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As usual, a lot of updates since my last entry. I've decided that bad marketing or not, I just can't stand to
have inventory sit in my store for months on end. As a shopper, I'd hate to go to my favorite
store and see the same things each time I visit. So for my regular customers, I'm trying to
maintain a fast turnover. As an
artist, I prefer to move on... also not seeing the same designs too many
months in a row. Finally, creating a
fast turnover affords me the opportunity to treat some of my loyal customers
with the occasional awesome price deal.
It's a win-win situation all the way around. Anyway, for the most part I've just finished a huge round of
inventory clearance. I still have a
few items up at vastly reduced prices (click a pic
for more info and supersize photos!):
And here are some of the new pieces that needed the room...
I'm still (very much!) trying to get used to (or learn, rather)
the new version of Adobe Photoshop Elements I had to install on my new
computer. I've also decided that I'm sort of an advocate for
"beading". By that I mean
that, yes, for the most part I prefer to have more of a tactile input for my
jewelry creations (metal-smithing, lampworking, pc
beads, etc). But that I am not
discounting the ability to put beads together in an artistic way. There is still much to be said for having
an eye for design. I'd like to thank the many, many fine designers who recently
joined the message board. What fun I'm having getting to know you all
and see your designs, share info, etc. As for hockey, the NorCal preseason starts this week. Mon's missing her first two The girls just returned from their first tournament. They made it to the semi-finals and all of
us parents were pretty dang proud. Monica
and Taylor seem to really get along well; I couldn't be happier. Mon gets so much support from her two
hockey teams. In school, both kids still seem to be doing quite well. But the year is still young and I must keep
a close eye on them. They have way too
much homework, in my opinion. 2-5
hours of homework per night, including weekends. I've been thinking about the house and the cats. The house (selling) market is the pits at
the moment, but I'm trying to get things in order so we can try to sell by
next year. I'm not sure what to do
about the cats. I'd love to find homes
for most of them. I can't take them
all to Penryn, and if we DID end up selling the
house and getting an apartment for the last two years of Gabe's
high school, then it would be impossible to have the cats. What a conundrum. Well, that's enough for updates at the moment. Oh! Almost forgot. Come back tomorrow 'cause I'm going to show
you some things I made using some very special beads. There are three of us doing this project: Cindy Gimbrone and Bridgette Tucker. Cindy and Bridgette each made beads and
sent to the other two of us in the project and then we're all to make jewelry
and show it on our blogs tomorrow. How exciting! Okay, TTYL! So, I did a little research over the weekend. Just curious if it's ME or the market (the
slowdown in sales). I did an eBay
search on ended items in the bracelets category of the artisan jewelry
section and sorted them from highest ending price downward. There were about 5500 items in the group
that I looked at. Then I ignored all the Silpada,
Sunshine Catalog, Ayala Bar and other things that were being sold via someone
else. So, out of the items that were actually being sold by
self-representing artists in eBay's artisan bracelet category, here are the
items that sold for more than $50 (sold price, starting price): $113 $75 $100 BIN $85 $85 $85 $85 $77 $30 $75 $75 $75 BIN $66 BIN $63 $50 $62 $62 $60 $60 $60 $60 $59 $59 $58 BIN $56 $46 $55 $55 $55 $55 $55 $55 $55 $55 And what does all this tell me? A) Not much is selling at all.
This is a search I have done every couple of months for the past 7-8
years. This is the lowest yield of
sold B) For most sellers, if you start your opening bid too low, the
item may very well sell way below your expectations. The sold prices you see here are not that
far from the opening prices in most instances. C) There aren't bidding wars anymore;
not like in the old days of eBay. The
majority of these sold items were bid on by merely one person. So where does that leave us?
