I am out of town til the 21st starting on the 12th.

I have decided that I am out of making 2 1/4" buttons since the election is over. I still make 1 inch buttons, which are way more popular, and am looking into making 1 inch magnets. Of course to do that, I'll need cash, so I am selling my 2 1/4" button parts.

I have two pairs of dice and swarovski earrings, one beautiful blue Japanese beads and lampwork set, a wholesale lot of heart pendants and a retro style necklace up for grabs. Two auctions ending today.

I decided to go with yahoo for webhosting. My new website is online, but still under much construction. I'm happy because I have a compromise between ease of use and flexibility. I know basic html, but I am a great lover of convenience. I'm very tired now. La de da, auction pimp.

I'm in a dilemina about webhosting. I know I want to change from Vendio, because it's too expensive, but I don't know if I can get my site back online easily.

I wait at least three weeks before worrying about not receiving a package. I need to make a button with 'life happens' on it. I would have had many many bad transactions this month if I started threatening sellers after two weeks. I got a CD that took exactly two weeks to come here from Cali today. And I still haven't gotten some box clasps I needed for my business- but you know what? I politely asked about this, and it seems that my package got sent all the way back and it has to be resent. If I had been rude, the transactions would have gotten really ugly, really fast.

It seems that Auction Flair is having problems as well:

Auction Flair Update Dear Shannon ,We have just received notification that someone has contacted those who registered for our old forum making false claims about Auction Flair. We no longer have control over the information posted at our old (free) forum which was located at 1-2-free-forums.comWhen we started Auction Flair, we wanted to get the word out quickly and chose 1-2-free-forums.com to host our discussions. We do not know if it is a third party or if it is the owners of the 1-2-free-forums that were involved in this attack. It is interesting to note that 1-2-free-forums.com is hosted by AllStream of Canada and has an extremely similar IP address to that of an individual (ebayrules) who attempted to cause trouble on the old forum.We apologize for the confusion this individual(s) has caused.Also, be aware that it is trivial to fake the sending address on an e-mail and those 300 or so of you who were registered for the old forum may very well be sent false e-mails and/or spam. At this time we believe the information recorded when you reserved your user-id to be secure.We are very, very sorry for this occurance that was caused by trusting a public, free forum. It is very fortunate that we moved the forum this past weekend to our own servers and now are able to maintain exclusive control over your information.Please understand that our policy is to never sell/release your information to third parties. Protecting your information is very important to us.Again, we apologize for future e-mails beyond our control sent to those who were registered for the old free forum. (We were intending to delete all user data from the old forum on Friday now that our new forum is up!)We are truly sorry for the inconvenience. We are continuing to work to bring you the best auction site we can!Andy and Amy Mayer - Auction Flair

I'm not saying this dooms the site, but with the recent problems with wagglepop, it would be good to be catious. I guess people think that they can just create an ebay alternative with nothing more than a free website, and two guys who think they can code if they have a book or something. I mean with all this hassle, you could do your own website and get traffic to it.

It seems like Wagglepop is down for the count. For a moment, I worried about my thin skin, but then again, I think it's all about knowing who to take advice from. Some people are just so negative that their advice loses nearly all meaning. Although, I can do good customer service if by email, but I don't think I'll ever be good at selling in person. Also, it seems that a more serious problem than just my lack of self confidence has emerged- it seems that the security on the new site was weak. If you gave any important information to the folks at wagglepop, please change your passwords, cancel your cards,etc,etc. I'm glad I was too lazy to switch over.

If you're a black business owner, you might want to consider theBlack Business Owners Network.

YES! I'm the Minority Entrepreneur Society Business of the week. Here's the email:

Hello!I belong to an awesome networking organization called Minority Entrepreneur Society. One of the members is the owner of this company:http://www.cassowarybuttons.com Please check out the link and then pass this on to all of your family and friends. This dynamic diva isvery professional and could use your support.

Not amazingly descriptive, but every bit of free PR helps!

Busy busy! I'm doing school work and getting the catolog together. But this auction is ending today  

I find this auction very amusing!

This bead work is very inspiring. I want to do more complicated pieces.

It took me at two hours to put this auction up. First I had to try to get a good picture of the markings which is hard for me especially since I usually sell my own jewelry. That took an hour, and my camera's memory card kept filling up. Then I had to research key words. Does children or child gain more sales? That took about 30 minutues. Then I had to write the description for the auction, which inculded measuring the item and hosting the pictures. So if anyone tells you that you're not working because you sell stuff on the web, tell them they are a lie,ok?

A free office suite(with 'word' 'powerpoint' 'excel' also html, and drawing). Free is good. The GIMP is a free graphics program.

Here's how to avoid getting slammed on fake coach bags.

From the Minority entrepreneur Society: Soul Curve is a site for the web design, design work and photography of Nicold Pittman. Her talent is evident on the page itself, with its lovely web design. If you need some work done for you, look out for her. Also, support minority entrepreneurs- build wealth in your own community.

I redid my ebay me page. Some people are really creative on these, but I tend to be a more bare bones person. You know, that's like my whole business model- just the basics. You give me the money, you get your widgets- fast and cheap. I guess I could try to be one of those sellers who romances every part of the shopping process, but I probably wouldn't be very good at it. I have tried juicing up my descriptions on ebay at least, and tying ribbon around my packages...

