In your opinion, when is the best time to start advertising Christmas gifts?

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I have a small business and lately I've been working on my Christmas gift ideas. I've done some mock designs which I'll be offering this year.

In your opinion, when is the best time to start advertising? I'm thinking 1st November. Some friends say start now! Some say they'd hide my posts on social media if they saw anything before halloween.

September.

Mid September

Surely this all depends on numerous factors...

You need to work out how long each item would take you to make etc (and how it fits round your day to day schedule), how many you expect to make, where you are shipping to and the respective last shipping dates

November 1st I think is far too late

Now

Also just to add if you are relying on facebook to advertise you definitely need to start advertising early - algorithms on there lately are shocking and people won't always see your posts straight away

What's it for, OP?

I've not bought anything yet today and I'm getting twitchy.

Normally I'd be annoyed to see overt Christmas advertising in September but this year is different. I suspect a lot of people will start earlier because they anticipate prices only going up.

I'd say now. I would buy now so if you waited until after Halloween even if I loved your offering for someone it would be too late as I would have already bought for them.

Why not do actually research instead of asking on here

A quick google trends or keyword planner search will do the trick

November is far too late

I’ve a small business too and have already started advertising. Crazy I know but it means people can pay small deposit now and can either pay in full when product ready or pay a bit each week .

November is far too late, especially as less disposable I come this year.

September

This 😁

And I would say start when the kids go back to school as that's when my brain switches to Xmas mode

I saw a Christmas advert on Facebook yesterday and bought off of it. So I say don't wait! I'm likely to have got/decided on over 50 % of gifts by November even if I liked your product I might not buy it past then. Also if I know I need something particular for Christmas I'll buy it when I see it from now on rather than wait.
I guess it depends what you are selling though and who your target market is.

I do wonder if people who can will shop earlier this year in fear of unknown bills come December (once it's bought it's one less thing to worry about and with inflation the way it is the sooner the better).

Also come Nov/Dec when the heating goes on it might make people more frugal so i'd be trying to sell now

Start now. Lots of other retailers really amp up their Christmas advertising in Sept/Oct.

Lots of people start thinking about Christmas in September, and I think this year even more people than usual will be looking to spread the cost over a few months rather than buying everything in Nov/Dec.

I'm about half way through my Christmas shopping, certainly not waiting around for prices to increase or relying on Royal Mail and overstretched couriers to get my orders to me on time come November/December. No chance pal. Don't need the extra aggro.
So I'd start advertising now if I were you because I'm 100% certain that this year more people are thinking like me than the "I won't let a thought about Christmas enter my head until the tree goes up on Christmas Eve" crowd.

24th December 🤣

1st November let halloween have its thing then Christmas come December I'm sick of Christmas

Well, I would prefer "never" - 1st December, if I was being really kind.
But I get that you are trying to run a business, so I suppose you need to look at what your competitors are doing, as you will need to match them.

Why not do actually research instead of asking on here

I quote from my own internet research:
'Mumsnet is a website for parents, with around eight million unique users each month and around 20,000 posts on our forums every day' -^^ a pretty good source of research I'd say. What an unkind post.

OP, the Christmas board has a bargains thread which started mid August and is now on its 3rd thread so I'd say way before halloween. This year more than ever people are trying to spread the cost, and many people are talking about buying for fewer people. . Whilst I am lucky in that respect, I am keen to support local or independent businesses, so I'll buy stuff when I see it. You may miss the boat if you leave it too late.
Are your products Christmas specific? If not, bear in mind that people buy for other occasions too, so the sooner you get them advertised the better.

Boots have started selling their Xmas stuff. I'd start at the end of September. People are going to be fussy this year so you want to get there early.

If it's targeted at men, about 11am Christmas Eve.

I also run a small business and usually release late September early October. I'm doing more of a soft release this year and just putting things up as they become available (started planning in June). People are starting to shop Christmas already to spread the cost.

Anytime around now to end September. I usually have all my shopping done and wrapped by the end on November.

Thanks for the helpful replies.

To the poster who said I should do more research..... errrr this is what I am doing!

Anyway, I do personalised frames, family tree frames, scramble tile crossword frames etc.

For Christmas range, I was thinking personalised baubles, frames for those with babies that say my first Christmas, or frames with vinyl print with kids names saying Santa, We Believe... just things like that.

I'm waiting on a couple of things arriving, but I'll certainly get some designs made up and posted on my socials etc.

I know what I'm doing design wise, so that's half the battle there!

I know it's a very heavy market with loads of talented crafters out there so I'm targeting local more then national, although I am on Etsy, MadeMe etc.