Art and Creativity: Still Fine Tuning Online Sales — New Category!
One of our best selling items at shows has always been the ”Petite” Alchemy Stones, which are typically just between ¾” and 1 ¼” (20-30mm) in size.
A group of just finished petite stones for online sales. These are all about 1" across.
They seem to be super popular with a wide range of people, from kids, to miniature collectors, to people who are just happy with the idea of getting a totally hand painted piece of art for under $10.00.
I have been contemplating adding them to the online selection as well… but it just seems like a lot of work for very little, once you take out selling fees, shipping and such. There’s also the hassle of having to track each stone individually, because people shopping online are going to ”want the one in the picture.”
We don’t track these stones individually at shows — they are just sold on a ”pick whichever you want” basis, so there’s no actual tracking of ”inventory.”
On closer reflection, I’ve decided to give the petites a go online, as well… after I finally solved the issue of tracking inventory... actually a very simple solution.
Instead of ”taking from stock,” I’m starting to make an entirely new set that will only be available online, and will stay at home during shows, so I won’t have to reconcile show sales with online listings… which is a pain in the rear, and quite time consuming.
It’s one thing to do it with $30-$100 items, quite another to do so with $9 items.
Maybe that comes across as a bit ungrateful, but I just don’t relish putting a lot of energy into something that ultimately ends up making $1.50 an hour, once all is said and done!
So, the new ”Petites” are going to have their debut on Etsy later this month (hopefully within a few days!) and it’ll be interesting to see whether we can drive any traffic to the Etsy shop on the premise of ”Alchemy Stones under $10.00.”
For simplicity’s sake, the new Petites will all be priced at a uniform $9.00. The idea — hopefully, as it tends to happen at shows — is that people end up buying multiples; it’s not unusual for us to sell 5-10 stones to a single buyer.
Time will tell. Online sales remains a really tough nut to crack.
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
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