Diesel and little Audrey: the love of his life ...

Jeeze Louise! I have to get into blogging more! March 9th?? Yikes!

My ever so faithful dog, Diesel, is laying at my feet. I say faithful because he seems to know when there's something wrong with me before I do. Today, it's a toothache from hell.

I truly appreciate his attentiveness, but it becomes a bit difficult when you have a 200lb fur baby hanging out with you in the bathroom. And he watches. I simply can't pee under pressure.

Etsy vs eBay..Which Is Better?

I remember the days when the only sure-fire way to make a living with your hand-made goods was to spend a few days, or sometimes, a few weeks producing enough items to package, box up, load into the car and shlep those hand-made goods, a folding table and chair, a table cloth and maybe a couple of eye-catching displays to a craft show.

Those were the days, weren't they? Up at 6am on a weekend so you'd have enough time to load up, drink a few cups of coffee, shower and head off to the fair in time to unload when the doors opened.....and that's if the craft fair was local! If it was out of town or in another state, so much more preparation was involved.

The days of this avenue being our sole way of earning money for our crafts or artwork are long gone. Since the arrival of the internet, we artisans have so many ore resources at our fingertips, with the ability to reach customers not only on a local level, but on a national and international level.

But where does one start? There are oodles of sites where we can market our goods, and plenty of advertising and marketing opportunities at every corner. With that in mind, we must not only explore all of our options, but choose which venue we will sell on carefully.

As I write this, the two best known sites to market our crafts are Etsy and eBay.

Hands down, I'd venture to say that 99.99% of people know of or at the very least, have heard of eBay.....and the number of individuals who know about or have heard of Etsy are climbing at rapid speed.

I've heard some campare Etsy to the online auction giant by saying things like, "Oh ya, it's kinda like another eBay, right?" Not quite. (In my honest opinion).

Being a veteran eBay seller myself and though I've been on Etsy for a couple of years I'm still relatively wet behind the ears with it, I will continue to maintain the belief that comparing eBay to Etsy would be like comparing apples to oranges. There is simply NO comparison in likeness.

These sites are similar in what they can do for online artisans, but they have different requirements and offer different benefits to sellers.

One of the biggest differences between the two sites is what is allowed for sale. Let's start with eBay:

eBay:

On eBay, as long as it's not illegal, it's generally allowed to be placed up for sale. This includes mass marketed items, handmade items, vintage items, antiques and found objects. I've seen some really strange things go up for sale on eBay, and fetch a mond-blowing amount of money...the most recent was a McDonald's chicken McNugget that resembled George Washington....it sold for $8,100.00!

Sellers who sell a diverse array of items generally prefer eBay because of the liberal listing rules and the ability to sell just about anything all on the same site.

On Etsy, only handmade items are allowed to be placed for sale. This gives the site a boutique feel and keeps the site's items unique. Sellers who prefer to make their own items prefer Etsy because of its built-in audience of buyers who prefer to buy unique items.

Selling Fees:

On eBay, they vary with the category. The fees range from eight to 15 percent of the purhcase price, with most categories charging 12 percent. The listing fees range as well. If you open a basic store for $15/month, you can list your items at a fixed price for .20 for up to 30 days, as opposed to the .50 it would normally cost if you were not subscribed to store ownership. eBay also offers 50 free auction-style listings with a Buy-It-Now (fixed price) option per month for non-store owners. Final value fees still apply on all sales. eBay is also charging sellers a percentage of the shipping costs they list. Combine al of this with PayPal's (eBay owned) transaction fees and you're spending approximately 30/35% of your earnings on fees alone.

Though selling on eBay seems like it could be costly, the high level of traffic to eBay generally makes up for that, with millions of people visiting eBay every day, the sheer volume of customers often means faster sales.

Getting the Traffic to Your Online Sales:

Many artisans prefer eBay because it is the industry leader and has better name recognition. Ebay has more than 50 million registered users and is the 20th most popular website in the world.You have a built-in audience of literally millions visiting the site and doing searches every day. This means that the number of potential buyers on Ebay is much higher than on Etsy. This can mean the potential for much higher sales if a seller is utilizing Ebay.

