Sometimes I feel like I've got loads to say and other times just nothing - total blank . So very briefly what have I been up to ?
I've made Milo a Roman Centurions outfit for his school play ( notice in the pic above it was the wrong way round !! )
The weather has been total pants and I've been totally lazy so have been taking the boys to school in the car doh, oh and speaking of the car I watched someone outside my front window reverse into it yesterday. They actually saw me watching and then just drove away, luckily there was no damage.
I've been knitting like a trooper to get things in my shop and orders that I've got but when I go to
Etsy and just type ' hand knitted bunny' in the search engine some of the things that come back terrify me . For similar items to mine some of the prices are just extortionate and yet they are selling whereas mine aren't and I'm trying to think of how I can put this nicely but some of the bunnies just don't seem as though they are of a high enough standard. Maybe mine just aren't good enough and because the market is just soooo saturated with bunnies that perhaps I need to look for something else to knit.The exception being
Julie's rabbits of course because they are just awesome.
I'd really, really appreciate it if perhaps you could just pop across to Etsy, have a look and then give me some feedback please as at the minute I'm at a bit of a loss what to do?
Right, enough of the whinging now. Hope you enjoy the photo's of my little centurion and his friends .
8 comments:
I've had a peek at what you were saying and I agree with you that the price for some of the items is ludicrous. The items you are showing are very appealing and the only reason I can think of is geographical. People can be funny about paying shipping costs and prefer to buy from their own country. Have you tried selling directly from your blog? I don't think it's the bunny thing - I think they're lovely and I'm not just saying that so if you enjoy knitting them then don't change unless you want to.
That's a seriously cute little Centurion! I searched on knitted rabbits on etsy and it looks like the prices are all over the board. I really don't have any advice -- I don't understand etsy very well. I agree with Ann though -- if you love making your goodies don't change them!
Just had a look at Etsy and your shop front!
Maybe just a couple of things.
* Photograph all your pictures using the same background.
* SOme of your current photo's dont show all of the image of your work.
* Also when I looked on your feedback, I was not sure which feedbacks were for buying and selling and some people might be a bit funny as there are alot of PDF bought/sold and maybe they are thinking your work is not originally from your pattern.
* Also I look at your blog updates from Bloglines so I don't see your etsy shop unless I go directly onto your blog, so I wonder if maybe once a month you could do a post about some of your work linking to your etsy shop.
Sorry to have gone on!
Your work is very beautiful.
Vanessa x
some good points already made in the comments so far. i too had a look and just don't get how some items (not yours!) would ever sell, let alone at the prices they're marketed at! sorry if that's a bit rude, maybe it's just my taste.
anyway, i think yours are lovely, well made and finished, but i too wonder about my own stuff on etsy and why it doesn't seem to reach the people who want it. i've been trying the search adds for the past couple of weeks and have had one sale through that! quite an interesting exercise too as it generates lots of stats. i love stats!
in your shop i was a bit confused as to what was a finished item and what was a pattern. maybe starting the title of each item with 'pdf pattern' or 'ready to ship' (or something like that - my brain's not cooperating today!) might make the shop front more easy to navigate?
also, i know lighting photos is really hard and the white background is great, but some extra front lighting in the pics would really make the characters stand out in search results.
hope that helps!
oh, and i meant to say what a great costume that was! i had to do my first fancy dress costume for my son at the weekend - a knight. thankfully my stash yielded up just the right ingredients and we had a simple little outfit in no time :)
Hi Lisa, gosh how rude are some people not to check on your car, glad it's not damaged. Had a look at your shop, and I agree the pdf patterns and the knitted items need to be very clearly marked. and the photos would benefit from better lighting, not easy in the north.... they look beautifully made and the pricing is good, the only comment I have is that postage to UK and to rest of the world was the same for the one I looked at, which might put off some UK buyers who would then think P+P expensive.
have you considered folksy for your knitted bunnies? keep the patterns and bunnies separate. also set up a facebook page, for your knitting, google searches always hit facebook, I can email you a how to do it link.
Lovely costume Lisa. Milo looks very pleased! I think you have received some sound advice from other readers regarding etsy. x
Great costumes!
I'd love to offer Etsy advice but I don't sell there and I think all the valid points have been covered. I saw (as I'm back reading blog posts today) that you've already acted on some of them and adressed others (ie why you don't have standard backgrounds to all the photos). I think your work stands out as being of great quality and I agree there's some absolute tosh available in the same category. Have you thought about setting up your own website? I sell so much more through mine than through Folksy...not sure if it's something you'd consider, I use create for mine. Bethx
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