how much stock is worth it?

I’ve read numerous times on Etsys forums that the more stock, the better! I guess it makes sense…offering something for everyone. But it’s a dangerous way of thinking, for me at least.

My old company was stocked out to the max….I had mineral makeup, perfume, bath salts, bath milk, soap, lotions, scrubs, body butter, lip balms, lip creams, lip glosses, bubble bars, body washes…the works! It all came with me to shows, too, so my tables were always crowded. In the beginning I thought it was a great idea to show off how “talented” I was, how much stuff I could offer, etc.


It became a slippery slope and in the end I closed the company because it got to be too much. I wanted to start new, fresh, and more importantly, small. So being on Etsy puts me in a little bit of a hard spot. I would love to offer more products but the need has to be there for me to make them. It becomes the old catch 22: need the customers to make the product, need the product to make the customers. I don’t want to fall into the rut of overstock like I did last time but I also don’t want to sell myself short. Right now Im at 36 items on etsy, more than on my website but just because I’ve got some old inventory I need to get rid of.

I’ve been eyeing up some other products I could make just to get myself out there but it would involve buying more packaging…is that a step Im willing to take? Meh…

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