eBay project selling topic

So, do you believe you get a fair price on e-bay?

What kind of items sell best?

-- Paul, Texas

I have had and still have some of my product on Ebay and found that most of the time the people are looking for a bargain on eBay. I have it listed for what my product sells retail in the locations I supply and sell some things every now and again. What ideas and advice do you have Dan?

-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT

Go for it..

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

I have experience in selling both retail and on eBay. Currently ,What I try for is something better then the 50-50 or 60-40 split that I might get if I sold my items in a gallery. In Memphis I had small booth for a few months in “Southern Creations” crafts store. I made out ok, enough to cover the booth fees etc, but nothing to talk about. My first experience selling on eBay was selling hardwood … small boards, ends etc. Made out very well. When my booth became more work then it was worth , I took photos and listed the items on eBay. Sold them all the first try and even better prices then I would have gotten in the store. At that time, I made small clocks, tables, collector cabinets, cutting boards, wooden spoons etc. All in the mission /arts and crafts style.

DAN

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

So you are not trying to get full retail for your items on eBay then? Most retail outlets mark up your goods 100% or double what you would sell it to them for.

-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT

Hello Max
Why sell for wholesale only to retail outlets? Wholesale is what I aim for or set my reserve price at. Really it depends what you willing to part with it for or have bills to pay etc. Ebay prices fluctuate / sway quite abit. If a item sells for $100 one week and the next $250, I’m usuall a little disappointed with the $100 sale, but then thrilled with the $250. The average is what I aim for.
I do batch my work so as to not pile up a lot of labor into one project. I just listed an item on ebay …. link .... I batched about 8 projects together on this run of items.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Very informative ebay listing (the one in the link) Dan. I can see why you do well selling on ebay. This would seem to be a good way to get your work some exposure. Do you do any advertising in any arts and crafts related publications?

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Hi Dan,

So is your buy it now price what it would retail for? If so I take it then the wholesale price would be half of your buy it now price correct?? This is a good discussion….

-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT

Hello Wayne
Since trying ebay, I’ve never advertised or sold anywhere else other then comission work from ebay buyers via email etc. For me this is hobby. Maybe 20 hours a week. Can’t get too serious or my real job would suffer.
Will be listing a few more items in the next few days …. etc etc.
Regards
DAN

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Matt
I start out with a retail price as buy it now. I set the reserve a little bit past half way. As bidding and ebay watchers build up, depending on activity, I will lower the reserve. When I lower the rerserve a few bucks, Ebay, notifies the watchers and buyers via email. This sometimes helps with the bidding activity.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

things that if I had the time I’d make and sell on eBay …
tiger maple medicine cabinets, small mission clocks, tile frames, collector cabinets, small curly maple boxes, pet beds, mission lamps with mica shades, tile easels, mission book racks, mission candle holders, pet caskets, pet cages, more to come …....................... link .... to ebay auction

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

I can see this working. I’ve spent, what I’d consider, a fair amount on art prints. One-offs, and reprodutiond – things I know I can’t get locally. There are also painters making a respectable amount auctioning off mini one of a kind original paintings. If we can reach the collector or savvy shopper vs the bargain hunter, there is a great potential to reach an audience we’d otherwise never see at the local town or church craft fair (where people really are looking for a bargain)

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

What I see is a wonderful product. Good luck to you!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Dan this is a very interesting thread.

I have commented on your previous projects, finding them a real artistic delight. It surprises me that ebay works for you given the high-end nature of your work.

I’d like you to go back to the beginning, if you have the time and are so inclined, and outline the whole approach in a step-by-step way. You use a lot of pictures, most very similar, and go to considerable length to “hype’ your work. To quote your advertisement, “No amount of bragging or hype can make a product a “thing of beauty” or an art work.”

So what’s the thinking behind the approach? What have you discovered that makes your approach work?

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/

Great info Dan. You’ve got a good thing going there. That looks like a fairly expensive (for ebay) listing. Do you have many items not reach your minimum?

I’d definitely be interested in hearing more.

You must have a nice stash of tiles around.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Hello Don My thoughts are if I make my auction interesting enough to the looker they may place a bid. I’ve collected a number of quotations from the early 20’s and modified them (on my auction) to fit my approach and ideals.
Hey Bob Every once in a while someone buys one of my pieces with a the buy-it-now price. Hopefully someone starts the bidding and is willing to go-for-it and get the ball rolling. I have many followers and collectors on ebay who are repeat bidders (not necessarily big time buyers) looking to add to their collections. My average sale is around $300. What is listed now are my higher end pieces. The piece that is listed for $1400 .... link.... has a reserve price set at $750. The $475 piece is set with a reserve of $275. The reserves are what I’d get if I sold my work in an art gallery (i.e. 50-50 split wholesale etc) etc. As far as meeting the minimum , most of my work sells the first time around. If the bidding gets close to the reserve, ebay has the option to send a second-chance-offer after the auction closes. Example if the reserve is set at $275, I can offer bidders another chance after the auction ends ($250 etc). I also try make multiples of the same design. If the $1400 auction reaches a good amount or even makes the reserve. I have another one just like it to offer the next lowest bidders. Another one of my techniques is to constantly create new frame designs or alter old ones enough to interest a previous buyer into adding to their collection. I have some smaller pieces to list later this week which I’ll be happy to get $100 for.

