Places to Sell

[Jillian Moore]

I was wondering what everyone thought of Object Fetish as an alternative to Etsy. I haven't heard much about them, but it sounded like a reasonable means of selling higher end work. I've only just started an Etsy site, mostly out of desperation and not optimism. I've heard that work over $50 tends not to sell there. This would lead me to think Object Fetish is an option for the art jewelry community. I just wondered if anyone has worked with them at all.

I'm searching out options for sales anywhere and everywhere at this point. I'll probably be picking up a second day job very soon to make life more practical. I'm sure a lot of you are struggling through this. This could become a "starving artist" digression...

[qwallis]

I think Object Fetish looks like a better bet for your work.
I imagine that they operate much more like a conventional "bricks & mortar" gallery but on-line only.

The masses always rave about Etsy and there IS some interesting work being sold on it, but I have personally always looked at it rather as a handmade-only Ebay and I think this is born out buy the expectations of the average buyer too.

What I think you should consider is selling direct with prices similar to what you expect your work would sell for in a reputable gallery. There are may ways to do this easily: accepting payment through something like Paypal or Google checkout is easy for the buyer and you.

What I would try to do though is make sure that the prices of your work are reasonably flat across all venues.

[Jillian Moore]

I agree that etsy has become a "glorified ebay" in a lot of ways. People browse for hours, but there's no guarantee that the right people will find your work. I was thinking it works better for me as a storefront I can link to my site and the onus of spreading the word is all mine. I can see the purpose in selling direct, but it's so handy to have all the necessary web store things set up already. I've had a few people approach me about buying things through facebook/flickr/e-mail but it's hard to pin them down. Sometimes it puts pressure on myself and the seller. With the etsy thing, they can go browse and it cuts that pressure out. We can still exchange messages, but it changes the tone somehow.

I do think I'll get the higher end things, and by that I mean anything over $75, to Object Fetish. I just don't have enough available right now. I was told they need a dozen pieces set aside to start working with them, and with my show coming up I just don't have that many free.

I would love to find more real galleries, specializing in art jewelry, that would want to carry my work. This just isn't the best time. I've considered just flat out e-mailing a few places just to see what happens.

[Lois]

Thanks Jillian for bringing Object Fetish to our attention. I have sent in my request to sell through their site.

I am considering Etsy. Quite a few European contemporary jewelers use Etsy to reach the English speaking market.

[Lois]

So let me ask about another group. Has anybody worked with Art Jewelry On Line?

[Jillian Moore]

Lois--

I haven't heard of Art Jewelry On Line--can you tell me more about them?

Incidentally, I sent in some things to Object Fetish today in the hope that they might want some things. So this helped wind me up to do it. I'm glad it helped you do the same!

And right after that, I sold one of my more elaborate pieces on Etsy that I thought would never sell! It may just be a matter of getting visibility outside of the usual Etsy crowd, not sure!

[Lois]

Art Jewelry Online is an online gallery. They have a site where they sell the jewelry and will also use other venues to present the work of the artists that they represent. They have a store on Etsy where they will feature an artist. I contacted them through their site www.artjewelryonline.com and they asked me to send photos which were juried and then they sent me a contract to sign.

If you check them out please let me know what you think.

[jon m ryan]

I submitted my info to Object Fetish several months ago, but never heard back. I take it they didn't like my work.

I am on Etsy with a different business name selling my more mainstream work and older cast pieces I have made from rubber molds. I have been on Etsy actively for about 6 months, but I don't do anything to promote my shop. Up till last month I had only sold 4 small pieces, but I just finished a custom order for about $1000, so apparently there are some people on etsy who will spend money.

I have been thinking about putting my "real" work on Etsy for a long time, but it's too much like a flea market, and I wouldn't sell my work at a flea market in real life. I would like to have it somewhere online where I could send people who ask about my work and they could see my prices and buy or not buy.

[qwallis]

.... I was thinking it (Etsy) works better for me as a storefront I can link to my site and the onus of spreading the word is all mine.

Do you mean storefront as in "embedding" your shop in your site? I think that would be a better way to use the Etsy infrastructure. Though I still think that a Paypal or Google checkout "buy" button is about as uncomplicated as one can get with taking money from a customer.

.... Sometimes it puts pressure on myself and the seller. With the etsy thing, they can go browse and it cuts that pressure out. We can still exchange messages, but it changes the tone somehow.

I can see how this makes selling less painful.

.... I would love to find more real galleries, specializing in art jewelry, that would want to carry my work. This just isn't the best time. I've considered just flat out e-mailing a few places just to see what happens.

I am hoping that once the project takes off that there will be opportunities for makers to at least start a relationship with galleries here: maybe in a separate forum within the member forums.
I do have the feeling that once galleries join and understand that they have some control over who joins as a "site member", that will make interesting connection making possible within the safe haven of the "site member forums".

Art Jewelry Online is an online gallery. They have a site where they sell the jewelry and will also use other venues to present the work of the artists that they represent. They have a store on Etsy where they will feature an artist. I contacted them through their site http://www.artjewelryonline.com and they asked me to send photos which were juried and then they sent me a contract to sign. ...

This is a personal opinion from a very uninformed perspective. But...
It is obviously run by someone who has a passion for the subject and may have established customer connections, but for me it doesn't come across as very professional. The site is built with Yahoo shops, that they sell other people's stuff through Etsy strikes me as odd.
If their "contract" tries to apply any exclusivity on designs I wouldn't be happy about that.

... I would like to have it somewhere online where I could send people who ask about my work and they could see my prices and buy or not buy.

Why don't you look at what I suggested to Jillian?
Namely letting the customer click a "buy" button on your site.
The secret is only good images, good text, a purchasing system that the customer trusts (preferably a familiar one), and... ...the secret sauce... traffic (page views).

Helping it's members increase their traffic is what the HCJ Project is about!

[Lois]

I will set up an Etsy shop. And I could go back and quote Wallis when he says it is like a candle and like a black hole. Because it is. In fact I am starting a blog with the title "Etsy here I come" and have discovered that this exact phrase has been used by a zillion people. etsyhereicome.blogspot.com I will try to give statistics tomorrow.

If one goes on Etsy and asks for products that cost more than $200.00 (most of the products sold on Etsy cost $15.00 or less including shipping) one can see a select offering of frequently extraordinary jewelry pieces. The only thing that I can imagine is that the general public that is looking for jewelry goes to Etsy and that a certain percentile looks for handmade, artistic jewelry.

I live in Italy and what I see from here is that many European contemporary jewelers use Etsy to reach the English speaking world.