Buttons individually or in sets?

[Former_Member]

I currently sell my pins/magnets in sets. I have customers leave a message with their purchase if the listing lets them pick from a bunch of designs. It's going okay, but I'm wondering if listing all the pins individually may boost sales?

Does anyone sell pins one by one? Does it work? I think it definitely makes your shop look awesome! More importantly, how do you manage the whole combined shipping thing?

[Former_Member]

I sell them all in sets... I figure if I'm charging 1.50$ each, and I'm charged 20c + 3.5% etsy fees, a 30c + 2.9% PLUS the 2.5% currency conversion to canadian.... That's like a half the button in fees!!!! D:<

It's just not worth it for me, but then again I sell things other than buttons as well, so don't really need to worry about having more items.

[BayleafButtons]

I have a lot of single items in my shop and so far it is working. I have a few sets as well and I haven't had any 'bites' on them.... :P

I cheat a little bit though! I add multiple items or colours in one listing to make the most out of it.

[naniwear]

We sell almost all singles, and only 1 set, as it's for all the senshi from Sailor Moon. We'd get a lot of ppl at conventions rooting through the box to find all the senshi, so we figured we ought to make a set for that.

We really don't have anything else that would make a good "set" like our senshi set.

[Former_Member]

So it seems like there's no "right" way to sell buttons! That makes me feel better =). In that case, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. On a good month, I think I'll try adding some individual pins and seeing how that goes!

At conventions I sell in singles (since shipping isn't even in the question). But like sacari said, it's just not worth all the extra fees for me to list individual buttons.

Thanks for all the input!

[Former_Member]

I was actually wondering the same thing. I added one set and have MANY individual designs and I typically sell them at lower prices, but with the fees I wouldn't make anything back. It seems you would make more bang for you buck selling them in sets, but people like going through a large collection and adding individual buttons to a large order cause they feel like they're getting exactly what they want, even though they may be paying more in the longrun for 20 individual buttons then just buying one set or two - they feel like they got all the buttons they wanted. I dunno that's my two cents. :-)

[Former_Member]

The smallest set I sell is a 4 button set. The biggest set I sell is a 36 space set! haahaa, I love that set! I've never even thought about selling just 1 button. Why not hook them with at least 4 lovely buttons and make the shipping price worth it?

My shipping price is a set price because that's what it's like when I get to the post office. After the padding and envelope the cheapest I can get the stuff off to ship is $1.80!

Like somebody else mentioned...you have to pay the 20 cent listing fee, the percentage from your sale all that for 1 button?

I see people doing it all the time though....just mix it up!

Liz

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone,
I do sale individually but for the reason I don't sale with the pin mechanism.
I have patented a necklace to use with 1" caps, I also sale wholesale if anyone wants to contact me to increase your sales of your buttons along side of this necklace at your craft fairs and other events. For more info shoot me a message. April

[Former_Member]

I've always put them in sets, because it showcases a particular topic/keyword. For instance, I have a "nerd sayings" button set.

[Former_Member]

I only sell in sets if they belong together to create 1 image. I tried selling in groups, but that didn't work out for me. It's easier on my mind.

[Former_Member]

I do both. I find that sets sell better, but there are some buttons in my Power Ups shop and Wilde Designs (http://wildemoon.etsy.com) that just fit better by themselves and/or I just haven't made any companion buttons for them yet.

[Former_Member]

It makes sense to sell pins individually if they don't belong in a particular set. I listed some individual pins and found that they got more attention than before. Still, no sales, but they haven't been selling well in the first place.

Anyhow, it seems like listing individual pins helps garner more attention!

[Former_Member]

I sell mine individually, but that's because they're vintage and sometimes rare.

[Former_Member]

we pretty much sell in sets on here but do have a coolection of individuals we sell at festivals. It just seems like the fees and all wouldn't make it worth it to see alone!

[gollywollypodss]

I am glad I am not the only person wondering about this! I sell in sets of 4's and 5's currently (Ii charge 1 dollar x # of buttons for the sets), with a few "u-pick" style listings available (6 for 5$, 12 for 10$, 18 for 15$ and 24 for 20$) so the more they buy the more I make in one sale and the more they save at the same time, works for everyone and so far so good with that, I did several sales in my very first week which I was not anticipating.