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#1
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Petty rant about cheap jewelry!
So, my best friend has her own auction site, made for work at home moms,
yadda yadda. She does monthly charity auctions, where everyone can post with all fancy options included for no charge, if they agree to donate a cerain amount of the sale to charity. She begged me to list some jewlery, because it was all baby stuff, like diapers, and blankets, and nothing really for the MOMS. And, little side rant, I sold not a damn thing at the huge 4th of July fair. It was one of those deals where everything was supposed to be handmade, but everywhere I turned was cheap cast base metal with a $3 or $5 price tag ( We made a list of vendors to report to the comittee, because none of the FOUR legit jewelry artisans made a single sale. We kept getting, "I think it's terrible that you gouge your customers, when they can plainly see similar pieces in the next booth for a fraction of the price". Well, actually, most of them weren't so eloquent (to put it nicely). GGGRRRRRR!!! Where was I? Oh, so I listed some jewelry. Not much, only 6 auctions (my first jewelry auctions, ever). Laura (my friend), convnced me with "But there's NO other jewelry there! There never is, you know that! C'mon, it's for CHARITY!". Yeah, yeah. I listed my favorite pieces. Within an hour, two more jewelry auctions popped up. And then there were six more (not all from the same person). Today, I see everything from custom necklace slots, to lampwork keychains. Normally, this would be great, I would be so excited! BUT, these women have obviously just thrown together cheap beads, on cheap materials, and posted them for $5-7 (or you can get a lampwork keychain, complete with Indian not-annealed lampwork bead, for only $3!! RUN ON OVER, YOU CAN'T MISS A DEAL LIKE THAT!!) gggrrr (again. So, even that wouldn't normally bother me. I'm pretty confident in the quality of my pieces, though they aren't the most advanced, complicated things. I *KNOW* they're better than the cheapo stuff that's being thrown up there now (thrown up, get it? GAG?? heh). But NOW, I see these costume pieces have over a dozen bids each! In jsut the first DAY of the auctions! Mine have a lot of views, but no bids. And I think I priced them really low, for what they are (ex: apatite necklace with Swar. & Bali drums (oh and the big Bali S-clasp), and Thai dragonfly pendant, $20....no, that's not an ad ;o). Honestly, I think I would be losing money if they sold at the prices I started them at. I should have thought it through more :-\ Now I'm all ****ed at myself, LOL ;o) So, I'm really bummed. After the massive blow to my confidence at the recent craft fair, this is just killing me. I've never sold a piece from my website (I don't advertise at all, and took crappy pics, 'cause I never really cared if I sold anything). I've sold quite a bit to people that just stop me on the street, and ask to buy what I'm wearing (I always wear jewlery, even to the gym, or pool, because of this ;o). I sell a lot to family and friends. I don't know...guess I'm not exactly sure what about all of this is bothering me. I do have to say that I am not angy at the women posting the auctions...some are even fairly good friends of mine, and, like I said, it IS all for charity, anyway. LOL....and the biggest thing is that I don't normally get angry! I'm a water-off-the-back kinda person, and for some reason, this whole situation is just *scratching on the blackboard of my mind*. I feel cheated out of the 4 hours it took me to properly photograph and measure all my pieces, upload and crop my pics, and write up all the descriptions, etc etc etc. That's a huge chunk of my day, posting those auctions, or sitting in a booth, that I feel is being pulled out from under me by people that either don't CARE about the quality, or just don't KNOW enough about the craft/trade they are trying to pull off. Both of those bother me. And, I guess that's kinda petty. -- Kyla Nicole http://tinyurl.com/3dweh -My scrap gallery http://digi-bits.kylanicole.com/home.html -FREE digi-scrap graphics! http://www.kylanicole.com -Handmade sterling jewelry |
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#2
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Both of those bother me. And, I guess that's kinda petty. LOL! What a rant Think it this way: now you have good quality pictures of your jewerly and you got some touch of writing good ads. Btw, I had this link on jewerly made with wire, you have these earrings Caviar Dreams, that are samekind that in that page. Do you have any clue where to start looking? Hugs, Johanna -- Johanna Koski Finland, Europe |
#3
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Kyla,
FWIW, I've found that most of the customers a WAHM-based sites don't have the $$ to spend on quality jewelry. Dipes, yes, jewelry, no. Pretty much all I sell through via those sites are custom name bracelets. The other items I have don't move - the quality is there, but the price scares. WAHMs that are making stuff with cheap seeds, imported lampwork, etc, and barely covering their costs usually sell because it's about the price, not the item many times. Don't be discouraged - ! Instead, try a site like tuesdayatnoon.com or middayfaire.com (sp?) - those sites that replaced tuesdaybear.com when it closed abruptly. I've seen more quality items sell through those outlets. Barbara |
