50% off Sale and other things
I know, I know, I haven't written here in over a year and I've probably lost the little bit of following that I had. Still, I wanted to post this anyway and start using this account again since I never ever ever want to delete it.
Last night, I was thinking about quitting, but my momment of frustration ended in a brainstorm session that I think was helpful and may make me more productive.
I wrote down in a little blue book I made specifically for ideas for AngelicGems what I want to happen in the next five years. Goals included what I want my yearly income to be, all the sites I want to sell on (I'm waiting for approval from 1000markets), craft shows I want to do and what I'm going to sell where. There was also a list of the supplies I have bookmarked that I need right away if I want to change my direction. Of course, I want to get a tax id for my business, declare myself a sole proprietorship and copyright my name and logo (yes, I actually made one) but all that takes money as well.
Craft show stuff included electric candles, fabric to make table coverings, safety pins to attach the price tags I already bought to my items, mirror and all sorts of other things. I also want to use enameled copper from now on as its more colorful and I'm sure people won't have a reaction to it; I also want to add sterling silver, gold filled and brass wire to what I use already. There were also supplies for beading as I want to mix that with my wire wrapping and though I have a book with instructions that I bought a while ago, I've never learned the art. Also clay, glass beads (I'm leaving semi-precious beads alone for the time being) and books to learn other arts. I didn't come up with prices for the books because I know I can buy them used on Amazon, but the rest of the stuff came up to $245 and some change without shipping.
To make that money, I was hoping that my Black Friday sale would get me some business but so far it has only generated a lot of lookers. I was thinking that perhaps the 10% that I took off wasn't enough for the trying times and that I was going to have to dig deeper if I wanted to move a lot at once rather than gradually like I've been doing. The idea for a holiday sale came to me as I know I want to change the direction of my etsy shop, dedicate it to wire wrapping only, and delegate other things I love to some of the other shops I signed up for and never used. I was thinking 50% off all the beaded items in my shop as that is the type of jewelry that I plan to be getting out of. The glass beads I mentioned before will be worked into wire wrap designs.
I was going through my shop with a calculator, to see how the prices would look with a 50% reduction, and I see that it really wouldn't be too bad. Basically, most of them would be wholesale prices and some would even retain a bit of profit on the materials used to make them. The problem with my pricing, as I mentioned here before, was that I was never sure where to price my items as wire wrapping seems to be all over the place. When I was looking at prices on Etsy, I saw I'm actually on the high end when I thought I was in the middle and yet some of my friends and family members have been saying I'm still too low. With very few sales, I can't really be sure.
This 50% off sale, that I decided will start on December 11th so it can include Christmas while still going to the beginning of January (or until all the specified pieces are gone) like I want, will be my reboot so I can be really meticulous about keeping the books and all that. Some of my material cost is a mystery to me now, but I have new supplies bookmarked and I'll keep the receipts this time and really price my things with the formula I came up with with the help of a spreadsheet. That way, I know my prices will at least be worth my time and effort.
This is the message I've been leaving on my social networking sites:
There is so much I would like to do that will make a new year, a new Angelicgems, a new me. In the spirit of change, I'm having a 50% off sale at AnglicGems starting Dec 11 and continuing 'till Jan 1.
I have semi-preciuos gems, sparkling glass and colorful polymer clay; they're all wirewrapped to perfection and have their own unique beauty just like you.
http://angelicgems.etsy.com
Sorry that was so long :)
Last night, I was thinking about quitting, but my momment of frustration ended in a brainstorm session that I think was helpful and may make me more productive.
I wrote down in a little blue book I made specifically for ideas for AngelicGems what I want to happen in the next five years. Goals included what I want my yearly income to be, all the sites I want to sell on (I'm waiting for approval from 1000markets), craft shows I want to do and what I'm going to sell where. There was also a list of the supplies I have bookmarked that I need right away if I want to change my direction. Of course, I want to get a tax id for my business, declare myself a sole proprietorship and copyright my name and logo (yes, I actually made one) but all that takes money as well.
Craft show stuff included electric candles, fabric to make table coverings, safety pins to attach the price tags I already bought to my items, mirror and all sorts of other things. I also want to use enameled copper from now on as its more colorful and I'm sure people won't have a reaction to it; I also want to add sterling silver, gold filled and brass wire to what I use already. There were also supplies for beading as I want to mix that with my wire wrapping and though I have a book with instructions that I bought a while ago, I've never learned the art. Also clay, glass beads (I'm leaving semi-precious beads alone for the time being) and books to learn other arts. I didn't come up with prices for the books because I know I can buy them used on Amazon, but the rest of the stuff came up to $245 and some change without shipping.
To make that money, I was hoping that my Black Friday sale would get me some business but so far it has only generated a lot of lookers. I was thinking that perhaps the 10% that I took off wasn't enough for the trying times and that I was going to have to dig deeper if I wanted to move a lot at once rather than gradually like I've been doing. The idea for a holiday sale came to me as I know I want to change the direction of my etsy shop, dedicate it to wire wrapping only, and delegate other things I love to some of the other shops I signed up for and never used. I was thinking 50% off all the beaded items in my shop as that is the type of jewelry that I plan to be getting out of. The glass beads I mentioned before will be worked into wire wrap designs.
I was going through my shop with a calculator, to see how the prices would look with a 50% reduction, and I see that it really wouldn't be too bad. Basically, most of them would be wholesale prices and some would even retain a bit of profit on the materials used to make them. The problem with my pricing, as I mentioned here before, was that I was never sure where to price my items as wire wrapping seems to be all over the place. When I was looking at prices on Etsy, I saw I'm actually on the high end when I thought I was in the middle and yet some of my friends and family members have been saying I'm still too low. With very few sales, I can't really be sure.
This 50% off sale, that I decided will start on December 11th so it can include Christmas while still going to the beginning of January (or until all the specified pieces are gone) like I want, will be my reboot so I can be really meticulous about keeping the books and all that. Some of my material cost is a mystery to me now, but I have new supplies bookmarked and I'll keep the receipts this time and really price my things with the formula I came up with with the help of a spreadsheet. That way, I know my prices will at least be worth my time and effort.
This is the message I've been leaving on my social networking sites:
There is so much I would like to do that will make a new year, a new Angelicgems, a new me. In the spirit of change, I'm having a 50% off sale at AnglicGems starting Dec 11 and continuing 'till Jan 1.
I have semi-preciuos gems, sparkling glass and colorful polymer clay; they're all wirewrapped to perfection and have their own unique beauty just like you.
http://angelicgems.etsy.com
Sorry that was so long :)