Selling handmade Christmas gifts locally (and why now is the time to list)

Most of what I write about is food, because most of Coop is food. But there's a whole other crowd of sellers on here, the ones making earrings, ornaments, candles, stockings, soap and wooden signs. And they have a holiday coming that can make their year!

I looked at what's already listed for Christmas, and it surprised me. Christmas is still ten weeks away, and sellers are getting ready early.

What the numbers say

On October 12, there were 106 Christmas listings from 70 sellers on Coop nationwide. For comparison, Halloween, which was only 19 days out at that point, had 104 listings from 63 sellers. So Christmas already looks about as busy as a holiday that's nearly here. That tells me the sellers who do well at the holidays are the ones who get their shelves stocked early.

Nobody is saying they're all crafters, but the samples are telling. They include wooden ornaments, Christmas stockings, loose leaf tea and peppermint hot chocolate bombs. Handmade, giftable, and made in small batches.

The bigger picture is the handmade gifts category as a whole. Right now there are 1,122 listings spread across 53 cities with a page of their own on Coop. Here are the busiest:

Notice Portland. It has 69 listings from just 17 sellers, so a few people there are listing a lot. If you make gifts in a city that isn't on this list, that's not a bad sign. It might just mean buyers near you haven't found a local maker yet.

A ten week plan

Here's how I'd use the time, working backward from December 25.

Now through early November: photograph and list. Gift buyers decide with their eyes. One clear photo on a plain background beats five busy ones. Put your price, what it's made of, and how long you need to make it right in the listing.

Early November: decide what's ready and what's made to order. Ready stock sells to the shopper who wants it this weekend. Made to order lets you take requests, like a name on a stocking, without making forty of them and hoping. Mix both, but be honest in the listing about which is which. If you take made to order requests with a card, read about the card hold first, because it lapses after about a week.

Mid November: set your last order date. Pick a date, maybe December 15, and write it in your listings. Buyers respect a date that's written down. It also protects the week before Christmas for the actual making and packing.

December: make pickup easy. Choose one or two pickup windows and stick to them. Set a pickup rhythm shows how, and pickup or delivery covers the other option.

Keep it small

Same advice I'd give a baker. Three or four items you can make well beat twenty you can't keep up with. A gift set (say, a candle and a soap together) is one listing and a bigger order, so it's worth a try. And tell people about it! Share your shop with your neighbors, your coworkers, your kid's school group. Local gift shoppers love knowing who made the thing.

If you're a buyer

You can see what's already listed near you on your city's handmade gifts page, like the ones in the table above. Buying early means you get your pick of makers and nobody is rushing at the last minute (I'm looking at myself here).

A quick note

If you make anything you eat or put on skin, like candles, soap, tea or sweets, your state may have its own rules. Check them before you list. For food, we keep plain English guides for Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check your state or county rules before you sell.

Ready to open a storefront?

If you've been making gifts for friends and family for years, this is a great season to let your neighbors find you. Open your storefront on Coop and get your first listings up while buyers are still planning.

Cole Coleman, founder of Coop