What's that old saying? Don't mess with it if it ain't broke? Something like that. LOL you can all mess with me then, cuz I'm broke! Hahahah...anyway...I'm toying with the idea of changing the whole format of my Ebay auctions. I'd like to get away from the auction style format and go with a store format with Buy it Now instead. I don't mind the auction format...well, I think the prices get a BIT out of hand sometimes...it IS exciting to sell something for $200 tho, lol...but, it is NOT exciting to sell something that you worked just as hard on for $30 at auction, either. And that's one of my main issues: consistency. I like consistent auction prices. Something around $65 a corset (which is just below my average per-item sale right now) is perfect...I think my corsets are an excellent buy at $65, and for me, that constitutes an excellent sale. So mutual benefit for all, right?
Well, not necessarily. Here is where I get really scared. I really can't produce more product than I am doing right now. I am maxed out on my time and potential. If I didn't have a day job, I could certainly produce more product, but I can't *as I have reiterated 10000 times or so* replace my salary with DIY....so I'm stuck with this being the best I can do. Say I open a store, with 6 corsets, BIN at $65....and in 2 days, they are all bought?? Well, I certainly could NOT complain if that miracle happened...a good deal all around...however...I now have NO stock displayed. What about miss newbie ebayer who is dying for some high quality DIY....surfs over to my store for the first time ever, and finds it empty. and empty for the next five days. I just lost a potential client. She may have LOOOOVED angrygirl gear and would have been a loyal, wonderful, superfreakyfast paying customer. But she surfed on over to someone else's site, someone who HAD some stock to display, and now she's hooked over there. Bah.
What to do what to do what to do. I could say take a week or two off from ebay, sew my little ass *hahahahahah I mean LARGE ass* off and make maybe 15 items or so, as initial stock for the store, replace item by item as things are sold. And from that point on, immediately list everything i make as i complete it. so it would be like, i would list something new every night or so...
i cant afford to take two weeks off right now, maybe soon. maybe im just nuts and trying to fuck around with what aint broke. But id sure like to have a fixed value for my product...just like in a real store, instead of sitting there, biting my nails every week, wondering if its gonna be a winner week or a loser week. cuz thats just stressful, especially when rent is due in four days and you're a few hundred bucks from making it. not to mention the stress of trying to get listings up every week. A store sounds like Nirvana to me right now (the happy afterlife nirvana, not the depressed suicidal seattle nirvana).
i guess i should think about it :)
Any comments on the matter will certainly be appreciated and will be taken into full consideration :) HELP ME HERE IM DROWNING IN INDECISION!!!
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Hmm...good point...sometimes i forget to see things from a buyers point of view...even though i buy DIY myself all the time (well, TRY too...christ i cant afford it AT ALL anymore). it would be like a *race* to see what was put up in the store...first one there gets the Buy It Now...hmmm. yep yep.
Actually, its a good point PROVIDED that what I was selling was something that was in SUCH demand that $65 would be that easy to part with. Somehow, I think that would be a high enough price to make people think about the sale a while, rather than just going hogwild and throwing money at me...remember my ID is ANGRYLITTLEDEADGIRL, not ONEARMEDSCISSOR04...wallets dont magically open up and hundreds of dollars just fly out at everything I make...like some money magnet...I think the items would stick around for a while, giving a number of people the opportunity to buy.
I have since been presented with another issue...thats the search function...for example, if I were to search DIY CORSET...no store inventory items are displayed. just auctions and the non-store inventory buy it nows (which are SOOOO expensive). So if I open a store and stock it with store inventory BINS, I would only be searched if someone clicked the little button at the bottom that says *See Additional Buy It Now Items from Ebay Stores*...then only 20 listings are seen on that search...and of course the people with the featured stores get on that search first *which would NOT be me*...so I don't know if giving up the search visibility is worth the store benefit.
Hmmm...you know which way I'd go on this one. LMAO!! BIN would be perfect for me. I might even get a chance to purchase one of your lovely corsets or hoodies. I say over the 4th weekend sew your little heart out & start stocking up on inventory & try iy & see how it goes.
There's no reason you couldn't do both. What I do to keep visibility is keep stuff in auctions to get people to my Store. Maybe you could try to make *one* extra piece a week - even if it's not a corset, why not a top or arm warmers or something - and once you have a nice little stockpile, *then* open a store. Believe me, I go back and forth with store items/auction items all the time. Just when I think I've got the formula down pat, trends change. You just have to stay on top of the game, and constantly put your feelers out for what will work. It's impossible for one right answer. It just ain't there. :/
"What to do what to do what to do. I could say take a week or two off from ebay, sew my little ass *hahahahahah I mean LARGE ass* off and make maybe 15 items or so, as initial stock for the store, replace item by item as things are sold. And from that point on, immediately list everything i make as i complete it. so it would be like, i would list something new every night or so..."
That sounds like the smartest solution... and I really prefer shopping stores myself. Hate getting up in the middle of the night in order not to get outbid at the last few seconds.
But 65 bucks sounds too cheap (not that I as a buyer would complain, heheh). You could get ATLEAST 80, probably more. Your stuff look like high quality, in comparision to a LOT of the stuff out there right now...
Atleast. I could imagine you'd get more, but it really would help if you could get someone to model the corsets. Lots of diy'ers seem to ask their friends, I dunno. I just know that it's nice to see how the clothes look on an actual body, seeing that you can't really try it on before you buy it. :) I don't know how many times I've looked at DIY corsets and gone hesitant because of that. Corsets are kind of special, they either fit like a glove or not at all, and on dummies(?) they usually don't look as good as on a real body.
Good luck with the store plans!
Hey, you could always make auctions with auction AND BIN function... make the auction starting price 65 and the BIN a couple of $ more? ;)
$80!!! my goodness, I sold four awesome corsets tonight at auction, and not one of them went over $60! I think if I listed them for $80 theyd sit and rot in the store :( but thank you for your kind words anyway! :)
yeah, im workin on that body thing. i dont think im ever gonna lose enough weight to model my own clothes. *sigh* and i have no friends here *or anywhere, really* who would be willing to spend hours doing that for me for free *or for corsets LOL...my second form of payment*
hahah...and even if i did model it, it would still be on a dummy...
:)
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