Come See Me on Artfire!

So, Artfire has been around for a few years, and I've tried it out a few times without a whole lot of luck, spending most of my efforts on my Etsy shop. Now, my Etsy shop has been fairly successful, but lately I'm spending so much money on listing and renewing fees in the struggle to get the sales that I'm not making any profit at all. I just spent about $5.00 in renewal fees the other day to get my Halloween gift boxes back up front in the search. Did I get a sale from it? Yes, but that $5.00 really cut into the profits on that sale, so was it worth it? Mmm...maybe not so much.

Well, when I found out that Artfire was coming out of beta mode with a new front page and a special deal for everyone who signed up by the end of September with a $5.95 per month fee for a Pro shop with all the perks and privileges of said Pro shop, I just couldn't resist. $5.95 a month for unlimited listings, no final sales fee, submission to google shopping and The Find, global editing, and lots of other features is well worth giving it another go. My Etsy bill for September alone is well over $80.00. Yes, I may get more sales on Etsy, but the sales I do get on Artfire are going to cost me a whole lot less, meaning more money in my pocket.

So, new shops on Artfire! One for my jewelry and gift boxes, and one for supplies.

And, since it is way cheaper to sell on Artfire, I'm taking the chance of double listing all my Etsy stuff so that everything is on both Etsy and Artfire. I just have to check my email frequently and remove any sold stuff from the other site. I did get one sale on Artfire the other day and actually remembered to go remove it from Etsy.

Another thing I really like about the new front page on Artfire is that you can make a 'collection', much like a treasury on Etsy, with your favorites or a specific theme, and your collection can be submitted by you for front page consideration. In the effort to reduce the rampant favoritism on Etsy with the same sellers being promoted on the front page Artfire has a program that will not let you include a seller in your collection who has already been featured recently. How about that? Why can't Etsy do the same thing? Because they don't care, that's why.

Anyway, come on over to Artfire and check out my shops!

Whew!

I'm almost finished.

I decided to do a revamp of my etsy supply shop with all new fresher looking pictures and a weeding out of old stuff that's just been sitting there. So, for the past few days I've been taking new pictures and editing all of my hundreds of listings. Now that I am almost done I'm really wondering why I decided to do this, it's a whole lot of boring work!

But, my shop might look a little nicer and maybe supply sales will start to pick up again. It's been kind of slow in both my shops for the past month or so. Guess I can't complain too much, though, at least I'm still getting sales on a regular basis.
Time for a beer!!

Part two of CALM Sunday tomorrow.

5000

Items sold in my supply shop. In less than a year. Not bad, if I do say so myself, but when you consider the profit margin on 2.00 packets of flowers, it's not like I'm getting filthy rich, but it sure helps!

Yay!

3000

I hit over 3000 items sold in my supply shop yesterday! (http://geelizzietwo.etsy.com)
Yay!
Lots of items sold but remember that the average price is about 1.50 per item, so to get rich, need to sell LOTS more. I'm really glad I decided to open the supply shop, it's been a nice little addition to my working for myself income!

2000 Items Sold in my Supply Shop

Well, the title says it all. Over 2000 items sold in my supply shop on etsy. Here's to 2000 more!
I'm really glad that I started the supply shop last summer, it's been a steady source of sales and income, even with the average price of an item around $1.50. I've got lots of satisfied customers, I try to ship quickly and everyone seems to appreciate that. Nothing like having to wait weeks and weeks for your new supplies when you're just waiting so you can create that perfect thing that's been on your mind for those weeks and weeks of waiting for your supplies. I ordered some supplies from an etsy seller once that didn't even get shipped for 2 weeks. Needless to say, I've never returned to her shop.
February has been pretty slow in my geelizzie jewelry shop, not bad, but just not that great, so the supply side of things has helped keep the bills paid.
I did get a huge order of raw brass charms that I am slowly cleaning, antiquing, and painting for sale in my supply shop and also to make a few necklaces for my jewelry shop.
Now, I need to get back to work, I'm still getting that 100 brooches order ready to go to England!