Should I use Etsy Vacation Mode or extend processing time for medical recovery?

Hi! For a planned 1–2 week medical recovery, the “best” choice usually comes down to one thing: can you reliably meet the new ship-by dates without pushing yourself? If the honest answer is “maybe” (or you won’t be able to work at all for that week), Vacation Mode is the safest option for avoiding late shipments and unhappy buyers—even though you’ll temporarily disappear from Etsy search while it’s on. If you can still fulfill orders (just slower), keeping the shop open and extending processing times is typically better for maintaining momentum because your listings can keep showing and selling, but you’ll likely see fewer conversions simply because longer delivery estimates turn some shoppers away.

A practical way to decide:

• Use Vacation Mode if you’ll have limited capacity, pain meds/fatigue, limited access to supplies, or you just don’t want any risk of falling behind. (Also great if you don’t want to answer messages.)
• Extend processing time if you can still manage orders and messages a bit, and you’re confident you can ship on time with the longer lead time.

If you extend processing times, I do recommend a short proactive message to new buyers—not because they “didn’t notice,” but because it prevents misunderstandings and reduces “when will this ship?” messages. Keep it simple and confident, and restate the ship-by window they’re expecting.

Here’s a safe message you can copy/paste after each new order:

“Thanks so much for your order! Just a quick heads-up: this is made to order, and my current processing time is [X] before shipping. Your order is on track to ship by approximately [date range]. If you need it by a specific date, reply here ASAP and I’ll tell you what’s possible.”

A couple extra tips that help a lot during recovery:

• Update your Etsy shop announcement and listing descriptions with one clear line about the temporary lead time (even if you’re also adjusting processing time).
• If you already have open orders that might be tight, communicate early. Etsy lets you update an order’s ship-by date (within limits), and it’s best practice to confirm the new date works for the buyer before you change it.

If you tell me your current processing time (e.g., “5–7 business days”) and the exact downtime you expect (like “no work Jan 20–27”), I can suggest a specific processing-time setting that builds in a buffer without overextending it.