Man, I'm so jealous. Look at this lovely pendant. I have been having fun with silver charms, and putting things up for auction.

Auctions ending soon and auctions beginning soon. My new goal is to wait til I have used up all my supplies before buying new ones, but I know that's not going to happen... Well, cost cutting is on the agenda for Feb!

Yabba Dabba Yahoo! I got a sale with yahoo auctions, and it ended up cheaper than eBay even though it was featured. (.57 cents for insertion, gallery, FVF, feature to like usually .60 for just insertion and gallery) I might do a dual auction set up where I divide things between the two- like I might start buttons over on Yahoo! and keep junk auctions(although it's weird to call them junk auctions- it's usually good stuff- just stuff I need to sell to make room for more stuff) over on eBay.

One problem with yahoo is that they only take gifs or jpgs as image files, which causes duplication on my part..

It's been a long day of making earrings, and updating my store. These earrings and others are for sale, and much more where that came from when I get more supplies in. I'm hoping to be able to use up all my supplies before buying new ones, but it's too too tempting. I always end up buying something.  

I wonder how many buyers there will be on eBay if everyone who sells items under $10 leaves? It's one of those sound good things that doesn't really work in real life. Sure, it SOUNDS good to only have people with huge profit margins on eBay, but in reality, most buyers can't pay high prices for items- that's why they are on eBay. Not to mention that many small sellers are big buyers. Looking tough can be a good way to bite yourself on the behind.

I am trying a pricing experiment. Also, I am experimenting with jewelry sets.

I'm trying other auction sites because of the fee increases. Yahoo has the advantage of free counter, free gallery, and it also has the wrinkle of paid 'showcases'. However, I still don't know how to optimize my auctions for more traffic, and it might be a low traffic site. The length of auctions can be ten days without charge. Overstock has a nice interface for selling. The length of auctions is usually 5 days, although you can change it for free. I also like the free gallery. I find the ratings slightly confusing, and really dislike the whole 'friend' system. What's it for besides getting spammed? The fees are lower to insert. I'm running a test auction right now. I am also still selling on ebay. A lot of auctions are ending today.

If items don't sell, they will be relisted on the place they were on, and if they don't sell a second time, jewelry related items will be placed in my store. I am using a vendio store right now. On one hand, I like the ease of inserting items, on the other hand, I don't like the fees and lack of customization ability that I have. I'm thinking of making my own site.

The reply after this is an example of how not to act in a public forum. Now, for the rest of us, it is obvious that she took the price of her materials, labor costs, the price of shipping and added in a bit of profit. That's how it works. The girls selling on that community aren't just selling things out of the goodness of their hearts- they want to make money.

On a cheerier note, I distributed most of my intial batch of flyers today. I hope local publicity will drive sales. I also got a text ad on Let's Talk Honestly. I am trying different approaches to see what sticks.

You know, I really don't get the point of toddler bracelets.

Sweet action! They have a sneak peek up for my sampler contribution.

Some eBay sellers are having a Fee Buster Clearance Sale. Everything starts under 9.99. Search under FBCS to see whether there's any good deals. Just be mindful of the shipping.

I really love these. I made one pair for myself and one pair for my store  

The fact that overstock doesn't charge for gallery makes it convenient to charge less. This bracelet starts at one cent as it is a test auction. The duration is 5 days, which I like. If I had more inventory, I'd be turning over items in 3 and 1 day auctions.

EEEEE! My stuff is going to be in the sampler for February! I am always too tired at the beginning of the month to get organized and on the list of subscribers, so it's always full by the time I look at it, but hopefully I get a discount or something for next month if I try.. Of course, I could always send some more buttons down there. I love jewelry, but buttons are so much cheaper- and I have more button designs than jewelry designs anyway.

Panic Doll has a custom shirt builder. I don't do customs. They are good for money, but I'm always been worried about the time commitment, and what people expect versus what I can deliver. Underpromise and overdeliver is always the best way to do things, so I try not to bite off more than I can chew.

I did a bit of wire wrapping for commerical use. I'm selling them  

Today I finished a pair of Valentine's themed earrings. The day is getting close, and although I'm a confirmed quirkyalone(i.e. I don't get all jazzed up about Valentine's Day) I have a lot of heart pendants, even though finding matching ones can be slightly difficult. I wonder what a polite way to say you don't take returns on earrings is? They pierce through the skin, so it's not very sanitary to take them back..

Now I mostly use eBay for junk auctions, although I might adjust my strategy to include eBay when I have my supplies in. I have been ordering a lot of nice stuff, that will make fabulous earrings and bracelets. I got some nice gothic lolita type charms- so there will be some cute earrings coming down the pike in a few weeks. To help raise money for the new school year, I'm selling my old USB camera, and some To Heart manga- check it out.

It seems that Livejournal is back online, and some people aren't happy with ebay's fee increases. I'm not much happy either, but I'll hold back on the idea of whether I should take volume over pricing. On ebay, you can move volume, but usually at low prices. I might use fixed price listings with prices adjusted to absorb the listing fees. Another problem with volume is that I'm slow. I'll make stuff, but I'm not making like ten bracelets a week. I guess I could bite the bullet, and buy a shit load of stuff, but school will be busy.

