Places to Sell

[Lois]

You put in the last post so I am talking to Quallis.

How much did you pay for your web site that has selling capabilities - that is PayPal and creditcards through the bank. I will be fairly honest. I paid XXXX Euro for the site and for the optimazation of the site and I am still selling more objects through personal clients and local stores. And, yes, I have registered my site with various directories.

[Jillian Moore]

Rob--

I think it would be more along the lines of providing a link. Your pinkie finger is probably more adept at web site building then me.

My site is run entirely by my very busy boyfriend who is back to being a full time student now that I'm finished. We try and come up with simple solutions for my site so that neither of us gets our nose out of joint. When he finally has time to post the link, I can manage everything through etsy on my own. I realize there are other options for storefronts, as you've mentioned. I just thought I might be able to double-up on possible viewers by using a larger forum. Also, it was something I could start on my own whether or not he had time to update my site this week.

I'm sure for people who are able to update on their own whenever, it would be much simpler to have built a store directly into the site. I've found, given my sliding scale of procrastination and manic activity, that doing something at the "right time" can sometimes be better than doing it the "right way."

And Lois-- Keep us posted on what happens!

[qwallis]

How much did you pay for your web site that has selling capabilities - that is PayPal and creditcards through the bank.

As a general rule I don't part with money on-line.

That may sound cocky, but it is partly because I have very shallow pockets, partly because I am thrifty by nature, and partly because I am interested in technology and prepared to invest the time to learn how to do-it-myself.
This "investment" time wise has been considerable, and has obviously cost me allot in terms of lost earnings.

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[One of the reasons] I started the HCJ project was that I wasn't prepared to pay the €135 to become a member of Klimt02, so I spent most of last year building the foundation for this site, where if people are prepared to spend the time, they can add themselves free.
For others (assisted members), the small charge is just to cover my time for adding their content to the main site over the course of a year, which I think is fair.

[Another reason] Was that I felt it could be done better, with an emphasis on pushing submitted content out across the web which K02 doesn't do, they have a "newsletter" but don't even have an RSS feed (we currently have eight). I wanted more democracy too! Link leads to the member only site policy / voting forum, where (hopefully soon) members will start deciding who can join the HCJ Project. Ultimately "who represents" Handmade Contemporary Jewellery.
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Your website is a very professional example, but I do think that there is a barrier for people to overcome if they have to register at a site in order to buy once. People will do this for large "known brand" site, or where they anticipate repeat purchases, but I think small artist sites have a problem (hence the Etsy pull).
Do you have any idea as to how many people visit it? Where they come from, how long they stay etc. If you don't have access to any figures you should check out Google analytics.

I don't know what the current rate is for web development: you may have paid too much.
The problem is that people do not understand how the web works and are often promised too much in terms of traffic.

p.s. I XXXed out the sum you wrote in the previous post. I didn't know if you were aware that this topic is publicly readable, and thought that you may not want people (who might not have a clue) deciding you have paid too little or too much.

[qwallis]

... I think it would be more along the lines of providing a link. Your pinkie finger is probably more adept at web site building then me.

I think this is what I meant...

There are, I'm sure, ways of pulling your items to yours site using an API but an Etsy mini is something you wouldn't have a problem with.
[ If you insist on going Etsy ]

p.s. added a video tutorial for Etsy mini to the friend comment wall. (as "Unknown" though )

[marcusmarguillier]

A while ago I became member of " GlimpseOnline.com "
I did not yet submit items to sell, but I will soon. So at the moment I do not know if there is gonna be any response ...

Never the less, it might be interesting for other members.
If anyone has any experience with them, please let me know.

[2Roses]

Here's a tip from marketing 101: He who has the most points of distribution wins.
You wanna sell your work? Get it on Etsy, get it on Art Jewelry too, and on Indie Public and and Trunkt, and frankly, any other site that will take it. The old models of getting in the "right" gallery are dying fast. In fact, galleries are dying fast. Setting sail on a sinking boat makes for a short journey.

As for Etsy pricing, we just sold a $600 necklace on Etsy, and we know a fair number of artists who routinely sell in the $200-$300 range.

[marcusmarguillier]

From experience, I must say that I do sell every once in a while (almost not worth mentioning) on these sites, but only my more traditional/commercial stuff, and always the lowest priced items...
It is sad to say, but I am convinced that selling contemporary-art-jewellery at an acceptable price (for us the artists) needs more prestigeous places than Etsy or Indie. Unfortunately the added value by selling trough renowned galleries seems to be crucial in order to get the customer to pay the higher price of the crafted (time consuming) works.
But even established contemporary online-galleries like "Objectfetish" (http://www.objectfetish.com) do not always bring the success one hopes for. At least not for me.
So I'm getting more and more convinced that we are dependent of the traditional art-galleries, not the virtual ones, if we want to get our contemporary work sold. And, at least for me, it is not simple or easy to get their attention not to mention an exposition.
So for me the question of "where to sell?" = "how to find a gallery that will take my work?"
The only alternative, in my eyes, is to have your own workshop/shop in a somewhat bigger town or place. Where the customer has a direct contact with the artist and his workshop.
This unfortunately is not the case for me, so I am open to all suggestions.

[qwallis]

One "idea" I have, which could happen in the future is that the HCJ Project could hold (say biannual) "virtual exhibitions" from artist members.
They would be held on a theme and "curated" by a designated person (voted for etc).

I also hope that (long term) when we have more real-world gallery members that an anual HCJ Project "touring exhibition" could be established.

I think the idea would be appealing to galleries because it would NOT require a great deal of organisation from them (just holding an allocated time-slot open).

[marcusmarguillier]

Sure.
I look forward to that!
Kind regards,
Marcus

[2Roses]

Why Wait? The idea of a touring show is a great idea. This could be packaged for brick n' mortar or virtual (just to get the ball rolling). We see a rapidly growing trend towards virtual exhibitions for the obvious financial reasons.

Artists have always waited for a gallery or institution to initiate these kinds of things. Why? We can organize ourselves and present them with a complete packaged event. Why not?

We'll step up and help with organizing. Who else wants to play?