Monday, March 29, 2010

Thinking of selling your crafts on-line? Try Zibbet 1st...

Are you wondering about selling your handmade items,
vintage or craft supplies, on-line...
but don't know where to begin?
That's where I was at in the summer of 2008.
(Note: I still consider myself a beginner,
but I'm a lot more knowledgeable than I was then.)

The reason I'm suggesting Zibbet 1st, is mainly because it's free!
You can learn as you go, start right away, and partly so I can get a referral.
(You can always upgrade later, if you like it of course.)

I know there's many other venues out there, that I have yet to try.
My main venue is Etsy, (Love it!), however it's not free.

Hopefully, you already have:
- a Paypal account, (or some reliable way to send & receive payments.)
If not...you may want to do it first, because it takes time
to get confirmed through your bank account.
Paypal has reasonable fees, and is the preferred method
of payment at many sites, Etsy, Zibbet, eBay and others.

- an e-mail that you will check AT LEAST ONCE A DAY.

- a digital camera, (or access to one) having decent photos of
your items are crucial, so is uploading the photos to your shop.

- a computer, with reliable internet connection... and know how to
use it.

- well made handmade items, craft supplies, or real vintage pieces.

- patience/willingness to learn. (This is on-going...re: shipping, marketing, etc.)

It's really not a big list at all.

I shopped around a bit and looked at a few seller venues.
There's many out there, and it's a good idea to do a little research,
what works for me may or may not work well for you.
The ones I've tried (so far), are:

eBay- I'd bought through eBay, so I knew how to to that. So I tried selling
there first. Ends up I found myself buying stuff rather than selling there.
I think it was all the little fees for extras, that added up, and made it seem
rather expensive just to list an item, but I'm going to try it again, since I haven't
tried to sell anything there for a long time.

Etsy-It's only .20 to list an item and a small 3.5 % is charged for each sale.
I've had my Etsy shop since Nov/08 and really like the site and am having
my 1st spring SALE. My monthly fees vary substantially month by month.
I like the fact that I can renew items (for .20 each), and it helps me to keep visible amongst this rainbow of talented artists, however, those little fees add up by the end of the month.

Zibbet, This is a great place to start ... Zibbet (Yes, this is my referral link,
if you decide to set up a Zibbet shop, please help me out, by using this link
to do so.)

It's very easy to set up, and a Basic account is completely FREE!
You can list up to 25 items and there's no fees...even when you sell an item!

I've had my Basic account for a couple of months now, and I like the easy set-up and listing
of items. I'm still in the early stages of my shop, but I'm already considering getting a
Premium account. For only $8.00 a month (right now), I can list an unlimited number of items, and there are no other charges- even when an item sells!
( I average more than that in monthly fees, on Etsy).
I'm very happy with Etsy, and Zibbet is another outlet, and a very reasonable one at that.
It's still quite new, and growing steadily.

Disclaimer: I'm not a pro, and don't claim to be.
This is just my experience and I hope
there's something here that will help you,
if you decide to sell on-line.

I'm always happy to get e-mail, so if you have any questions,
feel free to contact me: smilingbluedog@yahoo.ca

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