Concentrating on Etsy

I decided to shutdown my Artfire shop. It works well for alot of people, and I think if I were able to take more time for my Artfire shop, it would have been more successful but since the bulk of my sales were coming from Etsy, I decided to focus on Etsy instead and I may consider going back to Artfire if I find myself with loads more time.
Ebay does seem to be doing well with sales when I do post something but at a considerably lesser rate so I don't list items as often. I will probably list items that I am looking to clear out.

To Craft Fair or Not To Craft Fair

I've been seriously thinking about doing some craft fairs this Holiday season. Craigslist is actually a great place to find small craft fairs that don't require you to be juried. I located a couple and contacted one in McMinnville which is about 20-30 minutes away from my house. Not that far. It appeared to be in an enclosed area and they provided you with a table and chair. Those were my top concerns because I don't have a craft fair appropriate table. The bonus was that they had an email address so that I could obtain an application and get additional information about the fair.

I really want to participate because of the all the pros (booth fees were really inexpensive too - only $25) and they provide you with a table and its indoors. I've just been worried about how to display my earrings. I think I have the signage down and the price structure will be very simple to make it easier for the buyers.

I've been online and searched tons of places...I think I can DIY a great display for the craft fair. We'll see how it goes, the fair is in December...wish me luck!

Ebay Selling Update

As I already mentioned, I went back to selling on Ebay because of the 50 free promo. And you know what, I think Ebay has managed to turn my opinion around. I actually don't make it to the 50 free a month mark, but manage to usually use up between 35-40. So far, Ebay has managed to be pretty good for me in the selling department. It has actually been the most successful for me between Etsy, Artfire and Ebay in actually generating sales. I'm loving it because I am getting my items out there for potential future buyers because they also get one of my promo items as well.

On average I make 3-4 sales a week there and I post about 5-8 items a week. That is not a bad turnaround. I also learn which of my products are the most appealing to customers and can turn my creative focus to products more along those lines and which products I may consider a reduction or abandonment of.

So as of this post...EBAY - thumbs up!

Ebay - Free Today 150 Auction Listings

Today Ebay is offering 150 free Auction-Style listings on top of the regular 50 free auction-style listings a month. Need to buckle down and get to it.

Ebay has actually been pretty successful for me as far as making actual sales. I usually list about 8 listings a month and of those 8, sell 1-3 earrings. That's not bad considering I have 150+ items on Etsy and sales are super sloooooow. It's ok, I'm being positive and working at getting my items listed, seen and sold.

Wish me luck, I'll be Ebaying for hours trying to list my items. :sigh: No rest for the wicked.

Dipperly and StoreEnvy

One of my first emails on Artfire was from a lady who said she liked my stuff and that I should sign up on Dipperly.com which is similar to Etsy. Of course I google searched Dipperly and discovered that they are really really brand new. I think they launched on 9/1/11 and were offering specials to the first 1000 people to sign up with them. I took a look at the website and they really are brand new. There were only 10 entries in the jewelry section (which is the most saturated area of the handcrafted market). I registered, because you never know what being one of the first will get you, but I wasn't able to list anything even if I had wanted to. For some reason it didn't allow me to. The way they are supposed to work is like Artfire where you pay a monthly fee. I think the fee is only $6.00 or so. There was nothing mentioned when I signed up and I couldn't find any information about it on the website. I'll be a little patient as they are brand spankin' new, but hopefully they get all that stuff resolved. Here is a little article I found about the new startup.
http://www.free-press-release.com/news-pre-registration-on-dipperly-com-hails-the-launch-of-the-single-most-versatile-arts-and-crafts-platform-1305356213.html

The website can be accessed at:
http://www.dipperly.com/

In the Artfire forums, I also came across some commenting on a website called StoreEnvy. Apparently, it is also somewhat similar to Artfire and Etsy in that each seller has their own storefront and can post items to sell. Not all items have to be handmade as they give you an area where you can enter a UPC symbol. Apparently, there is no charge to selling your items on StoreEnvy. One of the commentors in the Artfire forum mentioned that it appears the demographic on StoreEnvy is late teens - 20somethings. I think that is a perfect demographic for my stuff as it appeals to women of that age and is affordable. I did sign up there but did not have a chance yet to explore so I will most likely post more information as I find out about it.

