They have just recently decided to add a section called Men Making Jewelry, and my story was the first in that new section. While men are definitely in the minority when it comes to making jewelry, we are still a part of that community and this addition gives us an opportunity to share our perspective. Hopefully other guys will take the opportunity to add a posting in our new forum.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Jewelry Making Journal
I have been fortunate enough to have a write-up about my jewelry featured on Jewelry Making Journal's website. You can see the article by clicking here. Jewelry Making Journal is a combination of online magazine and community journal. It’s the place where friendly jewelry artists from all over the world are sharing jewelry experiences, creations, ideas and knowledge. I have enjoyed reading many of the sections and write-ups on JMJ and recommend it to anyone who has an interest in handmade jewelry.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Learning some new lessons.
It has been several days since I posted anything here, and I need to be more faithful about finding the time to keep this blog updated. My last post concerned the opening of my Vintage shop on ETSY and that has gotten off to a slow start but then that seems to be the way of life. It just takes time to get things set up and then get all the Titles and Tags working so the traffic gets directed to your shop. Nothing seems to go as quickly as you would like it to. Learning to be patient is one of the biggest lessons I am learning as a seller on ETSY.
On my jewelry shop I did get a new item set up and listed.
On my jewelry shop I did get a new item set up and listed.
This really is a cute piece and I am very pleased with the way it looks. The cross is quite small, just under 1/2", but the light weight chain seems to match up with it very nicely.
I am finding that it takes a while to get things standardized, and get all the bugs ironed out. I ordered some Sterling Silver chain from a supplier that I had not worked with before, and it was just very slightly smaller than the chain I had used before. The problem popped up when I tried to use my "regular" jump rings. The "old" rings were just a little bit too large to fit through the new chain links, so I had to order some new smaller gauge rings to work with the new chain. That delayed making a couple of new necklaces that I have been wanting to put together. I guess the lesson learned is that you need to find the parts and pieces that work, and then stick with them. Don't change things without understanding that the changes won't come back to bite you.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
New Vintage shop
It's been a few days since I posted anything and that is because my wife came up with a brainstorm. We are in the process of getting our house ready to sell, because we are going to move closer to the kids and grand kids. In our book, family is what makes the world go round. And we are planning to downsize so many things are going to have to go. So wifey recently said, "Why don't you put this on your ETSY shop" or "You could see if you could sell that on ETSY".
While the concept was good, it didn't seem like listing an Antique Victorian Birdcage right next to a Cross And Infinity Loop Necklace was a good strategy. So I opened a second ETSY shop to list Vintage merchandise. Right now I have 15 items listed and have several others to add. Figuring out how to set up the first shop was the hard part, but setting up a second one was pretty easy. I read in one of the forums that when you open a second shop, one of them becomes the red-headed-stepchild, meaning you don't pay much attention to it. But that doesn't seem to be the case with me thus far. I have also read that some ETSY sellers have 3 or 4 or even 5 different shops. Not sure I want to go quite that far, but at this point 2 seems to be very manageable.
If you get a chance, stop by my new shop From Years Back and take a look. Who knows, you may just fall in love with that Antique Victorian Birdcage.
While the concept was good, it didn't seem like listing an Antique Victorian Birdcage right next to a Cross And Infinity Loop Necklace was a good strategy. So I opened a second ETSY shop to list Vintage merchandise. Right now I have 15 items listed and have several others to add. Figuring out how to set up the first shop was the hard part, but setting up a second one was pretty easy. I read in one of the forums that when you open a second shop, one of them becomes the red-headed-stepchild, meaning you don't pay much attention to it. But that doesn't seem to be the case with me thus far. I have also read that some ETSY sellers have 3 or 4 or even 5 different shops. Not sure I want to go quite that far, but at this point 2 seems to be very manageable.
