Etsy and handmade sellers
An Etsy or handmade seller sells online only, with personalised listings, downloads and custom orders. There is no counter to staff.
Makers with a shop
Magpie keeps one stock count for your counter and your online shop. It records each batch, plans the rota and takes RSVPs for your workshops.
The studio, its shop and its staff work in one Magpie team. Each batch you record adds its pieces to what your shop can sell.
Get started free
This combination of five Magpie areas fits a maker with a shop.
- Store
- Store sells your pieces online and records your counter sales, from one stock count.
- Inventory
- Inventory counts your materials and finished pieces, and starts each supplier's order.
- Daily Operations
- Daily Operations records each batch from its recipe, and lists the opening and closing checks.
- Staff Scheduling
- Staff Scheduling plans who is on the counter and who is in the studio.
- Calendar
- Calendar lists your workshops on a public calendar, and takes RSVPs up to a capacity.
A sale at the counter and an online order take from the same stock.
Store gives the studio an online shop, and records the sales you make at the counter. Each piece you make has one stock count. A counter sale takes from it, as an online order does. Your online shop will offer only what is left.
Counter sales can be paid in cash or on your own card terminal. Online buyers pay on Stripe's checkout page, into your Stripe account. They can collect their order from the studio.
Inventory counts your materials and finished pieces, and shows what to reorder.
Inventory lists your materials, with the finished pieces beside them. Hides and spools are counted one by one, and dye by the litre. From what is running low, you can draft an order for each supplier.
You link each finished piece to its product in your online shop. Each sale in the shop will then come off the piece's stock. Stock you add, such as a batch you made, will set what the shop can sell.
Each batch you record takes its materials out of stock and adds the pieces.
Daily Operations keeps a recipe for each piece you make in batches, listing its materials. Recording a batch will take those materials out of stock and add the pieces. It also sets the linked product's stock in your shop.
A studio starts with its own opening and closing routines. Opening checks the extraction and the machine guards. Closing checks that benches are clean and tools are put away. A shift lead confirms opening and closing, and the logbook keeps notes for the next shift.
You plan who is on the counter and who is in the studio.
Staff Scheduling gives the studio its rota. You can add your own positions, such as Counter and Studio. Each person needs only a name to go on the rota. Shifts stay drafts until you publish the week.
People you invite will see their own shifts. They can swap them, ask for cover and ask for time off. Close to a shift's start, they can start tracking their time from it. Reports can show when each person started and stopped against their shift.
Customers find your workshops on a public calendar, and RSVP until each one is full.
Calendar gives each workshop an event page. You can list it on your public calendar, or open it to anyone with the link. When the RSVPs reach its capacity, the page will say it is full.
People RSVP while signed in to Magpie. Someone new can create an account from the event's page. For a paid workshop, a paid Form takes a fixed amount from each person. They pay into your Stripe account without signing up first.
Five more areas cover social posts, the newsletter, the books, the website and hiring.
- Social Media
- Social Media starts a post from a live product or a workshop's event. Posts to Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn will be published at the time you choose.
- Newsletter
- Newsletter keeps the list of people who subscribe on its signup page. Buyers who tick the box at checkout are added too. Each email is sent at once or at a time you schedule.
- Accounting
- Accounting adds your shop's sales, Stripe's fees and payouts to the books. The cost of each piece sold is moved to Cost of goods sold.
- Websites
- Websites gives the studio a website at its own domain. It can show your address and hours. It can also list your products with their photos and current prices.
- Hiring
- Hiring puts a job on your public job board, with its own application form. Applicants apply without signing up first. You can add someone you hire to the staff list.
Your materials become pieces for sale, and each sale reaches the books.
Once each finished piece is linked to its product, nothing is typed twice.
Materials arrive
You receive the delivery on its supplier order. The materials will be added to stock at the price charged. That updates each material's average cost.
A batch is made
You record what was made. The materials used leave stock, and the finished pieces are added. A failed batch takes its materials out as waste and adds nothing.
The shop can sell them
Your shop's stock for each linked piece is set to the new count. The counter and the online shop both offer the new pieces.
They sell
An online order or a counter sale takes the piece out of your shop's stock. Inventory records the same sale.
The books
The next time you open Accounting, it will add paid orders, Stripe's fees and payouts. A cash sale is recorded in Undeposited funds until you record the deposit.
