Online Marketplaces

[RoseWolf]

Greetings,

Just wondering what are some suggestions for online marketing? Currently I use Facebook, Etsy and my own website to market my leather items. To date, most of my sales have been made in person at local Farmer Markets in my area. Are there any good sites or avenues for selling products online?

Thanks.

[Chief31794]

How long have you been selling on ETSY? I sell quite a bit on there, particularly during the Christmas season. They rest of the year is much slower, but I pick up a few sales from time to time. I work a lot of craft fairs and always have business cards on the table so that people can take a card even if they aren't buying right then. My opinion, the best way to sell (other than a physical store which is quite a bit of overhead), is craft fairs. I do a lot of music related sales, guitar, dobro, mandolin, banjo, electric bass etc straps, also knife sheaths and holsters, I go to lots of Bluegrass festivals, that is a great market because there are thousands of folks there an most play one or more of the instruments I just mentioned, they've put away money for the trip to this festival and have normally included extra for unplanned purchases, like a custom strap for there instrument. With the price of most of these instruments, except the electric bass', in the $3,000 - $5,000.00 range, they ususally like to have a custom strap to use with it. Point is, I try to target the market and go where the money is. I always bring some purses and wallets as well, because spouses of pickers look around in the sales area more or at least as much as the pickers do, and they don't mind treating themselves to a new purse or wallet since they came to the festival so their spouse could have fun. I may have typed too much, but it is just sort of my idea of how to maximize sales. I should follow my on advice sometimes, I tell a lot of people that they shouldn't say, "Blah, Blah, Blah" when "Blah" is sufficient.

Chief

Edited September 2, 2013 by Chief31794

[EmbossingDieCompany]

If you're on Etsy and Facebook and your items are not selling, then you're doing something wrong. If you work on improving your pictures and your SEO, it will help tremendously. Try re-writing your descriptions and make sure your pricing is not outrageous. Make sure you are interacting with people.....especially on Facebook.......in otherwords, don't just post a photo and hope that people will "Like" it........write something that will get people to interact or comment (ie. "What looks better......purple or yellow leather?" or telling them to "Like" the photo if the agree or "Comment" on the photo if they disagree). Also, Facebook is becoming less popular and things like Instagram, Twitter, and Vine are becoming more popular.....since they're all free, you should definitely be on them. And of course, don't forget Pinterest and Wanelo!!!

[RoseWolf]

Greetings,

How long have you been selling on ETSY? I sell quite a bit on there, particularly during the Christmas season. They rest of the year is much slower, but I pick up a few sales from time to time. I work a lot of craft fairs and always have business cards on the table so that people can take a card even if they aren't buying right then. My opinion, the best way to sell (other than a physical store which is quite a bit of overhead), is craft fairs.

I've only been on Etsy since the start of July so I'm still working to get a base going and finding out what folks are interested in. My main specialty is holsters and knife sheaths and those sell good at the local Farmer's Markets (of course, in Arizona anything firearm related tends to sell good ). Thanks for the idea about the craft fair, I've been wanting to look into those for some of the smaller, easier to make items I've made.

If you're on Etsy and Facebook and your items are not selling, then you're doing something wrong. If you work on improving your pictures and your SEO, it will help tremendously. Try re-writing your descriptions and make sure your pricing is not outrageous. Make sure you are interacting with people.....especially on Facebook.......in otherwords, don't just post a photo and hope that people will "Like" it........write something that will get people to interact or comment (ie. "What looks better......purple or yellow leather?" or telling them to "Like" the photo if the agree or "Comment" on the photo if they disagree). Also, Facebook is becoming less popular and things like Instagram, Twitter, and Vine are becoming more popular.....since they're all free, you should definitely be on them. And of course, don't forget Pinterest and Wanelo!!!

For the most part I'd say my photos and descriptions are pretty good, I'll admit my interaction with people online is limited. I find it a lot easier talking with people in person than trying to communicate through blurbs and blogs. I've tried Twitter and I just find it vexing to say the least, however, I'll definitely look into Pintrest and Wanelo. Thanks for the advice.

One last thing, I do have a website www.rosewolfartisans.com, I've had several years experience in graphic arts and design so fashioning a website is pretty easy, however, this is the first time I've set up an e-commerce site. Any advice on ways to make the layout easier to use and interact with?

Thanks again,

RoseWolf

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Your site is nice, but it is a slow loader-possibly too many graphics? I like that the home, etc tabs are carried over to each page.

With FB you need keep your followers occupied. I have a couple of friends who use FB to good advantage. One is a painter, and he will show progress pics, or start a project with a rough sketch then ask "Who is it?" to get the interest started. I have seen him sell a $500 painting that took him 5 hours to do - he is scary talented-in 15 minutes a few times. The comments following usually look like - Done, 18x24 $500. Wow! Beautiful. Great job. SOLD.

My other friend makes jewelry. Her method is no business cards, but get them signed upon to her email list, and friend her on FB. When she goes to a show she sends out a mass email, and posts on FB where she is going the day before, and the day of the event with her booth location. She is killing it in sales. She does not send the info too early , say a week before because they will forget about it, but a day before and the day of brings the customers in.

Etsy is a crap shoot, some do well, others flounder. I have tried finding some items on Etsy, and maybe it is just me, but I find it to be a difficult site to navigate at times.

I would concentrate on your local area first, then look to branching out. For holsters, and sheaths,, I would hit up all of the local gun stores, and gunsmiths in the area to get your name out there, and possibly even carry some of your items. I would not do a consignment, but just sell them the item, and let them deal with it after that. Your main focus has to be branding your items to make them stand out from all of the competition that is out there. Why should they buy your holster instead of a Bianchi, Hunter, or some other custom maker? That is the question. that you need to answer.