If you get a chance, stop by my new shop From Years Back and take a look. Who knows, you may just fall in love with that Antique Victorian Birdcage.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
EtsyGadget
The other day while reading, I came across a reference to something called the EtsyGadget. It is apparently something that ETSY is still developing and it is still in the beta stage. While there is very little information about how it works, EtsyGadget is apparently designed to help you improve the tags you are using in your ETSY shop, and in turn improve your position in ETSY search results. I have played with it a little bit and plan to spend some more time trying it out, but it does seem to offer some very helpful suggestions for improving listing tags.
I mention it here because it is not released into mainstream ETSY, but you may find it a useful tool to help you with the 'titles and tags" phenomena that has everyone puzzled. Here is a link for you to try
I mention it here because it is not released into mainstream ETSY, but you may find it a useful tool to help you with the 'titles and tags" phenomena that has everyone puzzled. Here is a link for you to try
I hope you find it useful.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Necklace lengths
I just added a couple of charts to my ETSY site showing different necklace lengths for use by those who maybe aren't sure which is the proper length.
Another method is to cut a piece of string to a certain length and then hold it around your neck to see how it will fall on you.
Hopefully these charts will prove helpful in selecting the proper length to order when purchasing a necklace.
Another method is to cut a piece of string to a certain length and then hold it around your neck to see how it will fall on you.
Hopefully these charts will prove helpful in selecting the proper length to order when purchasing a necklace.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Free shipping offer
Go to my Facebook page and 'Like' to get a Coupon Code for Free Shipping in the USA through July 31, 2013
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Buying supplies from ETSY sellers
When I first started making jewelry, I went online and found several videos about how to make this or how to make that. Two of the video websites were Aunties Beads and Artbeads, both of which are in the business of selling supplies and tools to make jewelry. So some wizard figured out that if they made some videos about how to make a beaded bracelet, or a twisted wire necklace, and then provided a list of the materials and supplies needed to make those items, someone like me would watch the video and then place an order for the beads and clasps. It worked. I ordered what they said I needed, and when everything arrived, I made the bracelet or necklace. They sure made it easy. And that system works just fine if you are planning to make just a few pieces for family and friends.
Then I decided to open an ETSY shop and start selling my handcrafted jewelry online. It is my expectation that I will sell a much larger total volume of various items, meaning that my need for component materials will increase significantly. There are companies that are willing to sell you one or two or three pieces at a time, but their pricing tends to be higher, often time significantly higher. When your volume requirements being to increase, that is the time you need to start looking for companies that deal in comparatively larger orders. You will have to order larger quantities of each item, but the unit pricing will normally be much better.
Over the last few weeks I have spent quite a bit of time looking for future suppliers of my needs, and developing a list of specific component part requirements. The plan is to identify sellers that offer several of the parts that I need, and then compare their prices at various minimum order quantities. Right now I can only afford to buy lets say 20 pieces of a 4mm open jump ring, 20 gauge, 925 Sterling Silver.
But as my sales volume increases, I will be able to order 50 pieces at a time, or later on even 100 pieces. So what I did was to compare the prices from several different companies at different quantity levels, insuring that all of the prices were for the same 4mm open jump ring, 20 gauge, 925 Sterling Silver. I want to be sure I am comparing apples and apples. What I determined was that there was one company that seemed to offer better prices for 50 and 100 piece quantities, and so I tentatively selected that company for this item. I then went through all of my other component parts, one by one, and made the same tentative determination. This took a lot of time, but hopefully it will be well worth the effort n the longer term.
Ideally I would like to be able to buy all of my different parts from the same company, to simplify ordering, combine purchases to possibly secure better pricing, and reduce shipping costs. It was not possible to find one company that had the best pricing on all my items, but I was able to select 3 companies that would be able to supply almost all of my requirements, at competitive prices. So I placed orders with these companies, for the smaller 10 and 20 piece orders that I can afford right now. This will give me the materials I need to be able to make items to ship to customers as orders are received in the coming weeks. But almost more importantly, it will allow me to evaluate the quality and customer service of these companies. If they seem to be companies that I would like to deal with in the long term, I will place larger orders with them as my needs dictate. If, however, their performance is less than expected, I will change to other suppliers.
