I guarantee you that having a well-organized home office is part of being a good seller! When you sell an item, you want to be able to find it! In my Etsy shop, for example, I have over 200 items listed and more than that in my inventory, and it’s sometimes always challenging to find a place to store all that. Especially if you live in a home, rather than a warehouse! Today I’m showing how I organize my Ebay Etsy home office in the Urge to Purge series. Mine is located upstairs in a small loft where I keep desktop, printer, office supplies, and Etsy shop inventory. We are blessed to have a large bedroom, bath, loft, and several unfinished attic rooms upstairs, and it’s all devoted to my business.
The goal is/was to keep ALL my inventory up here, and not have it strewn all over the house. I strive for that, BUT! You have only to refer to Vintage Picker Off Limits Home Tour to see reality.
At one time in the distant past, our loft was a cute and cozy room, decorated with a vintage 1930’s radio, floral sofa and rug, vintage quilt displayed on the banister, and a couple of club chairs. Now it’s almost a room again!
Loft from the Great Room….I love that the old quilt covers up most of the mess valued inventory upstairs!
How I Organize My Ebay Etsy Home Office
Storing Inventory
This corner of the loft is in front of the antique radio…
As part of my inventory, I keep a large box of vintage buttons, old sewing patterns, and a stack of Bibles. A Baby First Step doll not in great shape cosmetically. No longer walks. Not very rare either.
My Etsy shop, vintagesouthernpicks.etsy.com, is a vintage one (what else?), so my inventory is highly varied. I carry crochet, yarn, and sewing supplies, paper ephemera, books, and knick-knacks….just a bit of everything. Since it’s all different sizes, open shelving was the answer, but it instantly looks very cluttered.
Center of Loft room before……Really hate the clutter of open shelves!
Now most of that is stored right here in an old chest of drawers.
My dad fixed this up for me years ago when I was moving into my first apartment, so it’s pretty old and very basic. I would love to paint it white and distress it…a job for another day.
Now I have a shipping center! I was using the sofa before, which was too low making it backbreaking bending over to pack stuff.
And the other side of the room….Left side of banister railing…..
These banister shelves are in an L-shape, so at least they look uniform, even if still cluttered.
Right side of banister railing…..
Over here I have smalls like dolls, toys, games, vintage cigarette lighters, vintage padlocks, glassware, and crochet supplies. I know where everything is (I think!)
My computer desk and printer. For 3 years I’ve been running across the room for access to the printer, so I’m glad to have it close.
For the first time in years, I’ve been able to get to this bookcase, which needs purging. If there’s one thing hard for me to get rid of…it’s books!
In the whole purge, I eliminated 3 black shelving units…
And gained 2 full boxes of smalls for the HUGE GARAGE SALE OF 2017!
Garage salers, eat your heart out! It’s gonna be good!
Storage for the Etsy Home Office
Part of the issue of a home office is where to put all the stuff already listed and waiting to sell. Sellers do this different ways…
*Box is weighed, then flattened again, item goes back into inventory until it sells. Advantage is saving room on box storage.
*Box is weighed, then find a place to store it until it sells. This is my method.
For either method, ample storage is a must, and there are advantages and disadvantages to each one.
After much frustration and wasted time, I learned I had to take the time to label the outside of boxes. I was spending way too much time opening boxes looking for stuff.
In fact, I still spend a lot of time looking for things even though the boxes are labeled. I’ve never had to tell a customer I can’t find their package, but almost!
Since I don’t live in a warehouse, I have to find places to store, but at least it’s all upstairs.
My Storage Places…
Large Shelving Unit in hall holds mailers filled with smaller items…..
Alcove off the upstairs bath holds my scale, shelves with small boxes, and mailers that hold books…..
Closet off the bath is my kitchen room, holding all kitchen-related items.
One wall of the bedroom holds large mailers…
And against another wall are boxes holding items that can’t stand attic heat…..
When we have overnight guests, they naturally agree to sleep among all the mailers!
3 Years ago, hubby built these wonderful attic shelves which I love….
Storing Packing Supplies
Running an Ebay/Etsy office also involves storing packing supplies…boxes, tape, bubble wrap, peanuts, air pillows, mailers. I also use foam rubber occasionally and styrofoam, all of which are bulky items requiring ample storage. Luckily, I have a large attic room off the loft where I store all that stuff.
