I have searched high and low on Pinterest for ideas on how to better store my Etsy Shop sticker inventory without spending a boat load of cash at IKEA. Well, yesterday I figured it out and I'm so excited I just had to share it with you. I wanted a storage solution that would allows each sticker design to be stored separately, protected safely, be convenient and still allow for the stickers to be viewed by the public if I'm at an event or a festival. I have a unique inventory number that I use on my Etsy Shop and I'm not fond of the idea of having to sort hundreds of stickers when I return from a weekend show. I needed a way to keep them together but make them easy to flip through. Let me just say, that once I started transferring my stickers to this new storage solution, I didn't stop until I had finished with my whole inventory. I was obsessed! I'm in LOVE how it is working out so far. |
| My sticker inventory stored by # |
As usual, when I try something new, I can't keep it to myself. I love sharing my discoveries with you as I'm on this journey to grow my art business. I'm sure you are asking yourself, "Why does she even bother with stickers?" I wouldn't be truthful if I didn't tell you that I have wondered that myself. Let me just say that having stickers on my Etsy Shop in the beginning was a great decision. It is all a numbers game. If you look like a brand new shop with just few sales and not many positive reviews, then potential shoppers may hesitate to purchase more expensive item, such as original art from you. If they see lots of sales and 5 star ratings in your shop, they have much more confidence in you as a business owner. Customers are more willing to take a risk with a new shop when only spending a few dollars. Stickers definitely helped me get my shop up and running.
Also, unless you have at least 100 listings, Etsy doesn't really rank you very high in their SEO searches. You want to get your shop listing to 100 or more as quickly as you can. Designing stickers and offering them on my Etsy Shop was good way to accomplish that. Not to mention, I sold over $400 in stickers in 2020. Those $2 or $3 items do add up.
Will I always take the time to print and cut stickers for my shop? Probably not, but right now I'm still enjoying the process. Now back to my cute solution for storing my inventory.
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| An example of a finished sticker envelope |
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the kraft brown A7 envelopes that are sold at Hobby Lobby. Regularly priced at $14.99 for 100 of them, I want until they are 40 or 50% off and then buy several boxes at a time. I use these sturdy envelopes to mail out all my small order items. Anything that will fit and isn't over 1/4 inch thick goes inside these envelopes. I write a cute little message on the flap and add an equally cute sticker to decorate the envelop before I drop it in the mail.
What I decided to do was to use these envelopes to store my stickers in. I cut off each of their flaps to make sturdy little pockets that my stickers fit perfectly into. I then wrote the inventory # and the title on the top edge of the pocket. I attach an example of each of the stickers on their respective envelop so that it is easy to see what style of sticker is inside. To make this envelope more sturdy and help keep the stickers clean, I covered it with a few strips of packing tape. I think this is going to work beautifully when I go to my next event. I will certainly keep you posted.
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| My cover page for my catalog |
Finally, I decided it made a whole lot of sense to create a sticker catalog of sorts. I just finished my creating a portfolio binder and since I loved how that project turned out I decided to create a similar styled binder with thumbnail photos of each of my stickers, and have them organized by animal categories. I can visualize customers filling my tent and taking the time to flip through my catalog and portfolio. At least that is what I hope happens.
My first festival since COVID is coming up in November and all this is in preparation for that weekend.
Want to check out more of my whimsy artwork? Why not head on over to my shop and poke around? Maybe like my FaceBook Studio Page @JulieTownsendStudio.
Here is the Etsy link to both of my shops:
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| page 1 of my sticker catalog |
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