Just a general moan about the way some people undervalue handmade items. Since ebay has been offering 20 free listings per month and often offers free listing weekends I occasionally list some of my items there. I currently have one of my felted pictures listed at £15 (the same as on here) and yesterday got a best offer with the following message:
“Hi, I really like your picture. Did you make it yourself? How long did it take you? I would like to buy it but cannot afford £15. I am offering £3.50 as I assume you made it yourself”
So does that mean that if I had bought it in from some mass produced factory it would have been worth £15 but because I made it myself it is only worth £3.50?!
A few years ago I’d entered a local sewing competition and was awarded second prize for my two matching sewn Christmas stocking which I’d designed myself.
I had no one to give them to so I put them onto ebay someone asked if they bought them would I reduce the postage. Keep in mind I only charged the stamp amount nothing for packing.
When I said the postage is what it costs at the postoffice.
So they came back and offered me £2 for the two ie £1 per Christmas stocking.
needless to say I said no thank you, as that wouldn’t even of covered the material for one Christmas stocking.
Isn’t it sadly ironic though , that the ‘hand-made look’ ( esp . vintage -style ) , is actually very trendy and is being mass-produced and churned out for peanuts :(( !!!
Your experiences @EileensCraftStudio and @Rozcraftz are shocking and insulting to say the least . It’s hard to formulate a polite reply to questions like that isn’t it ??? !!!
Grrr indeed !
One thing to be grateful (however stingy the would be buyers are) is being able to take advantage of the 20 free listings a month.
If you have a business account on there you get no free listings and the insertion fees are higher. Apparently if ebay sees you are selling a lot of the same thing they will make you change to a business account. I set mine up as a business account anyway as it’s easier for book keeping to keep my business stuff separate from my private de-cluttering sales on there. If we got 20 free listings a month on the business account I would list a lot more.
I did look into getting a business account - in fact I think I even set one up but when you are a new seller they limit the number of listings you can have until you have built up sales and feedback so it all seemed a bit limited. I don’t really want to use ebay as my main selling platform anyway - too many people looking for rock bottom prices but I try to use up my free listings if they’ve not been filled up with my usual household junk!
If you have the “make an offer” button activated I don’t know what you complaining about. You are telling people that you are willing to take a less for it than the asking price. You are undervaluing yourself in the first place.
I go to ebay when I want to buy something lower than bottom of the price anyway and it if was me making an offer I would make you £5 offer. However on sites like Folksy and Etsy I do not haggle at all.
I see your point @renphotographycouk. I didn’t realise you could remove the offer button, I will look into it. However, offer aside it was the inference that it was worth less because I “made it myself” that annoyed me rather than the offer itself.
I started off on ebay and have a shop and business account, but have been getting really fed up with the ridiculous fee’s. I wish I could afford to close it and just sell on handmade sites
I tried a few best offer listings and found most the offers I got didn’t even cover the cost of the materials let alone postage.
Sometimes we need very thick skins to be handmade artists! Just take heart with all the positive feedback you get from your customers. What really bugs me is when another artist copies your work and then sells it cheaper.
I know exactly what you mean, I hand quilt baby throws and adult ones but people do appreciate the fact that it is done by hand. Even local craft fairs its the same its too exspensive.
good luck .
But we need to remember when someone tells us its ‘Too expensive’ it means it’s an item not within their particular budget ie they are not our target market.
If I was to go into say Harrods and see a wonderful designer coat with a ticket price of £600 then go up to the assistant and say, “This is expensive, I only want to pay £100” the assistant would no doubt sniffle a laugh and direct me to something within my price range.
If I like something but it costs more than I can afford I don’t then tell the vendour their item is expensive that is rude. I just think ohh that’s lovely I wish I could afford it. I might just have to see if I can save up for it.
Best piece of advice I was given is ‘you will never be able to afford the things that you make for yourself, you are not supposed to be your target market’…frankly anyone who asks you to take a pittance instead of the price you have decided it is worth is not your target market either.
The trouble is nobody values handmade items any more and don’t appreciate how much time and effort goes into everything. I use EBay to find a bargain but I wouldn’t use it to list my items on as you just end up giving things away. I also rent out a holiday flat and I get people asking if they can have a discount, I politely refuse. I still have to run, pay for upkeep, bills and cleaning bills, so if I gave everyone a discount I wouldn’t cover my expenses. You need to ensure that you are being paid what you are worth, I know it’s difficult in the craft world in obtaining sales but you need to value yourself, I would rather keep my items than give them away.
I too set up a business account a few months back when I was trying to sell off some of my surplus ribbons, but by the time I’d paid listing fees and selling fees I hardly came out with anything in my pocket. So I’m going to be very careful in future how I list things.
I find it much more satisfying to give things away than to sell them to cheepskates.
I do look on my shop as a hobby rather than a business though, it’s not good business practice to give your stock away!
I’m selling off some clothes on eBay and it is shocking for Best Offer, I agree with earlier posters, the amounts people offer! I used to send a message when I declined to tell them what I would accept, but nowadays I just decline. If they don’t sell they’ll go to the charity shop.
Grrr for both of you. Many people have NO idea. I blame Tesco’s and Primark!