This is just half the room….
I use peanuts ALL the time….
Foam rubber and styrofoam occasionally…..
Bubble wrap ALL the time….
Air pillows in an old laundry hamper & window seat….
Thank goodness for a friend running a Christmas shop, who saves me all her air pillows and peanuts.
My system isn’t pretty, but it’s serviceable for my needs. My advice is to use what you have on hand. I love the feminine, color-coordinated craft rooms I see in blog-land. In a perfect world, mine will look like that!
Thanks for sticking with me on how I organize my Ebay Etsy home office! Any sellers out there reading this….what is YOUR method? I’d love to hear new suggestions!
Don’t forget to pin!
Thanks!!
Florence
Latest posts by Florence (see all)
- The Latest Vintage Hauls - February 10, 2020
- A Vintage Fall Haul - November 3, 2019
- September Sales on Etsy and My New Antique Booth - September 30, 2019
- Camping Trip Thrift Store Haul - August 2, 2019
This was great to see. Confirms my suspicions I would never be able to do this with my small home space.
Well it does take a lot of space at least when you have a fairly big shop like I do. I wonder how those people that have huge shops with over a 1000 items do it! They really MUST live in a warehouse!
I imagine they probably rent a storage container! That’s what I would do if I had so much stuff I was selling. I am just starting with ebay selling book lots and I am trying to figure out where/how to store everything, if maybe it will be easier to package up the items after listing so they are ready when they are sold or perhaps that will be a waste of supplies or make things more difficult to find.
That’s what I do, Crystal, and it works for me, but you may find a better storage solution than mine. The only thing I still need to do is develop a filing system that allows me to find everything quickly. I wish you luck on Ebay! I hope many sales are in your future! Yes, I would hope I never have to rent a storage container! So far I can keep everything here, but I have to limit how much I go out looking for stuff.
I don’t think I have near as much listed as you do! I store mine in white cupboards. I have baskets on some of the shelves that I put smalls in and the rest goes on the shelves themselves. Unlike you I HAVE had a couple of times where I had to tell a customer “I can’t find it”, it was embarrassing and not professional at all so I implemented an inventory system.
Before I list an item I find where it will live until it sells. Those places are numbered, so if it’s in the first cabinet on the second shelf in the first basket then in the etsy listing down at the very bottom is the location… for this one it would say C1/S2/B1 (Cabinet 1/Shelf 2/Bin 1), C3/S3 would be in cabinet 3 on shelf 3 (not in a basket), C1/S1/B2 (Cabinet 1/Shelf 1/Bin 2), etc. that way when it sells I can just look at the listing and know right where it goes! It has been working beautifully for me!
Tania
Thanks for your input about your system Tania! That’s what I need to do next. Gosh I spend soo much time looking for stuff still. On those days hubby has to ship for me, he’s pulling his hair out b/c he sure can’t find it.
Wow, that’s a lot to get done! I can’t imagine how hard it is to keep everything streamlined for your business. I had a small Etsy business for a short time. I sold homemade pillows.
Brenda
Did you like having the shop Brenda? I don’t see how people manage a booth, Etsy, AND blog! It does take a lot of work & space. I need to develop a system to find things like Tania does. That’s my next hurdle.
You are very organized compared to me!! The only accomplishment I have made is deciding where to set up my office! Needless to say, my family is not happy with all the clutter at the moment. I appreciate your post. It is very helpful to a beginner.
You gotta start somewhere, and believe me, you do what we do, and your house will be cluttered. I fight clutter all the time, and it gets to me probably worse than it does my husband. I am married to a patient man, but he has his limits too. I’m glad this was helpful for you. People who have never done this, have no idea what has to go into it. I wasn’t very organized when I started. My organization needs to improve still more for better efficiency. Good luck to you!
Florence,
I too have a few rooms on the upper floor that I use for my Etsy shops. My rooms look like yours! My guests get to sleep with stacks of empty cartons. No comments yet. You didn’t say where you take photos. That too takes up space. Every other week or so I have to reorganize the spaces ……if I’m fortunate to have several orders ….things get out of control quickly while I’m packaging. Thanks for the photos, I shared them with my husband so that he knows he’s not alone.
