Hello. ❤

I'm seeking some advice today.

I've been wondering what I could do to make the slots fill more quickly, besides having a better taste for CWs, of course. hahahahahaha

Joking apart, please disregard that. ;_;

Besides from spacing releases and doing pre-slots on this group (suggestions that some of you gave me before, thanks!)... I've been thinking about stop doing 1+ batch releases at all (with the exception of the animal sweaters, because 2 batches for base 1 color seems to be the right demand). So almost everything from now on (that includes anything that I haven't put on site yet, including the designs I have exposed on this group and pre-slotted people on; everything would be reduced to 1 batch) would be 1 batch, with very rare exceptions.

I really don't care about making a profit with CWs, but I also don't feel like having to cover costs to put the designs through almost all the time. Or waiting three+ weeks to fill the first batch of most of my CWs. And based of what I'm seeing with other releasers, making 1 batch releases seems to make slots to fill easier.

So... what do you all think? Do you think that will help? What more should I do?

Also, I'm open to suggestions of new CWs for me to comission, of course. I'm planning on a new SM BG very soon and a Card Captor Sakura CW.

PS: As far as I know, expanding the batches of any CW is prohibited by the rules. So I couldn't promiss 1 batch and then make the item 2 batches later on. But I think there's nothing against the other way around, right? If I say it's 2 batches but then I can't find enough interest for 2 batches, I can make the item 1 batch only... Right? If anyone knows, please clarify to me. xD

🍪 You release great stuff!!!

I think a 1 batch rule would be a good start for helping with having unfilled batches. If demand is not present enough to fill multiple batches, then capping it off where demand stops seems to be a pretty good way to save money and time. I see a lot of people fill only 4 slots on a second batch and then it just sits there, for weeks in that partially full state.

This all being said I have never released a CW before, so please don't take my opinion as true reality-tested facts. :D lol ❤️

As far as I know, if you can't fill the second batch, then you do not have to push it through simply because you stated there would be 2.

Anytime you do a lot of recolors of something, slots are indeed harder to fill (in most cases). Especially if every color has 2 batches or however. I find that sometimes slots are easier to fill if you only release a single batch here and there. I'm typically a super hermit on submitting things myself, sometimes a week or so later after I take slots, and I tend to only ping for one item a week, sometimes two. I did three recently with discounts for multiple slots, but that was a very rare occurrence.

That being said, even if you do only 1 batch some things won't fill right away. It might be the case that people would love to slot but don't have the funds on hand.

A lot of people are saving for lumi and only slotting on things they really want. So even if they'd normally slot on lots of things, they'll be cutting back.

Honestly, there's no sure fire way to make slots fill, all you can do is focus on one thing at a time and be patient or slowly push things through or try slotting later down the road.

1 batch seems like a good idea, especially if you do recolors.

I think that you have great taste in cws. :D I think it's mainly a combo of peoples funds being tight, the cw market seems to be slowing down a bit, and everyone having such a wide range of tastes. I remember when background cws use to fill up fast and now it seems to take a while. I don't think there's any rule against going from two to one batch. I've seen several people cancel additional batches due to the slots not filling up. It's kind of hard to pinpoint what people will like. It seems to range from the loose flowing hair to the pretty dress heels. :) What I like a lot of people probably wouldn't like lol, but I wish someone would release more different color geta shoes appropriate for all of the kimonos on the market (like ) but in different colors. However I don't know if there will be a demand for those from other users. :( I love wings too. Heck we have a lot of final fantasy (like me) nerds here too :P lol so some cws from that would be good too. :) Just remember to make something that you would want though. ❤

personally, i just state '1-2 batches based on interest' and then list how many slots are available in the 1st batch when i release; that way if only one fills, there's only one, but if there's enough for 2 nobody misses out and i can shoot the item into my shop, send an invite, then just leave it unpriced-- that way it's completely within the rules and it helps regulate demand.

i really dislike 1 batch items, because a lot of people will take advantage of being in the right place at the right time and claim on 1 batch items just because it's 1 batch, then turn around and try to trade or sell the item for a ton of profit. for me personally, it makes it way more stressful as a buyer, but i totes understand the appeal of it/why it makes sense.

it also helps to have the first batch of the first colour of an item flexible-- then after that one, you know what to expect with recolours (like with the animal sweaters). c:

hopefully all that helps a lil!!

Batch 1 is probably a good place to start~

It might have something to do with the fact that people are able to pick and choose from the list of re-colors you've shown? It might reduce the novelty or urgency to buy the item if people know what they can expect to come.

However, if no one really knows what's going to be released, they might be more inclined to jump in and slot for and item where they like the style but might be 50-50 on the color or vice versa. I'm not trying to say to not be transparent or lie to people about what's in store, but from a sales standpoint, it could be a factor in why it's been so hard to fill batches.

