Obstacles

Over the past few months, I had scanned and photograph my creations.  I had scarves, needlework and jewelry the images of which had been sent around for feedback.  The feedback came back very positive, people liked what I made, so I felt ready to sell.  I really just wasn't sure how to sell.  A couple of friends with marketing experience came to me with questions:

• who's your market?
• what are you charging?
• how will you sell?

I had no answers to these questions, but I figured those answers would work themselves out.  In my energy and fervor I decided that I was going to be selling my wares for the holiday season.  It seemed like it was now or never; in fact it seemed immediate.

I searched the Internet for upcoming holiday sales and found that in order to apply, I needed a website (which I didn't have).  Some more investigation also revealed that the ones accepting applications at the time were more expensive than I planned.  Then a slew of questions entered my head:

• do I need to buy a table?
• what kind of payment do I accept?
• do I need a credit card machine?
• how much would I need to sell to make my money back?
• what was I selling?

I had none of these answers.  Deadlines were imminent. Suddenly, the world of craft fairs seemed way too daunting.  Reversing my original plans, I decided to start with a web site, which could also be used if I decided to revisit the craft fairs.

Armed with my images I decided to sell online through the Etsy storefront.  Etsy is "an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade."  I didn't know much about it or how it worked, but thought it was the ideal place for my designs.  I had purchased from others on it and my friend Abby also used it to sell her rings, so it seemed like the easiest place to start. I've worked in the internet for nearly 10 years now, so creating a templated web page wasn't going to be a problem. After creating my account and starting my storefront, I immediately ran into problems.

• the images I had not only were too large, but most were the wrong size. 
• the name I used for purchasing was the default on my storefront, was inappropriate for my business and couldn't be changed. 
• I had no idea how to describe my products or what to charge for them.  

Exploring the site didn't help.  Because it's a wide community featuring everyone from professional artisans to home-makers there are no pricing standards.  Product photography ranges from obviously professional to snap-shot.  In fact, nothing was standardized and I had no idea where I fit in the mix.

Probably through divine intervention, my Internet connection completely dropped while I was working. I felt the crush for the holiday, I had the products, but suddenly I felt way behind the mark.  Never mind I had just started, I suddenly felt light-years behind.  My photos were no good, my storefront had almost nothing.  Now I couldn't even access the Internet. It had been an afternoon wasted.