Thank you for letting me share all about our Chicago trip last week. And thank you for those that stopped by and commented! Today I'd like to get back to business and talk a little bit about Etsy's Vacation Mode feature.
During our trip was the first time I've ever put my shop on Vacation Mode since opening in January of 2008. For every other vacation I've taken (even a week in Mexico!) I've left my shop open and answered questions and sent thank you convos to buyers.
I have to admit, I was a little scared using vacation mode. I'd heard horror stories about not getting back into Google's search for weeks and "losing your place" in Etsy's search. But I had also heard from a couple friends who had recently also put their shops on Vacation Mode with no trouble. So that put my mind at ease a little.
And to tell you the truth, it didn't take long for things to be right back to normal. I had nothing to worry about. I think it helped that I had a few orders that were waiting to come through when I left. So those orders came through immediately after I returned since my buyers were already lined up and waiting. I also think it helped that I had a handful of items that had expired while I was gone. So renewing those got my shop back into search rather quickly as well.
So my advice...Enjoy your vacation! Don't be afraid to put your shop on Vacation Mode a few times a year. While I won't use it for little weekend getaways, I will use it more often in the future.
What advice or thoughts do you have about Vacation Mode? Please share in the comments.
Good to know!
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThis is good to know! I need a vacation. :)
ReplyDeleteYay! So glad it worked for you. I've also thought about that renewing expired listings when I get back and figured it helped regain my place. I use vacation mode liberally, but always answer convos while I'm away and typically have some people waiting when I reopen. I get a lot of people who order, say, 20 hand tied knots and then send a message "I need these by next weekend," I've had to flat out refuse sales before because people were insisting on Wednesday they needed something (usually a set of knots!) by Friday, and that's just not possible. Things like that make me really afraid to keep my store open when I'm away!
ReplyDeleteI guess my only additional advice is to put when you'll be reopening right at the beginning of the announcement. I've still had people convo to ask, but it cuts down convos that just take up your time for a simple question.
You're so right about adding a note about when you'll return. I was sure to add this to my shop announcement as well as the auto-response for convos. I do think this helped. And I answered a few convos while we were gone as well.
DeleteGlad it worked for you. I have used it with varied results.
ReplyDeleteThat's very good to know! I have never put my shop on vacation mode either because of the horror stories I heard, so I'm glad to hear it's no big deal. Makes me wonder if Etsy has ironed out some kinks with vacation mode or if perhaps people are exaggerating a wee bit when they say things like "you'll fall of the face of the earth in terms of searches" haha.
ReplyDeleteI do think it was a bigger deal a few years ago. But I think changes on both Etsy's end as well as Google's end has helped to make it not such a big deal.
DeleteI've used it several times and like that I'm not then tied to my shop while on vacation. When I'm the buyer, I don't like to buy something only to be told it'll be shipped in a week when the owner returns since being open implies they are there!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be honest, I've never worried about it that much. But my business is still part-time enough that I'm not that worried about losing income. I like being able to not worry about it when I'm out of town. That being said, once the kids are older and I have more time to devote to my art, I might get more paranoid about it :)
ReplyDeleteI use it almost every time I leave town, but my Etsy shop is definitely more of a side business for me so I usually don't worry about it too much. My busy season in the Etsy shop is the first week in December though and last year that was when the band Robbie works for had their festival in the Dominican. It really stressed me out to put it in vacation mode because I was worried that on top of missing orders, people would have more trouble finding me. Thankfully it worked out fine and we did just as much in sales as the precious year when I'd stayed open. I'm so glad it worked out for you too!
ReplyDeleteThis is good to know! I don't make my Etsy shop a huge priority anymore, but I do average one larger purchase a month so I don't want to totally throw it into the garbage either. I actually left mine open when I flew to California last week, but if we leave the country again I'll use vacation mode.
ReplyDelete