This comparison initially included both Etsy sellers, classified under the category of Craft Supplies, and also other companies I located through various Internet searches. I wound up with all companies that sell on ETSY. There are different reasons why, but it was relatively easy to determine the credibility of each company I considered. I can tell how long they have been selling on ETSY, how many sales they have made during that period, and what type of feedback they have been receiving. Comparable performance information can be much more difficult to reliably determine for other non ETSY companies. I would also prefer dealing with a fellow Etsian, rather than someone out there in who knows what part of the universe.
This whole process of identifying and qualifying various companies to supply your materials requirements is definitely time consuming, but it is a necessary part of establishing your company on ETSY. Your pricing needs to be competitive, your profit margin must be acceptable, your quality must be obvious, and dealing with the proper supplier companies goes a long way towards meeting those objectives.
Then I decided to open an ETSY shop and start selling my handcrafted jewelry online. It is my expectation that I will sell a much larger total volume of various items, meaning that my need for component materials will increase significantly. There are companies that are willing to sell you one or two or three pieces at a time, but their pricing tends to be higher, often time significantly higher. When your volume requirements being to increase, that is the time you need to start looking for companies that deal in comparatively larger orders. You will have to order larger quantities of each item, but the unit pricing will normally be much better.
Over the last few weeks I have spent quite a bit of time looking for future suppliers of my needs, and developing a list of specific component part requirements. The plan is to identify sellers that offer several of the parts that I need, and then compare their prices at various minimum order quantities. Right now I can only afford to buy lets say 20 pieces of a 4mm open jump ring, 20 gauge, 925 Sterling Silver.
But as my sales volume increases, I will be able to order 50 pieces at a time, or later on even 100 pieces. So what I did was to compare the prices from several different companies at different quantity levels, insuring that all of the prices were for the same 4mm open jump ring, 20 gauge, 925 Sterling Silver. I want to be sure I am comparing apples and apples. What I determined was that there was one company that seemed to offer better prices for 50 and 100 piece quantities, and so I tentatively selected that company for this item. I then went through all of my other component parts, one by one, and made the same tentative determination. This took a lot of time, but hopefully it will be well worth the effort n the longer term.
Ideally I would like to be able to buy all of my different parts from the same company, to simplify ordering, combine purchases to possibly secure better pricing, and reduce shipping costs. It was not possible to find one company that had the best pricing on all my items, but I was able to select 3 companies that would be able to supply almost all of my requirements, at competitive prices. So I placed orders with these companies, for the smaller 10 and 20 piece orders that I can afford right now. This will give me the materials I need to be able to make items to ship to customers as orders are received in the coming weeks. But almost more importantly, it will allow me to evaluate the quality and customer service of these companies. If they seem to be companies that I would like to deal with in the long term, I will place larger orders with them as my needs dictate. If, however, their performance is less than expected, I will change to other suppliers.
This comparison initially included both Etsy sellers, classified under the category of Craft Supplies, and also other companies I located through various Internet searches. I wound up with all companies that sell on ETSY. There are different reasons why, but it was relatively easy to determine the credibility of each company I considered. I can tell how long they have been selling on ETSY, how many sales they have made during that period, and what type of feedback they have been receiving. Comparable performance information can be much more difficult to reliably determine for other non ETSY companies. I would also prefer dealing with a fellow Etsian, rather than someone out there in who knows what part of the universe.
This whole process of identifying and qualifying various companies to supply your materials requirements is definitely time consuming, but it is a necessary part of establishing your company on ETSY. Your pricing needs to be competitive, your profit margin must be acceptable, your quality must be obvious, and dealing with the proper supplier companies goes a long way towards meeting those objectives.
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