Online Seller Experience, Small Business Success Stories
…I ship my products internationally and I use free shipping. Before the pandemic, it was faster but now I have some problems with the delivery time. In fact it is all the same for everybody but approximately in 15 days the delivery is finished. I mostly use boxes for the products in my shop.
… The only fear I had was that nothing would sell, and in the beginning, it didn’t for a while, but it’s like that saying nothing ventured nothing gained, I had to take the plunge and just dive in because it was the only way to know for sure. I admit I didn’t know how to price things, I tend to underprice things but that was mainly due to a lack of confidence. Once I started making sales I began to see where I had underpriced things.
…We have a selection of bohemian style jewelry in our store. Each piece has a unique story and tradition behind it whether it be a pair of handwoven metal earrings with natural pearls or a copper piece of jewelry with floral carvings on it.
…I sell handmade craft items and handmade clothing across two stores. I try to support other small businesses when sourcing the materials. I take inspiration from Pinterest and social media for new ideas. I design a new product and usually make a few practice pieces before I am happy with my creation before it is listed in my shop.
… As far as I am concerned I would say that success comes from your after-sale service, your disponibility to reply to customers and listen to their needs.
the only negative effect I met was the fact that during holidays I did not close my shop for financial reasons and customers did not see my message that I was away which had a bad impact.
…I sell fabrics and yarns, especially for crochet. I love sewing quilts and crocheting baby blankets. I absolutely love the Catania yarn that I am selling and I use it for my projects too. I don´t have much time nowadays to make things for sale, so I usually just create for my family and friends. I love, however, to sell these products that I know are good quality and are hard to find in the US.
… I sell only handmade leather products. I always choose the best quality leathers in the market. When you sell something really worth the money that the customer paid for it, you see the result at the end. Customers always appreciate good quality workmanship and excellent customer service.
… Selling fees and advertising are our biggest expense. While we buy our supplies in bulk to save money this requires the use of several different companies to get the job done. When pricing products we look at all the costs involved and the amount of time it takes to make it to decide on a fair price.
… I’ve always loved using reclaimed waste. “Design2Resource” literally means designing things TO the given resource, which is salvaged, found, thrifted, surplus, or otherwise readily available. Never “junky”, mishmash or slapped together. Conscious design, yes, but also design-conscious.
… Our manufacturing process consists of a small amount of finished inventory, a fairly large amount of raw material along with offering custom made pieces which is a little more challenging on Etsy. On Etsy, we generally only post our existing inventory of finished pieces with descriptions of custom made pieces being available to prospective clients.
We have three workshops we work with to manufacture our products. We contract them to provide the labor and finishing side of our pieces and we provide the designs and raw material. All of the manufacturing is overseen by myself personally.