This past week has been particularly difficult because we have no internet service at our house! We are in the process of switching from what was essentially dial-up to actual broadband, and switching internet service providers as well. It's been about a week without internet service so far, and the new service won't be installed until Friday. We have had sales, but haven't listed anything new since we dropped our old, slow service. We could have set our store to Vacation Mode during this internet-less gap, but we opted to keep it open. (The slowness of the summer has left us hungry for any sales we can get.)
During this time, our days have started with getting kids to school, then parking outside of fast food restaurants to hop on their free WiFi. Once we answer any messages, and see what sold in the night, we go home to pack and weigh. Then, I drive to the public library to pay for shipping labels and save them on my computer. After that, I go back home to print and attach the labels. Only after all of that running around can we then drive packages to the post office.
I realize that it would be entirely possible to continue listing during this period. We could write listings and take photos at home, then do the rest of the listing at the library. However, it just seems too frustrating to me. When listing, I like to be able to have an item right in front of me just in case I need to reference it once more. Tonight, we are going to try listing some stuff from my brother-in-law's house.
While the lack of internet service at home this week has been entirely frustrating, we're still getting most of our eBay work done. I can not wait for Friday to come so we can get back to business as usual!
The best part of this past week is that we have now sold a total of three handmade aprons! Two have sold on Etsy, and one has sold on eBay.
Well, back to work!
-Ashley
A blog by a husband and wife team about selling online, designing handmade clothing and customizing action figures.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Selling Handmade - Update
I designed and constructed this apron, and Roderick hand painted the front "control panel" pocket.
I can't wait to get started on some more of these aprons. With Halloween approaching, I'd better get busy!
- Ashley
Friday, September 5, 2014
Stop Buying Boxes!
If you are buying boxes for your eBay store, you might as well be throwing money into a paper shredder.
When we first started our eBay store, we purchased cases of boxes from a shipping supplier. We liked having fresh, clean looking boxes, and we (almost) always had the right size box for the kinds of items we were selling. But, as our business grew, we started spending more and more money on boxes.
At first, we started asking family members and friends to set aside boxes for us, but we were always in need of more boxes. As it turned out, our solution was right in front of us the whole time.
Every day, grocery stores and other retailers open boxes of new stock, then recycle or throw away the boxes their stock was shipped in. Any day of the week, we can walk into my local grocer and walk out with as many boxes as we can carry. All you have to do is ask! The employee stocking shelves is usually happy to get rid of the extra boxes- one less task for them to do.
You can turn the boxes inside out so they have plain brown exteriors and arrive to your buyer looking professional.
We've also had great luck asking for bubble wrap, packing peanuts, and boxes on Craigslist, Freecycle and Facebook. We very rarely have to buy bubble wrap or packing peanuts because of the generosity of our community.
While it is great that getting free shipping supplies saves us money, it's even more gratifying that we are keeping these boxes, peanuts and bubble wrap out of landfills. Recycled paper products are great, but it's even greater when these things can be reused first!
The other fantastic source of free boxes is, of course, free Priority Mail boxes from the USPS! You can have free boxes delivered to your house for free with a few clicks on USPS.com. You can even get eBay branded Priority Mail boxes at ebaysupplies.usps.com/usps
When we first started out on eBay, we were aware that there were free boxes available from the USPS. We didn't fully understand how regional rate and flat rate boxes worked, so we didn't order any of the free boxes. What a newbie mistake that was! Now, we make sure we are stocked up on Priority Mail boxes.
How do you get your shipping supplies for eBay? What works for you? Let us know in the comments below!
When we first started our eBay store, we purchased cases of boxes from a shipping supplier. We liked having fresh, clean looking boxes, and we (almost) always had the right size box for the kinds of items we were selling. But, as our business grew, we started spending more and more money on boxes.
At first, we started asking family members and friends to set aside boxes for us, but we were always in need of more boxes. As it turned out, our solution was right in front of us the whole time.
Every day, grocery stores and other retailers open boxes of new stock, then recycle or throw away the boxes their stock was shipped in. Any day of the week, we can walk into my local grocer and walk out with as many boxes as we can carry. All you have to do is ask! The employee stocking shelves is usually happy to get rid of the extra boxes- one less task for them to do.
You can turn the boxes inside out so they have plain brown exteriors and arrive to your buyer looking professional.
We've also had great luck asking for bubble wrap, packing peanuts, and boxes on Craigslist, Freecycle and Facebook. We very rarely have to buy bubble wrap or packing peanuts because of the generosity of our community.
While it is great that getting free shipping supplies saves us money, it's even more gratifying that we are keeping these boxes, peanuts and bubble wrap out of landfills. Recycled paper products are great, but it's even greater when these things can be reused first!
The other fantastic source of free boxes is, of course, free Priority Mail boxes from the USPS! You can have free boxes delivered to your house for free with a few clicks on USPS.com. You can even get eBay branded Priority Mail boxes at ebaysupplies.usps.com/usps
When we first started out on eBay, we were aware that there were free boxes available from the USPS. We didn't fully understand how regional rate and flat rate boxes worked, so we didn't order any of the free boxes. What a newbie mistake that was! Now, we make sure we are stocked up on Priority Mail boxes.
How do you get your shipping supplies for eBay? What works for you? Let us know in the comments below!
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