Beading Businesses

Does anyone out there sell beaded jewelry on-line? If so, what has been the
most successful way to advertise your products? I just started selling my
stuff, so I'm looking for any possible tips I can get.

Thanks!
Brenda

http://www.eCrafter.com/LibGarden

We are your competition, hon. You want us to give away our "tips" so
you can profit?

Kind of like an aspiring actress coming up to a movie star just a few
years older than she is, asking "How can I get your parts?"

Dr. Sooz wrote:
We are your competition, hon. You want us to give away our "tips" so
you can profit?

hee hee, that's why one usually lurks in newsgroups before
one posts ...

(what first got me here was somebody stating she couldn't grow
Job's Tears because they don't grown near the ocean. If whoever
that was reads this: you can. I have picked Job's Tears that
were sticky from salt spray)

Maren, still learning g
(got to take more pictures ...)

If you look through the archive for this group and also look at past
articles at the beadbugle.com, you can find a lot of tips regarding
selling your work. It really all depends on the type of work you do and
what your local market will bear. It also depends on how much you want
to invest in marketing.

----------
Barbara
www.penguintrax.com

eBay & Justbeadsenguintrax

0
/O\


Nurturing doesn't end at birth: breastfeed, co-sleep, babywear.

There is a very fine line between a hobby and mental illness.
(Dave Barry)

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Liberty wrote:

Does anyone out there sell beaded jewelry on-line? If so, what has been the
most successful way to advertise your products? I just started selling my
stuff, so I'm looking for any possible tips I can get.

Thanks!
Brenda

http://www.eCrafter.com/LibGarden

Liberty wrote:
Does anyone out there sell beaded jewelry on-line? If so, what has been the
most successful way to advertise your products? I just started selling my
stuff, so I'm looking for any possible tips I can get.

you are too cheap. if it is because you dont value your work like you
should, you need more selfrespect. if it is because you use cheap
materials, switch to more expensive ones. you are selling necklace with
lampwork beads for 14$, and girls here are selling lampwork beads for
hundreds of $. i was just like that, always thinking i have to get back
money that i spent on material, and thats all. after some time, one girl
asked me: "whats wrong with this necklace when its so cheap?" so i
started thinking if people want cheap jewelry, they will go to the
market and buy it there, and if they want handmade jewelr, they are
ready to pay for it. and just one small advice, dont put screw-in clasp
on bracelets, it is very hard to close them with just one hand, and not
everybody has a man to do it

well, this was offtopic, sorry, but i think your work is worth more then
announced there

try e-bay, newsgroups (those specialized ones, start your blog and
spend 1 houe a day commenting popular blogs, try fairs and so on

--
http://crnaofca.blog.hr/

Your work isn't ready to sell. You know nothing about pricing -- your
stuff is as cheap as WalMart's. I think you need to a ton of research
before you start selling.

First, I would suggest better pictures and including information about
the clasps... are they base metal? Detail pictures of the clasps help
the educated buyer make a decision; they can see if the piece is
finished well.

As far as advertising, there are Google ads - those help. Magazine ads
are usually very successful, but also extremely expensive.

My observation has been that lower-end work doesn't sell terribly well
online unless you can do an enormous volume, because you're competing
with imported jewelry sold cheaply in places like Wal-Mart and Hot
Topic. Since each piece is handmade, enormous volume is probably out of
the question for you. You might have better success appealing to the
"boutique" market, which you can do by upgrading your materials.

You won't have much luck approaching other beaders "cold" and asking
them to tell you how to be successful; your best bet is to become
actively involved in a beading community (online or local) and absorb
what you can through regular interaction. As a known member of a group,
your questions will be better received and people will be more likely to
help you.

Liberty wrote:
Does anyone out there sell beaded jewelry on-line? If so, what has been the
most successful way to advertise your products? I just started selling my
stuff, so I'm looking for any possible tips I can get.

Thanks!
Brenda

http://www.eCrafter.com/LibGarden



--
-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com

You could perhaps do something about your texts, they re not really
appealing, and most of them sounds the same.
Try making them shorter, giving the important informations, and leaving
the rest.
For example, in one of the text I have read, you talk about crimp beads,
how many non-beaders do you know who know what they are ? and are
interested about knowing ...
In the bracelet area, most of the texts start with "this bracelet" ....
since it s the bracelet area, it seems a bit redondant ...

Please, take it as constructive critic, ;-) you asked for it

Take care,
Christine
Liberty wrote:

Does anyone out there sell beaded jewelry on-line? If so, what has
been the most successful way to advertise your products? I just
started selling my stuff, so I'm looking for any possible tips I can get.

Thanks!
Brenda

http://www.eCrafter.com/LibGarden

Lets take the Blue Green Bracelet.

First, sort the picture out. Either work on your photo skills before
putting things online or pay for a pro to take them.

Second, how much do you value your time? Lets see, shall we...
$7.75 - $2 S&H = $5.75
Now lets take off 20% of that straight away for overheads (paperwork,
letters, web design, accounts, photography, ordering materials etc)
20% of $5.75 = $1.15
$5.75 - $1.15 = $4.60
Now, these are cheap beads, with I assume a base metal clasp. Lets say you
paid $2 for the materials because you were clever and bought in bulk.
$4.60 - $2 = $2.60
Lets take 15% of this away for profit.
15% of $2.60 = $0.39
$2.60 - $0.39= $2.21
Now, lets assume that your regular job pays $10 an hour (I've no idea what
US people get paid, I'm going with a basic wage for the UK). You want to be
at least earning as much as your current job.
It works out to around 13 minutes to design, assemble, reassemble when you
make a mistake and finish neatly your piece. Did you make it in less than
13 minutes? You should be able to make 4 and a half of these bracelets an
hour to make it viable.

Other points, the colours on the webpage are a horrid combination.
You need nicer materials.
Also, how are your pieces unique? I'm afraid they look like many other
beaders pieces.
Your logo doesn't appear on the item pages.
Get rid of the eCrafter bit at the top and the forum etc buttons.
If you want to come across as professional you really need your own domain
name.
With the quilts I don't want to see your lovely house. Take the photo's
from straight on in better light and use Photoshop to crop them.
Use the same backgrounds for your jewellery, white or grey is good.
Different backgrounds look unprofessional.

Others said they wouldn't help because it would be helping the competition.
At the moment, I don't consider you competition. Go work at everything I've
said and you'll be a fraction closer.

Charlie.
www.kallistos.co.uk

"Liberty" wrote in message
...
Does anyone out there sell beaded jewelry on-line? If so, what has been
the
most successful way to advertise your products? I just started selling my
stuff, so I'm looking for any possible tips I can get.

Thanks!
Brenda

http://www.eCrafter.com/LibGarden

It's good to figure out who your market is, if you plan to stick with
under $10.00 then craft shows are a good venue. Inexpensive things are
implulse buys and usually those need to be very fast, like cash at a
craft show booth or the counter at a hair salon etc. If a person has to
fill out forms or mail things in that is not usually the best for
impulse buys if that makes sense. I actually find jewelry in general
easier to sell in person, through shops, galleries or shows more than
online or through catalogs. I think people tend to mistrust photos a
little, plus touch is part of what's appealing about jewelry.

If you really want to try to sell jewelry under $10.00 on the net then
I would concentrate on making the purchase as quick and easy as you
can, like taking Paypal and maybe use auctions or some other high
traffic venue.

Ingrid
http://www.mermaidscove.com