Black Friday- Tell me to Shut Up!

Tell me, what exactly was I expecting? To magically clear all the shelves in my stores with my amazing products, and my fabulous bargain?!?! Insanely, yes! Here I was making a sale or 2, and getting irritated then it all came into perspective.

1st of all, Etsy is filled with a good amount of skilled artisans, those making cards, candles, and many other perfect gift items! Why would I think my bargain or my items would outweigh theirs any more or less than any other day on Etsy?

2nd of all, Between Thursday and Friday, I made 1/3 of the dollars in sales, than my best MONTH ever on Etsy!!!! That is pretty impressive!!!

So realistically, yes Thanksgiving and Black Friday were fabulous for me. Enough to quit my job no...but that would really be unrealistic. I work in retail financial planning. It is considered good for us to see 5% increases over the previous year. I wasn't even open last year. And month to date, there is an increase of 8% on Etsy (113% if you include the Craft Show sales from last weekend) compared to my previous best month ever. So really there is nothing here but good news stories!

Another thing to think about is that many of these customers were new customers, and as much as I adore my loyal customers, new customers are the way to grow a business. These could turn into return customers for larger grossing future months.

So I guess the moral to the story is to keep your goals and expectations real. And appreciate the 'normal' rate of growth.

I also want to say, thanks to ALL my customers, past, present, and future...you truly are a dream come true!