Changes Coming in 2026

After much thought, mental debate, data gathering, mulling over choices, and months of trying to figure things out, I have decided I have to revamp a LOT if I am going to continue with my creative/small business journey. Changes are coming for Regina P Designs and I wanted to make sure to give you all a heads up.

When I started my website, it was to offer another platform for buyers to purchase my patterns other than Ravelry due to many reasons but mainly to offer my designs to a wider audience. The #1 rule of the site was that it must garner enough ad revenue so that it paid for itself, nothing more and definitely nothing less. This worked out well for the first couple years, then things started changing. Policies for ads changed, audiences shrunk, engagement crept to a standstill, GPSR laws constricted sales, site costs rose, and so on. I am now at the point where paying to renew this site as it is for another year will cost more than what I've made in sales on this site since its creation in 2021. Something needs to change, but I am unsure how to go about it.

I love being able to gift a free pattern every month as a way to say thank you and share this wonderful gift I have been given, but struggling through the new EU GPSR laws has made it nearly impossible this year. Simply put in order for someone in the EU to download anything it must legally pass the new General Product Safety Regulations on digital goods that went into effect in December of 2024. That means anyone not living in a European Union country must now pay someone living in a European Union country to certify the file and act as a liaison for the seller. So if I want to sell or even just give away any PDF file I will have to pay whatever the fee is (I've seen anywhere from $55 upfront with a $30 per file fee to $200 for 10 files and everything in between) to be allowed to do so. I have over 400 patterns, even at the lower end of the fees that's over $12,000! I'll be lucky to make a tenth of that this year in total sales across the different vendor sites. It's just not possible.

I have tried to comply with these new laws as best I could by making my shop "members only" and manually approving all applicants that do not reside within the EU. This has caused my sales to tank and what was left of my ad revenue went with them, which means no money to renew my website subscription. My desire to continue this dream flew the coop right along with them. After years of patterns just flying off my hook, putting out a free one every month along with one a week, I have only managed to design about a dozen things this year. Thankfully I had a stockpile to get me through most of this year without concern, but now I am out of ideas and unless something major changes I will be out of designs by November.

All that being said I am now trying to come up with a plan completely dependent on how much the bare minimum subscription for another year of WIX will be in the spring. If I can afford to pay for the requirements I need in order to still have ads and my blog available, I will. As of right now I am planning to take November and December off and possibly just focus on adding some older patterns to my blog free to view while focusing on product items sales at craft shows to make business ends meet. I am praying that during this time out something will fall into place, some unknowns will become known, or miracles will happen so that I can at least see clearly which direction to take.

I am only telling you all of this so that you aren't shocked when I begin implementing changes. If you want to help, please check out my blog, turn off your ad blockers, and stay on the posts while you follow the patterns. I try very hard to keep ads off to the sides/top/bottom so they aren't interrupting you while you follow the patterns, but this means way less ad revenue comes in. Another simple way to help is if you create anything with one of my patterns please include the link to my blog post when you show it off on social media so others can find it. Most importantly please pray for clarity for me as I try to figure this all out! I only want this business to support itself so that I can continue to use the gifts I have been graciously given by God.

I also want to thank all of you for being a part of my dream coming true over the past 6 years. You all are a gift to me and I am eternally grateful for your support!!

Regina P.