#4
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I feel your pain!!!! It's been said here over and over again, in general
jewelry doesn't sell well online, unless it's something gimmicky. Something I would mention, if you can add to your description or if you do it again (don't faint!) is a detailed description of your materials. EDUCATE your possible consumers and tell them exactly why your pieces are as good as they are and worth spending money on. Emphasize all the good stuff like annealed, US artist-made lampwork, sterling silver, etc. You CAN do that without slamming others. Emphasize all the positives, let them ask the rest of the questions. If someone only shops by price there's not much you can do but for those who DO compare and do want to know, you'll have done your job. I've done the same thing at craft shows. I used to place little tent cards in bright colors with a little doodle (my Mom's a great doodler) pointing out things like "sterling silver clasps" (most buyers have no clue what "findings" are), "genuine gemstone beads," "hand knotted" (with my pearls), and "American-made artist beads." It would spark conversation many many times, and frequently get me a sale. Sometimes you just have to let the snippy comments go buy, but sometimes you can spot a potential buyer who's going to hear what you say and understand. KarenK |
#5
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We have all experienced this in one way or another. This is why you have to
pick you venue carefully. I always take the time to explain the difference between what I make and the cheap stuff you see at a low end craft show. Educating your customers is the only way they can know that they will get what they pay for. It is always a struggle to keep prices low but use make good jewelry pieces that will not turn green, fall apart and last a long time. Roxan "Kyla" wrote in message news:zA5Jc.321$FZ.53@lakeread06... So, my best friend has her own auction site, made for work at home moms, yadda yadda. She does monthly charity auctions, where everyone can post with all fancy options included for no charge, if they agree to donate a cerain amount of the sale to charity. She begged me to list some jewlery, because it was all baby stuff, like diapers, and blankets, and nothing really for the MOMS. And, little side rant, I sold not a damn thing at the huge 4th of July fair. It was one of those deals where everything was supposed to be handmade, but everywhere I turned was cheap cast base metal with a $3 or $5 price tag ( We made a list of vendors to report to the comittee, because none of the FOUR legit jewelry artisans made a single sale. We kept getting, "I think it's terrible that you gouge your customers, when they can plainly see similar pieces in the next booth for a fraction of the price". Well, actually, most of them weren't so eloquent (to put it nicely). GGGRRRRRR!!! Where was I? Oh, so I listed some jewelry. Not much, only 6 auctions (my first jewelry auctions, ever). Laura (my friend), convnced me with "But there's NO other jewelry there! There never is, you know that! C'mon, it's for CHARITY!". Yeah, yeah. I listed my favorite pieces. Within an hour, two more jewelry auctions popped up. And then there were six more (not all from the same person). Today, I see everything from custom necklace slots, to lampwork keychains. Normally, this would be great, I would be so excited! BUT, these women have obviously just thrown together cheap beads, on cheap materials, and posted them for $5-7 (or you can get a lampwork keychain, complete with Indian not-annealed lampwork bead, for only $3!! RUN ON OVER, YOU CAN'T MISS A DEAL LIKE THAT!!) gggrrr (again. So, even that wouldn't normally bother me. I'm pretty confident in the quality of my pieces, though they aren't the most advanced, complicated things. I *KNOW* they're better than the cheapo stuff that's being thrown up there now (thrown up, get it? GAG?? heh). But NOW, I see these costume pieces have over a dozen bids each! In jsut the first DAY of the auctions! Mine have a lot of views, but no bids. And I think I priced them really low, for what they are (ex: apatite necklace with Swar. & Bali drums (oh and the big Bali S-clasp), and Thai dragonfly pendant, $20....no, that's not an ad ;o). Honestly, I think I would be losing money if they sold at the prices I started them at. I should have thought it through more :-\ Now I'm all ****ed at myself, LOL ;o) So, I'm really bummed. After the massive blow to my confidence at the recent craft fair, this is just killing me. I've never sold a piece from my website (I don't advertise at all, and took crappy pics, 'cause I never really cared if I sold anything). I've sold quite a bit to people that just stop me on the street, and ask to buy what I'm wearing (I always wear jewlery, even to the gym, or pool, because of this ;o). I sell a lot to family and friends. I don't know...guess I'm not exactly sure what about all of this is bothering me. I do have to say that I am not angy at the women posting the auctions...some are even fairly good friends of mine, and, like I said, it IS all for charity, anyway. LOL....and the biggest thing is that I don't normally get angry! I'm a water-off-the-back kinda person, and for some reason, this whole situation is just *scratching on the blackboard of my mind*. I feel cheated out of the 4 hours it took me to properly photograph and measure all my pieces, upload and crop my pics, and write up all the descriptions, etc etc etc. That's a huge chunk of my day, posting those auctions, or sitting in a booth, that I feel is being pulled out from under me by people that either don't CARE about the quality, or just don't KNOW enough about the craft/trade they are trying to pull off. Both of those bother me. And, I guess that's kinda petty. -- Kyla Nicole http://tinyurl.com/3dweh -My scrap gallery http://digi-bits.kylanicole.com/home.html -FREE digi-scrap graphics! http://www.kylanicole.com -Handmade sterling jewelry |