Oh yeah, forgot to take photos of my photography area…thanks for reminding me! Because that is part of it too. Glad to know I’m not the only one who has to use every nook & cranny for storage. My hubby is very patient, but even he gets outdone with all the clutter.
My garage is a cluttered mess but I know where most things are. You made me realize if I start selling online, my goal for 2017 I will need a space for packing supplies. Wow there certainly is alot to it. Your space loos very organized.
Thanks Debra. Organizing & decluttering is an ongoing process. And all that stuff does take up huge room.
How wonderful that you have so much space to devote to all the different aspects of selling. I struggle with my small craft studio space, which has to do all things for me. I can’t have so much inventory in my etsy shop at once because I have no room to store it all. I have to wait until things sell to add more. Storing packing supplies has been a whole other issue, and actually what I hate the most. In an effort to get my creative space back I’m moving some of my etsy items that I love into a display case in the living room so I can enjoy them until they sell. it will be sort of like a revolving gallery. Even if I love something I usually have no trouble letting it go so this will work for me. There’s always more cool stuff out there, and I really need an uncluttered space in which to create things.
Hi Tuula! Yes I am so blessed to have the room I do. I couldn’t have the volume otherwise. What a great idea to keep your items in a display case so you can enjoy them! I never thought of that! Girl, I would sacrifice some of this space I have in a heartbeat to have some of the crafty abilities you’ve got! I don’t blame you for wanting to keep your creative space cleared as much as possible.
Thanks so much for sharing this. I have a small closet and one corner of the guest room for Etsy items. I keep my inventory low and try to focus on smalls. The items I store are in bins in the order I list them. My trouble is the packing and shipping supplies. I am presently using tall wicker hampers for most mailers and flat boxes. One reason I closed my shop for several months was the overflow.
I wondered why you closed your shop. Just figured you needed a rest. I don’t see how you did booth, Etsy, and blogged too. When I had a booth, it took all my time. I’m glad the post was helpful for you. You know you just do what you gotta do. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have so much inventory, but it’s been hard to resist going to yard & estate sales. I finally quit though except when I just have to have a fix. LOL.
I’ve been trying to organize also but your place is still neater than mine. I need to do that number system also. I’m looking at the bins and boxes and say “where did I put that?” w
Sounds like you & me both need to institute that number system! Gosh I’ve done that so many times…looking thru every single mailer I have for that elusive item.
Thanks for the advice. Since I am closing my booth at the end of the month Etsy is probably next. I’ve sold on Ebay before and may do both. Do you list the same item on Etsy and Ebay?
Wishing you luck, Sharon, in your future selling successes! About listing, if you mean at the same time, generally not. There are some things that do better on Ebay & some do better on Etsy. For example, I had a vintage book on old Fraternity songs that I had on Etsy for a while, but no takers. When I listed it on Ebay, it sold quickly.
Florence, I am floored! I had no idea how big your business was, call me seriously impressed. I love coming here, I always learn new things about you and how you work. So many years of knowledge and experience has built your business.
Amazing how organized you are with all those items to keep track of! And the supplies you need to pack them.
Thanks for sharing. I would take a space that does what I need it too than a space that’s cute and non-functioning!
Thanks for the kind words Nikki! Yes the biz is pretty big, but I try to keep it contained….TRY!
You have a lot of stuff and it must be so hard to arrange everything but you have done a pretty good job there.I would like to suggest donating some old mugs or things you don’t need.Thanks for sharing.
I’ll definitely be donating mugs and a lot of other stuff that doesn’t sell after the garage sale I’ll be having. Thanks for your suggestion Sheela!
i bet arranging those items take a lot of work and time.I couldn’t agree more with you that well-organized home office is part of being a good seller. it reflects on what type of seller you are. Serious seller always find a way to upgrade their their knowledge and organizations skill. Thanks for sharing these ideas.
Thanks so much Azman!
Florence, my friend, you always inspire me. I have been selling a few things locally but have been afraid to try eBay or Etsy. But I think I am ready now. Just now sure which on to start with. I have so much stuff to sell! We may need to meet for lunch! 🙂
“Not”, not “now”
Hi Lynn! So glad you commented! And doubly glad I inspire you. You’ll know when you’re ready to bite the bullet & start your own little home biz. I’ve seen you sell stuff on FB I know would most likely sell on Etsy or Ebay, whichever you choose. Anytime you want to get together for lunch, let me know!