Etsy:

On Etsy, only handmade items are allowed to be placed for sale. In recent years however, they've expanded on that to allow listings for vintage items and crafting supplies to be sold on the site. This gives the site a boutique feel and keeps the site's items unique. Sellers who prefer to make their own items, who specialize in selling vintage items or in supplying crafters and artisians with the supplies and tools they'd need to make their pieces all have a place on Etsy and prefer it because of its built-in audience of buyers who in turn prefer to buy unique items.

Selling Fees:

On Etsy, listing an item costs .20 for a four-month listing. The transaction fees, called final value fees on eBay, are 3.5 percent of the sales price on Etsy. The appeal of listing your products on the Etsy website far exceeds the lower listing fees and the longer periods of time you can advertise your products.

The biggest appeal for handmade sellers to use Etsy is the targeted buyers that visit the website. Potential buyers viewing Etsy value the fact that Etsy products are handmade. Although Ebay viewers may enjoy an Etsy product, many may not recognize the value in having a handmade item over a manufactured product. I personally feel that when it comes to deciding which site is the best to sell on, you're faced with a situation that's like a double-edged sword. With eBay, you have the built-in audience of millions, with the potential to sell your items faster, but you may be selling them for less than you would normally sell them for (especially if you choose to implement the auction format and take a chance at starting the bid low in the hopes of driving up the price with a bidding war) whereas with Etsy, the audience visits the site knowing and expecting to find hand-made items, and appreciates the skill and craftmanship it takes to create it, and is willing to pay the asking price of the artist. There is also the difference in fees. For sellers, Etsy represents a far less expensive selling experience than selling on eBay. However, the cost of selling is not the only consideration to sellers.

Whether a seller prefers Etsy or eBay often depends on the price of the item they want to sell, how specialized it is and how quickly they want to make sales. A high-priced item that sells on eBay will be expensive to sell because of the high final value fees. However, if you don't mind keeping the item listed for a longer period of time, selling it on Etsy and paying less for the transaction may be what you prefer.

Getting the Traffic to Your Online Sales:

The Etsy customer base visits the site to get handmade and often custom items, making the customer base more targeted. This also means a bit more work on the seller's end. It means actively advertising your Etsy shop via banner and button ads on other sites (which usually don't cost very much), actively networking on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, in messege boards and chats. It also means actively participating in craft fairs (it;s always good to get out of the house and meet potential customers!), handing out business cards and coupons, or holding holiday or seasonal open houses. Let's face it, anyone who has ever been an over-night success at anything was never really an over-night success. They worked hard for a long time before they ever even caught our attention as being the Etsy seller we aspire to become.

The conclusion? Ebay is a great way to take your Etsy business to the next level. However, Ebay is not good for a selling platform when you are starting out with your own craft business. Whether a seller prefers Etsy or eBay often depends on the price of the item they want to sell, how specialized it is and how quickly they want to make sales. A high-priced item that sells on eBay will be expensive to sell because of the high final value fees. However, if you don't mind keeping the item listed for a longer period of time, selling it on Etsy and paying less for the transaction may be what you prefer.

Art & Soul Studio http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtSoulStudio or find me on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Art-Soul-Studio/197926700271158

It's Always Best to Start At the Beginning.....

"I didn't know you could make this!" is usually the reaction I get when one of my girls walks into school on the first day and the teacher, a parent, the bus driver sees for the first time, one of the hair pieces I've made to match one of their outfits.

There will be a couple of morals to this story, I promise, so just bare with me, and if you have nothing else going on, grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine (it's always five O'Clock somewhere, right?) and keep on reading.

Those hair pieces were the extent of my creativity. I was too busy with other things to take orders, or to really make a go at the things I could create and sell, if only I'd had the time....if only....

About fifteen years ago (before I'd ever had any children), I was flipping through the reader ads of my local Pennysaver and came across an ad for in-home astrology readings. At the time, I made things on an almost daily basis, from bath salts to oil paintings, and either sold them on weekends at craft fairs or gave them as gifts to friends.

I thought, "Wouldn't it be kinda cool to get a reading?" So I did. His name was Richard. What he told me had a profound and lasting effect, and I credit him to this day for the triumph over some very difficult hurdles I've faced in the years since. He has since gone on to publish some really great and insightful articles in newspapers and magazines, as well as weekly and monthly horiscopes in others and continues to do his readings for clients.