I understand it's unfair with one part of myself, but I'm trying to think of how to overcome the unfairness with the other part. Then again, I think that the people acting like worrying about fees going up is just for losers may be in for a bit of a surprise. When people sell on ebay, they buy on ebay. When I sell on ebay, it's pretty convienant for me to go and buy more stuff, recycling money here, but when I sell on my website, I'm not going to be on a site where their objects are displayed. Also, general price increases all over the site to cover the new fees may drive away customers.

Of course there is the simple fact that not everyone has the same profit margin- it sounds good to say just sell things that go for $100 a pop, but the odds that you're going to find something cheap that goes for that much is crazy, so it's probably better to adjust to the reality of 99% of people, than the other way around...

Sweet. I was looking for cards with black themes, and I found this site, which is black owned and operated. It's always good to be able to support your community. If a woman or a man is able to create wealth through their business, not only may they actually hire a young person from the neighborhood, they also serve as a good role model for kids. Hallmark is good and all, but is Hallmark going to care about pulling up roots and leaving people's jobless or whether our neighborhoods are presentable?

Another good point of buying from small businesses is that many of the business owners may be women trying to be able to stay at home with their kids. Support them, and their kids get more quality time. I'm merely a poor college student, but the extra money from my business is pretty helpful for school expenses.

Also, a forum for blacks in business. In addition, here is a mailing list for minority entrepreneurs.

It seems that ebay is raising its fees. I'm slightly glad that I have scaled back on ebay selling. It helps with volume, but what is volume if you lose money?

Dear animeg3282,
We are writing to let you know that effective midnight PST, February 18, 2005 eBay.com and eBay Motors will be making changes to the fee structure.
The fee changes are as follows:
GalleryGallery fees will be raised from $0.25 to $0.35 per listing. We will also be increasing the size of the Gallery image on search and listings pages by 56%. This will make it easier for buyers to see details of the item before clicking into the listing.
Buy It Now Buy It Now fees will no longer be charged at a flat rate, and will instead be determined based on the Buy It Now price. Fees will be charged as follows:
Buy It Now Price
Fee
$0.01 - 9.99
$0.05
$10 - 24.99
$0.10
$25 - 49.99
$0.20
$50+
$0.25
10-Day Duration The fee for 10-day duration listings will be raised from $0.20 to $0.40 per listing.
eBay StoresThe fee for the Basic eBay Store subscription will be raised from $9.95 to $15.95 per month. The subscription fee for Featured and Anchor Stores will be unchanged.
eBay Store Inventory format listing insertion fees will remain unchanged. The Final Value Fee for Store Inventory items will change as follows:
Closing Price
Old Price
New Price
$0.01 - $25
5.25% of the closing value
8% of the closing price
$25.01 - $1,000
5.25% of the initial $25, plus 2.75% of the remaining closing value balance.
8% of the initial $25, plus 5% of the remaining closing value balance ($25.01 - $1000)
Over $1,000
5.25% of the initial $25, plus 2.75% of the next $25.01-$1000, plus 1.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($1,000.01 - closing value).
8% of the initial $25, plus 5% of the next $25.01 - $1000, plus 3% of the remaining closing value balance ($1,000.01 - closing value).
Store sellers will continue to be eligible to receive 50% off of the Store Inventory listing final value fees for Store Referral credit. Please click here for details.
Insertion and Final Value FeesThe insertion and Final Value Fees will be changing for items listed in certain Business & Industrial categories. More details about the changes for these categories are provided below. The insertion and Final Value Fees in other categories will not be changing.
Business & Industrial Listings in Certain CategoriesThe Reserve, insertion and Final Value Fees will be changing for select high item price capital equipment categories in Business & Industrial. Please click here to view the capital equipment categories affected by the pricing change.
The fee changes for these capital equipment categories are as follows:
Reserve fee: Lowered to $5, refundable if the item sells
Insertion fee: Raised to $20, regardless of starting price
Final Value Fee: Lowered to a 1% flat fee, with a $250 maximum charge
Additional listing upgrade fees will remain the same as for eBay.com. Pricing for all other Business & Industrial listings outside the specified capital equipment categories will remain the same as for eBay.com.
eBay will also introduce Buyer Protection covering up to $20,000 per item in these capital equipment categories this spring. eBay will offer this Buyer Protection at no cost to the buyer or seller.

So my art book auctions are ending in one day. Also, Vendio was not cooperating, and I had to edit the free shipping into all my one inch buttons by hand, and it took like an hour. I'm glad I had only 60 or so to adjust..

I've been posting a lot today, but part of the hard work I was talking about last post, was advertising my anime/manga artbooks that are being auctioned on ebay. I got my site listed on thriftychick, and to offset part of the cost, I am selling my artbooks. I really like my artbooks, but I don't really look at them that often, so except for a few special ones, they are going. I will continue to broaden my product line too. When school starts, I'll buy a lot of beads, and jump rings and suchlike, because it's a bit easier to not worry about whether you put your inventory in this or that compartment of your suitcase.

