After getting some feedback from my lovely fellow-sellers a while back, I’ve been pondering on what to do with my shop going forward. I want it to look more polished and professional without it looking too clinical. I’ve decided to reduce the number of different items I make and concentrate on just a few, and I’m re-taking photos of the ones that will remain to make the shop look a bit more coherent. Hopefully this will make it easier to view and easier for me to manage, and allow me more time to create fewer, higher quality items, with a bit more emphasis on the textile art.
All the smaller things will go, which is why I’ve reduced the prices of all my glasses cases, gadget cases, make up bags and purses - these will no longer feature in my shop. I’ll leave them there while I finish re-taking the photos and getting it all ready, but once the ‘new’ shop is good to go, they will all be removed and I’ll sell off any remaining ones at local fairs etc.
Anyone else had a similar change of direction or mid-life crisis in their shop? It would be interesting to hear how it turned out for you.
Hi Christine, I’ve had exactly the same change in direction.
I started making smaller things because people told me you needed a range of items at craft fairs in different price brackets, but I’m now just going to do a few bigger shows, where this doesn’t apply so much. I’m also mindful now of how cohesive my shop looks, as I think if you sell too many different things, my shop can look quite jumbled. Hopefully once the smaller and adhoc stuff has gone, I’ll end up with a shop that is more distinct in style, which may not appeal to everyone but at least people will be able to clearly define and recognise my work.
I’ve also decided after two years to ditch my website provider, as the latest issue with them is I’ve discovered you can’t actually complete checkout in their ecommerce shop if you use a tablet. Because in 2014, using tablet is sooooo rare isn’t it… For the record, it’s Mr Site and I would NEVER to recommend them to anyone.
So all my promotion August onwards will lead to my Folksy shop.
I have recently closed the shop on my Mr Site and direct all sales here too - I couldn’t get my head around how to comply with the new distance selling regs there. I would love to leave them completely and have a site designed by pros - but don’t seem to have the time/ inclination to look into it properly.
Like you I thought having a wide price range was the way to go,when I joined there weren’t many selling silver jewellery here and it worked ,but now I am finding that my smaller simpler designs are cropping up in loads of shops, so time to move on , I am doing some more expensive fairs this year so have been making some more expensive ranges.
I’ve never used the checkout facility on my website, it’s always been a ‘gallery’ site that either directs people to one of my online shops or allows them to contact me directly. Making mostly one-off items, it’s too complicated to have too many outlets and stocks to manage, so I try to keep it simple!
Interesting that we’re all moving in a similar direction at the same time - is it market forces, or are we all reaching a stage where we feel more confident in our products that we’re able to target that market sector? I’ve certainly learnt a lot in the past few years, both online and at craft fairs, and have a much clearer idea of the way I want to go.
I’ve also decided to stop making smaller items. I made them mostly for craft fairs but have not really had any luck with them. I think I’m going to concentrate on quality and make more ‘high end’ items which was actually my plan when I first started selling. I did everything back to front ie: most people start with craft fairs, then open a shop on folksy or similar then have their own website, I started with my own website. Not really knowing anything about SEO etc. I naively thought that once I set up my site, the sales would roll in! When they didn’t I started reducing my prices thinking that my bags were too expensive when it was actually due to the fact that no one knew I was there! Since then I’ve been trying to compete with people selling their items cheaply and it just isn’t working. So I want to sell off most of my old stock and start again - easier said than done…
Btw, my website is with Create, it’s not free but reasonably priced and there are 3 different price packages.
I changed tack completely at beginning of this year. I used to make soft toys, but I found the Toy Safety Regs stifled my creativity so I was getting pretty fed up. Plus the fact that very few people I found didn’t want to pay handmade prices for something their child was going to play with.
I had a rethink about what it was I liked rather than a focus on the retail, and now I make birds mainly and animal heads that go on walls. In the last new months I’ve started drafting my own patterns too which has been a great confidence boost for me personally. I don’t get a huge amount of sales, my prices do stop it being an impulse buy, but I do get a lot of positive feedback from people when they see my items. Therefore I know I’m on the right track, I just need to market myself to the right people with the disposable income!
I’m a lot happier for the change over, and I hope you get the same once you’ve made the change to what you’re happier with too.
Funnily enough, i have today decided to start clearing out some of my older stock. The bags I make now are quite a bit different to some of my earlier ones and i’m hoping to move into more leather features in future. So figured it was time for a clear out. Although, the opposite to a couple of comments above, i’ve decided to make a few extra smaller items. I started making smaller items mainly so that I could still have some stock in my shop whilst I cleared out my older style bags and made some new ones - but they’ve seemed really popular and I’ve quite enjoyed making them.
Hi All, I’ve also been having a think about items. I too thought it would be good to have smaller items as well as more expensive ones. I’ve decided to concentrate more on the lacy knit scaves which I love to do, as well as wrist and earwarmers. I need to sort out my folksy shop soon to reflect this. It’s good to hear your stories.
Liz.
I have also been having a rethink for some time about what to stock in my AnnChandlerOriginals shop (My vintageVibe shop will stay the same) and have decided to focus on my vintage kimono silk items. It is unusual these days for me to sell anything made in a “normal” fabric either online, at fairs or in the gallery shop that takes my items. People seem to like the unique selling point of the kimono silk and I have now gained a bit of a reputation at local fairs and events as “the kimono silk lady.” I do make and sell small items as well as bags and these are popular at both at fairs and on here so I will continue to make them. I also sell cushions at fairs but have not listed them on Folksy as the cost to post them is prohibitive and there is another Folksy seller who sells kimono silk cushions.
I am lucky enough to have a stall at HyperJapan at Earls Court in a month’s time which is the largest Japanese cultural show in the UK so I am hoping that my decision will be vindicated with lots of sales and interest.