But one thing he told me was that my sign (Sagittarius) was a creative one. (I knew that already). But because of where all of my houses were and where the sun rose and set on my chart and all of that other really cool stuff I find fascinating but still don't understand, he made it a point to say that I needed to keep creating, and if I didn't I'd be like a wilting flower. Creativity was my strongest asset, and opened alot of doors for me that I think may other wise have remained closed. It was like the life force to the very core of my being, like water to a fish, like air to breathe. I got what he was saying, but sometimes, life happens.....

I had children, two, sometimes three jobs to hold down to pay the bills and put food on the table. I became a single parent. The only time I found myself creating anything, was maybe a Halloween costume or a few Easter baskets. I'd moved 6 times in a matter of 5 years. Car payments, rent, insurance...... you know the story. I'd even started and ran a very successful house cleaning business, but benieth the success and the monetary gain and even noteriety that came with it, I was completely unfulfilled, both personally and spiritually, and I couldn't understad why.

Friends and family told me I was doing too much, to slow down, relax, take a breather, to do more things I enjoyed, rather than things I felt I had to do. But I continued doing what I knew best: work, work, work, go, go, go.

And then one morning, I woke up, and couldn't move. Literally. The pain in my body was unbearable. Every joint throbbed and cracked when I tried to get up. I couldn't even drive the children into school. Something was very, very wrong here.

Convinced I had Lymes Disease, and after some rest and medication the worst of the symptoms would begin to fade and I could get back to the hectic life I'd built, I waited in the emergency room for several hours when the doctor finally came in and informed me that the test they'd run for lymes had come back negative. Negative? Really?

After informing me to follow up with my family physician and have additional tests conducted, the diagnosis I left with that day was Fibromyalgia.

Upon meeting with my regular doctor who confirmed this, I asked him, "Am I going to have this for the rest of my life?" He said, "Yes". He also informed me that I may want to make "adjustments" to my lifestyle. When I asked him what type of adjustments, and what exactly was Fibromyalgia, he old me to Google it, because the site could tell me more about it than he could (and exactly how many years do these people go to school for their MD's??)

I did exactly that. And I really didn't like the results or the information I found on treatment, because there really isn't any. Now, not only did I have to cope with having this disease doctors knew so little about, but I also had to cope with how to re-adjust my life because of it. I'd have to learn to get used to taking things slower. I'd have to learn to wake up some mornings, and not be able to walk or move, or plan to start getting myself ready for the day several hours earlier to give my body time to adjust and maybe become limber again after moving around for a while.

I did the only thing I could do (after having a melt-down, of course) when I finally took a step back, looked at the entire situation at what it really was; the please of my friends and family, the unfulfillment I'd felt, the lack of time I had with my children (who grow faster than you can blink an eye), and now, the please of my own body: I sold the business and began painting wine glasses. I was happy with this.

Then a friend suggested I list my items on Etsy. I went to the site, fell in love with it, and here, the rest is history. An Etsy shop, a Facebook Page and now a blog later, I've been selling my items, taking requests and filling custom orders. After the trials and night upon sleepless night of soul searching, (hence, the name) Art & Soul Studio was born.

I feel like I've been born again, and I'm greatul for the cards I was dealt with the disease. It's made me stop to smell the roses again, to pick up a camera and photograph the beauty around me; it's allowed my imagination to run wild and go back to what came most naturally to me all along: being creative. It's allowed me lots and lots more time for more hugs, cuddles, giggles and laughter.

So here are the morals I promised somewhere waaay in the beginning of this story..... life will happen, often times in ways we don;t expect. But don;t let it derail you from what you love.

It's OK to be the responsible, bread-winning one, the successful one, but none of that is worth it if you cannot share it with the people who matter most to you; whether it be by your generosity, by more of your time and attention or more of your love. Paying close attention to what your soul is whispering to you quietly inside is what I believe to be the key to true happiness: by putting the breaks on life for even just a moment, taking a look around you and inventorying the gifts that are freely given: the beauty in nature, the love of your family and friends, and in recognising the blessings that come from each day, no matter how small. Staying true to yourself in the face of anything is what will get you through everything!

Just keep creating, appreciating and believing........