[sunshine0]

She enjoyed Strauss, KFC and Brazil Espresso, I know, she was like a busy bee in an office building in a decent grey dress suite. That was the case before she met me and all this has vanished since she fell in love with me.
Let me date back to 1997. I started my socalled business and she followed me without any reservation. That summer came very early and the flowers made a red city. We lived in a small suburb house, which was an illegal construction, with wind blowing through four sides into the house. That made our temporary home.

Just for saving money, we walked to our downtown store in the mooring, ate very simple lunch just worth 1.5 Yuan for each, and walked back home in the evening, thus we felt totally exhausted every day. We seemed to live through one whole year in such situation. (world of warcraft gold)

　We tasted hardships and sorrows in those days.At that time, the business was my totem, while the love was her belief. These were all on which we could rely to go ahead.

One day, we walked home very late. She sat at the bed edge and washed her feet. I went to the landlord for boiled water to make instant noodles. When I came back with a thermos bottle, I found that she had fallen into a sound sleep. She kept a pose of being totally exhausted with her feet dunked in the basin. One of her arms was under her body, thus a light snore could be heard. I tiptoed to the bed with the intention of flipping her over to make her more comfortable. I gazed at her face, a young and pretty one which was filled with tiredness. On this pretty face, I found a mosquito.

That summer, the city was like a huge steamer box. We put off the time of buying a mosquito net one day after another just for saving money. I knew mosquitoes flew everywhere in our room, but it seemed nothing to me. So exhausted when lying on the bed, I doubted whether I would wake up even if someone cut a piece off my body, let alone mosquitoes bit me. (cheap wow gold)

　The mosquito lay on her forehead and sucked her blood greedily. She was sleeping like a baby and feeling nothing at all. Perhaps she was dreaming of our business turning better. There came a sudden throb in my heart. I reached my hands and waved, but the mosquito cared nothing about my threat. With the intention of patting it to death, I raised my hand high, but could not bear to pat down. I was afraid of waking her up -- because she was so worn out.

Between her and me, a puny mosquito was harming her at the moment. I stood there woodenly with my hand in the air. I fell into conflict and worry. Suddenly, I began to detest myself deeply. On that summer night, I stood there with an extremely guilty feeling for her and our love. After the mosquito flew away, I forgave it, but I could not forgive myself.(buy wow gold)

　When I passed by a peddler‘s stall one day, I found a pink mosquito net priced at 16 Yuan. Many things could be done with the money at that time. Then I stayed up the whole night, waving a hardboard to keep mosquitoes from approaching her just like a guard. I acted as her temporary mosquito net. After a while, she woke up and gazed at me. Ten minutes later, tears flooded her face.

T　he next day a pink mosquito net hung in my room. We just kept silent when hanging it on our bed. I gave it to her as a gift, but I did not tell her my intention. I felt it was like a full-blown rose which could be regarded as my compensation for the love. But I thought that nothing could really make it up. That day was also her birthday. (World of warcraft gold)

Still later, there was a period of time, I got or we got 160,000 Yuan. We bought a lot of things, but we never bought a mosquito net. We did not need mosquito net any more, because no mosquito could fly into our well-decorated room. However, I always feel that all my money and belongings are far less valuable than the 16-yuan mosquito net to her or to our love.

That summer was gone. We could do nothing but love each other.

[girl_logic]

Well I'm sorry this thread doesn't see any action. I finally opened my shop it is here - any critical first impressions? If anyone is here...

[vixen_within]

Crickets
Does anyone here buy or sell on http://www.mintd.com? Someone pointed me to the site today as the alternative to etsy..

[vixen_within]

Just sharing an interesting link Jewelry Pricing Formula

I'm also wondering if anyone sells on RubyLane?

[vixen_within]

I think that selling on places like etsy and ebay is really effective when you can direct customers (and peepers) to your website and offer specials or discounts related to that.

When you ship stuff out, including a coupon, catalogue or something to keep their attention, doesn't reach everyone, but reaches some. Once people have pointed and clicked and bought we tend to forget about the existence of the seller & the other nice stuff they might be offering. (this is from my ebay experience not etsy)

[starpiste]

We sell on etsy. It's not lucrative and we average about a sale a week after 3 months of really working at it. Your stuff gets lost but if you learn to tag your items properly, promote yourself well, and renew/add items at least every few days, you can overcome that. It helps if your product is unique, but also uses words people will search for.

Surprisingly, all but our first two sales were from people randomly searching etsy and finding us. We also get a lot of custom requests.

It is a lot of work, but it's more like a few minutes of work every day, rather than an hour every few weeks.

[Divala]

Hi, peeps!

I've got a crafty business, too, but it's pretty small and it's not my primary income. I sell at craft fairs during the holidays and whenever I can get into a cheap one, plus word of mouth. I make jewelry, decoupaged cigar box handbags and picture frames, polymer coated wine/martini glasses, and truffles for the holidays. The truffles make me the most money, which is weird because I only make them seasonally and somewhat illegally (I'm not licensed for food products).

