Copabananas

This Is It

Today and tomorrow are the final days of Copabananas at 547 Valley Road. Stop by for 60% off select merchandise. Open 10 to 6 each day.

 

Some Of The Good Stuff

Here's a sample of some of the great products still available! Friday, the 24th, and Saturday, the 25th, the final 2 days, will be 60% off all merchandise except my handmade items. Please try to stop in from 10 to 6 each day and grab some of these great items before they're gone forever.

no.1-Stock up on MikWright cards, you know they're not available at CVS!

no.2-Lots of Indian Educational Posters, take 60% off the regular price of only $5! Mrs. Grossman's stickers.

no.3-Ever popular mini chairs and great beverage napkins.

no.4-Flocked banks, get great Christmas gifts in July!

no.5-Baking kit in super cute tins, only a few left!

no.6-Awesome novelty pennants.

no.7-Anne Taintor magnets.

Final 2 Days

Brick and Mortar Shop Closing (Again)

When I reopened my store in Upper Montclair I acknowledged that it would be like starting over from scratch and decided that I would give it 2 years before I hoped to see profits and success. Unfortunately I've never had profitable business in this location and I feel this shop is far from successful. While I love it and enjoy my time here, my old customers have not fully embraced the changes I've made and finding new customers to replace them has proven challenging. I am unwilling to take any more risks in this space and although I feel the space has potential for classes and workshops I need to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the option to renew my lease coming up in July. I have so much on my plate now, I've had to go to work full-time as a massage therapist because the store doesn't support me. I hope to expand my crafts business by looking for more wholesale customers, and continue to do craft shows, farmers markets, and run my internet shops. Having the store is just the weak link in the chain right now.

So, starting Monday, June 1st, I will have a closing sale with all merchandise 40% off to start, not including my handmade items as I will still be making and selling those items at shows and online. I will close at the end of July. Fixtures will also be available for sale, including the slatwall, shelving, and hooks.

I am not sad to be closing (again), I only regret that I was unable to find the right formula to make it through these awful economic times and emerge on the other side as I hope others will be able to do.

Shop Update

The shop is looking spiffy since we had some visitors on Tuesday from the NJ Tourism website. I was contacted by them to do an interview in the store for a video about shopping in NJ for the new NJ Tourism website set to launch at the end of May. The video will cover outlets, malls, and boutique shopping and will be about 3 minutes long. The interview was really fun and I'm excited to see the finished product!

 

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.

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!

  

New Year, New Store Hours

My store hours are changing for 2009. I've also added a mailing list link and I encourage everyone to sign up for emails about new merchandise or upcoming crafts shows and events. New store hours:
Mon 12-6
Tues 10-4
Wed 10-4
Thurs 10-4
Fri 12-8
Sat 10-6
Sun- Closed
Happy New Year!-Claire

Awesomely Awesome Tin Box Kits

My order of awesomely awesome kits arrived today! They are the sweetest assortment of items packed in wonderfully decorated tins. I adore them! For ages 8 and up.