Websites - Good Thing???

[laura webb]

I have tried selling Jewellery at craft fairs and it has not been as successful as I'd anticipated. There's an awful lot of competition, however I'm reasonably confident about the quality and standard of my pieces in which I specialise in sterling silver.

Has anyone any other ideas of places that you can sell handmade jewellery? Mine is fairly mainstream, not hugely outside the box. Is a site also a good idea???

Where else can I sell my handmade jewellery???

[AlexandraBuckle]

I have a website with an online shop, though I find I sell more through other avenues.

I've not tried to push the website with online advertising which might work...?

I think of my website as my brochure, and customers do seem to like it when you say you have a website, but personally, I wouldn't recommend spending too much on a site initially. If you do it, keep it small and cheap to start with.

[noelsharpe]

Are your "leafy" designs etched? Would you care to share some techniques with us? I also love the flowers you use in the "blossom" pendants and rings. Is that hand pierced or have you made a die?

[AlexandraBuckle]

The leafy bits would be etched if I had the resources to do it, lol. Anyone know how to etch silver easily at home...? I have very limited space.
I did a lot of etching at uni, it was fun.

Instead i use a copper plate which I had scribed in a vieny pattern and put the plate and the silver throught the rolling mill to transfer the viens.

The flowers are all hand drawn and then pierced, so each one is slightly different which gives each piece and really individual feel.

Both the leafy and flower designs are very labour intensive, but hey - I enjoy doing it :)

[Dawny]

I'm not in the position to have my own site, however I know of a few designers etc who have gone on to good things via selling their designs online. Can also get good commissions through this channel. Don't disregard fairs etc, but websites can be extremely cost and time effective.

Plus sites don't have to cost the earth as long as they are functional. As I say I don't have my own YET but I am quite clued up on ecommerce websites - I've been reading lol, and spending lots online!

[Bee]

What about starting with something like Etsy? It's easy (and free) to set up a sellers account. Just make sure you tag your items well so that they can be found easily...

[agent_44]

Websites are a good thing when done properly and enough time and effort is invested in them! I'm also a Web Developer and am using just Etsy at the moment to sell my jewellery simply because right now I don't have the time to invest in a decent website for myself. I will start work on it in the next few weeks, (quitting a FT job) but it's not w good plan to have something that doesn't look good/professional or that odesn't work properly sat out there as it could have a negative impact on sales/reputation.

[MuranoSilver]

There are lots of online selling sites that will give you goos exposure
they inlude Etsy, Folksy, Misi & Dawanda. There are lots of others
probably best having a look at their pricing fees to see which is best for you
Nicola x

[HMPjewellery]

Teehee
Beat me to it Nicola:)

I sell on Folksy (which is great as its in £ not $) as well as having my own site. as Nicola says there are lots out there, some take commission...some dont, it depends what it is you are looking for.
For setting up websites I have just used moonfruit, an incredibly easy package to use.
Paying £8.99ish a month (thats the middle package you can pay as low a £4 or as high as £15) I got a free web address for a year, email and all the support you need, you can logg in any time to edit....i am singing praises cuz it really is fab. oh and you have the power to have your own shop too. :p other places to sell...objectfetish,myehive, artfulhome.

hope this helps (and hope im not in trouble for pluggin other sites?!:confused:)

Best wishes

Hannah

[Dano]

folksy? ooh i'll have a look at that. i've been looking at etsy myself but i gathered on my own and from a few friends who use it that nobody really buys anything much, it's turned out to be mostly makers looking at each other's stuff, and there's some WILD stupid pricing on there and... well, to be blunt, there's a lot of absolutely terrible things which drown out the good stuff.

[Peaches]

guys, another good site to design and host a site on is yola.com. They are fantastic and it is really easy to do!!

[amazingbabe]

Hi, I did'nt quite know where to begin either when it came to having a website but then my husband discovered Mrsite.com where you can buy a package it cost £39.95 i think and pretty easy to use. I can't post my website for you to have a look so if you wish you can email me colemanwx@hotmail.com and i will send you a link.

[myke]

Hi I use a free website host called spanglefish its quite easy to use. good luck myke

[Ominicci]

I am using mrsite to do my web site and am happy with it at the moment - not finished yet but doing it slowly. My brother is a web programmer and wouldn't touch it with a barge pole - but that's because he knows what he is doing on the programming side. Mrsite is effectively a load of templates that you can customise yourself. Don't buy it through their site though, get it through Amazon for half the price - one off charge for a year. ou can get your own .co.uk or .com etc name and e-mail addresses, if it is not already taken too - that's one of the most effective marketing tools I think... looks more professional. The Pro package gives you the shop and you will need a paypal account to operate it. After the first year you go onto a pay monthly (£7.99) system, but you should know by then if it works for you or not.

Dano - Folksy is just the english version of Etsy (I agree with your comment :rolleyes:)

[lynnm]

I can promise you that www.simplyeddies.co.uk is the best! you can get a website on there from £39.99 a year (+ domain name)Paypal comes with it and if you should have a problem you actually get to speak to someone who is not only English but lives in this country! I know because the company I was with before 'did me down' and Simply Eddies saved me!

[EmmaRose]

research your fairs.....often its not you just not the right market....who do you want to sell your jewellery to? (what kind of person buys your jewellery...think age, sex, demographic), then where do they go......not just craft shows, consider exhibitions, specialist fairs, if you make for example dog jewellery how about dog shows. At homes at Xmas or open studios for your region. Can you wholesale? Local boutiques for example?
Em

[ben b]

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[AlexandraBuckle]

To have a successful online sales website, you will need to advertise it, either in printed media like you would a shop, or by electronic means, such as paying web listing sites, 'webmasters' and 'seo' agencies, to have it appear on searches, which can have great results...or..waste thousands.


I get phone calls all the time from SEO (search engine optimisation) companies who can guarantee to me that I'll be 'top of Google'.

My soon to be husband is a web developer and he says its a load of rubbish, which I'm sure it is.

Be very wary of EVER paying out for SEO.

I mean how can they guarantee it anyway and for what keywords? I am top of google if you type my name in and I didn't pay for that. Imagine being top for typing in silver jewellery - no amount of money can ever make that happen I'm sure!

[AlexandraBuckle]

If that last post comes accross as being angry - it wasn't directed at you Ben :)
I just hate getting sales calls! :mad: