The problem
A maker selling on Etsy and on their own website has to change the stock count on one every time something sells on the other. Small editions and one-off pieces leave no room for error: sell the last print twice and someone gets a refund and an apology. If a printmaker makes 90 sales a month at 2 minutes each to update the other shop, plus 2 oversells a month at 20 minutes each to sort out, that's 180 + 40 = 220 minutes, about 3.7 hours a month.
What the AI does
Veeqo is shipping and inventory software for online sellers. Its Etsy page says it updates inventory levels across Amazon, eBay, Shopify and Etsy as orders come in. Its UK pricing page puts automated inventory sync across channels on the Inventory plan, from $23£17€20A$33C$32 a month including VAT and priced by monthly order volume; the free Shipping plan imports orders and buys labels but doesn't list stock sync. Connect your Etsy shop and your Shopify site, make Veeqo the one place stock is counted, and check both shops after the first sync. When the last print of an edition sells on either, the count drops to nothing on both.
A worked example
A printmaker in Norwich sells limited-edition linocuts in editions of 20, plus one-off originals, on Etsy and on a Shopify site they already pay for. They connect both to Veeqo's Inventory plan and stop editing stock by hand.
Before
90 sales a month at 2 minutes each updating the other shop (180 minutes) plus 2 oversells at 20 minutes (40 minutes): 220 minutes
After
15 minutes a week checking stock levels on both shops: 15 x 4.3 = about 65 minutes a month, and no prints sold twice
What it's worth
About $52£39€46A$75C$73 a month of time saved, against $23£17€20A$33C$32 for Veeqo's Inventory plan. That's 2.6 hours (220 minus 65 = 155 minutes) at an assumed $20£15€18A$29C$28 an hour. The $23£17€20A$33C$32 is Veeqo's starting price including VAT; check your price on its order volume selector. The Shopify plan you already pay for isn't counted, and neither are the refunds and bad feeling you avoid.
How to set it up
- Count your real stock first: every print in each edition and every one-off piece, so the starting numbers are right.
- Start the Inventory plan's free trial, connect your Etsy shop and your Shopify site, and match each listing to the same product in Veeqo.
- Set Veeqo as the place stock is counted, then check a few listings on both shops after the first sync.
- Make a test sale of a cheap item on one shop and check the count drops on the other before you rely on it.
- Each week, compare stock on both shops with Veeqo, and book in new prints and returns in Veeqo the day they happen.
What goes wrong
- Veeqo's Etsy page calls its tools free, but the pricing page lists stock sync on the Inventory plan from $23£17€20A$33C$32. Check which applies before you start the trial.
- A sync can stop without telling you if a shop disconnects. The first sign is an oversell, so check both shops weekly.
- Items you sell at craft fairs aren't in either shop. Take them off in Veeqo before the fair, or count them back in after.
- Personalized or made-to-order items have no real stock count; leave them out of the sync or set a count you can make.