I'd like to ask you a favor. I was happy because my site was placed on spacefem they don't just put any putz's link on their site, but my site was rated down by a person who was jealous of me. Please rank it back up. Here is what the loser wrote:

http://spacefem.com/links/links.php?cat=21 <--woooo! Please rate the link between five and ten. Hahahah, they lose You're no fun, mike

He explained this stupid action by saying this: Modding you down because you mostly sell racist or LLL sh*t

By 'racist', he means that I sell buttons that say "love blackness" or noting that the real race card is white privilege, i.e. being the typical person who is jealous that people he thinks are inferior are succeeding where he is sitting on his behind, he complains about actually being against racism, because he thinks more racism would give him status, when he could actually get some status by doing some work. And I'm proud to be a loony liberal. If it wasn't for us, he would not have the time to waste putting down people who actually are doing something- he'd be working 16 hour days or be dead because of tainted food or disease.

This goes to show you that someone is always going to be jealous of you trying to get somewhere in life, even if you are not a black woman, although we do get a lot of jealous people who think they should be ahead because they think they are superior, and shouldn't have to do any work like we do while they are running their mouths. So take this lesson with you when you have to deal with the "god, your designs are ugly" lady at the craft fair(I haven't been to one, but I have heard some stories!), or the sister in law who talks about your 'hobby' and doesn't take you seriously, or anyone else who just sits on their behind and criticizes your achievement, even if they aren't racists.

It's easy to try to tear stuff down- it's hard to build things up- I am working hard, doing link partner ships, rolling out new button designs, creating new jewelry and learning new techniques, finding ways to stretch my marketing dollar. It takes hard work to own your own business- it's something you have made. What do haters have? Nothing.

Rose and Thorn is having a sale. Maybe I should have a rotating sale section, because nothing makes me look more than a sale- it could be anything, but a sale will get my attention. I'm reading The End of Marketing As We Know It. I'm going to have to find some more books on business- this book is ok, but focuses more on being part of a large company's marketing section than just you know, doing your own marketing.

The day before yesterday, I made my first sale of the year from this post in the EGL community. Today I put up some earrings, which will make a nice set with either of two bracelets. I read on Beadstyle about making sets, and since I had some extra beads, I decided to make the earrings. I'm learning a lot of new jewelry techniques nowadays, such as wire wrapping, but I haven't really put any like that on the site. I'm mentally exhausted, so I am not thinking up any button slogans. It's more restful on the mind to make jewelry.

Today I put up three necklaces with heart pendants on the website. Now that I have a necklace section, it's time to flaunt it. I also added two pairs of earrings, although one was sold within two seconds of being posted to the EGL community. That's the fastest sale ever.

I redid my mom's Christmas present. I haven't done wire wrapping before, so it doesn't look as good as it might have. Still pretty good.  

I put up some more button designs. Mostly they are in the black pride section. While preaching self love and putting down self hate might seem to be universal, but I'm black, and speaking from experience, we need self love more than anyone else, except for other people of color, I guess they need it about the same as us, but that's not as strong a sentence is it?

While I have talked about this before, I'll reconsider the subject. I always wonder about people who think it's stupid to sell items with political stuff on them. Maybe it might offend someone, but then again, I'm offended by shirts with whore in glitterpuff on them or maybe I think that fur coats are a terrible crime, but they don't say "don't put words on t shirts. don't sell fur coats, you might offend someone". Nowadays niche marketing is popular- we've recognized that our society is much broader than the mythical middle class one mom, one dad, 2.5 kids, all white family- and we sell accordingly.

Niche marketing makes sense nowadays. We buy things to show who we are. Maybe not the best thing ever- but there it is. So many people would prefer to acquire things that reflect them in their minds, rather than something that looks very cookie cutter. So if a strong basis of your self is your belief system- you might want to buy things that reflect that. That's why you see people with bumper stickers, buttons, and shirts proclaiming their beliefs.

Humans are tribal animals, and they want to show others that they belong to a tribe. If Oog from the other tribe doesn't like it, well, she's free not to buy. But I don't think for example, Oog is going to forgo a bracelet she wants from me, because I have a button saying something she doesn't like. Borders sells books about how liberals are trying to eat babies and drown grandma, but I still buy from Borders, because at the end of the day, we wear our tribal colors, but getting what you want is always a good thing.

So today, I feel pretty productive. I took a lot of great pictures with my new digital camera, and got 9 different items up on my site, and I will be consigning two items, including some great fish earrings I could make because I got some great pliers for Xmas. I feel better having a well stocked site- it looks a bit more professional to me. If you have a site and it's only has two or three items, it looks a bit lazy, even if you have been working hard on your products. Then again, I can't say much because what is mostly on my site is buttons, which isn't as labor intensive as say, clothing.

I made 6 bracelets out of wooden beads and one necklace. I haven't photographed them nor the double strand button bracelet I made yesterday or another more conventional one. Since my inventory is increasing so much, I think I might consign one of my bracelets on divatribe- it'd be good for promotion.

I made another bracelet today, but I haven't finished it. Yesterday I spent a lot of time link pimping on livejournal and it paid off- I got a sale! The craft supplies I got pushed me in the red where I was formerly in the black, but I don't think it's a very large amount. Anyway, other business stuff I did was to make the order(2 audre lorde buttons) and to package them. I hope we can ship them off tomorrow.

