Hi there to everyone out there in cyber-land! lol (Yes, I'm an old hold-out from the bygone days of AOL. Can I get a what-what?) Thought it was high time I got myself a blog, so here goes. Hope you can follow my stream-of-consciousness writing "style". lol
My name is Pam. Aka PJ, Peej, Pammy Sue, lol How do you do?
I own and operate a home jewelry business called ArtisanCrafts in Austin, TX USA. Sometime back in 2008, I first realized that I had purchased a STRAND of beads instead of a finished necklace on ebay, and it occurred to me, "How hard could it be to turn this into a necklace?" Five years and about a bajillion beads and findings later, here I am. :-)
I first started doing beading for stress-relief. It's really useful to have an artistic outlet when life gets crazy. I was working myself into a terrible state health at a high-paced job and needed something to help me unwind. Soon, I had friends asking me to show/sell them my jewelry. I set up a mini-show at my office and got several sales and lots of good feedback. This was really fun, and made me feel like maybe this didn't have to be "just a hobby." People liked it! They really liked it! ;-)
However, since I'm not a trained salesperson, I didn't exactly beat the pavement to move my inventory. But that clearly needs to change!! I have hundreds of beautiful finished pieces just begging to be worn by that special person with the perfect outfit. Happy customers and word-of-mouth advertising also brings in more customers, so this is a plus!
So right now, all that is standing in my way is getting them listed somewhere for sale, and then getting attention brought to those listings. Whip crack! Hyah!
So this is where my dilemma arises. I have an ebay account, pjstoybox, where I sold vintage Fisher-Price toys for years, and have substantial feedback. Since I still have literally a storage room full to the brim with toys, I'm not eager to change that user name. But if I start from scratch with a new ebay user name, I have to start with zero feedback.
I've listed a bunch of items in various online selling venues trying to get a feel for which one will work for me, but it got confusing to customers who might have been wishing to buy an item off one site and combine it with an item they saw on another (or on my FB page www.facebook.com/artisancrafts )
Surprisingly, I didn't sell very much on etsy.com. The one that has worked out best for me is artfire.com. My shop link there is http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/artisancrafts
Would love to hear suggestions for other sales venues.
Oh, I have also tried setting up at small craft shows, but was so very discouraged. Not one sale until after we shut down, and that was from another vendor! But that does bring up a point, ALWAYS be friendly with your co-vendors! You never know who may end up being a customer, or who could give you timely advice.
