Drum roll please…. drrrrrrrr……. I now declare The Owl and The Accordion retail experience….. open.
I decided to open an eBay shop for the following reasons:
1. I wanted an actual destination, rather than just an eBay account.
2. I considered Etsy, but everything has to be over twenty years old, and I’m selling vintage and pre-loved. When I pick things for the shop, I just look for good condition and a lovely details. The age of the garment doesn’t really matter to me – vintage clothes are lovely, and are obviously manufactured to a better quality, but I don’t class it as a necessity.
3. I thought about building a website (read: getting my web-designer friend to build me one) and having a stand-alone online shop, but as I’m new, traffic to the shop in this instance would be slim to none.
And so, the only realistic option was to open an eBay shop – the fees are pretty high (£14.99 a month, plus standard listing fees), so I’ve decided to give it a two-month trial. If I don’t at least break even, I’ll cancel the shop and go back to selling as an ordinary eBay user. My other conundrum is whether to list all my handmade goods and artwork within the eBay shop, or whether to have a separate one on Etsy. What to do, what to do.
The whole experience so far has been absolutely shattering – the buying, the washing, the stain removal, the ironing, the modelling (I don’t look at the camera, my face has some sort of fit, gah), the photographing, the editing, the listing. It’s felt like an endless cycle, punctuated with occasional bouts of ‘this could totally backfire and leave you skint’ – I’ve had no time to crochet or make any new prints, which is what I really love doing. I’m hoping that once I get the shop stocked with everything I’ve already got to sell, it will just be a case of adding a few new pieces a week, to keep the funds rolling in. But then it could all go massively awry, I’ll sell nothing and end up with a room full of vintage clothes….
But, for now, many of the goodies in the photographs above are on sale in my brand new eBay shop – do come and have a browse!
How jolly exciting- the best of luck (although how you can bear to part with those fab threads is a mystery!) Cx
Best of luck to you. Starting a new venture is always hard work, but hopefully it won't take long to be worthwile x
sooo many beautiful looks! you are gorgeous, girl. <3 EverRubyGirl.blogspot.com
I was looking at the bag but seems it is gone already. Good luck with your shop, I hope it works out well.