Ebay or Website

[jenamison]

Okay here is a question I am going to throw out for an honest opinion. What do you think brings better sales Ebay or a website. Is there really any comparison? We would like to start selling our pens and other items over the internet, but we are not sure what is the better way to go. Our pens sell very well in our hometown. I am asking your opinions because I am sure that there is a wide range of thoughts and discussion on this. Please be honest and I value any thoughts on this. Thanks

 

[jenamison]

I'm sorry I think this question should have went into a different folder. I apologize. I will make sure next time I put this type of question in with the marketing folder.

 

[YoYoSpin]

An eBay search on the word "pen" will yield several thousand listings in a dozen or more categories. Its really hard to analyze this heard of pens, but roughly, it looks like about 50% are production "collectables" or name-brand pens, 40% are mass-produced Asian made stuff, and about 10% are hand-made by turners. Less than 1 in 50 have a bid against them...so, my thinking is that unless you have a following of loyal collectors, eBay is a waist of time for pen sales.

As for website sales, I've had one up and running for going on four years now, and I get a lot of hits...but rarely sell anything directly off the site. Arts and crafts websites are for the most part, a form of introduction and resume on you and your work that may lead to sales, but as a rule, are not money makers. On the other hand, I think if you’re going to be a serious turner, who wants to sell through juried shows, consignment through local shops or wholesale, then a website can be a very useful, and perhaps required tool.

 

[melogic]

I agree with YuYuSpin. I think a web site is a good resource for people to see your work for the first time or for people to be able to get in touch with ypu. It is a necessity for craft shows and for thr prospect of new business. Most people will want to see in person something they are spending $40 or more on. Remember to most people out there, these are just really expensive pens, not a high quality hand crafted writing instrument. I ran a couple of items on eBay for a 7 day auction. I had about 20 or 30 hits and no-one was interested in purchasing. My best success has come from the guys I work with and people in my community. I have an order I'm getting together as we speak for people of the church I belong to. They had some church pews that were broken and needed replaced. My mom mentioned I could turn some pens from them. I need to turn about 35 or 40 pens for them. I think this is the ultimate way to go, word of mouth.
Hope this helps!

 

[melogic]

Sorry I fat fingered the keyboard. I ment YoYoSpin.
Sorry!

 

[Scott]

Hi Jennifer,

I agree with what has been said. Ebay is a dark wasteland for selling our pens! And a website is little more than a place for our customers to go and confirm that we really do make and sell pens! But you know, this is the "usual", so you may want to try and see if you can be the "exception"!

What should work better is to target your customer where they live. Picture your customer - who are they and what do they like? What is going to make them buy your pen? Then start contacting those people and showing them something they want to buy! I know this is ambiguous, but your strategy has to change to fit the people you are selling to.

Good Luck!

Scott.

 

[melchioe]

I liken eBay to the fleamarkets. Folks at both of those places are looking for cheap (meant both ways, often) stuff for a low price. They are low-price havens. Unless you are selling recognizably collectible items that a large population collects (like Bakelite, Barbie, or the like), eBay will usually not work for high-quality handcrafted items. Just MHO...

 

[melogic]

I agree with this as well. You need to know your customer base. For instance, the people where I live would no way pay $40 or so for a pen. However our area has a lot of craft shows in which a lot of out of town people come in and would pay $60 for that pen. The guys I work with appreciate good wood working and have been very supportive. Know your customer base I guess is what I'm trying to say.

 

[cigarman]

Word of mouth and just showing your pens to people you interact with daily is the best for me so far. Always carry several pens with you and have diferent styles and woods to show. Also have a business card to give to the person that might not be buying now but will at a later date.
Good luck and have fun

 

[timdaleiden]

Here are my 2 cents on this. Ebay??? Too much cheap foreign stuff to compete with. People go there for a bargain.

Personal website??? Only if you get lots of hits, which means optimization, which means you have to know a lot about meta tags, how search engines work, and you may have to invest money to get good placement.

The only pens I have sold lately have been through a local art gallery gift shop. It is not a bad deal, because their mark up is only 33%, and I don't have to deal with any rude people.

Other people have great luck at craft shows. Some people sell their work to retail stores, but you may not get as much money as what you want there. They have to double your price in most cases, to stay in business.

Still others have made deals with car dealerships, and real estate people, to use their pens as closing gifts.

I have no definitive answer here. Use your imagination may be the best advice I can give right now. Good luck to you.

 

[melogic]

I have had the most success with word of mouth. I also have had a lot of luck at local craft shows. I am in the process of getting my work into the local artisans center also. I have a few other local antique dealers that want to sell my pens for me. I think if this takes off as well as I think it is, I will no longer have time to attend craft shows. I think I will be turning just to keep these people stocked.