Been a good month for us, a few sales each week so far, so it's helped buy me a new pair of glasses! Eyes have gone to poop over the last few weeks :( Not helpful when Adam still hasn't found work but what can you do?
@ Kelly & Adam : Good Luck with the next lot of interviews. Fingers crossed for you. :) I might finally have some part time work, hopefully an interview this Friday!
I've had a slow but constant month for April, it initially started slow but sped up and now slow again, that's why I updated my banner for a 10% off sale for april to try and increase some sales.
Besides that Im working on a custom pair of glitter shoes, just got started and realised that the glitter I bought is actually cooper and not silver.. so as you can imagine I'm having a lot of fun getting the glitter off to restart (and return to buy more glitter :-(
Hello everyone! I don't get on here very often at all, but I had to share and ask a question: For the first time, I have had over 800 views in a month. I average about 250. Over 800 views, but no buyers. :( I know my stuff is mostly winter items and am wondering if that's affecting my sales.? My next project is revamping my banner, shop, avatar, etc. Wish me luck.
Thanks Amanda! Will cross everything for you.. we're keeping everything crossed for this job he went for yesterday, it's close to home and sounds like it'll keep him out of trouble ;)
Welcome and hi Vera :) Congrats on the 800 views, that's awesome :D Don't forget there's a whole southern hemisphere to market to, so ship international! We don't bite too much ;) Personally, I'd be looking at improving your photo's and making sure every listing is using all 5 slots, and not doubling up on tags (your items are already tagged as handmade, so using it as one of the tags you type in personally is wasting a tag space) Over the summer, have you thought about introducing new ranges like scrubbies and washcloths?
Thanks Kelly and Adam. I would love to sell internationally! I usually ask they contact me if interested, for shipping costs. I do this because each country varies so greatly in the costs of shipping. Any suggestions on that are welcome. Good point on the tags. I struggle with that. I am working on getting more summer items made and posted as we speak. Work faster fingers! Thanks again.
@vera, congrats on the views! One thing to note is that shipping internationally really isn't that difficult at all. You've done half the work as you've already had to weigh each item to determine the US shipping rate. Now all you need to do is to use those weights in the USPS rate table to calculate for the rest of the world.
I set up separate rates for Canada and then an 'everywhere else' rate. In my 5 years here, my 'everywhere else' rates have been pretty much on point.
I've been busy this past week dealing with supplies. I usually try to stagger when the orders arrive so its not an all day affair to get everything unpacked and sorted, but due to a shipping problem everything arrived on Wednesday last week and yesterday rather than on 5 different days.
Vera: Most people I know use Australia as their "everywhere else" price, seeing as we're a world away ;) Also, if you're worried about overcharging someone, make a note in your policies that you'll reimburse over "x" amount. Make sure that you make note in your policies too which way you ship, whether tracking is included, can your customers upgrade to faster shipping etc etc.
hehe CG, I can see you up to your neck buried in yarn ;)
Quiet week again for us, couple of sales in the prints shop which has helped but ugh.. can someone give Adam a job so he can go away? Boys and disorganisation just go hand in hand ;)
I've always had a problem with prices and shipping internationally. Ive been here about 5 years and im still doing research on how much things would be. I've been lucky enough to be able to ship all over the world. But the amount varies. I would love to be able to have the prices on my shop. Ive only just been able to get my sweater prices up for the UK.
Thanks everyone! I will try to get busy this week-end working on my international rates. Good place to start. I have worked (at my receptionist day-job) this week, drawing up a new banner. With just a few tweeks, it should be good to go by Saturday. Then I start on revamping the shop to coordinate with the new logo. That means newer, better (gosh I hope) pictures. Wish me luck. It's slow-go when you have a day job!!
Jessie, if you don't already have some, a good set of digital scales, and your postal services guide book (print a copy out if it's easier) make life so much easier :D
so it looks like I am having a bit of trouble figuring out how I should calculate my wholesale prices. I have been selling in a couple of B & M shops, but they take commissions, yet I never sold anything on wholesale yet.
Did you?
What are the discounts that you applied? Say, in percentage...? 15% or 20% maybe?
Hi Everyone, Well, I'm sort of doing things in reverse LOL. I'm having to take on a day job rather than quit one. But its okay. I've not been able to do anything shop wise for about two weeks as I'm in the middle of a move, a yard sale and trying to find a new place to live. My husband decided he wanted to try to leave this life last Monday, so he's in the hospital until God knows when. In the meantime, I'm in the midst of chaos, trying to sell everything we have because I have to be out of our current place by midnight on the 1st... still do not have a new place secured.. etc etc. Whew.. life is fun! Just wanted to check in and say.. I'm still here.. just sorta hovering about in the background LOL
I saw the specialist last week and the test results came back fine which is good in a way. I've been busy with the store, I'm amazed I get work done sometimes, I've been having real trouble getting motivated as the weather gets colder! I just want to curl up under a blanket and drink lots of tea!
In other news, I'm going back to uni to study! I just got accepted to do a Masters in Cultural Heritage, which I'm hoping is as interesting as it looks. Hope everyone is doing well!
Sorry to hear you guys are having no luck with the job hunting, Kelly! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something comes up.
And Happy Mother's Day, btw! Did Adam and Squish get you anything? Even just a sleep in and breakfast in bed? XD
My course is about museum studies and cultural tourism. I want to focus more on the museum side of things, eventually getting into costume and textile conservation. Bit of a long term plan in case the business ever fails combined with a desire to exercise my brain a bit, don't want to have to go back to retail if I can help it! (I know I'm working in retail now, but it's different when it's your own business. :P )
That sounds awesome, now I want to do something cool like that ;) And I get what you mean, this is retail but in a totally different way to Target (been there, done that ;))
Thanks! I got a block of choccy and a handmade card, plus family breakfast of banana pancakes :D Caught up with my folks this afternoon for a walk and fish & chips. Simple things really are the best. Adam losing his job is almost a blessing in that way, we're realising a lot. He's actually sitting down looking into the NEIS stuff finally as I type.
Oh that's cool about the NEIS stuff. I'm sure it would help you guys out a lot, as what you make in the store doesn't lower the payment amount (which is always handy!).