GOOD LUCK! I always like to see someone step out on their own business wise. Hope it works out for you.

Edited September 2, 2013 by BIGGUNDOCTOR

[RoseWolf]

Greetings BigGunDoctor

Your site is nice, but it is a slow loader-possibly too many graphics? I like that the home, etc tabs are carried over to each page.

I've noticed the site tends to load slow, but I wasn't sure if it was just my clunker of a computer. Thanks for the input, I'll be working to streamline the graphics and load time.

Your site is nice, but it is a slow loader-possibly too many graphics? I like that the home, etc tabs are carried over to each page.

With FB you need keep your followers occupied. I have a couple of friends who use FB to good advantage. One is a painter, and he will show progress pics, or start a project with a rough sketch then ask "Who is it?" to get the interest started. I have seen him sell a $500 painting that took him 5 hours to do - he is scary talented-in 15 minutes a few times. The comments following usually look like - Done, 18x24 $500. Wow! Beautiful. Great job. SOLD.

My other friend makes jewelry. Her method is no business cards, but get them signed upon to her email list, and friend her on FB. When she goes to a show she sends out a mass email, and posts on FB where she is going the day before, and the day of the event with her booth location. She is killing it in sales. She does not send the info too early , say a week before because they will forget about it, but a day before and the day of brings the customers in.

Etsy is a crap shoot, some do well, others flounder. I have tried finding some items on Etsy, and maybe it is just me, but I find it to be a difficult site to navigate at times.

I would concentrate on your local area first, then look to branching out. For holsters, and sheaths,, I would hit up all of the local gun stores, and gunsmiths in the area to get your name out there, and possibly even carry some of your items. I would not do a consignment, but just sell them the item, and let them deal with it after that. Your main focus has to be branding your items to make them stand out from all of the competition that is out there. Why should they buy your holster instead of a Bianchi, Hunter, or some other custom maker? That is the question. that you need to answer.

GOOD LUCK! I always like to see someone step out on their own business wise. Hope it works out for you.

Thanks for the ideas on Facebook, have to see about implementing some of those. I am currently make sheaths for a local knife store, but I should also check out some of the local gun stores too. Thanks for the advice

RoseWolf

Edited September 3, 2013 by RoseWolf

[jk215]

You need to address social media further. Facebook is a start but you should also be promoting via Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram if possible.

[NVLeatherWorx]

I have my own website which I manage myself as well as an Etsy shop and a full schedule of local Craft fairs for handcrafted items only. The sales are hit and miss across the board as the economics of our customer base and their available expendable income fluctuate. I can say from the Etsy point that there is nothing that has come from it and it has nothing to do with the image quality or description information. Etsy is like the eBay of craft shop listings, everyone is looking for "cheapo-depot" pricing and they want the item right now. I am a custom maker and the Etsy rules and restrictions do not work for that kind of market regardless of how they advertise their features.

For the craft shows/markets I always have my "available now" items such as key fobs, some wallets, belts and few other small to mid sized items. I also take my entire workshop (tools, projects, etc.) and have an active work station everywhere I go. That is the best thing of all when you are trying to showcase how and why your product is better than what can be found elsewhere. I see, on average, approximately 100 business cards per day go out and I receive about a 15% return contact for a custom item from each day. Average price for each custom order is approximately $65.00 +/- and nobody ever asks why I quote the turn time on the project. They get it by seeing what actually goes into the making of things.

And, best of all, I promote the fact that every piece is cut by hand from sides/skins, etc. and not drawn from kits as you find just about every other Etsy seller is doing and that is all you find at your typical craft market. It is amazing when people see you cutting project parts from a side of leather and then moving through the process of putting your designs/pattern layouts onto that leather and turning them into works of art. Being able to see this gives them the knowledge that they are purchasing a quality item that will last far longer than anything else that they can find anywhere else. I even have a few kits lying around just so that they can compare the quality of leather and other materials to those drawn from the premium U.S. materials that I use. That alone is enough to get sales and I have no intention of changing that. Besides, doing everything from raw resources costs 30% of what purchasing kits costs and that is even if you have the best wholesale pricing plan from anywhere and the maximization of your dollars and profit margins can't be compared.

Facebook is nothing more than an additional advertising venue, it is not a solid source for sales and will never really be a player in that market. The same holds true for the other social media venues, they are okay to draw attention but the majority of their users are there to socialize and create "friends" and "likes" in the hopes of achieving popularity, nothing more.

There are other venues as well, such as Custom Made for example. Great marketing to drag you in but once you get on their list of Makers you find that the vast majority of people looking to contract you are looking to have you make their entire retail line at less than real costs so that they can charge premium for "their" product which is your work and designs. I have told many in that category to take a flying leap at a rolling doughnut and go away. I am not a wholesaler and I definitely do not work for less than overseas slave labor rates per piece.

[TaurusSeats]

We are in pretty much similar situation as NVLeatherWorx described.

We have a business web-site that I developed myself, which brought all our customers. I've been advertising on the Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ and some local classifieds. Kijiji worked great for us. Others - not so much, unless customers find our web-site through those social network sites when they search on Google.

Recently, I've opened my shop on Etsy. Our stuff is very specific for Etsy, I guess. We make custom motorcycle seat covers with elements of art and matching handmade motorcycle bags and accessories. We also have a line of wristbands. The motorcycle niche on Etsy is very narrow. They do not have a category for it. They only have one team there that is almost inactive. I found that only some wristbands are popular there, so we've decided to add some more new designs. I will keep it for a year, as the cost of maintaining the listings is very low, and than we will see. Most of my views come from my activity on forums and postings in teams. Very little comes from the real search.

I wonder if we should try Custom Made. We also do not want to do the retail line. we are more into individual custom work.