Right now, it might be a good idea to reduce everything to 1 batch, just so there isn't a such a burden on you to cover costs. made a post in one of the CW discussion threads about "batch worth via slotting or direct-to-shop", might be something you want to look into for the items you have shown in the forum. {clickclick}

DISCLAIMER: I'm not trying to tell you how to run your thang, or sound rude (if it comes off that way)!! It just sucks to see you have to cover so much cost and wait so long for your batches to fill for your lovely items. :c You know if I was made of gold I would help you fill more slots!

what I would do is make then 2 batches but only slot 10.for now. If you do this rule you should have your group preclaim if you have a bunch of colors. My biggest issue is no matter how much I want a design you just release too fast for me to be able to get them. Another option is straight to cash shop. Then slot people via there if somethings hard to slot. It's more upfront cost but it may work out better for you.

@ Lyonesse - I'm going to agree on what said. That seems to be the most fair and cost efficient way to do things, but don't quote me on that as I have no CW selling experience.

What might also help is having only one set at a time up for slots. I think there's too many choices available in your shop. Plus, there's constant pings and then it gets confusing as to what you just pinged for. Perhaps have one set of CWs up per week and then you can decide on what to do with the items if you don't completely fill up slots. It would also be less overwhelming for you as you would have less to keep track of.

Keep in mind that Black Friday and Lumi are coming up, so that could also explain why slots are slow at filling up.

I honestly, don't know what to advise you on as it is hard to sell sometimes. Limiting batches to only 1 can be a bit frustrating in general for people who don't have the funds but would like to purchase. So with that I suppose you could do one batch now and one batch later which is an idea I've been considering. As for items that are extremely hard to fill, that's a tough call but if one batch is the way to go for you and appears to be working, stick with it for now, I suppose.

Otherwise, I'm sure someone else has a better suggestion or input on the matter.

I'd recommend what Varsna suggested... for me, it's really down to timing and pace... I don't use RL money for the site any longer so csc comes a lot more slowly, most cw's buy second hand so I can get more for my time investment (if that makes sense)... Because of this, I'm really really picky on what I slot on - in fact, the peach glowsticks I slotted on the other day is the FIRST TIME I have slotted... I've been really tempted a number of times but frankly, I rarely have the funds, so even when I want to slot on things (and there have been a lot!) I can't. Generally though, I am able to save up enough funds to get 1 CW a month, sometimes it's only a pawn shop item and sometimes I'm able to save up for something new and shiny. I realize I'm not the norm, but hopefully it gives another perspective. I like your items, I just can't keep up or afford them most of the time.

Thanks for the cookie!! ❤ It's good to know that my stuff is appreciated!

Yeah. Thanks for the advice. I know that making more items capped at one batch only might not make the slots fill quick, but they'll for sure fill quicker. At least a small bit.

I'm also aware that the Black Friday // Lumi period can be a rough time to fill batches, because everyone is saving.

What you said about recolors is also true. I'll be capping items with many recolors at one batch max from now on.

After meditating about everything that you guys told me, I decided that I'll be doing the following: I'll check the interest inside the group for every new color/design.

With a few exceptions (the animal sweaters batches will be the same as always: 2 for base 1 and 1 for bases 2 and 3), everything will work like that:

• If I can get 7 or more slots filled within the group, the item will be 2 batches.
• Otherwise, everything will be one batch only.

And of course, I'll be always posting the designs here first and pinging the group.

What do you guys think about it? I think that solves the problem and will help me to fill my slots quickly. :)

FINAL FANTASYYYYYYY ❤

I also think that colored getas would be nice. I'll keep that on mind!

Sounds like a great solution!

I usually do check the color interest before comissioning any recolor, but I'll be doing that more for sure.

I think that gathering slots inside the group first solves that problem, right?

I must confess that I'm quite fond of slotting on popular items for trading purposes though. Don't hate me. ;3;

But most of the times I just change my mind after playing with the item on my Wardrobe for a small bit, LMAO.

Reselling them right away for more that slot price is high jerkness though. I avoid selling anything for more than slot price, unless I have previously paid more than slot price for it.

My dear, I was asking for everyone opinion on the first place (and yours was very useful, thanks) so I would need to be crazy (more than what I actually am hahaha) to be "offended" (or something like that) by anything that you said. LMAO. ❤

Yeah, that's true and I haven't think about that before. I comissioned many recolors of desgins I owned because of some promotions/massive discounts, so I ended up with a ton of recolors to release and almost no slotters at all. Oh, the drama! ;3;

I'll be avoiding doing that in the future like the plague.

Thank you again!

Based on my personal (and low) experience, putting things unlimited on shop is the worst option ever. People avoid getting them like the plague because they want to try to get a cheaper secondhand copy later and I end up not even being able to cover the cost I had. xD

And yes, I totally admit that my release pace is insane!! I'm really sorry about that. ;3;

............... I don't think I'll be able to change it though. It might actually get worst with the time. .-.