Open Online!

I did it.  I worked really hard this weekend to get the online version of my market back up and running.

Making progress in the physical market, but I’ve still got some work to do.

I made changes so that people can check out with just a credit card instead of requiring orders to go through Paypal (although Paypal is still an option).  But that meant I had to go back and redo everything.

So it was pictures of every different variety of soap.

I made lotion this weekend and took pictures of that.

I had to take pictures of all the different tote bags.

Then I added some of my knitted items.

I also added some of my photography and artsy kinds of things.

Book Art, Wax Melts, and Candles

It was a lot of work to get it going, and I’m still not done, but I think it will be much faster to load items and it should customers a better shopping experience.  It will still be under construction for a little while, but you can buy soap!

Eden Hills Market

I Need Advice

With the changes in the world, I really want to get back to promoting and selling my products through my website.

infinity scarf

I keep expanding what I make, but that means I have to deal with shipping.  I can’t find a way to figure shipping that gives me control.

candles and wax melts

Paypal lets me create shipping based on dollar amount or weight.  But it doesn’t let me fluctuate between methods the way I need.

hats and ear band

Right now, my shipping is set for soap sales.

goats milk soap

I can upgrade my account at Weebly to use their shipping calculator, but I’m afraid I’m going to run into the same problem.

fine art print

My understanding is that Etsy no longer lets you charge shipping.  I thought about using Facebook, but I’m not sure how that works.

note cards

I can add shipping to the cost of the product, but I still can get weird combinations that means people could pay a lot more than they need to for me to ship their items if I have to jack up the price of everything.

feed sack totes

I really don’t want to do that.  I just got a lot of my inventory back from the consignment shop where I had to jack up the prices by twenty percent so they could have their cut.

goat’s milk lotion

It could also leave me stuck paying a large amount of postage and losing money on an order if I don’t add enough to items.

I try to keep my prices reasonable.  I haven’t raised the prices of my soaps since I started making them, and trust me the cost of supplies has gone up.

dish cloths, dryer balls, and coasters

I do allow for people to message me what they want, and then I can figure the price of shipping and send an invoice, which works well, but would most people be okay with that in our world of instant gratification?

hand knit llama wool rugs

What do you think?  Any ideas?

Ideas for the Pumpkin Patch

Sometime this last week or so, it hit me that we’re only two months away from the opening of the pumpkin patch for 2016.  It’s actually going to start two weeks earlier this year, so we’ll open on September 17th.  We have a building improvement in the works, and I have a big sign being made to put on the building.  I dug out my little advertising sign and have attached it to my table at the weekly farmer’s market.

I have so many ideas running around in my head that it’s almost overwhelming. It was good last year, but I hope people come back and bring their friends and discover that we have new, more fun activities and even better items for sale.

I got this cute little corner shelf.  I’ll move it and my regular soap racks up to the pumpkin patch.  That will give people better shopping as well as more room for other items.  I have people interested in putting their craft items in the shop also.  We’ll see how that goes or if it happens.

Right now, the corner shelf has my lotions on it.  I had to make three batches of lotion this week, and now I have another to make.  That’s a good thing!  I also have making wax melts and soy candles on the agenda for this week.

I hope I’ll soon have my liquid soap (in three fragrances and unscented) on one of the shelves.  Notice the nipples. That means we have bottle kids.  To be precise, ten kids are getting supplemental bottles.

I made four batches of soap this week, including cherry blossom, which is a new soap fragrance.  I already  have it in lotion, candles, and wax melts, and I will use it in liquid soap too.  I’m waiting on an order for my pomegranate fragrance, and then I’ll make three more batches of soap.

Kentish Rain, Clean Coconut, Cherry Blossom, and Candy

I am trying really hard to get my inventory ready for the pumpkin patch.  With a three week curing time, if it isn’t ready for the start of the market, it’s not going to happen.

I’m also trying to figure out where to put the petting zoo this year so my bottle kids will be comfortable and we can still keep a close eye on them.

I am putting my parents to work with some of the fun activity ideas too.  I’ll share those as they get done.  I am looking for food vendors and local bands.  I’m also still hoping my pumpkins grow and produce lots of pumpkins too.  I don’t think I’ll plan on sleeping between now and November 1st!

You do still have time to join me for Friday’s Hunt if you want.  The items are listed at the top of my side bar.