Regards
DAN

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Very interesting….do you think it works better with items that are easier to ship as opposed to something like either of these?

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/899
http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/Treefarmer/blog/1366

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Interesting topic. I am looking at ways to expand my business online, and have thought about eBay. I have also thought about setting up my own store site. The eBay route does give the possibility of greater exposure, but there are some costs involved. There are also costs with setting up my own store front as well.

Have you tried your own site Dan, or just elected to go with eBay? I am curious how about the pros and cons of each. It seems there is more work involved with eBay, but is that the case?

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

Bob- Your projects are great !! There are people selling morris chairs on ebay. Around $1500 each plus shipping. Your gates are very sellable too, but obviously made to order. There are a few sellers on ebay who market this sort of items. A mantel maker comes to mind.

What I have discovered is there is a magical cost-value-price-size-postage ratio. The largest item I currently have on ebay is pressing the envelope. The finished crate for the piece will be 39×28x4. I shipped one just like it on the 5th. It cost $30.80 for prority postage to Capcod MA. If the box was a few inches bigger the postage would have jumped to $125 … which no one would want pay. Furniture on ebay is many times shipped by Greyhound, usually around $100. I do not have much experience with large items. I do, however, have experience with one of my buyers in California ordering large custom frames for his tile collection and not liking the postage fees.

I have tried a website, but never really got it going. Couldn’t figure out on how to make it activated. That was about 5 years ago. Running Ebay auctions for me is easy. It usually takes less then an hour to take pictures, crop them and add them to a auction template. I use www.vendio.com (formally www.andale.com) to create my auctions and launch my digital images. It has a $9 monthly fee. Alot cheaper then using ebays picture handler.

Listing fees can add up pretty fast. The combined fees for the 2 autions, I currently have running is $29 (combined). Most of the fees in these two auctions is the reserve price fee. Also the fact that I listed them in multiple catagories, basically doubled the fees. Later tonight I will post another auction. This time with a low starting bid, no reserve and will post a link, also detail more about the fees.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

so much great information here!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

This is a great primer Lee. You’ve got me thinking.

That’s kind of what I was wondering about with the shipping. I’m glad my brother paid for the shipping on the big gate. Each side was $285 on DHL….the Lyptus is very heavy and they were 5’ x 4’ x 6”.

It sounds like you have a good process down. The fees don’t sound too bad provided you are making those sales.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Great thread. You have my interest up!

Great start Dan. Tell us more about eBay. We might all end up there soon. Of course, when the LJ store is created, we will all be there too.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

Hello
Well it’s been a couple days. Still no bids. Not sure why. Could be the season. Could be the pieces, I don’t always bat a thousand. Think I’ll lower the prices and see if it generates a little interest.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Could be we are all watching. Like a trying to get a watch pot to boil.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I’m always nervous about my auctions. Wish I could be more patient. Guess the tension is part of the game. Sort of like poker or the stock market. ... too much fun !!

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

When you lower your price do you lower both the buy it now price as well as the reserve??

-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT

I did this time. Hopefully it will drive some activity.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

I never expect to see much activity until the last day of an auction. Not that I’ve sold very much – books and bags full of baby clothes. It blows my mind that some people won’t bid $5 for $50 worth of stuff, and others will bid over retail (plus shipping) for new electronics that aren’t terribly hard to get in stores.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Hello Scott – I like to see activity on my auctions early on. Guess I get a little nervous. Always do. Especially when everyone is watching.

Todays ebay seller tips :

Do not start selling on ebay with a low rating number. Buyers will shy away. Start on ebay as a buyer and keep the the rating at 100%. Get at least a rating of 20 before you try to sell. Buy little things, flower seeds, used cd’s… pots … pans … or anthing to get the rating number.
Sign-up for www.paypal.com . It takes credit cards, electronic checks and even 90 days same as cash. Many buyers shy away from sellers that do no accept paypal. Yes, paypal is not free to the seller, but many people on ebay are both buyers and sellers and keep a balance in their paypal bank account to spend on ebay ( I do)
Ebays picture handling system is not-the-best. Use another picture handling service such as www.vendio.com
crop the pictures and may sure they are clear enough. Not too big. Not too small. Add as many pictures as needed to sell the item and keep interest.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Add another auction tonight. Trying another selling method. This time the auction has no buy-it-now or reserve. It has my “lucky” low-opening-bid of $14.65. I have sold several of the framed acorn tile before, I change the frame design a bit each time I make them. Ususally to fit the pieces wood I have on hand etc.
Tile is made by www.ravenstonetiles.com. in Seattle, I buy them wholesale for about $8 each.
As said before I’ve listed this framed tile many times in the past. It has sold for as low as $60 (not-too-bad) and as high as $265 (really reaaly good). Last one sold for $100 back in May. ...... link to acorn tile auction...

