Less than two years ago, I sold my first pair of shoes. In May of that year, I opened shop on Etsy. Since that time I have sold more pairs of shoes than I can remember or count. I find that incredible. When I started out, I was doubtful that people would actually want something that I made with my hands. Boy, have you proved me wrong!
A couple of weeks ago, I temporarily closed up shop for the rest of the year, planning to catch up on my wait list and focus on family traditions and gift giving. I did this last year, no problem. This year, in the two weeks I've been closed, I have received numerous e-mails asking me when I will be taking orders again. So many, that I felt the need to come up with a solution to offer.
This left me with something of a dilemma though. Given the overwhelming and increasing demand for my shoes, I feel the need to hire a helper in the coming year. This will hopefully enable me to fill more orders a month. It will also, hopefully, enable me to not stay up sewing until 2 in the morning. But in order to hire someone and in order to cover the long hours that I spend working on these one of a kind shoes and designs, I need to raise my pricing.
Along with that, I have experienced a problem with people asking to be on my wait list, and when I get to them, I either never hear from them again, or they politely tell me they have changed their minds. I have had to turn customers away based on my wait list, only to find that I could have taken the order. That's very frustrating. So, in order to address this, I have a new policy. In order to secure a place on the wait list, a customer will now need to place a $10 non-refundable deposit per pair of shoes ordered. The deposit will go towards the purchase price. And payment in full, as before, will be due before work begins on the shoes.
With raising my prices, I will be offering returning customers a 15% off discount as a way of saying "Thank you so much for supporting me and helping me grow this hobby into an actual business, you are the best!" This offer is good for orders placed through March. Just contact me to place your order, or order a wait list deposit listing and the discount will be applied to the custom listing I send you for the rest of the payment. Unfortunately, I can not extend this discount to gift certificates because of the way that shipping is included in the price of them.
And speaking of gift certificates, they are now in my shop and ready for the holiday season. There are two amounts available, $55 for baby and child size shoes and $85 for women's sizes. Not only are you giving them the gift of custom designed handmade shoes, but they get the gift of being a part of the design process from start to finish. How fun!
If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact me. I thank you again so much for helping me get to this amazing place! I am humbled beyond words.