I've always advocated not having all your eggs in one basket, but what
I can't do similar research on Etsy because they don't have a
feature where I can look up the prices of sold items. I'm not that familiar with RubyLane,
but I'm thinking that's also a feature that's out of reach. Are there other online markets that feature Do we have to start doing shows now? Would shows reveal similar results? If so, that's a lot of work for nothing. Okay, so IF Well, there's something to mull over. In other news, I listed some bracelets on eBay that have
FANTASTIC Alex Spinglaschell beads in them (in them?! The whole bracelets are Alex Spinglaschell
beads!)… (these are CLICKABLE)
I also put a bunch of inventory on sale so check out the sale gallery! TTYL! Well, as happens sometimes, unforeseen tasks come up and suck up
HOURS of time that may have been scheduled for other things. That happened last night. But it may have a good outcome; I'll keep
you posted. If not, it was a learning
experience. I've been keeping a list of things that need to get done, and then
I just cross them off as I do them. It's
a great reminder. I hate remembering
things I was supposed to do once it's too late. It's almost Lots of hockey this weekend, and if I'm lucky I actually get to
spend some time with my good buddy (other Laura). Oh dear, I think I left my flashstick
in my jacket pocket (not the jacket I have on at the moment). Argh! So much for my "to do" list...
amongst other things. Ah well, I'll
have to deal with it. There's supposed to be a pretty cool crescent moon and Venus
tonight. It's been overcast, though. Oh, Monica passed her Algebra test. Borderline, but passed. She'll have her work cut out for her this
year, especially working on doing the problem faster, but she's a determined
little thing. Wow, I'm looking at photos on the web... real photos, fantastic
photos, awesome creations. I am so
humbled. I need to improve both my photography I've been thinking. I'm
considering making more of a split in my jewelry. I can do one line of less expensive baubles
because people still want jewelry but not everyone can lay out $80 for a
bracelet... these would be more along the lines of $25-$45. Keep in mind, they will always be less
expensive here than on eBay so And then the other line would be more of my creative
outlet. Jewelry that is more
experimental and probably also much more expensive. Gabe's coming along in French. It's super fun having him in a class that I
can help him with. I think he's going to
do great. BTW, I think he's doing
superb in his Engineering class. He
says the instructor often makes complimentary comments on his work. I'm finding myself less and less interested in eating meat. Not really from a social or moral
standpoint, or even a health standpoint.
I'm just not really liking the taste of any
meat other than fish. And if you're wondering why my paragraphs jump from one topic to
another, it's most likely because there are hours between each. Yep! I have some custom work to do this weekend, but if I get a
handle on that I really, really, REALLY want to play with something... metal,
wire, pc, enamel, lampwork, art clay, etc.
I may finally try some pc transfer pictures. I at least got a start; I printed some
pictures onto paper from a laser copier.
The previous times I've tried this, I apparently didn't have the right
kind of paper print. Well, I should just sign off now so I can at least post
this. It's better than nothing. TTYL! Wow, yeah, okay, I apologize.
That was rather rude (not blogging for a few
weeks in a row). It was a combination
of several things, most of which is/was a wicked ear infection (I will see
the specialist tomorrow, so am not sure of all the details just yet). What were the highlights of the past few weeks? This past weekend, I finally set up (but it's not entirely
finished) my new computer. Yeah, I'm
on STILL working on ridding this site of any black font on black
background. If you should happen to
notice some (usually with orders), please let me know. I apologize in advance. The kids are doing okay in school. Gabe seems to be having an easy time of it
so far, even though his English/History class gives him homework every night
(he isn't happy about that). Today we
may get the results of Monica's Algebra readiness test... it's kinda sad because she was put in Algebra 1 where she
wants to be and feels that is the appropriate place. But because she can't do the problems with
the speed needed when taking a test, they will most likely put her in Algebra
A, where she will end up re-learning all the things she already knows but
just doesn't do fast enough. Hockey is going to be intense this year, mostly for Monica, but
the benefits will totally outweigh the stress. Her I opened a Ruby Lane store up.
Shrug We'll
see... I figured it can't hurt And I got a hankering the other day to write a kids book! Eek!
Like I don't have enough to do.
Got some new bead books at B&N the other day. Wow, leafing through those I get so excited
to play around with my Art Clay Silver and Polymer Clay and Metals, etc... but this whole weekend came and went and I didn't. Maybe I'll make a date and not stand me up. I had a big 50% off sale last week (it ends at
about Here are two new pieces I added this week (no hyperlink on the
bracelet 'cause someone already BIN'd it):
Here's something I made that I was rather proud of:
I have a long way to go to perfect this skill, but it's a start. J I haven't put that piece in this store yet, but here are some
new additions I did get in here:
Well, I'd better save some blogging
for tomorrow. J Later! |
