Noodle Soup and Fried Egg charm--one of many Christmas in July items from MiniFood on Etsy.

Contributing Columnist Nicole M., Sugar Shox Craftsaka
Nicole M., Sugar Shox Crafts

So many sales, so many items…so little time! The Christmas spirit is in full swing on Etsy this month during the site wide Christmas in July sale.

The Christmas in July sale is a long-held tradition among many Etsy sellers. It is offered on an individual shop basis, with each shop offering its own special offers. These offers can range from free or discounted shipping, percentages off on sales, free items with purchase (“Buy One, Get One Free,” for example) to special items that are exclusively listed for the CIJ sale.

CIJ has a huge list of participants this year. The sale’s organizer, Cindy (aka DesignedbyLucinda), said there are at least 750 shops participating in the sale and more are signing up for it daily. Interest in the sale grows each day—the original post in the Etsy Forums that announced the sale has had 2,687 replies at the time of this writing, and continues to be resurrected each day on the fast moving Business Topics message board.

Anything allowed to be sold on Etsy is on sale as part of CIJ.

“Soaps, jewelry, vintage, food, holiday items, clothing, art—you name it, someone is probably having a Christmas in July sale for it,” said Cindy. “Some shops even have Christmas in July sections dedicated to the event.”

The CIJ sale is a handy marketing tool for sellers, as well. Historically, it is a retail marketing plan for boosting sales during a month where business would normally be slow, Cindy said.

“It feels like Christmas to sellers, because July can be one very slow, broke month,” she said.

Don’t wait until Christmas, though, to take advantage of CIJ! The official sale only runs until July 25th. Luckily, many sellers like Minifood and The Whirlwind are extending their sales to at least July 31st. A more extensive list of sellers who are extending their CIJ sales can be found here.

Here are a sampling of even more extended Christmas in July sales from other sellers; Crochetize is offering 20% off orders, and also free shipping when two items are purchased. Purchase any 4 items at SupplyOwl’s shop featuring paper goods and embellishments, and receive a free item (no limit!). Finally, Dishhandbags is having a “Buy One, Get One Half Off” sale on everything in her shop!

Still interested in participating in CIJ as a seller? It’s not too late to sign on! Sellers can keep their sale up for as long as they’d like. There are no sign up forms to fill out to join in, just follow these steps:
• Tag the items you are offering for the sale with christmasinjuly and/or cij tags.
• Mention your sale in your shop’s announcement message.
• Add a short passage about your CIJ sale in your item descriptions, if you’d like.

Don’t forget to promote your sale! Use your blog, Facebook, Twitter, the Promotions Forum on Etsy…the sky’s the limit to all the ways to promote it, and it’s up to each seller to get their name out there!

“Spread the word yourself, because that brings the best results…ultimately we have to create our own buzz,” Cindy said. “People won’t know about the CIJ online sale unless they know it exists, so shout the word!”

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Tags: Christmas in July, cij, etsy, fun, mni food, sale, sugarshoxcrafts, xmas in july

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