Copabananas

My Alter Ego

I changed up my banners to reflect my alter ego, Montclair Made. I used the Montclair logo I made last year. I changed the Etsy shop, 1000Markets shop, and the Big Cartel Shop. Change is good.

I Have An Angel

One day recently, out of the blue, I received an email from a fellow Etsyian, Chakra Pennywhistle. She had seen my Etsy listing for the zipper pouches I made from a Massachusetts tea towel and repurposed denim jeans. She makes Custom Circle the Date Patches using the calendar part of vintage tea towels. She asked me if I would like to have some of the cut towels she has leftover from making the patches. Wow! She was so generous and sent me an overstuffed box of wonderful patterns and designs. I started right in on making zipper pouches with the beautiful vintage tea towels. I can't thank her enough, she's an angel for offering them to me.

 

 

Earth Day Celebration

Yesterday at the Essex County Environmental Center the weather was picture perfect and the turnout was great. My plarn totes got a lot of attention and 2 sock bunnies found new homes. My sales were mostly to old customers and other craftspeople and I appreciate their support. It was really nice to be outside on such a perfect day and Abby had fun in the afternoon exploring with Jen's daughter (Jen from GoLightly). All the pictures are here.

 

Earth Day Celebration at Essex County Environmental Center This Saturday

This Saturday I'll be back at the Essex County Environmental Center for their Earth Day Celebration. I'll be in the Green Vendor Tent selling my repurposed handmade goods. The weather is supposed to be great and I'm looking forward to a fun day! Here's their writeup about the event. Hope to see you there!

Join the Essex County Environmental Center and partner agencies for a celebration of Planet Earth. Enjoy the Green Vendor Tent, canoeing, hikes, beekeeping demonstrations, and more! Plus, learn about natural resource and energy conservation and stewardship opportunities. Sponsored by PSE&G. Time - 11am to 4pm Location - Essex County Environmental Center, 621 Eagle Rock Avenue, Roseland Fee - Free For more information - Please call 973.228.8776

Recent Features

Recently I've been lucky enough to have my handmade work featured in great blogs. Crafting A Green World did a cool story on reusing sewing patterns and featured my Paper Pulp Letters and Sewing Pattern Flowers. Suzy Said has a wonderful write up about Montclair Made products available at the shop. And Sparkle Me featured my Cardboard Packaging Billfolds in a fun story about cereal obsession. Thanks to all these awesome sites for featuring me!

Laundry Love

I just wanted to write a quick post about something very meaningful to me...laundromats. I started using them almost 5 years ago and back then I loved it. It was great to get every load done at once and be done with it. But lately the local laundromats have been leaving me wondering where their priorities are.  They don't change the batteries in the smoke detectors for years and they beep constantly, the change machines don't work at all, and the machines themselves break down constantly. I can't figure out how they don't see these as essential elements of their business. It has always been a dream of mine to own a solar powered laundromat cafe, so I think about these things. Besides, I'm doing my laundry there, and when 2 machines simultaneously didn't spin out my loads I swore off that laundromat for good. I returned to one I had gone to a few years ago. I don't know what happened there but the machines were in total disrepair and if I dropped anything on the floor I felt compelled to wash it again. Ew! A quick search for local laundromats turned up one in Bloomfield that I decided to try today. It was laundromat heaven! I wish I had gone there long ago! The place was immaculate and every machine worked! There was a variety of sizes of machines to choose from and instead of a change machine you bought a card, brilliant! And bonus, you get $2 extra when you load up a new card with $20! Splish Splash, you have won me over!

Venue Fee Comparison

When I first looked into selling on 1000Markets I compared their fees to other sites I was already using to determine if it was an affordable venue or not. Today I compared fees from 1000Markets, Etsy, eBay, Big Cartel, and Amazon and found the results worthy of sharing for others who may never have taken the time to look closely at them. Please keep in mind that I sell handmade items only on Etsy, Big Cartel, and 1000Markets, and use eBay exclusively for merchandise I sell in the brick and mortar shop that are not handmade. I also used the fee rates that apply to those types of items I sell which are included in the categories of toys or everything else, however, the fees vary based on type of item. Notable differences to me include whether or not there are PayPal fees, if there is a listing fee or not, and whether or not the commission fee includes the shipping price.

Amazon Pro- $39.99/month subscription fee
15% commission fee (total cost meaning item cost plus shipping cost)
.50 closing fee

Amazon Individual- no listing fee
.99 closing fee when item is sold
15% commission fee (total cost)
.50 closing fee

eBay- I pay $15.95/month Store subscription fee
3 ways to list- Store Inventory, Fixed Price, or Auction Style
Store Inventory- .03 listing fee
12% commission fee when item sells
Fixed Price and Auction Style- .35 listing fee
9% commission fee when item sells
plus PayPal fees- 5.3% fee (total price, including shipping)

Etsy- .20 listing fee
3.5% commission fee when item sells (item price only, not including shipping charge)
plus PayPal fees- 5.3% fee (total price, including shipping)

1000Markets- no listing fee
5.5% commission fee when item sells (total price including shipping)
.50 closing fee

Big Cartel- no listing fee
free up to 5 items
$9.99/month subscription fee up to 25 items
$19.99/month subscription fee up to 100 items
plus PayPal fees- 5.3% fee (total price) when item sells

The results can be understood easily by using the example of a $10 item with a shipping cost of $4.95. The final fees when this item is sold would be different on each site (monthly subscription fees are noted for the sites that have them):

eBay Store Inventory- $2.63 (monthly subscription fee)
eBay Fixed Price or Auction Style- $2.50
Etsy- $1.35
Amazon Pro- $2.74 (monthly subscription fee)
Amazon Individual- $3.73
1KM- $1.32
Big Cartel- .80 (monthly subscription fee)

I think it's important to consider how many items are sold in a month and how that 
effects the monthly subscription costs. Also, Amazon may appear more expensive 
here but they get more page views than any of the other venues. There are many
factors involved in examining venue fees and I encourage everyone to take a closer
look at their own expenses.

This Is That Post...A Year Later...

I did a post like this just over a year ago and I think it's time for another. So this is that post where I just list search terms people have used and found this blog...2009 edition.
copabanana public school game
Anne Taintor mugs
vmask (still!)
repurposed jeans
algae
crochet lunch bag
mad libs
easter cookie
sock bunnies
artistprofilefromamerica
halloween paper products
etsy copa bananas
mrsa finger puppets
vintage alley verona nj
ugly doll t shirt
1000markets
anne taintor cards
3d cat cards
cool pens
ella bloom nj
flyer to announce reopening of store
getting ready for easter
glen ridge eco fair

Easter Basket Goodies

We have lots of great Easter basket goodies at the shop. Closed Sunday but open Friday 12-8 and Saturday 10-6.

no.1-Fun flipbooks are great forward and backward
no.2-Easter cards for everyone
no.3-Driving Animal Pillows are Made in Montclair
no.4-Super cute kits in great collectible tins
no.5-Novelty bandages you won't find anywhere else
no.6-Little Miss and Mr. books are popular classics
no.7-Uglydolls are still going strong
no.8-Travel chopsticks are just the right size for Easter baskets

Newsletter VIP Specials and More

Sign up now for the Copabananas email list and you'll be entered for a chance to win a Copabananas Sock Monkey! You'll also receive Newsletter VIP Specials for great discounts on select items. Sign up for new merchandise alerts and event notifications too! The monkey offer will run until June 1, 2009 when I will randomly select a winner!