selling handmade cards online?

missynic

No I don't mind I started out just doing them as normal auctions but I didn't sell a single one, so I did them as buy-it-now instead and sold a couple. I got fed up of having to re-list so I opened up a shop as they have a good til cancelled option. Yes it does cost, you are billed monthly, I think it's roughly £7 rental (don't quote me though) then your fees on top. My monthly invoice is usually around £12. I put my cards on for anywhere between £1-2, any more and they don't sell. I either include postage in the cost or charge a flat rate of 50p per card. I make a bit of money but it's more of a hobby than anythign else. To be honest I sell more through friends and family than I do ebay but I can't bring myself to close the shop just yet!

madge7

cool, thats really useful thank you. TBH i have been selling lots to friends and family too, and lots of people at work have been asking for them too which is good. i also do it because i enjoy it, not trying to make any serious money either! might try putting a few more on then, it all adds up doesnt it. saving for my holiday at the mo!!

MATH

The card-craft market is saturated with crafters making cards and wanting to sell them. The sheer volume of cards and toppers alone on ebay would sink a battleship and the market is bloated. the big boys have pushed scrapbooking and atc's to keep the market fresh but it is almost impossible to make any money off hand-made cards now.

mucker_2

Just to add my two pennies worth on the Ebay front, if you're planning on listing, don't open a shop immediately. Set up a straight forward free account and list your items with Buy-It-Now for a maximum of 10 days. Also if you list say 10 at a time on one Buy-It-Now listing, this dramatrically improves your profit margin per card because you only pay one listing fee.

Finally, if you're serious about Ebay, as others have said, the market is saturated. Make sure your cards really do stand out from the crowd and you'll have half a chance of selling them.

I'm telling you all this, by the way, as my wife is about to do the exact same thing. We'll start off on Ebay and over the next few weeks, I'll create a simple website. If it takes off, I'll consider a full e-commerce website. We also plan to branch out in to other crafts as well as cards, but I'll gladly keep you posted.

Hope this helps a little.

Richard

madge7

richard - thanks a lot! very helpful. i listed 10 a few weeks ago and sold 5. i am going to do what you said and list them over a 10 day auction (i only did 5 before) i am planning to go round to some shops in my area too as there are lots of small boutique/home style shops that sell cards. i do feel that mine are different from the ones that i have seen on ebay so hopefully i might have a chance.

thanks again!

Luna69

MATH wrote: »

The card-craft market is saturated with crafters making cards and wanting to sell them. The sheer volume of cards and toppers alone on ebay would sink a battleship and the market is bloated. the big boys have pushed scrapbooking and atc's to keep the market fresh but it is almost impossible to make any money off hand-made cards now.

I'd agree with this, I have made cards for years, mainly hobby but due to requests from family and friends about 10 years ago I decided to try to start selling some, not as a business at first, but then I began selling on ebay. At first I didn't do too badly, then over the last few years it's taken a slump, basically because of the saturation of it all and (I blame the likes of QVC), the availability of ready made products that can be stuck onto a card and voila one professional looking card ready to sell. I still prefer personally to make my own cards from scratch, obviously I buy card/papers/flowers/ribbons/brads/eyelets that kind of thing.
I have a shop on ebay, but to be honest I dont' have much in it, infact right now I only have 2 cards. Having said that I had 3 on for a while and still sold a few of them, so was a bit of a surprise. I do go for more personalised products though and try to do something different.
I have a website, undergoing a transformation, so once that is done I want to make a go of that including other handcrafted goods and not just cards.
I still love card making as I always have and didn't start doing it with the intention of making money.
It is a shame and maybe it will die down a bit but I know it's bad because family members who used to buy from me, now make their own.

Still worth giving it a go if your that way inclined and enjoy the craft/hobby itself.

Yvonne

saveaholic68

Hi, I know it's a few weeks since this post was updated, but just wanted to add a suggestion. My old training supervisor used to hold 'card parties' kind of like tupperware/virgin vie type parties for friends and colleagues. Apparently she was quite successful at it and used to do them every couple of months.

madge7

saveaholic68 wrote: »

Hi, I know it's a few weeks since this post was updated, but just wanted to add a suggestion. My old training supervisor used to hold 'card parties' kind of like tupperware/virgin vie type parties for friends and colleagues. Apparently she was quite successful at it and used to do them every couple of months.

thats a really cool idea, have been into a few shops too to try to get them to take some but there is this thing where if you're not vat registered then its hard for them to sell them? i should prob find out a bit more about it. thanks for all the suggestions!

mell242

What about trying etsy?
The crafters on there are very supportive of each other

https://www.etsy.com

madge7

didnt know anbout it, will check it out, thank you!