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

www.ravenstonetiles.com

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Here is hoping you have another $265 sale then!

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

link to a another woodworker who is selling items on ebay …. a little market research …. search music stand and this what i found. looks like he has made several sales since april … woodworker on ebay

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

here is another fella making and selling stands ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, link

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Wow, those are great looking music stands Dan. Glad to see they are able to sell these on eBay.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

So glad to have caught up on this blog post! – what’s the latest Dan?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Hello Dorje – been traveling all week. Went to Hartford with layover in Wash. DC.

My auctions were a little disappointing. Falled to make the reserve on the two higher priced items.
Discussed this with my wife Peggy and she thought the pricing may have scared some bidders away.
Anyways, the items are relisted. The major piece is relisted and has the reserve lowered to $660 … link .. and the grueby green piece is listed with a low starting bid with no reserve. The grueby piece will sell regardless of where it ends up. If it amkes $160, I’ll be happy. It is 8th in a series of nine identical frames I made close to a year ago. First seven have been sold and I will have one left for another time.
Acorn tile, lissted with no reserve is doing well. It tis upto $103 and there is 3 days left. I have two of them, and if will offer the 2nd one to next highest bidder.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Thanks for the update! Best of luck – it sounds like it just takes some patience and flexibility to do this well…Oh, and a good quality pieces, of course!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

... link... small wooden box seller on ebay … I invited him to lumberjocks ...

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

talk about “super curly!” (the linked box!)

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

EBAY sale … my acorn tile sold last night … $163 … very happy about the price. As mentioned in above message, tile was bought for $8 wholesale. Frame has about $10 worth of wood and a few hours labor
(batched with several other frames). Not exactly a grand-slam with 3 runs batted in, but defenately a home-run. I also offered the 2nd highest bidder a 2nd-chance-offer (made 2 exactly alike) . If they take the offer then it is a double. If they do not take the offer, then the offer will be made to the 3rd highest bidder ($150)... This auction was a fun one to watch, but all of the bidding took place in the body of the auction. Nothing happened as far as bidding during the last minutes, hours or even day. Still fun though.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

good work! And thanks for candidly sharing the information about your process with us!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Finally sold some more of my work on ebay. After lowering my reserve to $510 , my major piece sold for $560. Not as much as I hoped for, but still a decent price … link.... New buyer, previous bidder on several of my auctions..
The Grueby tile was even less exciting with a sale of $190 … link. Not disappointing, but still not as much as the same piece has sold in the past. ...link ... Guess selling is slow, but it is cash flow. Three auction total since posting this blog: $915. I posted another piece a couple days ago. It is a framed tile that I have several versions of it in the past. Will post the results when it is sold. I have another couple framed tiles that I will be listingo ebay in the next few days.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Again – thanks for the update! I think $900 of extra cash in 20 days or so is just grand! (or $100 away from it!)

How many hours did you put into your major piece?

Now, are you currently working on any pieces to add to your stockpile? How many pieces do you have on hand?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

It is hard to estimate how many hours in the major piece. Ball park is 15 hours. I batch my work. Made three of the same piece at the same time.

First one sold as comission piece,... just sold the 2nd one on ebay and will list the 3rd on ebay in another week or so. Not overly excited with the $560 price … so will skip the ebay 2nd chance offer option to 2nd lower bidder and list the 3rd one hoping for a better price.

I have other 2 misc pieces complete, waiting to be photographed etc.

In the shop I have 3 pieces with the woodworking complete, waiting for me to glue in the tiles.

I also have dozens of my handmade tiles, waiting for frames etc.

My current project is a castle box based on the piece posted in the project section … link .... I’m making a prototype piece out of curly maple and wenge. Plan is to work-the-bugs-out on the first one and then run a batch of ten in the future. I’m thinking they will make nice gifts to family members and will see if there is a market for them on ebay.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

must see woodworker from austrialia selling his work on ebay … link .... MUST SEE THIS ONE !!!

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Ok, so you can not buy that for kids as the spiders would freak them out. A nice piece, but not worth $1 million dollars to me.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

“Buy it now” for $6 million dollars???!!!

