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Sisters of the Valley, popularly known as the cannabis-growing nuns, are now returning to ETSY after half a decade off the platform. The reunion seemed to be good as one of the nurses joked about the whole incident. In a light tone of voice, Sister Kate claimed they thought their business would surely go under when ESTY grossly ruled her out 5 years ago.

The story of the cannabis nuns in 2016 was pretty sensational. The group of nuns went against social norms and began growing cannabis in their monastery and selling it for medicinal purposes. You should know that these sisters are not nuns in the traditional sense. They do not take Catholic vows, but have special vows of their own. Their vows are not to a god or religion, but to a unique lifestyle. Even when they don’t join a religious group, their dedication and commitment are undeniable.

The nuns, Sister Kate and Sister Darcy, whose real names are Christine Meeusen, and Johnson Darcy have certainly made enough money from their cannabis business. They grew cannabis according to the lunar cycle and then created biological health contracts for migraines, hangovers, and back pain.

The entirety of their products is based on CBD. Unlike THC, CBD is not psychoactive and therefore does not affect the mind. Rather, it is a powerful myorelaxant and pain reliever. Recently, important research and studies have been carried out on the use of CBD to treat various conditions such as cancer, stress, epilepsy, depression, arthritis, etc.

The sister’s cannabis business thrived online as it gained huge acclaim on the ESTY platform. But when the sister’s business began to flourish, ESTY withdrew its online store. At that time the sisters were already making £ 28,000 a month. But that source of income changed when ESTY closed it.

Nothing personal

In the beginning it sure felt personal. After a productive relationship of a year and three months with ETSY, which grossed approximately £ 28,000 a month in sales, the shutdown was a severe blow to the nuns. In connection with this, the sister received more bad news. They learned that most credit card payment platforms, as well as shopping platforms, had suddenly disconnected from the hemp industry.

Determined to move forward, the sisters enrolled a few college students to help them create an online store for their business. The sisters were also able to obtain a credit card from a provider and were back in business just four days after ESTY closed.

The nuns claimed ESTY was very professional during the relocation of their business. The online platform enabled the sisters to communicate with their customer base for a while after the shutdown.

Shopping in the area

Almost five years after ETSY closed the sisters’ store, the sisters have moved from one platform to the next. Their sales continued to rise, and their services and prices just got better.

The sisters also saw an increase in international sales, which accounts for about 20% of their total sales. It got to a point where UPS began courting the sisters so they could use their services in lieu of the U.S. post office that was originally used. Both the UPS and the US Post Office eventually split up.

However, the sisters claimed the experience with UPS was way below average. The sisters claimed the company was returning packages and questioning the nature of their shipments. But as nature wanted, COVID only made things more difficult. As general international traffic came to a standstill, their international sales fell from twenty percent to four percent.

And when they thought things couldn’t get any more difficult, they did. The sister’s credit card processor, Square Inc, informed them of some new developments a few weeks ago. The company informed them that they were prohibited from shipping CBD products to Hong Kong, China, Iran, Iceland, Israel, India, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Malaysia and Russia. Another major blow to international business.

The circle closes back

To save the day, the sisters decided to return to ETSY and open a store to serve their customer base around the world. It is actually a circle. Before ETSY closed the sisters’ shop about 5 years ago, there was only a small selection of CBD products. At present, their stores have expanded with a wide range of products. Many of these products are zero CBD so they shouldn’t be subject to international shipping regulations.

Before sales of CBD products can resume, the sisters now have five areas of their store that are fully stocked. To find the store, you can enter the word ‘sistersofthevalleyus’ in ETSY’s search engine:

One of the items in the store is of course the sister’s new mushroom coffee. The mushroom coffee is said to correspond to the primary goal of the sisterhood, namely natural healing.

As they try to break away from the latest restrictions, they will now be running two businesses at the same time. They will also be introducing a slightly modified and new line of products on ETSY.

It should be noted that the sisters will continue to sell their CBD products domestically and internationally in countries they can access through sistersofthevalley.org

When the guidelines change, some inventory will be made available from one store and other products will be made available from the other store. This simple strategy is used by the sisters to keep them going and to remain flexible about ever changing policies in this difficult economic climate.

Conclusion

Running a business in the face of ever-changing government policies is as difficult as it gets. The Sisters of Valley have shown, however, that this will not deter them. Hopefully your return to ESTY will bear better fruit if you continue to bypass these guidelines.

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