Setting up takes four steps.
Make a team and open the shop
You create a team for the studio and name your online shop. Then you connect Stripe. Help: Set up and publish a Store.
Put your materials and pieces in Inventory
You record what the studio holds now. Then you link each finished piece to its product in your shop. Help: Sell Inventory stock in Store.
Write your recipes
You set up Daily Operations as a workshop or studio. Then you add a recipe for each piece you make in batches. Help: Plan prep, keep recipes and log waste.
Plan the first week
You add your staff to the rota and publish a week of shifts. Help: Plan and publish a staff schedule.
Plans
A studio with staff is a team. The Team plan is one price for the whole team, with 25 member places. A free team has 3. Someone on the rota takes a place only after accepting an invitation to see their shifts.
The Team plan has 5,000 Calendar events, and a free team has 100. Magpie adds no fee to sales in your shop. Stripe's processing fee is taken from each payment. Magpie's fee on a paid Form is 1% of each payment.
Other businesses similar to a maker's shop have pages of their own.
Thrift and vintage shops
A thrift or vintage shop sells second-hand pieces at the counter and online. Each piece is one of a kind.
Clothing boutiques and gift shops
A boutique sells stock bought in from other makers and brands, in sizes and colours. It does not make what it sells.
Questions makers with a shop ask
Can the counter and the online shop sell from the same stock?
Yes. Each piece is a product in your shop, with its stock tracked. A sale at the counter takes from that stock as an online order does. Checkout holds what an online buyer is buying while they pay. When the last one sells, your online shop will show it as Sold out.
How do we ring up a sale at the counter?
You choose New order in your shop and add what was bought. Payment can be cash, your own card terminal, a bank transfer or a cheque. The order is created paid, and its items leave stock. The customer can be emailed an order confirmation. In the books, the money is kept in Undeposited funds until you record the deposit.
I also sell on Etsy. How do I keep one stock count?
You record each Etsy sale in your shop as a new order, paid by Other. Its items will leave stock as a sale in your own shop does. When the product is linked to an Inventory item, that item's stock goes down too. You can tag the order etsy, and Orders will list those sales together.
Can I see what the materials for a batch cost?
Yes. A recipe's page shows its cost, counting each material at its average cost. A material with no average cost yet counts at its usual supplier's price. Only people who can change Inventory see it. Your shop's reports show the margin on what sold, from a cost per item you set.
Can I see which pieces sell best?
Yes. Your shop's reports show each product's units sold, sales, page views and margin, for any dates. They also show sell-through. Sell-through divides the units sold by those units plus what is on hand now. You can download each table as a CSV file.
Can I send orders to my suppliers from Magpie?
Yes. Sending an order will email the supplier each line in their packs, with its product code. It also gives the date you need it, and replies will go to whoever sent it. You can also mark an order as sent another way. On delivery, anything short, refused or charged at another price is listed under Differences.
Can staff work the counter without seeing costs and the books?
Inventory shows costs, prices and stock values only to people who can change it. Each person gets only the shop permissions you give, such as recording counter sales. The payment account and payouts are only for you and other admins. You also choose their areas, such as your shop but not Accounting.
Can people pay for a workshop when they book?
Yes. You turn on Require payment on a Form and set one amount. Each person answers its questions, then pays by card on Stripe's page. You can close the Form when the workshop is full, and its responses are kept. Magpie's fee on a paid Form is 1% of each payment.
How do people book a place at a workshop?
For a free workshop, people RSVP on its event page while signed in to Magpie. Someone new creates an account from that page. For a paid workshop, a paid Form takes their answers and payment. They pay on Stripe's page without signing up first. A Form asks people to sign in only if you turn that on.
Where do customers find our upcoming workshops?
Your public calendar lists every event you set to Public calendar. It is at your meeting page's address, followed by /calendar. It can show how many people are going, if you show the attendee count. Each event also has its own page to share. You can start a Social Media post about it from the event.
Can customers collect online orders from the studio?
Yes. You add local pickup with the studio's address and pickup times. Its instructions can say which door to use. Buyers who choose it give no shipping address. When you mark the order ready, Magpie will email them the address and times.
Set up your studio.
Create a Magpie account and make a team for the studio.