Has anyone of my beading friends out there ever tried selling their wares on Ebay? If so, can you tell me about your experience? Someone suggested I try this route, but I'm just not sure if it is a good idea or not. For my readers out there who like to buy beady things, have you ever shopped for anything on Ebay? If you have, can you tell me about what you were looking for and what was the trigger that made you decide to bid/buy?
I've been increasingly frustrated with trying to sell my jewelry and things as I've had very little success. I think my things are pretty, and I'm told from people who see my stuff in person that my things are very well made and beautiful, but it's just not coming across in the selling venues. I'm usually not overly pushy to people on Facebook or on my blog, but I'm really reaching out to you for some help and guidance, as I am trying to break into the selling world and am doing a pretty poor job of it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I should press my shops a little. My things can be seen on Etsy, Shophandmade and I have peyote and loom patterns on The Bead Coop. You can also friend me on Facebook at the link on the right bar.
Thanks so much for any and all help!!!
3 comments:
Hi Lisa, I have sold things in the past on Ebay with some success. I have found that unless you have a well known name on Ebay, it can be quite difficult to sell there. There are so many people trying to sell on Ebay that prices are very very low. It is difficult to get your materials costs recooped, let alone any money towards your labor time. Once you have a good following, you can sell things for a better price. You do have to pay for each listing as well as a percent of the final auction value of each listed thing. Most people pay with Paypal, who in turn gets another percentage of your sales. I found for myself, that I lost more money than I made so I havent sold anything for a couple of years now. Hope that helps.
I agree with the previous poster. I sell occasionally on Ebay but also find that you need to start your prices pretty low.
Ebay does, however, run specials every now & again for free or half price insertion fees. That may be a good time to give it a test.
The above is good advice. I think one on one is best when selling. I've been selling jewelry for about 25 years and lately it's a hard market.
Personal contact, keeping a list of customers, giving friends things to wear all reach out to customers.
I've sold more supplies than finished product on Etsy. They're nicer to deal with than ebay.
God luck!
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