So yesterday I spent a buttload of money at the craft store. So this morning I had fun making two bracelets, and yesterday I nearly finished a pair of earrings. I have thought up (and posted) four new button designs since I have posted last. Winter break is a great time to stock up your store. I have been suffering from a lack of inventory for some time. I haven't even had enough to really post on divatribe, but I'll put at least one piece up, and find another online mall to promote my stuff too.
Divatribe is a great place, but I worry about the whole mix of jewelry- I can't really in good conscience charge $20 for my stuff, but for some of the other people, charging $20 would put them out of their house, and into the street. So it's kind of weird to have the two types together.

Here's a feel good story. Crafty goods infilitrate amazon.com. The crafty women at hellagood products now have their stuff listed on amazon. This is great, because we need more small businesses supplying goods in this country. A big corporation can be good in its place, but more innovative products come out when everything isn't focus grouped to death. Not to mention the money that you give to small indie businesses in this country tends to stay here-laying off an entire division just to save a few pennies for the CEO's bennies is way less likely. So give your money to crafty, independant and other small business people through out the year.

I love clothes, and I know that my $25 a shirt goes better at panicdoll, or another small clothing maker than it does to a mall shirt that isn't even worth the price and is mass produced.

I found a DIY link exchange. I'm not very knowledgeable about this sort of thing, but DIY seems to have become a big movement nowadays. There are tons of knitters, jewelry makers, hand bag sewers and the like all getting their crafts together. I swear- if you relied only on DIYers, I bet you'd never have to rely on corporate clothing, bags or jewelry. Then again, most DIYers tend to make more casual or alternative clothes, instead of stuff that would be appropiate for the work place, but maybe I just haven't been looking hard enough.

I found a new auction site. Cute clothes, and jewelry, but where are the buyers?

I have a one day only sale on a To Heart manga lot. Also, some cute jewelry ending today.

My paypal balance is 6.66. Pretty interesting.

Well, both of my overstock auctions didn't sell. I wonder if the buyer base isn't there yet? Also, it's really annoying that I keep getting all this "be my friend" spam. It's an auction site! Why does anyone care about this 'friends' crap?

I really hate these ebay auctions with stupid trumped up stories. I'm all for marketing, but there's a line you shouldn't cross- and exploiting people's awwwww factor for more bucks is too much. I didn't mind the person who runs panicdoll.com saying 'hey, my main income is off my shirts" in the gothic lolita community because it's a community- you talk about stuff. It's not like she put in her auctions a sob story to a bunch of people who just want to buy stuff, and get on with their lives.

When I'm looking at an auction, I really don't care if you have two autistic kids, or that you are selling the cane to cheer your six year old up. I just want the description of the item, and your terms- how many days do I have to pay, what do you take. The real danger is that fake stories will erode everyone's feeling for the real ones. If people make up sob stories, soon they'll get caught, and then no one will believe someone who is really in trouble.


But on a more cheery note, my ebay auctions are selling! Of course, I'm mostly selling anime and manga stuff that I don't need or want. I mostly have manga in Japanese, and one sealed DVD- I already had volume one of His and Her Circumstances, and I bought the box in the rightstuf sale.

I am trying to step up my ad campaign. Still haven't found the right words for my button sales. I should advertise my jewelry on more jewelry live journals. DIY marketplace is pretty crowded- I bet my ad isn't even on the first page now! For your amusement, here is a funny me page with lots of bad bad advice for ebay buyers and sellers.

I probably should start listing more of my jewelry at the store first.

This is a fun reminder. Don't steal images! (warning:NSFW)

I have decided to list on overstock.com also. I need to advertise more, but that would invovle making a cool logo in photoshop. I also need to put up more of the awesome designs I have in my head on my site. However, I ate too much turkey... I still have auctions up on ebay. Since it was a holiday weekend, I decided to make them ten day auctions instead of 7 days, for more exposure. The pearl bracelet is my favorite, although it was a bit picky to put together. I guess I should learn more advanced beading styles sooner or later, though.

Ebay is changing the rules again, and many are outraged. It doesn't seem too well thought out to me. I give buyers ten days to pay, and I usually use first class mail- which may take additional time to get there, because I don't want to charge $5 to ship a bangle. So a buyer could mail their payment on day ten, and it might take another week to get there, and then they could say they didn't receive their item! I think the old 30 day was good, because after a month, you know you have a problem, even though there may be problems with media mail, which is fairly slow. I guess this is an example of how you should think before making a business decision.

I am amazed this pair of shoes only went for $158.00. I felt sure it would have gone for $200. I am only a lowly seller, so I never get a 21 bid auction. Then again, very few people are getting 21 bid auctions lately, and most are getting more like one bid, if any bid auctions. This economy has lots and lots of people selling to get cash after they have been laid off, and so the market is a bit dodgy. I'm starting adwords for my store again, hoping to get traffic up.

I'm not as good as a PR pimp as some who are always submitting their wares to magazines, or to charity auctions, because I lack the confidence. I love my stuff, but there's a huge difference between a sterling silver tennis bracelet with real diamonds or something or even a handcrafted bag, made out of vintage fabric, and a chip beaded bracelet, even if it has a cute heart on the end. It's great fun jewelry, but I don't really have a high end grouping. I guess that can be my selling point-fun stuff at a good price. I mean seriously, there's a lot of room for both $200 bracelets and $5 bracelets! Seriously, what do you buy more of? $1 items like my buttons, or items that cost $35?