The StoreEnvy website can be accessed at:
http://www.storeenvy.com/

I don't want to spread myself too thin with 2 stores already with Etsy and Artfire, but I am also trying to find the best online market for myself so if StoreEnvy is free, there is no harm in trying it out. I just need to find some Etsy or Artfire store that sells time...or sleep. Lol.

Hello Artfire.com

I've been doing a ton of research on improving my online promoting as well as trying to take the appropriate steps to be successful. While on my search, I came across a website called Artfire which is similar to Etsy in it is an online marketplace where crafters and craft suppliers (and I think Vintage sellers) can sell their items. I had never previously heard of Artfire and although I have only started selling on Etsy, I think I made my first Etsy purchase 4 or 5 years ago. Gosh, I can't even remember.

These are the things I learned in my research on Artfire:

- Artfire is fairly new, in that they seemed to have started around 2008
- Artfire's pricing works a little different - at least for listing. You pay a monthly fee (right now it's around $12.00/month) for unlimited listings.
- A buyer doesn't have to be a member to buy, they can just buy from your shop directly.
- Paypal isn't the only online payment option, you can also use Google Checkout, Amazon
- Items posted on Artfire become available in Google Shopping

All this I learned before actually going to the website. I decided to go over to the website to check it out. Right now (as of August 2011) you can have a promotional 1 month membership for free and if you do not notify them that you do not want to be a seller within a month, then the credit card you provide will be billed the monthly fee after 30 days. It appears that before (back in 2008 and 2009) they offered 2 different types of memberships. A "Basic" membership and a "Pro" membership. A basic membership used to be free and you had to pay for a Pro membership, which would entitle you to utilize many of the tools that Artfire provides which helps to get your shop more visible on the web. I don't think they offer the basic membership anymore (or I didn't see an area for types of membership). I decided to sign up, for at least 30 days and see what happens. You know, the "No Harm, No Foul" rule in effect.

I will keep you posted on how it goes as with the Etsy shop. My first impression though, on trying to establish my shop is that it is definitely not Etsy with a different name. It's definitely different - not bad or good yet - just different. It'll take some adjusting but hopefully it's a success. I have the 2 shops open for now, let's see if I can keep up!

Ebay Selling - Take 2

In all my online hunting for keys to selling success, Ebay pops up over...and over...and over. I think I mentioned in a previous blog post that I had tried Ebay once and it was a big bust. Although, I did receive an email a while ago from Ebay indicating that they had changed some of their listing/fees rules. I went back and realized that Ebay will allow you to list up to 50 auction style listings for free (unless you sell something than the standard fees apply).

One of the major barriers for me to selling constantly on Ebay was the fact that you had to pay astronomical (seems like it anyway) listing fees and then final value fees and Paypal fees. If you don't have a store and are not a power seller, selling items of lower value did not make any sense. Most of the items I currently sell are $5.00 and under. With the new 50 free listings, you're not really taking any risk in attempting to sell. As the saying goes - "No Harm, No Foul". I figured, I already had the pictures and descriptions...so why not give it another chance? The first week, I listed 8 items and had 1 sale. The second week I listed 6 items and had 3 sales. That is 4 more sales than I would have had if I had not tried it. Granted, I didn't get the full price that I wanted, but I didn't lose any money on the deal so that's always a benefit. It gives me some exposure to potential future customers (I sent each one a promo item and coupon code for shopping in my Etsy shop). Who knows, getting paid a little bit to promote your items, sounds like a good deal to me.

I figure on posting 12-15 items a week to stay within my 50 item limit. Maybe step it up a notch around the holidays if sales seem to be going up during that time frame.

Give Ebay a chance, you never know what could happen! The downside of that deal, is I ended up buying a ton of beading stuff - more than what I sold. Lol.