Dan – do you think this will sell??? Are you going to “watch” it?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

I don’t think it will sell at that price, but for him, I hope it does.
It is a masterwork.
This ebay seller has listed other items on ebay in the past. Not sure if he ever sold anything, but if Bill Gates was to look at it he might say why not and go-for-it.
Any one know Bill Gates email address ? I’ll send him a heads up. >grin<,,,

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

searched for his website on yahoo and found it … spectacular work !!! ... link ...

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

I love this spider piece… amazing!!
If I had big bucks to spend on art… I’d be interested.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Great thread. Lotta information. I made a pet casket last year and now use it to collect dust. All of a sudden I want to make more of them and see if they sell. (mental note… call friend to set up pay-pal and ebay accounts.)

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

link to this weeks ebay auction … I made four of these frames in a batch run

clearing s/n 60

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

I’ve never had luck selling my pens on Ebay. But If anyone needs help selling their woodworking with an on-line website – I have plenty of experience doing that, and will be more than happy to offer some guidance. I started my website – www.cajunpen.com – almost 10 years ago to sell off some of the pens I was turning. My timing was right and I was offered the opportunity to become an authorized distributor for many of the major pen manufacturers.

This all started as a way for me to supplement my Police salary, so I wouldn’t have to work off duty details to make extra money. It has developed into a second FULL time job, I ship orders all all over the world.

Operating a successful web site is very rewarding – but it’s hard work. A lot of my friends think that I simply check my email every day and ship the orders. That is somewhat true – but before I check the email and ship the order, there is a lot of work in between. I designed and maintain my web site all by myself (I think it looks like it too :-)). Anyway, before I babble on – let me know if there is any interest in setting up an on line presence and I’ll try to post a blog outlining what I’ve learned.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

Bill

I think a blog on making a website would be very helpful … not just to me, but alot of folks. Years ago I made a little website, got a domain anme and everything, but could never get everything worked out. Bet if I had help or someother resources it would be still going.

I looked at your website and you do really nice work.

Regards
DAN

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

One auction ends this evening.

Think this one willbe fun to watch … the last few minutes or seconds

.... link....

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

fun for me to watch anyway !!

last 10 minutes was a mini bidding war

two repeat buyers took it back and forth from 155 to 272 and it sat for about 5 minutes with no bids

in the last 5 seconds it was bid up to 280 and sold to a new first time buyer.

not too bad … for me

The qtr sawn oak board cost me $46 … I made 4 frames from it and have a half a board left >grin<

clay cost $12 and I made 25 tiles from it.

dye, stain, shellac, wax and labor …. priceless

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Well done. I belive it was $164 when I checked earlier.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

and the first time buyer was just sitting back and watching until the last second… cool

Congrats

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Hi Dan,
You have inspired me to get busy and give eBay another chance. I have sold very little on eBay in the past and had lost faith in the shoppers there.( wanting to spend nothing for something) Now I see I was going about it all wrong and am grateful for you sharing your knowledge and experience where so many others wouldn’t dream of sharing- afraid someone else might prosper or better themselves. The more I read in this forum the more I see there are some normal, decent people out there. You all may think I’m crazy but I’ve used forums to try to learn about a lot of things and have never seen a group of people as nice and eager to help others as here.

-- Kirk H. -- http://www.kjwoodworking.com

Hello kj
Glad I inspired you to give ebay another chance. Stick with it.
I know of several starving artists who create beautiful work and price it so high that it hangs on the wall unsold for years and years.

My approach is to move the product, keep making more and shoot for a good average. Granted, it is just a hobby, but cash flow is cash flow. Sometimes you snag a big payback, other times not so much.
Regards
DAN

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Tiles for this piece were inspired by Birger Sandzen. Google Birger Sandzen to see more of his work,
Sold this one on ebay today… reasonable price. Probably have a total of 10 or 15 hours of labor in this piece.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

link to latest auction... i mentioned this piece in one of my other blogs.. started as a sketchup model etc

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

Well done listing. It show your work very well.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I buy and sell some on E-Bay. Maybe you’ve inspired me to give it a try with some samll items when I have time.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Hello Dan, can you tell me how to post pictures under description so I can save picture fees and list lots of pictures?
If you have some time, look at my auctions, your help certainly would be appreciated.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZbluestingraywood

link to my latest ebay auction. My wife an I made about twenty of these in a weekend about ten years ago. The inside lattice work is more recent … last month or so. Have three of them to sell.

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

tough selling season on ebay this year.

sold all most everything I listed, but the prices are way-way-way down compared to previous seasons.

still …. can’t enjoy the ride, if you don’t buy the ticket.

will keep plugging away

-- ..... art for lifes sake ... danwalters@lumberjocks.com

I am glad you bumped this Dan, or I probably wouldn’t have seen it. I’ve done a little selling on e-bay, but nothing major. I am going to make a resolution to reduce my inventory this coming year. E-bay is probably just the ticket. Dare I ask about taxes?

-- Maplewood, MN