#6
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I know Eni Oken has a tutorial for that weave:
http://www.oken3d.com/jewelry/tutorial5.html And if you check out her main site, she has a lot of really intricate wire jewelry (and I can vouch for her tut's! They're incredibly easy to follow ) http://www.oken3d.com/jewelry/ And Heidi Hale uses it a lot. Her work looks a lot like Dana Kellin's, but I am not sure if Dana has a site of her own. You can Google her, and come up with stuff, I'm sure. Here's the link to Heidi's site: http://www.heidijhale.com/ I learned the technique from my friend, Sarah DeAngelo, about two years ago, and have since mastered it. Most people I've seen use really thin (like, 24-28g) wires for the wrapping, but I liked the way the thicker (22g) wire looked on those earrings ) HTH! ) -- Kyla Nicole http://tinyurl.com/3dweh -My scrap gallery http://digi-bits.kylanicole.com/home.html -FREE digi-scrap graphics! http://www.kylanicole.com -Handmade sterling jewelry "Johanna Koski" wrote in message ... Both of those bother me. And, I guess that's kinda petty. LOL! What a rant Think it this way: now you have good quality pictures of your jewerly and you got some touch of writing good ads. Btw, I had this link on jewerly made with wire, you have these earrings Caviar Dreams, that are samekind that in that page. Do you have any clue where to start looking? Hugs, Johanna -- Johanna Koski Finland, Europe |
#7
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Oh, yeah! I love the way 20g looks. Couldn't use it on those particular
earrings, though, because the beads were only 4mm. Haven't tried 18g; I only have half hard right now (actually, I'm completely out of wire! *gasp!*), but I think I will try it with some softer, easier to manipulate, 18g ) -- Kyla Nicole http://tinyurl.com/3dweh -My scrap gallery http://digi-bits.kylanicole.com/home.html -FREE digi-scrap graphics! http://www.kylanicole.com -Handmade sterling jewelry "vj" wrote in message ... vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Kyla" : ]Most people I've seen use really thin (like, ]24-28g) wires for the wrapping, but I liked the way the thicker (22g) wire ]looked on those earrings ) and i've used up to 20 and 18. ----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books) http://www.booksnbytes.com newest creations: http://www.vickijean.com/new.html ----------- I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all. Feel free to use the above variant pledge in your own postings. |
#8
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I know Eni Oken has a tutorial for that weave:
http://www.oken3d.com/jewelry/tutorial5.html And if you check out her main site, she has a lot of really intricate wire jewelry (and I can vouch for her tut's! They're incredibly easy to follow ) http://www.oken3d.com/jewelry/ Indeed -- she rocks -- her stuff's on teh Links List, and definitely listed under "Instructional". Good call, Kyla! (smoochie) Here's the link to Heidi's site: http://www.heidijhale.com/ Wow -- thank you. (LL-bound) ~~ Sooz |
#9
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Kyla wrote:
That's a huge chunk of my day, posting those auctions, or sitting in a booth, that I feel is being pulled out from under me by people that either don't CARE about the quality, or just don't KNOW enough about the craft/trade they are trying to pull off. It's not petty to feel that way. You obviously care a great deal about quality and you take the time to make sure what you're selling is the best you can make it. It's irritating when others don't care and put things together in a sloppy manner. It's especially galling when those people get praise (sales) for their crap and you get nothing for your lovely work. It's the same in any creative endeavor. In addition to beading, I also write. I post my stories to mailing lists and other groups. I work very hard, agonizing over each sentence, writing and rewriting, polishing the story over and over. It takes me weeks to churn out one short story. So, when someone comes along and posts a story that she "just threw together in one hour" and it's filled with grammatical and spelling errors, has no plot to speak of and is just plain terrible - and gets praised for it, you bet it's irritating. All of this is a long winded way of saying that I feel your pain. -- Lisa |
#10
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AAAAAAAAAA! I didn't mean to spell it that way! Honest!
teh Links List ~~ Sooz |
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