Copabananas

Cinco de Mayo Finds

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.

 

 

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.

Front Page Etsy Treasury

GenZ Sock Bunnies

A little late but I started working on sock bunnies, I had to redirect my socks from my monkey-a-day goal. They are calling out to be hugged! So cute!

Paper-n-Stitch Exhibition

Today begins my exhibition on Paper-n- Stitch. All the items are from my Etsy shop and I'm so excited to be there as it's very competitive! Please visit and heart my shop, there are prizes for the shop with the most!

Getting Ready For Easter

Happy St. Patty's Day! I'm getting ready for Easter, April 12th this year. This billfold is made from Easter cookie packaging and would be perfect in an Easter basket with cash, a check, or a gift card tucked inside!

Artist Profile on America Handmade

Today I was featured on a great new site called America Handmade. They feature a different artist every day and I love the look of the site! Here's the feature!

The Snow Globe Experiment

Normally when I create I work quickly, in batches, producing a large quantity of whatever item I'm obsessed with at the moment. Lately I had been thinking about making snow globes with used jars and vintage knick knacks. This project deviates from my normal ritual since it would involve very long term planning, experimenting, and seeking out very specific materials.
I began with what I had on hand, a honey jar, a small Japanes knick knack from my childhood, and a concept. I posted a picture of the beginning of my experiment on Flickr. Then I tweeted about it hoping to get some feedback and suggestions. A few people offered ideas and words of encouragement. That night there was a Virtual Lab Show and Tell on Etsy and I brought the picture there for more feedback. But the next day I was unknowingly included in an Etsy Success email about using social networking, like Twitter, for getting feedback about work-in-progress. That picture on Flickr has gotten over 200 views since that newsletter went out! It was really encouraging and today I worked on that snow globe more, adding crushed egg shells for the snow and mineral oil instead of water. The picture below is how it turned out.  I still need to seal the lid but this is the beginning of a new way of working for me. I would love to see a huge variety of these, different size jars, filled with all kinds of vintage goodies floating around happily. And something about that is very satisfying.