TopHatter

[JoArtyJo]

I just though I would share- I made my first sale last night on www.tophatter.com

It is a live auction website- ie not like eBay, instead the lots come up and are sold (or not) within minutes. As a seller you have to say what the retail price if your item is, and set a starting bid. I think the starting bid has to be at least 50% off the retail price. Then whoever is online when the auction is taking place bids on the lots.

I listed my printable coloring book- it is $12 here on etsy so I started it at $6- it sold for $16!! Very exciting!

So I like this website :-) however I have very little to lose here as my items are printable- had it sold for $6 I would not actually have lost any money. So this way of selling will be a risk for some with high supply costs and so on.

Another thing to take into account- no listing fee but the site take 10% off your selling price in fees.

Another negative- you can only schedule 1 item at a time until you build up a good reputation with them ( no idea how long that will take!) and it can take a few days to get scheduled. For example, since I sold my item last night, I have just scheduled for another auction on Tuesday.

Another positive- you can link to your etsy store, so more exposure and people could come along to your store and buy if they loose out on the auction.

Oh and watching the auctions is quite fun too! (you don't have to be there for your auction! Mine was at 9pm PT and I am in the UK so I was fast asleep :-D )

Hope that helps some of you!

[Former_Member]

I sold my first thing on Tophatter too! So far have not been able to schedule any more auctions, It says unscheduled, which is kind of disappointing but Im hoping something will pop off.

[JewelleryByJora]

How did your item do price wise Sascha? I'd never heard of Tophatter until I read the other thread on here......looks promising!

[Former_Member]

thank you for information!

[FrenchVintagePrints]

Interesting, I'd never heard of it. Will take a look though !

[MythOfTheWild]

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I'm going to give it a go, I think. Just once can't hurt, I don't get many sales anyway! ♥

[Former_Member]

i sold one of my banners for $12 with $2 shipping. here i sell them for $10, and at the time i had free shipping. i was pleased with that.
i was annoyed that the customer left me neutral feedback. she said she didn't realize the banner was made out of "paper". it's really cardstock, but come on it's in the item's title and description. she should fault herself. it was nice to go back and edit my feedback for her. i kept it positive, but added a line about the item's name stating "paper".
my last item didn't sell. that was a little depressing. there were about 250 buyers and mine didn't get one bid. it's fine though because it doesn't cost unless you sell.
i will go back. i have another item listed, but just can't seem to fit it in their schedule.

[FrenchVintagePrints]

I've scheduled an item for auction, I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for the heads-up !

[PrairiePrimitives]

I'd be willing to try this site, but I'm not crazy about having to start the bidding at 50 percent off. :-(

[Former_Member]

I placed a two pack of pillows over there on Tophatter for next week so we will see how that goes. I have bought two supply items there and are very excited.

[Former_Member]

I'm scheduled for the 14th for a set of 7 printables! I'm excited especially since I have 0 overhead and 0 shipping costs!

[Former_Member]

I have sold there for about 3 weeks now. I usually do pretty well, getting more than what I sell for on here. I like it but it does take awhile sometimes to get scheduled.

[JewelleryByJora]

I watched the jewellery auction yesterday and everything was selling waaaay below the retail price. Seems like it's worth remembering for a jewellery bargain but not great for me as a seller. Good luck to everyone else with non-jewellery items, seems like it's definitely worth a shot :o)

[starlightwoods]

I just scheduled an auction for March 14th at 5pm for my black and white chevron ring. Worth a try!

[Former_Member]

I have an item listed but it is not scheduled yet.

I have it listed under home decor on Tophatter:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/93931964/handmade-ceramic-nested-nesting-pottery

[studionubbo]

Thanks for the heads-up Jo! Just listed a print for next week :)

[MidnightCreations]

I have done three tophatter auctions and have three more for next week. I may actually add a few more, I have found them fun and a good way to generate a few sales. So far for me the experience has been good.

[Former_Member]

I haven't heard of this...Thanks for sharing it!

[Former_Member]

Also just scheduled for next week. Not a big risk taker I guess, so my starting bid price is high and it may not sell.

[Former_Member]

Im s heduled for the 14th for my first auction!! Im selling a set of 5 blank greeting cards.... im excited but nervous!

It did take about a week to get scheduled for the auction though...

[Former_Member]

Oohhhh, this sounds really interesting & promising!! The OTHER part of me is saying sarcastically: "Ohhhh GRRREAT...yet ANOTHER site to work on & monitor!!" More time~consuming!! I'll just add it to the list: stumbleupon, pinterest, facebook, twitter, blogspot, yada yada yada!! (J/K --- sort of, lol) ANYWAY...I will check this out, for real. Thank you for sharing, Joanne.

[Former_Member]

yeah your item will sell in a short period of time but you have to wait for days before your auction is live to buyers.. not for me. Tophatter also unscheduled my listing the day it was scheduled for auction, they cancelled it for no reason after waiting for days (i was excited!) and knowing they unscheduled it... is very disappointing. Sorry guys but i have negative experience with them... I just hope all of you will enjoy the site and have fun with their auctions :) Goodluck!

[Former_Member]

I just looked through it. It seems like there is nothing at a starting price above $15. My art is all original so I can't sell it for those prices. Is it all low priced?

[Former_Member]

The downside (besides it being almost impossible to list) is that you have to be prepared for selling your item(s) half price. I am too nervous to put a wallet over there because, a) I don't think I could start the bidding at less then $16 so I'm not sure I'd get a good response (unless possibly in a bazaar) b) I would cry if the winning bid was $16.

[Former_Member]

Im sheduled for the 14th!

What im thinking of doing, is selling all my expired listings that i no longer want in my shop there.

good way to get rid of things if you dont mind sometimes losing out a little.