But then again, who knows? The profit margin is a bit fatter on other items I guess. But then again, who has time to do all that when they should be studying?

I don't think there is any cut and dry rule on who is going to be a good ebay seller. For example, I have a lower feedback percentage than some people, but I have 2 negs over a year, and some of the people with better percentages have like 50 negs over a month. Some sellers with really shrill TOS have been good sellers too, but then again, I mostly buy clothing, and people have a good reason to be shrill in that category.

People negging because it doesn't fit, people having fun bidding up your item and not paying(I have had people not pay on auctions less than $5, and I don't even sell in the tough clothes category), basically there's a lot to go wrong- especially if the buyer doesn't read the description of the item.

I also have a bone to pick with people always trying to say that sellers should do feedback first. BS. They should do feedback when the transaction is over. Maybe it is because I'm a good buyer, but I'm not looking for the feedback, I'm looking for my item. I know that sellers can't just assume you'll be a good buyer- especially if you have a good feedback profile. You could have gotten undeserved feedback from a feedback firster, and then have scammed the seller ten ways til sunday, or at least written them nasty emails.

The thing to remember about buying on the internet is that no one knows you from Adam. You could have stolen ten credit cards, or have saved ten orphans' lives and are just buying winter coats for them. No one knows! So blaming sellers for wanting to keep their businesses afloat, I just don't get.

After much ado, I finally updated my site. I have nearly 50 items up, which is a good start. I hope to have more before the deep part of the holiday season hits. I am buying more supplies for jewelry, and I am thinking up more ideas for button slogans. I tend to do buttons and jewelry differently.

I always put buttons on my site first, and jewelry on ebay first. Buttons are pretty uniform, so you can put the same price on them, but I'm trying to figure out the jewelry market, so I try ebay first. Or maybe I mixed it up. God, I'm tired. Also, I tend to put out assorted things I want to get rid of such as manga duplicates on ebay, too. I guess I should branch out to other sites, but I don't have much inventory anyway.

Well, if you are looking for an ad collective, here is a livejournal group where they are trying to put one together. I have finally gotten about to paying for an ad for my site. I got a lot of traffic from quizilla the last time, and hope to get some more, and some sales out of it too.

I'm running a bit low on stock, so I should get to making things, or at least having more ideas for buttons. I put up two all new button designs on my site. I still haven't put up my favorite one "Don't Blame Me. You voted against yourself" up. I hope the economy perks up at least.

Has everyone noticed how early Christmas advertisements have started this year? It is barely out of October, and I see Christmas stuff. Then again, I'm not helping, I sold an Christmas bracelet earlier and am selling one now. I hope the Holiday shopping season goes strong, this economy seems sort of stagnant.

I have made two chokers,(actually 3, but one I am not selling) with velcro closures. The velcro is because it's a no sew project. I would like to be able to sew, but I'm the type of person who can't even make a simple skirt. But Velcro is awesome.

It's about that time every week! I don't know whether readers prefer seeing auctions when they first open or when they are about to close, but since I prefer seeing them when they are about to close, that's when I post them.

I'm also confused on whether it's ebay legal to sell costume jewelry. I don't buy or sell the expensive stuff for obvious reasons, such as if one gets a piece of jewelry for cheap, they can feel good modifying it, but I wouldn't play around with expensive stuff that costs upwards of a hundred dollars, which is expensive for me as I'm not taking out a loan for this.

I've decided to switch hosts for my website, and am still waiting for my domain name to transfer. This shop may be a little bit easier to manage! I'm still debating google ad words, but might put it in once I have more stock. Hopefully this page loads faster and is simpler to navigate.

In ebay news, I have gotten up to a hundred feedbacks, which is good, since before this year, I had less than 30. Of course, the problem with ebay is that you are always tempted to buy things, whether it is cute beads or cute socks. However, an annoying problem for me is that it's hard to find a good deal. I refuse to believe that it costs $6.00 to ship something that weighs 2 ounces. I don't mind if the shipping cost is under 3 or 4 bucks for such a light item- one must pay for packaging materials and all. I wish ebay would show shipping costs for items so you didn't have to click on the auction to discover that they are charging $10 to ship 20 beads.

Then again, I don't have to pay for gas to go to the post office during the school year(walking is healthier and just fine) so maybe I am spoiled.

If you need earrings, I have 3 pairs on auction. There's also a bracelet. I'm doing a lot of work about my business lately, but it's a secret.

My velcro is shipping tommorow. I hope it gets to me soon. I want to make a ribbon choker before my lace gets here at least. I have this great pink grosgrain ribbon. It'll be really funky and fruisty as a choker.

I am learning the hard way that it is hard to unknot one's string after knotting it. I knot my elastic about five or six times after I think I am finished, so that is to be expected. But today I was making a bracelet for myself, in this style, and then I wanted to add a heart pendant. So I tried to get it unknotted, but I mostly just broke the string.. Opps.

I have 5 items ending tomorrow. I am wondering about advertising them on livejournal communities. Maybe just a discreet link would be ok? I don't mean communities devoted to anything important, but just the buying and selling of things. My favorite is DIY marketplace, which makes me tempted to buy things all the time. I worry my pictures aren't nice enough. Everyone else has a great logo or something..

