Paper Piecing And E-Bay
What is paper piecing? Basically, you put together pre-made scrapbook pages and sell them to people online. All they have to do is add their pictures and any journaling they want to write down and their scrapbook page will be complete. Initial research on e-Bay shows that people are willing to pay – sometimes pay BIG – for this service which can be an amazing way for you to make a lot of money with scrapbooking! If you are unfamiliar with selling on e-Bay, it’s really quite easy to do. You’ll first need to set up a selling account. It’s a good idea to include “scrap” in your name if possible. Once you have your user name, you’ll need to establish your selling account. This usually means providing a credit card or bank account to e-Bay and verifying it to get started. Don’t worry – it’s safe and secure. We could write a whole entire other book on getting started selling on e-bay – in fact, it’s already been started – so we would suggest you visit e-Bay’s website at www.ebay.com and look under “Site Map” to read information about setting up a seller account and getting started on e-Bay. When you have some product you want to sell, take pictures of it or scan it into your computer. Pictures will be a huge selling point, so make sure they are of good quality and you provide as many as you possibly can to give potential customers a better idea of what the product looks like. Since e-Bay charges an extra fee for more than one picture, sign up for Photo Bucket at www.photobucket.com and use them to host your e-Bay pictures. There are a lot of other sites that host pictures, but we like using Photo Bucket because of its ease of use. You can make your own decision as to which photo hosting site will work best for you. In your title, include the words “paper piecing” (without the quotation marks) since that’s how people will search for listings. List the dimensions and a brief description of each part of the set. Also let people know if you used pens and chalks to add detail to your sets. If any part of your set is computer generated, it is a good idea to note this in the auction. Let everyone know whether your background paper is included or not. Make sure you let your potential customers know if you use all acid-free, lignin-free products when making your sets. A lot of people also list information such as "comes from a pet-free, smoke-free home." At the end of the description list all payment and shipping information. You want to make sure that customers know the following: what payment methods you accept/prefer, your shipping rate, how the items will be packed, whether or not you offer insurance and how much you charge, and your email address for any questions. Set the price at the absolute minimum you are willing to accept for this paper piecing. Most auctions start in the $3-10 range. Adjust your minimum bid price according to time, materials used, and the detail of the piece. You have a choice of 3, 5, 7, and 10 day auctions. Most paper piecers use either 5 or 7 day auctions. It is a good idea to have your auction extend over Sunday evenings because it is a very busy time. Each time you create an original paper piecing it automatically has copyright protection. You do not need to register a creation to have it protected. It is a good idea to put a notice with your auctions when it is an original design. If you are using a pattern from a Tole/Pattern book, you should not use a copyright notice. A basic copyright notice looks like this: Copyright 2002 Your Name Here This also means that all of those other original paper piecings that are listed on eBay are protected. It is okay to browse around and get ideas and inspiration, but you should never make copies of paper piecing that you see. Creating Piecings That Will Sell Save some time by eliminating the "tracing" of patterns. Take your pattern, lay it over your cardstock and use your stylus to "trace" it onto your cardstock. You won't need a light box or copier for this and you can re-use your patterns again and again. Use the Fiskars soft-tip micro-touch ones. They have an ultra fine tip that will allow you to get into small spaces and make precision cuts. You should also try to move your paper around instead of moving the scissors. This will allow you to cut a smooth and even line. Sets that have more than one matching piece do better than a stand alone paper piecing. Even a title or matching smaller accent piece of paper helps! Other things that help are matching tags, journaling boxes, corners, borders, or stickers. Learn how to do details. Invest in a very thin tipped black pen and a white gel pen to add detail to your pieces. Use lots of shading on your paper piecings. Shade with chalk - use the small pompoms with hemostats to hold the pompom to do your chalking and shading in small places. Take a look at some tole books to learn how to create proper shading on your sets. Practice shading techniques by taking a household object and shining a light on it. Note where the shadows and highlights are. Move the light and see how the shading changes. Make your paper piecings special or unique. Try to use the latest scrapbooking trends in new and unusual ways. Pay attention to color schemes. Invest in a color wheel and learn how to use it. Organization Use a set of drawers, page protectors or other filing system to keep track of all of your paper piecings. Separate them by: 1.paper piecings that have been bid on/sold but not sent out 2.paper piecings that have not been sold 3.paper piecings in progress You can also have them packed and ready to ship as you list You may need to combine some paper piecings for a customer that wins multiple pieces, but the packing is already done and makes shipping go faster! Advertising Your Auction Don't count on your auctions to advertise themselves! Create an email list and ask every customer if they would like to be notified when you list new auctions. Repeat customers will become some of your best customers. Keep your email addresses grouped in your address book on your computer and send using the "BCC" so that you are not revealing their email address to everyone else. When you list new auctions, just send out a short email letting them know what you have listed and include a link to your listings page. You can also send out advertisements on scrapbooking related "groups" or email lists. You can do a search on Yahoogroups.com, the MSN groups or any other email list to find scrapbooking groups. Email the list owner to find out what their policies are regarding ads. A lot of lists allow ads to be placed once a week. There are also "For Sale and Trade" message boards at scrapbooking sites that you can advertise at. I don't recommend advertising on regular message boards, though, because most of them don't allow it and it will really get everyone upset! Custom Orders From time to time, you may be contacted by e-Bay users to create a custom piece for them. This is a good idea as long as you have a commitment from them to buy. You should try to charge right around the same price of the ended auction. Maybe a few dollars short of that. Only do this if you are satisfied with the ending bid price. If the price was too low, feel free to quote a higher price for your work. Be sure to make it worth your time and effort. Don't sell yourself too cheaply! Here is a sample form letter you can use to reply to custom requests: "Hello! Thank you so much for you interest in placing a custom order for XXXXXXX. I would be willing to make this paper piecing for you for $XXXX plus $XXX for shipping. Please note that insurance is optional and would cost an additional $XXX. Custom orders may be slightly different than the set you have seen because these items are handmade. Colors may vary slightly also, but I always attempt to get as close to the original as I can. Please be advised that I am currently allowing XXX weeks for any custom orders. You can pay for this order using PayPal, check or money order. Please respond to this email to let me know if you still want to order this set. Include your name, address and any special instructions for the paper piecing. Thanks again for your interest!" Doing custom orders can be the staple of your business as people who are not necessarily scrapbook talented can provide the illusion that they are – with your help! Provide Excellent Customer Service Working with customers through online auction sites is the same as working with any other type of customer. Do your best to provide good customer service. If somebody isn¹t pleased with an item that they receive, do your best to replace the item or refund the money. You may want to offer incentive programs to repeat winners. You could offer a discount after so many wins or even offer to do a free paper piecing after the person wins X amount of your auctions. Always answer emails in a timely manner, ship items as soon as you receive payment and be polite in all of your correspondence. When you have a successful auction, be sure to leave feedback for your buyer – but never leave feedback first. Let them leave feedback for you first then reciprocate with them. Doing paper piecings on e-Bay can be a very profitable and enjoyable way to build your scrapbooking business. Do your research, and provide the services that people want and need. When starting up a business, there are some things that you’ll need to think about before jumping in. |
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