20 June 2010

A little bit stuck..

So... this is me today...
Pondering over the little things of life.
This is my dilemma. I want to sell some of the things I make.
Two reasons really. I want to expand my craft and have been told by readers like Lizzie that I should sell some of my things like prints.
and...uni is just round the corner so I am saving bit by bit but would like a little pocket money to spend on craft supplies.
There we have it really. The dilemma comes as to how I should sell handmade items. Etsy, seems good however for a 17 year old ever so slightly complicated. It also relies on me being there for my customers every day, which I can't be cos of school.
There is a similar UK site called Folksy which again looks really great and very similar to Etsy. The same problem occurs though, I can't be there all the time.
What I want and perhaps it is a pipe dream, is somewhere web based where I can sell my handmade products as and when it suits me. I also don't really like having to pay to list my products because that could be quite expensive for someone like me who is just starting out.
My dream would be to sell stuff via my blog, however I have no idea how the payment would work except through paypal which again insists on taking a commission of what I get from sales. ( I am loath to do this cos that would mean I would have to push the prices up and I really want what I sell to be at a good value for what it is worth.)
So.....anyone out there who has a bright idea, I would love love love your help cos I have so many ideas of what I want to make and sell but just can't put it into action.
Sorry for the little winge! It's a lovely sunny day so I will come back later with hopefully a bigger smile! Thanks for stopping by.
Loves xxxxxxxx

4 comments:

Unknown said...

you could set up a bigcartel store to test the waters (as well as the market) and you can make it like a trial to see if you can handle both the shop and school? though a free account can only list a few items, you can note in your item page that other items/prints are available as well and viewing can be done on your blog/flickr (:

just my two cents' ^^

- nadine
sweet-child.net

Lizzie said...

I didn't think Paypal took a very big commission... Mine is about 70cents for a $10 sale..

Did you know that if you set up a Facebook Page for your business, you can now have a shop there too? Maybe that would help? Some people just do their sales through Facebook. It would still be worth looking into the Paypal setup though, as it's a much easier way of getting paid - you can raise invoices manually and know the money has been paid to you etc.

As for dealing with sales while you are at school, you could say clearly that you only ship on certain days of the week, so that people know this in advance. It's not so easy when you have to order prints and wait for them to arrive; but if you set expectations for despatch before someone places their order, then they know how long they will need to wait.
Hope that helps a bit...

Sian said...

What about taking a stall at a craft fair as a one off? That would only take an afternoon and would give you an idea of what things your customers liked best and so on.

humel said...

Hi Abi,

I just typed a really long comment and Blogger seems to have lost it, bleh! :-(

I couldn't offer much practical advice as I've never tried it myself, but it sounds like Lizzie has covered most of that anyway :-)

As a buyer, I mentioned that most of my purchases on Etsy or Folksy follow on from me seeing items promoted on blogs, as I find the sites so big and overwhelming to browse. Also, PayPal does give me confidence as a buyer because I trust it and it offers some protection if anything goes wrong, so it might be worth any commission charged.

Hope that helps! Gosh, I hope Blogger doesn't eat this comment too....