I'm really mad at egadgetman! I swear it's been like 3 weeks since end of auction and I haven't gotten my crimps. While I don't mind knotted bracelets, it feels a bit more secure to have more than just knots. I of course have been forthcoming about this, but it's not like everyone reads the description of the item.

I of course am sadder and wiser about feedback scores. One has to read the positives too. This guy has many positives that say slow shipping. I guess I did mess up, but it's still annoying.

To avoid statistics, I idly made a Christmas bracelet, in October. I really need to make more bracelets so I can make excuses to buy more beads. Beading is really relaxing! I'm totally taking it up as a hobby.

These are another pair of modified hoop earrings that I am selling for best offer. However, I don't take personal checks.  

I'm selling these modified hoop earrings for best offer!  

Yesterday, I modified three pairs of hoop earrings, and started on beading a bracelet that is like this one, but in other colors. I have started to put more campaign buttons up for auction as this is the last part of the campaign. I'm really doing a lot of business work, as it keeps my mind off school.

I am trying out using the common keywords, and I think it is working a bit, as my Fat Acceptance buttons have a watcher, but will they bid? Ebay is a pretty dramatic marketplace.

So today, I decided to list on ebay, and relist some good stuff that didn't sell the first time around. I tried to identify popular key words, as ebay is mostly a keyword game. I am disappointed in my photo quality, as my little camera doesn't have a zoom lens. I have a man's chain, with a brand mark, but I can't even show it, because it's too blurry. grr. With all of this, I only have one auction of buttons up, but I'll change that tomorrow. I should start selling a lot of election buttons with the October run up. However, I don't know how to get buttons without obvious tie ins sold.

That's why I started my website, but that didn't work. So I don't know what I'll do about the buttons.

I'm closing my website. That doesn't mean I have stopped selling. I will continue to sell here, at divatribes shops, and on ebay. It's just too much effort to advertise a website that one can't even update all the time. To make this applicable to other people, one has to look at the return on investment to see if it's worth it to peruse an action in business.

About the earrings that I made earlier, I made an orange pair with heart pendants, and they were great. Identical to this pair. I might have to dig up another pair of orange pendants, because it's becoming Halloween season. The holidays are great- I hope for a large amount of buying, even though the economy isn't as good as it could be.

I still can't get my website updated and fortunecity still won't give me an answer. I might just close my website, and just do ebay. It'd be cheaper. Also, there is an auction ending today, as always, but if you wanted some costume jewelry, these are nice. I have a lot of these heart pendants, although the jewelry I keep for myself out of them are all earrings, because I collect them. One piece of jewelry I made for myself was just a mod- I had some hoop earrings and put some clear hearts on them. Very cute.

Maybe I should get some pliers to crimp wire- it'd be easier than looking for drops, but I'm a bit nervous about that. I should see if the school library has a book on that.

I was reading on the switchboards about how annoyed people get when people complain about their prices. I totally feel them. If you can't afford to shop, then don't shop. If you want their high quality handmade goods, pay the price, but if you want mass produced sweat shop labor produced items, well, you're welcome to get them.

People in business have their prices for reasons, especially one man/woman businesses. For example, it takes money to get the things to make the items, and not only that, these people don't buy in the cheaper by volume bulk lots that larger businesses may buy in. Not to mention they need to advertise their sites, go to craft fairs to pimp their goods, package their goods in a cute manner,etc,etc. All of this costs money that the average indie business person doesn't have.

So yes, these adorable bangles cost $7- but the person took time and effort in making them, and chasing down the stuff to make these items. If you want to enjoy a well made product, you might have to pay a bit more.

I'm cheap, and I admit that, but I'd never ask someone to lower their price for me. I'd usually wait for a sale or see if I could snag it cheap off ebay or if I really had to have it, save up, but never annoy a small business person about their prices.

I'm still trying to get the keywords and stuff right for jewelry selling. It's a whole new area. Also, here's to hoping I can update my site again soon. Also, some stuff on ebay is ending within about 24 hours or so. Be a sport, check it out.

In other small business news, Mad Scientist University, a game created by a young game creator, who is an alumni of Emory University, will soon be sold from the gaming shop Sword of the Phoenix. This of course brings up the fascinating question of whether it is better to sell things yourself and get all of the profits, or to consign your things and get more exposure? I'm too inexperienced to answer that question.

Speaking of consignment, I have a few buttons in the divatribe shop, but I should work harder with that store. Things in that store have to be exculsives, so I do worry a bit about putting new designs in, since buttons are kind of 'mass produced' product.

I forgot to put a picture up. I really like this necklace, personally, even though purple and not pink is my favorite color to go along with green...
Here is a link with more information. I do costume jewelry nowadays, but then again, I am not the type who has ever had the real stuff.

Yet again, there are auctions closing today. Things are picking up, scanning problems nonewithstanding.

I got some more supplies today, so I made a necklace. It's a pink and green one, and I put it up on ebay. I'm a bit nervous about selling things like this on ebay, as I am not a stone expert. I think the stones are rose quartz and jade, and they were sold to me that way, but how could I be sure? Then again, it's being sold for twelve bucks on ebay, so it should be clear that it's fashion jewelry, not the lost jewels of the Queen of England. The stones are also all small pendants which are detachable if you really want to detach them. I'm thinking of making some bracelets, but I don't have enough beads, and my stretch magic doesn't look classy enough to have the pendants on it.

