Moving and Future Shop Plans

Good news! After ten years of service, my husband will be hanging up his sailor hat and transistioning out of the Navy. The upcoming months will be filled with anticipation, excitement, and a little anxiety. Our plans are to pull up stakes and move to sunny Jacksonville, Florida! We lived there once and loved it. When we moved to New York, we left behind friends and family, but relocating to Jacksonville will put us within a comfortable proximity to both. Not to mention, we'll be close to the beach, which is one place I've really missed since our exodus to the North.

So, what does this mean for my shop? Well, I'll definitely be going into Vacation Mode during the actual move, but I'm not sure just how long it will take for me to get back up and running. That will all depend on how long it takes for me to procure my FL business license, how much disposable income I will have to buy supplies to make new items, and how long it takes us to get settled in as a family. I'm also considering taking a little while off to build up my inventory, take some great pictures, and work on my product descriptions. I also may need to go into Vacation Mode prior to the move so we can take care of all the move preparations. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.

Now, I've been doing some serious thinking, and I have a change that I have to make to my shop that will be tough for me. I've been doing some research and adding it all up, and I'm not making a profit. After Etsy fees, PayPal fees, shipping and handling, and all the other miscellaneous expenses, I'm only just managing to break even. For now I'm fine with that, but if I ever want to use my shop to help supplement our income (mainly by paying for Christmas and birthday gifts, small expenses we don't normally budget for), I will have to raise my prices. There is no question. I hate to do it, because I like a deal as much as the next person, but I will not be able to continue doing business if I maintain my current price point. I just can't. That said, I think my buyers will understand.

Another change I will be making to the shop once we get settled into our new home is offering international shipping. Right now, I only ship within the US, and I realized what a great disservice I was doing myself, because several items in my shop have hearts from people in Canada, Australia, etc. So, come 2011 at the latest, I will gladly ship internationally!

Well guys, that's all for now. I'm off to get some housework done. See ya later!

Recovering from burnout

Recently, I wasn't in the mood to make blog posts. To be honest, I wasn't in the mood to do anything, especially work on my shop. Occasionally, I get into these funks, and I just have to pull myself up by the bootstraps and get back into the swing. I've made some changes that are moving me in a positive direction, and things are looking up.

At any rate, I've been taking a look around my shop, and I'm thinking of making some changes. I like my banner and my avatar, but I'm thinking I can do better. I'd also like to get a new layout for my blog and Twitter page. All in good time, though. Right now I need to post a few more items. The sad thing is, I have lots of items ready to go, but I always go blank when it comes to the descriptions. I'm just going to have to suck it up and crank out some new listings!

Well, that's all for now. Check back for some new posts in a few days!

Quick update

I know it's been a couple of weeks since my last post. I'm about to head to bed, but I just wanted to say that I *am* still alive. I also haven't gotten any new listings posted in my shop either, but I'm hoping to change that in a couple of days. Well, that's all I have time for now. See ya later!

Another Sale!

I hear my little one stirring, so I'm going to have to make this a brief post. I MADE ANOTHER SALE TODAY! YAY! In honesty, it was about the last thing I was expecting to happen today, but it happened. I'M SO HAPPY!

Okay, now that that's out of my system, time to go take care of the kiddo. Have a good one, guys!

Whoa!

Okay, so I have no idea where this week went. Tomorrow's Sunday - what the? I didn't list any of those signs I was talking about in my previous blog post :(. I did, however, list two new necklaces and edit the photos and tags of another necklace. I'm so glad I started taking pictures outside in the natural light. I'm also glad I found the macro setting on my camera; my pics look SOOOO much better. I also have started using http://www.picnik.com/ to correct the exposure, crop, and rotate my photos, so even thought they still aren't perfect, they're much closer to being Etsy treasury worthy (wink, wink, hint, hint). See for yourself:

They're much, much better than this old picture:

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to post some more this week. See ya later!

To check out these necklaces, click on these links:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40015594 Clam Shell

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_1&listing_id=40122058 Starfish

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34129070 Scallop Shell