary” was originally created so that the cards could be given and used for cheering each of us along with messages of encouragement from the scriptures. And with Valentine’s Day looming ahead, I couldn’t eliminate them.
So, now I’m trying to decide what to do. I started out the year just listing the cards I have in my inventory, thinking I would sell them off. Now I’m willing to print as many as needed for the ”day celebrating ❤️ “. It’s a hard decision to make alone. I would love to hear from you.