In button news, I'm working hard, but need to draw some things, as that is my new area. Buttons with original art just look more creative and classier than ones without. Although I worry my drawing style is a bit primitive.

Yet again, I am selling a Kerry/Edwards button, which is ending today. Also, one of the hard parts about custom buttons is trying to anticipate what sort of design the person wants. Maybe I should change the requests so that I have a better idea of what layout they want.. I want to work on jewelry, but most of my supplies haven't arrived yet. So I might draw new designs for buttons.

Yay! Instead of working for publicity, I'll just say that some great vintage Japanese wood cut type buttons have only 9 hours left. Cute buttons for cheap! Spend some cash, maybe it'll stimulate the economy.

I changed the website around to partition it into two sections- one for buttons, and one for jewelry. I only have button bracelets up now, but I plan to get a lot more up in the future. On ebay, some anti Bush buttons are ending today. Get them now.

I'm selling an handmade lampwork bracelet on ebay. This is my first(well, almost) foray into jewelry for sale. I went to a flea market in July, and I sold a wooden green and pink bracelet to a girl, who was quite possibly an AKA, I think. You know, that gives me an idea.. It's good to work it on more than one line, possibly, although it's more than double the work getting set up. I am trying to get more buttons up on my website, but fortunecity isn't wanting to cooperate.

It seems that my obsessions buttons are going...going...well you get the idea. The anime addict button is one I'm particularily proud of- I'm getting better with the GIMP.

I'm starting to want to branch out into jewelry art and design. I would have to redesign my website, though. Then again, what's wrong with a sub site devoted to jewelry? Also, on ebay, I have more great deals ending today. Some of these items are starting at 1 cent- you can't lose.

Warning! A bunch of scummy thieves have appropiated Sublime Stiching's designs, and are possibly using sweatshop labor to recreate the designs. Here's what to look for, from her site:

"What should I look for?
Look for clothing in stores that has Sublime Stitching designs with tags that say another company's name, "Made In India" or anything BUT "Sublime Stitching". Even if the tags do say Sublime Stitching, this does not mean they have permission to use my designs and re-sell them to the public. Only crafters making items by hand and selling them at craft-fairs, fund-raisers and through small retail venues are covered by my Angel Policy. "

That's why I'm always skeptical of people who complain about copyrights. Copyrights protect all creators. I had a bit of a strange problem earlier. This page had part of my site on it, but luckily, they corrected it. I'm glad! It was pretty weird.

About July's contest, Rachael Harlich won a free bag of buttons with the slogan "Nothing On Tv? Read a Book!" Thanks for all your support! In other news, I've decided not to have an ebay store, as it's better to focus one's effort on one store instead of two, but I do have ebay auctions up, with great deals on custom buttons, button sets, and the like.

I'm having a problem with advertising. I don't think I'm very good at writing ads. I have created some ads, like this one on etalkingheads.com, but I don't think they are very good. I am thinking of investing in an ad campaign. What I need is web traffic. Other small merchants tend to concentrate on attempting to get into magazines, as I have read on the Switchboards, but my items are not the type of thing that would be in magazines- I like my buttons, and am happy with them, but they aren't exactly a good fashion accessory- even my bracelets are just novelty displays for buttons, because I haven't started jewelry making in earnest. Now bracelets, and an idea that came to me recently- greeting cards- would be a better fit for magazines. However, I should caution myself on trying to expand too fast, and I need to keep my ad budget under control- I don't even have a credit card.

I'm also writing out some copy about custom button bracelets- i.e. a person gets their images on buttons and has a bracelet made at the same time. I'm considering clauses to make having an unique button bracelet seem like the most wonderful thing in the entire universe, and also trying to word my copy so that people will not think this is merely a cheap way to get merchandise for some overexposed media trend. Not only do I not want trouble with copyrights, I do recognize that for example bands make most of their money off of merchandise. Just because I'm not rich doesn't give me a free pass to rip them off.

I'm still plugging away at my ebay store. I am wondering if two stores isn't redundant, but then again, it's two different audiences. ebay attracts people who want bargains on stuff they've seen advertised on TV, and an independent website should attract more adventurous customers. eBay has a greater quantity, so that is good, but it's all about the keywords. I'm still trying out advertising. I've got an ad up on etalkinghead, and have paid for a quizilla ad that hasn't gone live yet.

Maybe when the school year begins, I'll take the plunge and have an ad on fark.com. It's a lot of money for a week, but might get people talking, and so I'll only have the trouble of maintaining that publicity. I don't know. All I have found is advertising that doesn't work. Button oriented live journal communities looked good, but I am not producing unofficial merchandise for things already on TV, so that doesn't work. Also, going to the flea market and handing out business cards isn't very effective either.

Cassowary Buttons is back up. Also, I have selected the winner for the contest, and the announcement should be any day now. I am working to stock my ebay store, which is slow going. I only have thirteen items up after three days of work, and that is with turbolister. I have great difficulty coming up with compelling copy.

I have restarted my ebay store, but rebuilding my inventory is going to be slow going. However, I'll try to update every day until I have the full compliment.