I'm thinking of putting some stuff on Etsy. I've been researching it for awhile, and I was wondering how people actually do with selling this way, since there's such a huge amount of stuff to be had, and it'd be really easy for your items to get lost, or at least that's how it looks to me.

For those on Etsy, do you mainly get sales from people you direct there specifically for your stuff, or just random buyers?

[vixen_within]

Oh okay makes sense.
Hm I'm not sure where in the magazine the showcase is featured. I asked about both it and the craftacular because reminders for both of them came in the same newsletter. I know someone who raves about it, but I've never been.

[starpiste]

B&M is for bricks and mortar. A real life store, as opposed to an online one.

oh, and isn't that add space in the back of bust?

[vixen_within]

Anyone get this in the mail? http://www.bust.com/Info/BUST-Product-Show...Order-Form.html
Does anyone visit or participate in the Craftacular? I'm never in NYC when it happens.

I've heard a lot of people mention them, but I still have to ask, what is a B&M shop?

[bustygirl]

Consignment is iffy for me. I prefer to do wholesale, so I don't have to worry about followup. I would say as far as pricing goes, find out what the consignment fee is (in smaller cities it can be as low as 30%, but in larger ones it's usually 50/50) and add it to your bottom line price (this is the amount you absolutely must get in order to make your ends meet). For instance, if you have to get $5 off an item to make back your supply fees and pay yourself for your time, you would have to sell an item for $10 to make your money back on a 50/50 deal.

When I've done consignment was usually mine to eat on the way down, and theirs on the way back, but every store is different. Ask for a consignment contract, and read it carefully before you send anything. Also, check out the store as much as you can online first.

As for my biz, it's my only job, and it's a big one. I started out full time with a second job, and I changed to having no other source of income three years ago. I have a regular website, http://www.beqiclothing.com, and a satellite etsy store, http://beqi.etsy.com. I also sell at local and regional indie DIY-type craft fairs.

I work all the time, but I love my job.

[starpiste]

so if we're going to make this thread about crafty biz, where does your business sit? Is it your sole source of income? a profiting hobby? going from one to another?

For us, it's about making a hobby fund itself. I know long term I have a crafty biz idea, but it's totally different than what I'm doing now, and I don't know if I'll actually do it.

One opportunity that's come to us is the chance to consign to a B&M shop. The concern for me is that it's not in our town. We're not sure how we'd do shipping, deal with unsold items, and even how we'd price our items (ie. should they match our online prices?) Anyone have experience with this?

[Queen Bull]

youre welcome.

and ty vixen, ill pass on the sentiment.

[deschatsrouge]

delurks - my friend does. shes just started making resin jewelry. its kinda limited, but she has some really cute stuff, imho, heres the link.

I have an etsy store (maked.etsy.com) but I'm part of a trio of women who makes that stuff. We'll be adding more rings later this week.

I bookmarked both. Thanks.

[vixen_within]

There's something almost edible about your friend's jewelry queenbull.
I like this ring a lot, starpiste http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12108925
The romance novel notebooks are priceless too.

[Queen Bull]

OH star! i loove that your store. i will def be making some yuletide purchases.
and ty, im sure shell be pleased.

[starpiste]

I have an etsy store (maked.etsy.com) but I'm part of a trio of women who makes that stuff. We'll be adding more rings later this week.

Also, last year etsy started a "buy handmade" campaign that was not linked by name to etsy. It was cool and there was basically a online petition you signed, and then there was images to link to it from your blog or website.

I did 50% handmade last year. I'd like to do 100% this year. But I prefer to do the handmaking really. It's problematic with the business though. We do four to five fairs over the winter season so most of my craft energy goes though. I'll definitely have to buy more handmade this year to do 100%.

(Edited to add: QB, that stuff is really nice. I added her to my favs!)

[Queen Bull]

I'm making an attempt to buy only handmade this Christmas. I would also like to support crafty Busties. Does any one have an etsy store?

delurks - my friend does. shes just started making resin jewelry. its kinda limited, but she has some really cute stuff, imho, heres the link.

[deschatsrouge]

I'm making an attempt to buy only handmade this Christmas. I would also like to support crafty Busties. Does any one have an etsy store?

[hellotampon]

busty, i know you're oldschool, and you have a good sense of what threads will probably work, but i'd feel like a hypocrite if i chide some newbee for starting a thread without getting a vote from the community forum if i didn't chide you too.

i'm not trying to be a snot or some self appointed mod, but fair is fair. do go to the community first next time please.

**********
that said i'm preping to sell some one of a kind metal boxes on etsy and i wanted your opinion on etsy and other similar sites.

i'll post some pix of them lately but i find old metal boxes thrifting, sandblast patterns on them then hand paint them.

For real. I have seen her bitch at people for making threads without asking.