What Do We Do When the Shows Are Over?

Post by Lois Wisher

So, your shows, craft shows, bazaars are over for the year.  You need to sell what you have, right?  What to do….

There are many, many places on line to sell you work.  
 
Etsy- It’s a great platform to get a good customer base, BUT the fees will kill you.  I haven’t sold on Etsy for a long time, but I know there’s a listing fee and a percentage and a percentage off of your sales.  Then PayPal or a credit processor nails you too.  I make bows and small clays that don’t cost that much and i can’t really mark them up enough to make any money.  I have crossed Etsy off my list.

Website- I don’t know about you, but building, stocking and pricing is too time consuming.  The costs, again, are way too expensive.  I’ve crossed this off my list too.

So…. What do we do to make it cost effective to sell our wares?  There’s a great place and I’m sure some of you have found it, FACEBOOK!  I haven’t done Tik-Tok yet, maybe later.  With Facebook, the only fee you pay is your credit processing, if you need it.  You can take any kind of payments, even cash if you sell to someone local.  We all pretty much advertise the ACF shows on our personal page on Facebook, but have you tried selling yet?

I do it 2 different ways.  I advertise on my personal page, but I’ve opened a Facebook group!  It’s been extremely successful for me.  I can allow who I want to join the group and moderate it.  I’ve made some awesome friends and I now have a fan base from all over the world!

Once a week I have a “New Release” for my customers/group members.  It gives them something to look forward to.  I also post “teasers” to keep them interested.  When I open the new release I post an album.  I’ll post as many pictures as I can, usually 20 or more.  I label each picture with the price and how many I have.  My customers comment under each item they want until I run out.  Usually the day after, I gather the comments and send an invoice to each person through PayPal.  Of course, you can do it any way you want to.  My point is, it’s free!  No per item listing fees or percentages.  The only thing I pay for is PayPal.  Another trick is, you can add that fee into what you charge for a particular item(s).  If my sale is something I have to ship, I charge them shipping and I add the handling and supplies into the shipping cost.  The customer base I have is amazing!  I finally had to have an “admin” that helps me.  She’s someone I’ve know for 3 years through my group.  She even lives in Michigan!  She’s amazing and a great person to bounce things off of.
 
Oh, I almost forgot, there are groups where to can buy or “DESTASH” things I don’t use or that I have too much of.  I get a lot of my customers from these groups.  I like the way I can socialize and been in my own home in my PJ’s and a messy bun.

 
I pray that Facebook won’t start charging a fee, but it may be on the horizon.  When/if I does, I’m set with my customer base.

 
I hope this offers some insight as to the possibilities of selling on Facebook.  I’d be more than happy to help anyone with questions or help getting started,