- One question I hear quite often from makers
who are thinking of adding new products to their shop
is should I open a second Etsy shop for this?
It's a very valued question to ask,
and it's worth careful thoughts and consideration
because your choice will affect the success
of not only your current shop,
but also, obviously, the potential new one.
So when should you open the new Etsy shop?
Today, I'll tell you five important details
you need to consider, plus I have a free download
that will help you work through the decision process.
Ready?
Let's dive in.
(percussive music)
Bonjour, my name is Deb,
and I'm the founder of Tizzit.co,
a membership community for makers
and handmade shop owners just like your fabulous self.
You can learn more about our community, Tizzit HQ,
via the link below this video.
But for now, let's jump straight into today's conversation.
Should you open a second Etsy shop?
The first thing you want to consider
when deciding if you should open a second Etsy shop
is who is the ideal customer for your new products?
One mistake I see quite often
is a shop owner who opens a second shop
because the new products
are in a different product category.
What you really need to consider
is not whether the new products
are in a different product category,
but if they appeal to the same ideal customer.
Even if the new products
are from a totally different niche or product category,
if they appeal to the same person,
then there is no need to open a second Etsy shop.
For example, let's say
you have a successful Etsy candle shop,
and you're thinking about opening a second one
to sell cosy blankets.
Now, these products are obviously completely different
right, but they appeal to the same ideal customer,
someone who's going to be looking
to create this cosy room ambience at home, right?
So it would be entirely reasonable
to sell them from the both,
both, sorry, from the same Etsy shop.
Having one shop with a variety of different products
can really work well if it's more of a lifestyle brand.
So perhaps all your products appeal to stay-at-home moms,
or they're all eco-friendly products.
That totally can work under the same branding umbrella.
Now, let's say instead that you sell handmade candles,
and you're going to start selling handmade wooden puzzles
for children.
These items are going to appeal
to different customers, right?
So in this example,
you'll want to consider opening a second Etsy shop
for those toys, or those wooden toys,
whichever I just said in the example. (laughs)
What you want ask yourself is if all the items work
for a specific ideal customer.
Will they all work under the same brand vision?
Will they all make the specific person love
or inspire them?
If so, selling them all in one Etsy shop could totally work.
Now, if you look at your ideal customers and determine
that opening a second Etsy shop might be a good idea,
don't jump the gun and open that second shop just yet.
There are four more important things
that you need to consider before making that final decision.
My absolute first recommendation is to make sure
that you have the capacity, both mental and physical,
to open a second shop, because adding a second store
is not just like adding products to your existing shop.
It's a full second business, really,
with a full different social media strategy
and a new and different branding strategy.
You're going to have two different email lists
because we're assuming that if you have a second Etsy store,
it's because you're marketing
to two very different ideal customers.
And if you don't have the same target market,
you're not going to have the same marketing,
which means you will have double the social media captions,
double the branding, double the marketing efforts,
double the pretty much everything.
This means that every time there's a holiday season,
you're going to have to double up your promotions,
your order management, your inventory, the whole shebang.
These things require double your time, or maybe more,
and a lot of mental energy.
So think it through carefully,
so you don't end up overextended
and not doing a good job on either Etsy shop.
Another important detail to consider
is what future plan you envision
for your new Etsy shop products.
I know in the Etsy world, a lot of people think
you need to have at least X number of products
before your shop can be successful or can rank,
which is not true.
You can definitely be successful with a shop
that doesn't have many products.
It's less about how many products you have right now
and more about how many products
you can see yourself making in the future.
What you want to avoid
is something I call the shiny object syndrome.
This happens when you have recently learned this new craft
or skill or you have a new product idea,
I call these the shiny squirrels,
and you think, this is great.
Let me open a shop for that.
But you haven't thought through if this is something
that you can see yourself doing long-term,
if you would enjoy developing more products for this store
versus if it's something you're just enjoying at the moment
on the side of your current business.
This helps avoid spending a lot of time and money
on a new shop, only to have your interest
and motivation fizzle out shortly after.
Another thing to consider before deciding
if you should open another Etsy shop
has nothing to do with the new products or the new shop.
It's all about your current shop.
Even if you have a fabulous idea for a second shop
and all other considerations point to opening a second one,
you first need to make sure that your current Etsy shop
is at a place where adding a second shop is sustainable.
By this, I mean that the first store is reliable,
it's got consistent sales, it's making a big enough profit
to support delegating some of your smaller tasks.
This will free up time and energy
for you to put into the second shop
and also help ensure that the first one won't collapse
when you start to divide your time between the two stores.
From my personal experience working with makers,
I see people wanting to open two Etsy shops
a little bit too early.
Then suddenly the first one loses too much momentum,
and the second one has trouble gaining momentum
because you're splitting your time
into two different stores.
So I can't emphasise enough
to be sure your current store is solid and reliable
before considering a second one.
If, after hearing all this, you are leaning,
sorry, towards opening a second shop,
you also need to be sure you understand how that will look
from an Etsy logistics perspective.
Be aware that a new Etsy shop
will be ranked separately by Etsy,
so the ranking of your current Etsy shop will not help
or influence the ranking of your new Etsy shop.
You'll be starting from the ground up on your new Etsy shop.
And when you have two Etsy shops,
if one shop has a violation,
Etsy reserves the right to apply the penalty
to both of your shops.
Here's what the seller policy states.
If Etsy has reasons to believe you, your content,
or your use of the services violate our terms,
including this seller policy, we may deactivate your content
to some or all users, or suspend or terminate your account,
and any accounts Etsy determines is related to your account,
and your access to the services.
Any shop tools you pay for will most likely
require a second subscription for your second shop as well.
This is, yes, another added cost for you
on top of the double marketing efforts,
double social accounts,
and double time commitment we've just covered.
Obviously, the idea is that you make more money
with another shop, so this is more
of an investment than a cost,
but still, something to consider cashflow-wise
as you get it off the ground.
So is opening a second Etsy shop doable,
and can it be successful?
Yes, of course, but the key is, one,
knowing if you need to do it,
or if you can simply add the new products
to your existing shop,
and two, knowing when the timing is right to make that leap.
If you follow the guidelines above,
you will make the right decision
and I'm sure be very successful with whatever you decide.
I've got two free guides
that I really recommend you take a look at
if you're considering a second Etsy shop.
The first one is, if you're still unsure
whether opening a second shop is good for you,
I have a decision tree that you can print and use
to help guide you through this decision process.
And the second one is great
if you have multiple new product ideas
or many things that you like to make,
and you're realising after watching this video
that you need help deciding which ones to sell,
I'll put the link to those two guides down below
for you to download.
Thanks for watching.
Make sure to check the links below.
And until next time, au revoir,
and don't forget to subscribe.
Subscribe, that's nice, you should do that,
totally, hit the bell. (laughs)
All right, bye, guys.
(percussive music)